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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Determining The Viability Of Marine Sensor Construction, Roman Sequeira May 2024

Determining The Viability Of Marine Sensor Construction, Roman Sequeira

Honors College

I intend to determine the viability of building a sensor that can be deployed in marine environments. Viability is defined as a summary of economic affordability, practicality of construction and deployment, knowledge required, and effectiveness. In order to get the best results, our sensor must be able to be modified to suit individual circumstances, constructed out of easy to obtain materials, be robust enough to withstand less than lab grade environments, and most importantly function well enough to be worth the effort of building it. I have built a sensor using the cheapest and most widely available options available. It …


Thermal Stability Of Platinum-Silicon Alloy Films Grown On Langasite Substrates For Use In Microwave Acoustic Sensor Technology, Kell Fremouw Apr 2023

Thermal Stability Of Platinum-Silicon Alloy Films Grown On Langasite Substrates For Use In Microwave Acoustic Sensor Technology, Kell Fremouw

Honors College

Wireless sensors that can operate in temperatures up to 1000°C are widely needed for real time monitoring of large-scale industrial processes. Such sensors will improve efficiency and prevent component failure. Under previous work at UMaine, Surface Acoustic Wave Resonator (SAWR) sensors fabricated on piezoelectric langasite (La3Ga5SiO14) wafers have shown promise for wireless strain measurements at high temperatures. However, there is a major technical challenge in attaching SAWR langasite based sensors to metal parts because the large differences in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between langasite and metals leads to large thermal stresses and …


Coastal Windstorms Create Unsteady, Unpredictable Storm Surges In A Fluvial Maine Estuary, Preston Spicer, Pascal Matte, Kimberly Huguenard, Laura N. Rickard Apr 2021

Coastal Windstorms Create Unsteady, Unpredictable Storm Surges In A Fluvial Maine Estuary, Preston Spicer, Pascal Matte, Kimberly Huguenard, Laura N. Rickard

Civil Engineering Faculty Scholarship

Storm surges create coastal flooding that can be damaging to life and property. In estuaries with significant river influence (fluvial), it is possible for tides, storm surge, and river discharge to interact and enhance surges relative to the immediate coast. These tide-surge-river interactions were previously identified in a fluvial Maine estuary as higher frequency (>four cycles per day) oscillations to storm surge which were proposed to be incited by enhanced friction and resonance during certain windstorm events (Spicer et al. 2019). The relative contributions to tide-surge-river interaction from atmospheric forcing variables (wind, barometric pressure, and externally generated surge) remains …


Nsf Career Award Supports Schwartz's Research On The Chemical Process For Making Rubber Component, Marcus Wolf Mar 2021

Nsf Career Award Supports Schwartz's Research On The Chemical Process For Making Rubber Component, Marcus Wolf

General University of Maine Publications

advance his ongoing dissection of the Lebedev process. The well-known, multi-step chemical reaction is used to make butadiene from biomass-derived ethanol. However, little research has been conducted on the Lebedev process at the molecular level. Understanding the intricacies of this process will help researchers create new catalysts necessary for the chemical reactions to make goods from both petroleum and biomass, that would increase butadiene yield.


Covid-19_Umaine News_Umaine Students Get Immersive Experience In Engineering Education, University Of Maine Division Of Marketing And Communications Nov 2020

Covid-19_Umaine News_Umaine Students Get Immersive Experience In Engineering Education, University Of Maine Division Of Marketing And Communications

Division of Marketing & Communications

Screenshot of UMaine News press release regarding Asli Sezen-Barrie, associate professor of curriculum, assessment and instruction in the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development redesigning her class on Teaching Science in the Secondary School to provide more opportunities for preservice teachers at UMaine to learn about engineering concepts and meet with engineers.


Using Cellulose Nanofibrils And Calcium Carbonate In Single-Use Utensils, Sierra Yost May 2020

Using Cellulose Nanofibrils And Calcium Carbonate In Single-Use Utensils, Sierra Yost

Honors College

As humanity becomes aware of the environmental issues that come from plastics, substitutes for single-use plastic are needed. Straws, expanded polystyrene, and grocery bags especially have been placed under scrutiny, but there is a need to replace other single use plastics such as eating utensils and cup lids. In this thesis, the properties of cellulose nanofibrils and calcium carbonate mixtures are characterized to determine the feasibility of their use as a plastic replacement. Using cellulose nanofibrils poses two challenges: 1) it shrinks when dried causing difficulty in forming an object, and 2) it is produced in a 3 weight percent …


A Benefit-Cost Analysis Of Community Solar For Low To Moderate Income Residents Of Mount Desert Island, Maine, Abigayle Hargreaves May 2020

A Benefit-Cost Analysis Of Community Solar For Low To Moderate Income Residents Of Mount Desert Island, Maine, Abigayle Hargreaves

Honors College

No abstract provided.


