Engineering Commons^™

Acuta Enews March 2009, Vol 38, No. 3

ACUTA Newsletters

ln This Issue

ACUTA Audio Seminar: FERPA

From ACUTA Headquarters: Member Anniversaries Jeri Semer, CAE, Exec. Dir.

DC Update ...........Dave Ostrom, Washington State University (retired)

Tech Talk: FCoE May Figure into Your Storage Future..........Kevin Tanzillo, Dux PR

Making the Most of ACUTA Resources...... Carolyn Trail, Roanoke College

Higher Ed Belt Tightening ls Squeezing Technology Operations.... Kevin Tanzillo... Dux PR

Winner of Free Audio Seminar

lnfo Links ........... Randy Hayes, Univ. of Northern lowa

Overheard on the Listserv: SIP Trunking to the PSTN

Board Report, February.... Riny Ledgerwood, San Diego State University

Check lt Out: RFls/RFPs, Job Postings, Press Releases, Special …

Marketing For Summer Session: What Do The Students Want?, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Dr. Savory will share four campaign ideas his office developed to better target Summer Sessions marketing to the new generation of students. Each is unique and generates different reactions. He will talk about which was chosen and the campus reaction of choosing an “edgy” theme. He will also highlight the challenges and impact of offering a “Bucks for Summer Books” sweepstakes targeting freshman and sophomore students to take summer courses.

Effect Of Transport Vibration On Quality Of Minimally Processed And Packaged Fresh-Cut Cantaloupe, Koushik Saha, S. Paul Singh, Bruce Harte

Industrial Technology and Packaging

This study was undertaken to determine the quality of packaged fresh cut cantaloupe subjected to transport vibration after treating with various anti-browning agents. Cantaloupe (Cucumis melo) pieces were dipped in two anti-browning solutions: Treatment- A (2% ascorbic acid + 1% calcium chloride + 0.5% citric acid) and Treatment-B (3% NatureSeal™) for 2 minutes and packaged in bio-based clamshell containers and vibrated for 60 minutes (ASTM 4169, Truck assurance level II). Vibration of cut-cantaloupe packaged in sample containers had a positive effect on the flavor and overall liking. The overall liking scores were higher than 6(slightly like) on a hedonic scale …

Optimization Of Engineering Tolerance Design Using Revised Loss Functions, Jeh-Nan Pan, Jianbiao Pan

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Engineering tolerance design plays an important role in modern manufacturing. Both symmetric and asymmetric tolerances are common in many manufacturing processes. Recently, various revised loss functions have been proposed for overcoming the drawbacks of Taguchi's loss function. In this article, Kapur's economic tolerance design model is modified and the economic specification limits for both symmetric and asymmetric losses are established. Three different loss functions are compared in the optimal symmetric and asymmetric tolerance design: a revised Taguchi quadratic loss function, an inverted normal loss function and a revised inverted normal loss function. The relationships among the three loss functions and …

Estimating Vertical Stress On Soil Subjected To Vehicular Loading, Tyler Olmstead, Erika Fischer

United States Army: Publications

This report describes a preliminary study in support of ongoing research to model soil stress resulting from vehicular traffic on unprepared ground. The soils used in this study were sand, wet sand, and silt. The soils in the prepared soil beds were first characterized as to strength, density, and plasticity. Then pressure sensors were embedded at depths of 2 and 5 in. These were then traversed several times by a Mine Detonation Trailer (MDT) and the pressure produced by a single chosen wheel re-corded. The actual measured load of this wheel was 4700 pounds. The same series of measurements were …

Acuta Enews February 2009, Vol 38, No. 2

ACUTA Newsletters

In This Issue

From the President............. Corinne Hoch, Columbia Univ., ACUTA President

Strategic Leadership forum

Tech Talk: "VoIP Is Dead" declaration isn't cause to worry........... Kevin Tanzillo, Dux PR

Cast your vote in ACUTA election

DC update.............. Dave Ostrom, Washington State Univ. (retired)

Board Report.............. Riny Ledgewood, San Diego State Univ., ACUTA Secretary/Treasurer

Welcome New Members

Check it out: press releases.... job postings.... RFIs/FRPs

Acuta Enews January 2009, Vol 38, No. 1

ACUTA Newsletters

ln This lssue

Board approves slate of nominees for 2009-10

From ACUTA headquarters: looking back and looking ahead.......... Jeri Semer, CAE, Exec. Dir.

