Engineering Commons^™

Design And Production Of A Carbon Fiber Longboard, John R. Beebe, Jacob Williams, Julia Stradinger, Vince Fitchtel, Jordan Cochran

Honors Theses

This thesis contains an overview of the design, prototyping, and manufacturing of a carbon fiber long board. The purpose of this capstone was to create a viable product for the real-world market and then determine how to manufacture it at scale with sustainable financial practices. In order to accomplish this task, engineering, accounting, and manufacturing challenges had to be overcome throughout all stages. The production process involved the carbon fiber layup, baking, water jet cutting, and assembly of the carbon fiber longboard. In order to optimize this process, continuous improvement and lean manufacturing problem solving techniques were applied. After a …

Quantifying Attacker Payoff In Harvest Now, Decrypt Later Attacks: A Persistence-Based Framework For Trade Secret Risk, Arjun Kumar, Gene Yang, Turiya Misra, Francis Kagai

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Harvest-now, decrypt-later (HNDL) assumes that encrypted secrets stolen today will remain worth decrypting when quantum computers eventually make that possible. But what if they do not? This paper models HNDL from the attacker’s perspective by asking a different question: how much will a stolen secret still be worth when it can finally be decrypted? We develop a conditional retained-value framework combining probabilistic Q-day timing, information depreciation, and adversary-access delay. The results reveal a sharp divide. Rapidly depreciating secrets can lose much of their strategic value before quantum decryption becomes useful, while persistent secrets can retain substantial attacker payoff even under …

The Global-To-Local Trust Layer: From A Working Prototype To A Trustworthy One, Amrita Datta

Paul English Applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) Institute Publications

This guest speaker session, part of Professor Wei Ding's Industry AI Applications course at the University of Massachusetts Boston, features Amrita Datta, Global Marketing Strategist, Enterprise AI Advisor, and Vice President and Board Member of AMA Boston. The session introduces the Global-to-Local (G2L) Framework and explores how to turn working AI prototypes into trustworthy and reliable applications. Through real-world examples, participants learn about key elements of trustworthy AI, including guardrails, data boundaries, human oversight, failure handling, and evaluation, and explore how these concepts can be applied to their own AI projects.

Chacahoula 2026, Volume 93, Pawan Khatri, Alayna Pellegrin

Chacahoula

The 2026 issue of Chacahoula, There's No Place Like Home, emphasizes the way in which our university becomes a home to students.  Featuring prize-winning poetry from Allyson Gee, Nick Fredrick, Amaris Kendall and Anmol Subedi, the book includes December 2025 and May 2026 graduating classes, as well as stunning photography of  campus life on the banks of Bayou Desiard. With features covering students, faculty, and staff, this year's time capsule preserves an academic year in the life of the University of Louisiana at Monroe. This edition includes a video message from President Carrie Castille. Download the PDF to your device …

Mitigating Common Vulnerabilities And Exposures In Cobol-Based Critical Systems Using The Strangler-Fig Pattern, Lauren E. Caruso, Vincent J. Compeau, Assefaw H. Gebremedhin

Military Cyber Affairs

COBOL-based legacy systems continue to underpin critical infrastructure in banking and government sectors despite their age and associated cybersecurity risks. Originally developed through a Department of Defense–sponsored initiative to standardize business computing, COBOL remains widely used in mission-critical environments. However, these systems face increasing vulnerabilities due to outdated security architectures, workforce shortages, and rising maintenance costs. This paper examines cybersecurity and operational challenges associated with COBOL systems and evaluates the Strangler Fig pattern as a modernization strategy that enables incremental replacement while maintaining continuity. The findings highlight implications for financial institutions and public-sector organizations dependent on legacy infrastructure.