Environmental Monitoring Report For Volturnus Deployment In Castine, Me, Damian C. Brady, University Of Maine Advanced Structures And Composites Center Jul 2015

Environmental Monitoring Report For Volturnus Deployment In Castine, Me, Damian C. Brady, University Of Maine Advanced Structures And Composites Center

Maine Sea Grant Publications

On June 13th, 2013 the University of Maine’s VolturnUS 1:8 floating offshore wind turbine was energized and began delivering electricity through an undersea cable to the Central Maine Power electricity grid. Deployment continued until late November 2014. The following describes the results of extensive environmental monitoring at the Castine site. The primary observations of the site were derived from weekly visual surveys, bat echolocation detectors, underwater acoustic receivers, and web camera surveillance. The latter method consisted of observing the turbine and platform by web camera every 15-30 seconds throughout the deployment.


Collaborative Research: A Nanostructure Sensor For Measuring Dissolved Iron And Copper Concentrations In Coastal And Offshore Seawater, Mark Wells, Carl Tripp Apr 2015

Collaborative Research: A Nanostructure Sensor For Measuring Dissolved Iron And Copper Concentrations In Coastal And Offshore Seawater, Mark Wells, Carl Tripp

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Iron and Copper serve as key co-constituents for numerous enzymes in a wide range of biological systems, and their elevated or impoverished levels in aqueous systems have dramatic consequences at organismal, ecosystem, and human health scales. Over the last decade these effects have increasingly been recognized to be important in ocean systems. Identifying sites and times where these metals cause negative environmental outcomes is greatly hampered by their comparatively sparse datasets. This problem is a direct consequence of the analytical challenge of obtaining accurate Fe and Cu determinations in saline waters at very low (trace) concentrations, and the limitations of …


Mri: Acquisition Of A Squid Magnetometer For Analysis Of Advanced Materials, Robert W. Meulenberg, Robert J. Lad, David J. Frankel, Michael D. Mason, Samuel T. Hess Sep 2014

Mri: Acquisition Of A Squid Magnetometer For Analysis Of Advanced Materials, Robert W. Meulenberg, Robert J. Lad, David J. Frankel, Michael D. Mason, Samuel T. Hess

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Technical Summary: Superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometry is a non-destructive technique that reveals detailed information about the electron spin interactions in many types of materials. This project will involve a state-of-the-art SQUID magnetometer and Magnetic Property Measurement System (MPMS), which is a critical tool for characterizing several types of materials currently being investigated by researchers within the Laboratory for Surface Science & Technology (LASST) and other University of Maine (UMaine) laboratories. Specific measurement capabilities include DC and AC magnetic susceptibility, magnetoresistivity, van der Paaw conductivity, and Hall mobility. State-of-the-art MPMS capabilities will be especially valuable to several research programs …


Fast Pyrolysis Of Muconic Acid And Formic Acid Salts, Laura Duran May 2013

Fast Pyrolysis Of Muconic Acid And Formic Acid Salts, Laura Duran

Honors College

Lignocellulosic biomass is emerging as a sustainable resource for the production of alternative liquid fuels. As the need to lessen dependence on petroleum sources grows, lignocellulosic feedstocks are being investigated as a renewable, abundant source of energy. Chemical pulping processes include a high-lignin by-product, black liquor, which is already used for fuel in industry. Black liquor is burned to generate steam and electricity and to recover pulping chemicals. Currently, the thermochemical conversion of black liquor to liquid fuel is being researched at The University of Maine. In this black liquor research, an intermediate lignin-derived acid, muconic acid, and formic acid …


Collaborative Research: North East Cyberinfrastructure Consortium, Michael Eckardt Nov 2012

Collaborative Research: North East Cyberinfrastructure Consortium, Michael Eckardt

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

EPS-0918284, University of Vermont & State Agricultural College, J. L. Van Houten, linked to EPS-0918033 (University of New Hampshire), EPS-0918078 (University of Delaware), EPS-0918018 (University of Maine), EPS-0918061 (University of Rhode Island)
Collaborative Research: North East Cyberinfrastructure Consortium

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).