Be moderator or monitor at the annual conference

Tech talk: a clean slate, and a clean network, for the new year......... Kevin Tanzillo, Dux PR

DC update.......... Dave Ostrom, Washington State University (retired)

FCC summit on pandemic preparedness............. Ed Quinn, The Ohio State University

Board Report, December............. Riny Ledgerwood, San Diego State University

Special Deals and discounts from ACUTA corporate members

Thanks to journal advertisers for 2008

Info Links............. Randy Hayes, Univ. of Northern Iowa

Welcome New …

Design Of An 8-Channel Data Acquisition System For Measuring Diode Junction Temperature, Jason Maynard

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The solid state lighting industry is striving to expand the use of light emitting diodes (LEDs) in more applications, particularly in high brightness applications. As the power of LEDs increase, heat removal becomes a critical issue. To improve device lifetime, quantum efficiency, and LED colour, the diode p-n junction temperature (Tj) must be kept to a minimum. Measuring this key parameter is difficult or impossible with direct methods, such as thermocouples and infrared cameras, due to the small size of LEDs. Fortunately, junction temperature can be measured indirectly by using a relationship between the diode forward voltage (Vf) and junction …

A Decision Support System For Capacity Management, Anton Slobodnik

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Every manufacturer faces the challenge of managing production capacity. How effectively a company meets required capacity as compared to competitors will be a determinant of profitability and success.

This paper details the creation of a best of breed software that can act as a decision support system and help planners reschedule work, add shifts and make sure that the master production schedule is feasible before putting it into an MRP system.

As a part of my senior project I’ve created a Rough-Cut Capacity Tool that takes lead time into account and performs basic what if analysis on level loading a …

Visualization Methods And User Interface Design Guidelines For Rapid Decision Making In Complex Multi-Task Time-Critical Environments, Sriram Mahadevan

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Real-world scenarios are complex dynamic systems that are often overloaded with information. Effective performance of these dynamic systems depends on the objects in such systems and the relationship among them. The control of many of these systems is semi-automated. Human operators constantly monitor and control these systems, assess the situation and often make decisions under time pressure. However, this supervisory control paradigm in a dual-task environment can be a very challenging task. Existing interface design methodologies and techniques have not delved deeply enough into defining information displays for complex, dynamic, time-critical, dual-task environments with capabilities for rapid task change awareness …

Solution Techniques For A Crane Sequencing Problem, Jin Shang, Alan Mckendall

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

In the areas of power plant maintenance, shipyard and warehouse management, resources (items) assigned to locations need to be relocated. It is essential to develop efficient techniques for relocating items to new locations using a crane such that the sum of the cost of moving the items and the cost of loading/unloading the items is minimised. This problem is defined as the crane sequencing problem (CSP). Since the CSP determines the routes for a crane to relocate items, it is closely related to some variants of the travelling salesman problem. However, the CSP considers the capacities of locations and intermediate …

Finding And Optimising The Key Factors For The Multiple-Response Manufacturing Process, Jeh-Nan Pan, Jianbiao Pan, Chun-Yi Lee

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

With the advent of modern technology, manufacturing processes became so sophisticated that a single quality characteristic cannot reflect the true product quality. Thus, it is essential to perform the key factor analysis for the manufacturing process with multiple-input (factors) and multiple-output (responses). In this paper, an integrated approach of using the desirability function in conjunction with the Mahalanobis-Taguchi-Gram Schmit (MTGS) system is proposed in order to find and optimise the key factors for a multiple-response manufacturing process. The aim of using the MTGS method is to standardise and orthogonalise the multiple responses so that the Mahalanobis distance for each run …