When Does Global Search Pay For Itself? A Measured Exploration Cost And Energy Break-Even Analysis Of A Metaheuristic Search Controller In Solar Energy Systems, Mohamed Ali Muammar Ezgour

Communications of the IIMA

Autonomous energy systems increasingly delegate the choice of operating point to embedded search algorithms, trading a fast local optimizer that can settle on a wrong point against a slower global search that guarantees the right one at a measurable cost. This paper reframes maximum power point tracking under partial shading as that decision and measures its economics on a fixed photovoltaic plant in MATLAB/Simulink. A Hippopotamus Optimization global search handed over to incremental conductance is compared with incremental conductance alone across seventeen initial duty cycles and thirty random seeds. The hybrid reached the global peak in all thirty seeds, whereas …

Bitseat: Reimagining The Financing For Airliners Using Nonfungible Tokens (Blockchain Technology), Edwin S. Ongola

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

This essay describes how blockchain technology, particularly nonfungible tokens, can be used to raise funding for airliners. The essay begins with a brief overview on the costs, categories, and acquisition methods of airliners. After that, the essay introduces concepts on blockchain technology, tokens, and smart contracts. The essay then touches on how nonfungible tokens can be used to facilitate fractional ownership of airliners. From there, the essay discusses Bitseat, a conceptual nonfungible token for fractional ownership of airliners, covering its overall design, appeal, marketplace alternatives, and challenges. Finally, in the discussion, the essay summarizes the overall concept and outlines its …

Designing Classifact: Towards A Transparent And Secure Platform For Stakeholder-In-The-Loop Data Annotation, Philippine Waisvisz

Communications of the IIMA

AI systems depend on human judgment, yet many annotation workflows are either designed for data-science specialists or managed through external commercial platforms. The first approach may demand more technical skills than relevant stakeholders possess. The second can require organizations to transfer data, expertise, and governance to an outside provider. Both can limit the involvement of people who understand what data means in its real-world context. Human-in-the-loop approaches introduce human judgment. Stakeholder-in-the-loop annotation focuses on selecting and organizing people whose contextual knowledge fits the AI application.

This paper presents Classifact, a transparent and secure platform for stakeholder-in-the-loop data annotation and validation. …

A Message From The Managing Editor, Carissa Bayack

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

A message from the 2025-2026 Managing Editor of the Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal, Carissa Bayack.

A Sustainability Index For Airlines: A Kpi-Based Framework For Benchmarking Environmental Performance, Craig Dedrick

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

The aviation industry faces increasing pressure to reduce its environmental impact, yet standardized methods for evaluating airline sustainability performance remain limited. This study proposes a structured sustainability index designed to benchmark airline environmental strategies using fourteen key performance indicators (KPIs) derived from publicly disclosed corporate sustainability and annual reports. To improve analytical clarity, the KPIs are organized into seven conceptual clusters capturing distinct dimensions of environmental performance: strategic governance and commitment, operational and fleet efficiency, the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) ecosystem, emissions reduction and climate mitigation outcomes, carbon management and neutralization, energy transition and electrification, and environmental pollution and resource …

Supply Chain Analysis: The Oregonator Autocatalytic Case Study, Abigail Butcher

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Understanding stability in complex supply chains remains a critical challenge due to nonlinear feedback, delayed responses, and sensitivity to parameter changes. This project presents a novel framework that applies bifurcation analysis to evaluate system stability, using the Oregonator autocatalytic chemical reaction model as an analog for supply chain dynamics. A parameter sweep of key model variables, particularly the stoichiometric factor f and the reaction rate constants k, is used to identify transitions between stable and oscillatory regimes. These transitions provide insight into how variations in feedback strength can drive instability in real-world systems. The framework will then be extended to …

Project 337, Kaushal Meda, Tuhin Misra, Pranav Rathi, Vraj Patel, Diivyaang Desa, Sameera Patki, Vaidehi Saini, Roy Su

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Access to critical medical infrastructure and supplies can be limited in rural and remote communities, where long travel distances and limited transportation networks can delay emergency response/care. In fact, according to the National Library of Medicine, in the United States alone, “about 20% of the US population—more than 50 million people—live in rural areas, but only 9% of the nation's physicians practice in rural communities”, highlighting the challenges many communities face in accessing timely medical resources. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), however, offer a potential solution by providing fast and flexible delivery of critical life support medical payloads. Project 337, developed …

Predicting Passenger Demand On National Flights Departing From Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Atl) In 2024, Brooklyn Gossett, Ana Yu Wen

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

The aviation industry relies heavily on accurate demand forecasting to guide critical decisions regarding route planning, capacity management, and pricing strategy. Misjudging passenger demand can result in significant revenue loss and operational inefficiency, making it essential for airlines and analysts to identify the key drivers of flight patronage. This study investigates the factors that most significantly predict the number of passengers on domestic flights departing from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) during the 2024 calendar year. Using passenger and route data sourced from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), a multiple regression analysis …