The North East Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (NECC) unites Maine (ME), New Hampshire (NH), Vermont (VT), Rhode Island (RI), and Delaware (DE) to support cyber-enabled research that requires analyses of large datasets. The project is organized around sharing resources, expertise and facilities in order to make cyber-enabled collaborative …


Monitoring Dynamic Spatial Fields Using Responsive Geosensor Networks, Michael Warboys, Silvia Nittel Aug 2010

Monitoring Dynamic Spatial Fields Using Responsive Geosensor Networks, Michael Warboys, Silvia Nittel

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Many environmental phenomena (e.g., changes in global levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide) can be modeled as variations of attributes over regions of space and time, called dynamic spatial fields. The goal of this project is to provide efficient ways for sensor networks to monitor such fields, and to report significant changes in them. The focus is on "qualitative" changes, such as splitting of areas or emergence of holes in a region of study. The approach is to develop qualitative and topological methods to deal with changes. Qualitative properties form a small, discrete space, whereas quantitative values form a large, continuous …


Sensors: A Novel Lateral Field Excited Acoustic Wave Sensor For Chemical And Biological Agents, John F. Vetelino, David Frankel, Carl Tripp, Paul J. Millard Nov 2009

Sensors: A Novel Lateral Field Excited Acoustic Wave Sensor For Chemical And Biological Agents, John F. Vetelino, David Frankel, Carl Tripp, Paul J. Millard

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Sensors for the sensitive and selective detection of chemical agents and a biological agent are being developed. The sensor structure consists of a piezoelectric platform that is coated with a film that selectively sorbs a chemical or biological agent of interest. The sensitivity of the sensor is embodied in the sensor platform, which consists of a quartz crystal that is excited by a lateral electric field. The exciting electrodes are placed opposite to the sensing surface, and the sensing film is attached directly to the sensor platform. This arrangement is in contrast to the standard quartz microbalance (QCM), where the …


Nirt: Developing A Nanoscale Sensing Device For Measuring The Supply Of Iron To Phytoplankton In Marine Systems, Mark L. Wells, Karen Orcutt, D. Whitney King, Carl Tripp Dec 2007

Nirt: Developing A Nanoscale Sensing Device For Measuring The Supply Of Iron To Phytoplankton In Marine Systems, Mark L. Wells, Karen Orcutt, D. Whitney King, Carl Tripp

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

There is increasing evidence that Fe has a singularly unique role in marine ecosystems, both regulating total phytoplankton production in high nitrate, low chlorophyll regions of the world, and influencing the predominant composition of the phytoplankton assemblages found in others. It is remarkable then that there is no agreement about how to define biologically available Fe, in contrast to the macronutrients nitrogen, phosphorous or silicon. Current attempts to attain predictive insights to how ocean ecosystems will influence the magnitude of climate change are blocked in large part by this question, along with an extreme shortage of data on Fe distributions …


Biomass And Biofuels In Maine: Estimating Supplies For Expanding The Forest Products Industry, Jonathan Rubin, Kate Dickerson, Jacob Kavkewitz Nov 2007

Biomass And Biofuels In Maine: Estimating Supplies For Expanding The Forest Products Industry, Jonathan Rubin, Kate Dickerson, Jacob Kavkewitz

Energy & the Environment

This paper estimates the renewable energy potential of Maine’s forest resources, and how much energy these resources could potentially provide the state. Using the most recent state-specific data available, and a methodology similar to the Billion Tons Report, we find that ethanol production from Maine’s forest residues could potentially provide 18% of Maine’s transportation (gasoline) fuels with a fermentation wood to ethanol process. Making Fischer-Tropsch diesel (F-T diesel) using forest residues can replace 39% of Maine’s petro-diesel consumption. Actual levels of biofuels that can be produced will depend on conversion factors and forestry residue removals that are subject to uncertainty.


Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project Economic Analysis Study, New England Division, United States Army Engineer Division, Acres American Incorporated Jan 1981

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project Economic Analysis Study, New England Division, United States Army Engineer Division, Acres American Incorporated

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project

The purpose of this study was to perform an economic assessment of the Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project. This was accomplished by simulating the New England electrical supply system with and without the project and making a comparison of the resultant production costs.


Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project At Dickey, Maine : Final Environmental Impact Statement, New England Division, United States Army Engineer Division Jan 1981

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project At Dickey, Maine : Final Environmental Impact Statement, New England Division, United States Army Engineer Division

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project

The Final Impact Statement is supported by all appendices from all drafts as well as supplementary information provided in Supplements to those Appendices. It comprises three volumes. Volume I is the statement volume. Volume II consists of two parts. Part I contains the comment and response portion of Section 9 for the 1977 Draft EIS. Part II contains comments and responses on the 1978 Revised Draft EIS, in addition to reproductions of the original comment letters received on the Draft Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Report and responses to these comments. Volume III, Part I contains reproductions of the original comment …


Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Transmission Project: Final Environmental Impact Statement: Appendix L, New England Division, United States Army Corps Of Engineers, United States Department Of Energy Jan 1981

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Transmission Project: Final Environmental Impact Statement: Appendix L, New England Division, United States Army Corps Of Engineers, United States Department Of Energy

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project

This draft EIS Supplement describes the environmental impacts of updated transmission plans of the Department of Energy (DOE) for the proposed Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project. Energy produced by the project is to be integrated into the New England electric system if the project is constructed.


Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project At Dickey, Maine : Final Environmental Statement, New England Division, United States Army Engineer Division Jan 1981

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project At Dickey, Maine : Final Environmental Statement, New England Division, United States Army Engineer Division

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project

This document contains those comments and responses on the Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement. It is a continuation of Volume II published by the Corps in 1978. In addition, it contains reproductions of those letters of comment received on the March 1980 Draft Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Plan, and the responses to these comments.


Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project At Dickey, Maine : Final Environmental Statement, Volume 1-4, U. S. Army Engineer Division, New England Jan 1981

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project At Dickey, Maine : Final Environmental Statement, Volume 1-4, U. S. Army Engineer Division, New England

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project

The proposed Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project in northern Maine is a multipurpose installation on the St.John River. The combination hydroelectric power and flood control project is located in Aroostook County, Maine, near the Canadian border. The two proposed earth fill dams located at Dickey are 10,200 feet in length with a maximum height of 335 feet. They would impound 7.7 million acre feet of water at a maximum pool elevation 910 feet mean sea level. A second earth filled dam located 11 miles downstream at Lincoln School would serve as a regulatory dam. It would be 2100 feet in lenqth, …


Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project Environmental Impact Statement: Appendix K: Fish & Wildlife Mitigation Plan & Impacts (Revised), New England Division, United States Army Engineer Division Jan 1980

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project Environmental Impact Statement: Appendix K: Fish & Wildlife Mitigation Plan & Impacts (Revised), New England Division, United States Army Engineer Division

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project

The proposed plan is comprised of three major segments: terrestrial, fisheries and endangered species. Each segment is essentially a self-contained unit. All costs for the three segments including land acquisition, operation and maintenance and capital equipment, are to be charged to the project and allocated to the project purposes of hydroelectric generation and flood control.


Federal Water Pollution Control Act Section "404" Evaluation For Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes, New England Division, United States Army Engineer Division, United States Army Corps Of Engineers Jan 1980

Federal Water Pollution Control Act Section "404" Evaluation For Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes, New England Division, United States Army Engineer Division, United States Army Corps Of Engineers

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project

The purpose of this report is to relate various aspects of the proposed Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Hydroelectric Project to appropriate considerations defined by Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972.


Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project Environmental Impact Statement: Appendix A: Geology And Seismology (Supplement), Walter A. Anderson, New England Division, United States Army Engineer Division Jan 1980

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project Environmental Impact Statement: Appendix A: Geology And Seismology (Supplement), Walter A. Anderson, New England Division, United States Army Engineer Division

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project

The plan was prepared for a close working relationship between the evaluation teams and the immediate availability of geochemical and geophysical data to the geologic mapping team. Those samples determined in the field to be anomalously high in heavy metals by cold extractable procedures were sent to North American Laboratories where metal content determinations were made through: atomic absorption and spectrophotometry after hot acid digestion techniques.