Effects Of Reflow Profile And Thermal Conditioning On Intermetallic Compound Thickness For Snagcu Soldered Joints, Jianbiao Pan, Tzu-Chien Chou, Jasbir Bath, Dennis Willie, Brian J. Toleno

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of reflow time, reflow peak temperature, thermal shock and thermal aging on the intermetallic compound (IMC) thickness for Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu (SAC305) soldered joints.
Design/methodology/approach – A four-factor factorial design with three replications is selected in the experiment. The input variables are the peak temperature, the duration of time above solder liquidus temperature (TAL), solder alloy and thermal shock. The peak temperature has three levels, 12, 22 and 32°C above solder liquidus temperatures (or 230, 240 and 250°C for SAC305 and 195, 205, and 215°C for SnPb). The TAL has …

Comparison Of The Trivalent Live Attenuated Vs. Inactivated Influenza Vaccines Among U.S. Military Service Members, Angelia A. Eick, Zhong Wang, Hayley Hughes, Stephen M. Ford, Steven K. Tobler

United States Army: Publications

Limited effectiveness data are available comparing live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) to inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) among adults. To compare the incidence of influenza-like illness following immunization of adults with LAIV vs. TIV,we conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of active component U.S. military personnel for the 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 influenza seasons. Recruits experienced a much higher burden of disease compared to non-recruits, with crude incidence rates of influenza-like illness 2–16 times higher than non-recruits depending on the season and cohort. For both seasons, a slightly greater protection from influenza-like illness was found for non-recruits who received TIV compared to LAIV …

Unimolecular Decomposition Of 5-Aminotetrazole And Its Tautomer 5-Iminotetrazole: New Insight From Isopotential Searching, Kristian W. Paul, Margaret M. Hurley, Karl K. Irikura

United States Army: Publications

Aminotetrazole compounds have become attractive ingredients in gas generating compositions, solid rocket propellants, and green pyrotechnics. Therefore, a fundamental understanding of their thermal decomposition mechanisms and thermodynamics is of great interest. In this study, the specular reflection isopotential searching method was used to investigate the unimolecular decomposition mechanisms of 5-iminotetrazole (5-ITZ), 1H-5-aminotetrazole (1H-5-ATZ), and 2H-5-aminotetrazole (2H-5-ATZ). Subsequent thermochemical analysis of the unimolecular decomposition pathways was performed at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ//B3LYP/6- 311++G(3df,3pd) level of theory. Based upon the relative reaction barriers predicted in this study, the initial gaseous products of 5-ITZ unimolecular decomposition are HN₃ and NH₂CN (calculated activation …

Three Examples Where The Specific Surface Area Of Snow Increased Over Time, F. Domine, A. S. Taillandier, A. Cabanes, T. A. Douglas, M. Sturm

United States Army: Publications

Snow on the ground impacts climate through its high albedo and affects atmospheric composition through its ability to adsorb chemical compounds. The quantification of these effects requires the knowledge of the specific surface area (SSA) of snow and its rate of change. All relevant studies indicate that snow SSA decreases over time. Here, we report for the first time three cases where the SSA of snow increased over time. These are (1) the transformation of a melt-freeze crust into depth hoar, producing an increase in SSA from 3.4 to 8.8m² kg⁻¹. (2) The mobilization of surface snow …

Three Examples Where The Specific Surface Area Of Snow Increased Over Time, F. Domine, A.-S. Taillandier, A. Cabanes, T. A. Douglas, M. Sturm

United States Army: Publications

Snow on the ground impacts climate through its high albedo and affects atmospheric composition through its ability to adsorb chemical compounds. The quantification of these effects requires the knowledge of the specific surface area (SSA) of snow and its rate of change. All relevant studies indicate that snow SSA decreases over time. Here, we report for the first time three cases where the SSA of snow increased over time. These are (1) the transformation of a melt-freeze crust into depth hoar, producing an increase in SSA from 3.4 to 8.8m² kg⁻¹. (2) The mobilization of surface snow …