Professionalism And Performance Expectations In The Modern Aviation Industry, Anayah Smith, Spencer Baldock Spencer Baldock

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

The aviation industry operates as a highly regulated, safety-critical environment in which professionalism and consistent performance are essential to maintaining operational safety and reliability. However, emerging shifts in workforce composition, communication styles, and technology integration have created misalignment between traditional professional standards and evolving employee expectations. Established aviation cultures emphasize structured procedures, formal feedback mechanisms, and communication hierarchy, while newer entrants, shaped by digital communication norms and contemporary academic environments, often expect continuous feedback, collaborative leadership, and adaptive performance evaluation. Prior research on crew resource management, human error frameworks, and generational work values highlights how inconsistencies in communication, feedback expectations, …

Robbed With Permission: Toward A Receiver-Consent Architecture For Trust-Preserving Mobile Money Transactions In Africa, Raphael Amponsah

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

Mobile money transacted more than USD 2 trillion globally in 2025 across 2.3 billion registered accounts, with Sub-Saharan Africa holding over half of all accounts and two-thirds of transaction value. Between 58 and 72 percent of mobile money fraud on the continent exploits trust rather than technology, yet current security architecture authenticates the sender and merely notifies the receiver, leaving the transaction execution moment structurally unguarded. This paper introduces the Receiver-Consent Transaction Protocol (RCTP), a USSD-native protocol requiring the receiver's active PIN consent on their physical SIM before any credit completes, grounded in Design Science Research with Routine Activity Theory …

Genai Goes To Campus: A Narrative Literature Review Of Benefits, Challenges And Policies, Jayson Warren Peters, Mmasechaba J. Seopa, Justin T. Maistry, Tebogo J. Matome, Christen Du Toit, Maureen C. Tanner

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

This study examines the role of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in the learning and administrative experiences of students and educators in higher education, through a narrative literature review of thirty-one articles. The literature was thematically reviewed and coded to identify themes and factors contributing to challenges, benefits, and policies and guidelines. These themes were explored in depth with their relation to GenAI for learning outcomes, the role of GenAI in student’s learning experiences and the effectiveness of using GenAI tools to support educators’ administrative processes. In light of the challenges and deterrents identified (e.g. implementation - maintenance, privacy and security, …

C.S.A. Assessment - Tamp Family Health Center Portal, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

This C.A.S. assessment evaluates how the Tampa Family Health Centers website influences userattention, cognitive processing, information accessibility, navigation efficiency, and digital user experience.The assessment examines whether the platform supports intentional engagement and informed decision-making while minimizing cognitive overload, distraction, confusion, and unnecessary attentional demands.

TFHC serves as a healthcare access portal providing appointment scheduling, patient resources, providerinformation, healthcare services, MyChart access, payment services, and community health resources.These functions make attention management and information clarity critical to successful user outcomes.

From Homogeneous To Heterogeneous Adaptive Bounded-Confidence Opinion Dynamics On Networks, Sally Hafez, Fatma R. Farag, Amira S. N. Tawadros

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

Adaptive bounded-confidence models (ABCMs) elucidate the coevolution of agent states and network structure via local interactions and rewiring mechanisms. Traditional formulations assume uniform interaction parameters, leading to distinct regime shifts encompassing fragmentation, polarization, and consensus. A symmetric heterogeneous extension of the adaptive bounded-confidence model is introduced, in which interaction parameters vary according to whether agents belong to the same or different groups. The model retains the original update and rewiring protocols but integrates within-group and between-group confidence bounds alongside tolerance thresholds. Initially, the classic homogeneous model is replicated to establish a reference point. Subsequently, the heterogeneous extension is assessed under …

0905: American Car And Foundry (Acf) Collection, 1916-2019, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

The collection includes only documents that were found in the plant in 2021. These primarily consist of files on capital projects from the 1970s through the 1990s. Also included are notebooks with job descriptions and classifications; ledger books containing maintenance purchase orders; quality assurance manuals; visitors register books from 1973-2019; drawings of plant machinery and operations; slides and photographs; and miscellaneous materials.