Fish And Wildlife Mitigation Report : Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project, Maine, New England Division, Corps Of Engineers, U. S. Army Engineer Division Jan 1980

Fish And Wildlife Mitigation Report : Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project, Maine, New England Division, Corps Of Engineers, U. S. Army Engineer Division

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project

The Dickey Lincoln School Lakes Project is a proposed multipurpose project located on the upper reaches of the St. John River in Aroostook County, Maine. Development would consist of two dams with associated reservoirs and hydroelectric generating facilities, five dikes and transmission lines. A more detailed description of the proposed project and its associated impacts is contained within the Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed project.


Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project At Dickey, Maine : Draft Supplement Environmental Impact Statement, U.S. Army Engineer Division, New England Division Jan 1980

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project At Dickey, Maine : Draft Supplement Environmental Impact Statement, U.S. Army Engineer Division, New England Division

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project

The purpose of this Draft Supplement (SDEIS) to the Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement (RDEIS) is to evaluate the environmental impacts of the Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Plan proposed for Implementation in conjunction with development of the Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project, Maine (Appendix K, RDEIS and Attachment 1 of the Report). Although the mitigation plan is intended to mitigate rather than impose adverse environmental impacts, the mitigation measures proposed do constitute a major Federal action requiring the development of a supplemental environmental impact statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.


Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes, Maine, Hydro-Power Decision, October 27, 1978, James B. Longley Jan 1978

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes, Maine, Hydro-Power Decision, October 27, 1978, James B. Longley

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project

The Dickey-Lincoln School Project would consist of two earthfill structures designed to produce peaking and modest intermediate load power from the St. John River The larger of the two dams, the Dickey Dam, would be located immediately above the confluence of the Allagash and St. John Rivers. The Lincoln School Dam would also be located on the Upper St. John River, eleven miles downstream from the Dickey Dam. The Dickey Dam would have a total length of 10,600 feet and a maximum height of 335 feet. The Lincoln School Dam is considerably smaller and would be 1,600 feet long and …


Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project Environmental Impact Statement: Appendix F: Terrestrial Ecosystem Analysis (Supplement), New England Division, United States Army Engineer Division Jan 1978

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project Environmental Impact Statement: Appendix F: Terrestrial Ecosystem Analysis (Supplement), New England Division, United States Army Engineer Division

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project

Construction of the proposed Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project in Aroostook County, Maine will result in the isolation of an area of land due to the impoundment behind Dickey Dam. This land area is located between the United States - Canadian border, the Little Black River, the impoundment (elevation = 913 feet), the Big Black River, and the Shields Branch of the Big Black River, and comprises 183,768 acres of land. A previous report (ERT, 1977) determined the forest types within two miles of the impoundment but did not extend to the Canadian border. This report addresses the forest types


Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project Environmental Impact Statement: Appendix E: Aquatic Ecosystem And Fisheries Studies (Supplement), Christoipher J. Schmitt, Dennis R. Sasseville, Normandeau Associates, Inc., New England Division, United States Army Engineer Division Jan 1978

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project Environmental Impact Statement: Appendix E: Aquatic Ecosystem And Fisheries Studies (Supplement), Christoipher J. Schmitt, Dennis R. Sasseville, Normandeau Associates, Inc., New England Division, United States Army Engineer Division

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project

Sediment mercury concentrations higher than levels normall y considered trace or background were encountered up to 80 cm belo w the sediment-water interface in samples obtained from four oligotrophi c lakes in northern Maine . These lakes are in three different watershed s and are as far as 65 km apart . The values reported are far lower than levels reported elsewhere from contaminated sites . The distributio n and magnitude of the sediment concentrations encountered suggest long-ter m diffuse mercury inputs to the lakes from the watersheds . In addition , concentrations up to twice as high in near-surface …


Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project Environmental Impact Statement: Appendix G: Recreation Resources (Revised June 1978), U.S. Army, Corps Of Engineers, New England Division, Northern Maine Regional Planning Commission, Land Use Consultants, Inc. Jan 1978

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project Environmental Impact Statement: Appendix G: Recreation Resources (Revised June 1978), U.S. Army, Corps Of Engineers, New England Division, Northern Maine Regional Planning Commission, Land Use Consultants, Inc.

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project

The purpose of this report is to evaluate and describe the existing recreational use and resources of the project area and the encompassing study area and to project the future use of those resources both with and without the Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project. The primary impact area of the proposed project (project area) includes the St. John River watershed upstream of the proposed damsites to the confluence of Nine-mile Brook. The area is bounded by the watershed divide with the Allagash River on the east and the Canadian Border on the west. Major tributaries of the St. John affected by …