Automated Fixture Design For A Rapid Machining Process, Wutthigrai Boonsuk, Matthew C. Frank

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Rapid prototyping techniques for CNC machining have been developed in an effort to produce functional prototypes in appropriate materials. One of the major challenges for rapid machining is to develop an automatic fixturing system for securing the part during the machining process. The method proposed in this paper is the use of sacrificial fixturing, similar to the support structures in existing rapid processes like Stereolithography. During the machining process, sacrificial supports emerge incrementally and, at the end of the process, are the only entities connecting the part to the stock material. This paper presents methodologies for the design of sacrificial …

Automated Fixture Design For A Rapid Machining Process, Wutthigrai Boonsuk, Matthew Frank

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Rapid prototyping techniques for CNC machining have been developed in an effort to produce functional prototypes in appropriate materials. One of the major challenges for rapid machining is to develop an automatic fixturing system for securing the part during the machining process. The method proposed in this paper is the use of sacrificial fixturing, similar to the support structures in existing rapid processes like Stereolithography. During the machining process, sacrificial supports emerge incrementally and, at the end of the process, are the only entities connecting the part to the stock material. This paper presents methodologies for the design of sacrificial …

The Effect Of Ultrasonic Frequency On Gold Wire Bondability And Reliability, Jianbiao Pan, Minh-Nhat Le, Cuong Van Pham

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This paper presents a systematic study on the effect of 120 KHz ultrasonic frequency on the bondability and reliability of fine pitch gold wire bonding to pads over an organic substrate with gold metallizations. The study was carried out on a thermosonic ball bonder that is allowed to easily switch between ultrasonic frequencies of 60 KHz and 120 KHz by changing the ultrasonic transducer and the ultrasonic generator. Bonding parameters were optimized through the design of experimental methodology for four different cases: 25.4 mm wire at 60 kHz, 25.4 mm wire at 120 kHz, 17.8 mm wire at 60 kHz, …

Tomato Bushy Stunt Virus (Tbsv), A Versatile Platform For Polyvalent Display Of Antigenic Epitopes And Vaccine Design, Shantanu Kumar, Wendy Ochoa, Pratik Singh, Catherine Hsu, Anette Schneemann, Marianne Manchester, Mark Olson, Vijay Reddy

United States Army: Publications

Viruses-like particles (VLPs) are frequently being used as platforms for polyvalent display of foreign epitopes of interest on their capsid surface to improve their presentation enhancing the antigenicity and host immune response. In the present study, we used the VLPs of Tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV), an icosahedral plant virus, as a platform to display 180 copies of 16 amino acid epitopes of ricin toxin fused to the C-terminal end of a modified TBSV capsid protein (NΔ52). Expression of the chimeric recombinant protein in insect cells resulted in spontaneous assembly of VLPs displaying the ricin epitope. Cryo-electron microscopy and image …

Simulated Rainfall-Driven Dissolution Of Tnt, Tritonal, Comp B And Octol Particles, Susan Taylor, James H. Lever, Jennifer Fadden, Nancy Perron, Bonnie Packer

United States Army: Publications

Live-fire military training can deposit millimeter-sized particles of high explosives (HE) on surface soils when rounds do not explode as intended. Rainfall-driven dissolution of the particles then begins a process whereby aqueous HE solutions can enter the soil and groundwater as contaminants. We dripped water onto individual particles of TNT, Tritonal, Comp B and Octol to simulate how surface-deposited HE particles might dissolve under the action of rainfall and to use the data to verify a model that predicts HE dissolution as a function of particle size, particle composition and rainfall rate. Particle masses ranged from 1.1 to 17 mg …

Complementary And Alternative Medicine For The Allergist-Immunologist: Where Do I Start?, Renata J. M. Engler, Catherine M. With, Philip J. Gregory, Jeff M. Jellin