The forerunner to ACF was Ensign Manufacturing Company, founded in 1871 at Huntington, West Virginia, by William H. Barnum and Ely Ensign, both from prominent families of Lime Rock, Connecticut. It was chartered (incorporated) on November 1, 1872, …

Structure Meets Context: A Simulation Study Of Centralized And Decentralized Decision-Making In Complex Environments, Murat Balci

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The question of when to centralize or decentralize decision-making authority is a foundational problem in organizational theory and management science. Yet existing research often favors decentralized structures, frequently treating them as universally superior, and provides limited guidance on when centralization may be more effective. Leaning toward decentralization without thoroughly exploring options leaves organizational designers without clear direction under varying environmental conditions. This study addresses that gap by developing and applying a simulation-based framework to evaluate the context-dependent effectiveness of centralized and decentralized decision-making structures.

Drawing on contingency theory and decision science, the study conceptualizes environmental complexity along two dimensions: dynamism …

Systematic Review Of The Institutionalization Of Service Learning In Higher Education, Wilmer Hernan Cruz Gutierrez

ASEAN Journal of Community Engagement

An increasing number of universities are integrating service-learning (SL) to fulfill their social mission. However, sustainable institutionalization of SL remains a persistent challenge. This study identifies and analyzes the factors, actors, and strategies that drive and inhibit SL institutionalization in higher education. Using the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, a systematic literature review analyzed 52 documents from seven academic databases (including WoS, Scopus, and ERIC). The findings were grouped into three sections: cultural (integration into institutional values/missions), process (articulation within teaching, research, and outreach), and structural dimensions (dedicated support entities). The results obtained reveal a reciprocal relationship where cultural alignment enables processual …

Stop Blaming My Users: Illumination Of The Technocentric Mythos Bias, Ervin H. Frenzel, Richard Lightcap

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

 Abstract -This conceptual essay addresses the need for systemic and systematic transdisciplinary analytical techniques within cybersecurity and technical security. This conceptual essay is contingent upon recognition that cybersecurity is not simply technical in nature, it does not need an adversary, and more importantly it is based upon systems engineering and systems thinking.  The essay contributes a socio-technical attribution chain and field-specific ontology/taxonomy which distinguish user-triggered events from root causes, latent conditions, technical debt, validation failures, governance failures, and attribution bias before assigning responsibility to end users. It systematically defines an ontology inclusive of developer technical debt, organizational debt arising from …

Sustainable Consumer Behavior Modeling: A Complex-Systems Approach To Neuromarketing, Preethi Nanjundan, Nupoor Sanjay Bhute, Ragini Topre, Lijo Thomas

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

This study examines the application of complex-systems modeling to neuromarketing data for gaining deeper insights into the mechanisms underlying sustainable consumer behavior. It investigates how neural and biometric responses, interpreted through a systems-based perspective, can uncover dynamic interactions, feedback mechanisms, and emergent behavioral patterns influencing sustainable purchase decisions. The research explores the impact of sustainability-oriented marketing stimuli on long-term behavioral intentions by emphasizing the interconnected roles of cognitive processing, emotional engagement, implicit associations, and collective consumer dynamics. Through simulation-based modeling and structural analysis, the study demonstrates how subconscious neural responses and affective mechanisms mediate the relationship between marketing interventions, consumer …

Co-Designing New Website Ideas In The Age Of Ai, Rami Huu Nguyen

Paul English Applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) Institute Publications

This workshop introduced students to the principles of website co-design in the age of artificial intelligence through a collaborative, project-based learning experience. Participants first explored the mission of the Paul English Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute and the instructor's career journey before learning the fundamentals of e-commerce website design. Students were organized into five teams to develop original website concepts in areas including travel, fashion, sports, and gaming. Each team conducted research using search engines and generative AI tools, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity, created website wireframes, and presented their ideas using Canva. The workshop emphasized teamwork, creativity, user-centered design, …

Provocable Forgiveness In Noisy Brand--Consumer Systems:An Agent-Based Study Of Repeated Interaction, Tahere Ahmadiyan, Hamidreza Navidi, Behbod Keshavarzi