United States Army: Publications

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies present a growing information management challenge for physicians because nearly 40% of their patients may be using and another 50% may be considering use of CAM as part of their health care regimen. The National Health Statistics Reports for 2007 described the most commonly used nonvitamin, nonmineral therapy as natural products (eg, herbals at 17.7%). More than5% of children under the age of 18 years used CAM for allergic conditions including asthma. The amount and quality of information available and concerns about liability risk represent a challenge for most physicians. This review focuses on …

First Results From Radar Profiles Collected Along The Us-Itase Traverse From Taylor Dome To South Pole (2006–2008), Brian C. Welch, Robert W. Jacobel, Steven A. Arcone

United States Army: Publications

The 2006/07 and 2007/08 US-ITASE traverses from Taylor Dome to South Pole in East Antarctica provided opportunities to survey the subglacial and englacial environments using 3MHz and 200MHz radar. We present first results of these new ground-based radar data. A prominent basal deformation layer indicates different ice-flow regimes for the northern and southern halves of the Byrd Glacier drainage. Buried dune stratigraphy that appears to be related to the megadunes towards the west occurs at depths of up to 1500 m. At least two new water-filled subglacial lakes were discovered, while two recently drained lakes identified from repeat ICESat surface …

Rubric For Presentation Evaluation, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Instructional Materials

I have developed this rubric to allow classmates and myself to offer an evaluation or assessment of a student classroom presentation. It is my attempt to develop a standardized evaluation linked to specified criteria, making the grading process simpler and more transparent.

Rubric For Project Report Evaluation, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Instructional Materials

I have developed this rubric to formalize the evaluation or assessment of a project report. It is my attempt to develop a standardized evaluation linked to specified criteria, making the grading process simpler and more transparent.

The Impact Of Communication Medium On Team Performance Patterns, Pilar Pazos, Mario G. Beruvides

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The increased impact of globalization and rapidly changing technologies are some of the biggest challenges facing 21st century organizations. Remote teams supported through computer-based systems have been identified as a key lever to help organizations adapt to this turbulent environment. This study sheds some light on how teams perform and adapt by evaluating performance and synergy over time for teams in two different settings: computer supported and face-to-face. Participants in the study were randomly assigned either to a computer-supported or a face-to face group. Each group met over three sessions to perform a series of tasks that were evaluated using …

An Analogy Based Costing System For Injection Molds Based Upon Geometry Similarity With Wavelets, Cyrus Clinton Hillsman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The injection molding industry is large and diversified. However there is no universally accepted way to bid molds, despite the fact that the mold and related design comprise 50% of the total cost of an injection-molded part over its lifetime. This is due to both the structure of the industry and technical difficulties in developing an automated and practical cost estimation system. The technical challenges include lack of a common data format for both parts and molds; the comprehensive consideration of the data about a wide variety of mold types, designs, complexities, number of cavities and other factors that directly …

Integration Of Data Mining Algorithms And Control Charts For Multivariate And Autocorrelated Processes, Weerawat Jitpitaklert

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The objective of this dissertation is to integrate state-of-the-art data mining algorithms with statistical process control (SPC) tools to achieve efficient monitoring in multivariate and autocorrelated process. Process monitoring and diagnosis have been widely recognized as important and critical tools in system monitoring for detection of abnormal behavior and quality improvement. Although traditional SPC tools are effective in simple manufacturing processes that generate a small volume of independent data, these tools are not capable of handling the large streams of multivariate and autocorrelated data found in modern manufacturing/service systems. As the limitations of SPC methodology become increasingly obvious in the …

Emergency Evacuation Route Planning Considering Human Behavior During Short- And No-Notice Emergency Situations, Suebpong Kittirattanapaiboon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Throughout United States and world history, disasters have caused not only significant loss of life, property but also enormous financial loss. The tsunami that occurred on December 26, 2004 is a telling example of the devastation that can occur unexpectedly. This unexpected natural event never happened before in this area. In addition, there was a lack of an emergency response plan for events of that magnitude. Therefore, this event resulted not only in a natural catastrophe for the people of South and Southeast Asia, but it is also considered one of the greatest natural disasters in world history. After the …