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

Repeated brand--consumer exchange is often treated as a managerial problem of loyalty, recovery, and trust. It can also be read as a small complex system: many local decisions about cooperation, retaliation, and forgiveness accumulate into market-level selection. This study uses that perspective to examine which relational rules survive when communication is imperfect. Eight canonical Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma strategies are translated into marketing archetypes and evaluated through round-robin tournaments, a six-level noise sweep, proportional-fitness ecological dynamics, and finite-population Moran invasion tests. The tournament leaderboard is calculated without same-strategy self-play, so that reported payoffs reflect inter-archetype competition rather than homogeneous self-coordination. At …

Case Study: Feasibility Of Creating A Simulated Mobile Data Center For Cross-Disciplinary Academic Programs, Stanley Mierzwa, Christoper J. Schultz, Iassen Christov, Michael Fagioli, Thomas Ikeda, Reinaldo Jaramillo, Giolian Sanagustin

Center for Cybersecurity

This case study examines the potential to envision, create, and deploy a simulated mobile micro data center solution that can be easily replicated and transported between locations and educational settings. The coined term for this solution is the Mobile AI-Centered Data Center (Mobile ACDC), which provides students with a platform to construct, in a hands-on fashion, such a solution and navigate the product to gain greater competencies and understanding of the components found in a data center. Instructor and student feedback assessments from the pilot classroom modules and laboratory experiential learning activities indicate that such a solution helps to improve …

Cybersecurity Governance Of Industrial Iot In Sub-Saharan Africa: Policy Gaps, Threat Landscape, And Lessons From Comparative African Contexts, Faztudo Languisse Eng.

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

The rapid deployment of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) systems across Sub-Saharan Africa's extractive, energy, logistics, and agro-industrial sectors has introduced a cybersecurity challenge of growing urgency: industrial networks that were designed for operational efficiency are increasingly exposed to cyber threats for which neither the organizations nor the regulatory frameworks are adequately prepared. This article examines the cybersecurity governance of IIoT systems in a developing African economy, using Mozambique as a primary case study and drawing comparative lessons from South Africa, Rwanda, and Kenya. Through an integrative literature review and documentary analysis of national digital, cybersecurity, and industrial policies, the …

Contemporary Cybersecurity Challenges In Emerging Technologies: A Systematic Literature Analysis, Faztudo Languisse Prof

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

The accelerating convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, blockchain, and quantum computing has fundamentally transformed the global threat landscape, introducing cybersecurity challenges of unprecedented complexity and scale. This systematic literature review synthesizes findings from peer-reviewed publications, institutional reports, and regulatory documents published primarily between 2020 and 2025 to provide an integrated analysis of contemporary cybersecurity challenges across five key emerging technology domains. The review identifies critical vulnerabilities inherent to each domain, documents the evolution of threat actors and attack methodologies — including AI-powered ransomware, adversarial machine learning, and harvest-now-decrypt-later quantum attacks — and evaluates …

Signal And Substance: Why Methodological Sophistication Fails To Guarantee Inference, Aamir Rashid, Rizwana Rasheed

Publications and Research

Despite increasing analytical sophistication, empirical research in organization studies continues to suffer from fragile inference, uneven theoretical accumulation, and contested credibility. This paper seeks to explain why these problems persist by shifting attention from authors’ methodological choices to the evaluative dynamics of peer review. Adopting a conceptual and theory-analytic approach, the paper theorizes peer review as an inferential gatekeeping system. Drawing on research design, theory evaluation, and philosophy-of-science literatures, this study develops an analytical framework to examine how evaluative routines shape what constitutes empirical rigor during the review process. The analysis identifies five recurring reviewer blind spots: inferential scope inflation, …

Analysis Of Technology Introduction And Re-Innovation Models Of Chinese Enterprises Based On Transnational Patent Transfer Data: A Case Study Of Strategic Emerging Industries In Shandong Province, Kun Dong, Kexin Chen, Qingxiu Mu, Zihang Cui

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance] Technology introduction re-innovation is the key path for enterprises to quickly acquire advanced technologies and transform them into independent innovation advantages, which is of great significance in promoting the upgrading of the national technology innovation system and enhancing industrial competitiveness. [Method/process] This article proposes a specific approach for analyzing the technology introduction and re-innovation model of enterprises based on cros-border patent transfer data, and takes strategic emerging industries in Shandong Province as an example for empirical research, then proposes the selection strategies for enterprises technology introduction re-innovation models. [Result/conclusion] Research shows that strategic emerging industry enterprises in Shandong Province …