Engineering Commons^™

Enhancing Agricultural Sustainability Under Climate Change: A Multi-Scale Framework Integrating Climate Extremes, Resource Efficiency, And Data-Driven Modeling, Shahryar Fazli

Computational and Data Sciences (PhD) Dissertations

Agricultural systems are increasingly challenged by climate variability, where shifting temperature regimes, hydrological variability, and the rising frequency of compound and cascading extremes threaten global food security and resource sustainability. Addressing these challenges requires integrated frameworks that bridge biophysical monitoring, predictive modeling, and adaptive decision-making. This dissertation develops a data-driven, multi-scale framework to quantify and enhance agricultural resilience by integrating remote sensing, climate analytics, and machine learning across the United States, with a focus on California and the Western U.S.

First, hyperspectral and thermal remote sensing data from EMIT and OpenET are integrated to characterize crop nitrogen–water interactions and assess …

Evolving Ai Integration In Complex Medical Decision-Making And Multidisciplinary Transplant Care: A Systematic Review Of Human-Ai Collaboration, Rachel L. Dzieran, Cihan H. Dagli, Robert J. Marley

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Purpose of Review: Artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare has evolved dramatically from early expert systems, which were initially considered replacements for clinical judgment, to today's collaborative frameworks that aim to augment physician decision-making. This evolution is particularly crucial in domains such as transplant surgery, where decisions carry irreversible consequences and require the integration of complex, often ambiguous data. Drawing on peer-reviewed literature from 2019 to 2025, we conducted a systematic review that analyzed key elements distinguishing successful human-AI partnerships from those that fail. Recent Findings: The ideal balance incorporates human expertise into AI systems through weighted integration approaches, rather than …

Engineers Without Borders Lunch & Learn Presentation, Brian Roth, Ruben Yoder, Phoenix Professional Chapter

International Education Week

Discover how engineering can help address challenges and improve lives around the world. Learn from Engineers Without Borders students and professionals about their global work, community partnerships, and opportunities to get involved.

Mind The Hazard: Modeling And Interpreting Comfort With Personalized Sensing, Yufei Zhang, Matteo Favero, Patrick Chwalek, Sailin Zhong, Denis Lalanne, A. Joseph Paradiso, Clayton Miller, Andrew Sonta

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Recent advances in personalized sensing and comfort feedback have spurred the development of data-driven comfort models tailored to individual needs. However, because current models treat sequential comfort feedback independently, they are subject to unstable predictions and limited interpretability, hindering their deployment in building management. This study introduces a dynamic modeling framework that utilizes a Neural Ordinary Differential Equations-based Continuous-time Markov Chain to model the transitions in comfort states over time. Our modeling approach, developed through a field study utilizing smart glasses and mobile app feedback, tracks occupants' comfort transitions across daily activities and contexts. The results demonstrate that this model …

A Philosophical Introduction To Elements And Relations: Aspects Of A Scientific Metaphysics, Martin Zwick

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

My book, Elements and Relations*, amplifies Bunge’s characterization of the systems project as the construction an “exact and scientific metaphysics” (ESM) different from and broader than the reductionist and physicalist ontology of conventional science. This paper discusses the scientific theories constituting this project and the central notion of “system” as a structure-function dyad, where “structure” is the system’s internal order and “function” is its participation in the external order of its environment. The paper also discusses the book’s proposal of ontology and ethics as a structure-function dyad for the systems field, an ontology of problems that exemplifies the ESM idea.

Propuesta Metodológica Para La Evaluación De La Pobreza Energética En Chiapas, México, Mario Alejandro Sánchez Trujillo, Pascual López De Paz, Marcelino García Benítez, Amina El Mekaoui, Bassam Alí, Jesús Francisco Escalante Euán

Journal of Maya Heritage

Resumen. El acceso inequitativo e insuficiente a servicios energéticos de calidad constituye uno de los principales obstáculos para el desarrollo socioeconómico y el bienestar humano en México, siendo el estado de Chiapas una de las entidades con mayor vulnerabilidad socioambiental. Este trabajo presenta una propuesta metodológica cuantitativa y geoespacial para evaluar la pobreza energética de las siete subprovincias fisiográficas de Chiapas. La metodología combina datos de censos de población y vivienda 2020 (INEGI), la estandarización Min-Max, el análisis de correlación de Pearson y el análisis de componentes principales (PCA) para la construcción de un índice de pobreza energética (IPE) multidimensional. …

Forging “The Backbone Of The Blue Sky”: Pathways For Enhancing Independent Innovation Capability Of China’S Commercial Aircraft Industry, Qianshu Shi, Chao Zhang, Quan Cheng

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Advancing indigenous innovation in China’s commercial aircraft industry is essential for strengthening the country’s high-end equipment manufacturing capabilities and enhancing the technological self-reliance of its aviation sector. China has achieved notable progress in key technological breakthroughs, industrial system development, and commercial operational validation. Nevertheless, gaps remain between China and the world’s leading aviation powers, owing primarily to an insufficient supply of original advances from fundamental research, underdeveloped mechanisms linking collaborative innovation activities, limited capacity for the independent iteration of core systems, and inadequate accumulation of lifecycle data. Strengthening fundamental aeronautical research is therefore critical to overcoming these constraints. Drawing on …

Breaking Through Bottleneck In Overseas Expansion Of China’S Commercial Aircraft: Pathways For Business Model Innovation, Mengru Dong, Chaofeng Huang, Chao Zhang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The overseas expansion of China’s commercial aircraft is a strategic choice for building manufacturing power, transportation power, and aviation powerhouse. Business model innovation serves as a crucial means to enable these aircraft to overcome international competition barriers and accelerate their overseas expansion. Based on the analysis of the urgency of the overseas expansion of China’s commercial aircraft and the necessity of business model innovation, this study systematically reviews the main business models for the overseas expansion of global commercial aircraft, including the complete aircraft sales model, the collaborative operation model, and the full life cycle service model. Furthermore, based on …

Current Status, Challenges, And Countermeasures For Airworthiness Certification Of China’S Large Homegrown Aircraft, Liming Ge, Mingda Yang, Zixuan Liu, Yichen Wang, Jing Deng

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The airworthiness certification of domestically produced large aircraft serves as both a crucial foundation for achieving self-reliance and independent control over China’s aviation industry chain and a key support for deep participation in the governance of global civil aviation rules. Currently, the airworthiness certification system has taken initial shape, localized infrastructure networks are gradually improving, and the benefits of a super-large market are continuously being realized, effectively facilitating the successful large-scale commercial operation of the C919 airplane. The development of domestic large aircraft families places greater demands on certification resource coordination and airworthiness management throughout the aircraft life cycle. However, …

International Experiences, Lessons, And Implications For Development Of Commercial Aircraft Industry, Chaofeng Huang, Cuilin Wu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The commercial aircraft industry serves as a cornerstone for building a strong aviation country, a new engine driving economic growth, and a core carrier for upgrading the aviation industrial structure. Over more than 70 years of global industrial evolution, commercial aircraft development programs in most countries have encountered bottlenecks and withdrawn from the market, resulting in a duopoly dominated by the United States and Europe, which has accumulated abundant practical experience and historical lessons. At present, China’s commercial aircraft industry has entered a new phase of large‑scale production and international expansion. Nevertheless, it still faces challenges including bottlenecks in key …

China’S Semiconductor Supply Chain Landscape And Strategies For Enhancing Global Competitiveness, Su Zhang, Ziyan Yang, Yifan Sun, Yan Xia, Huijuan Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Against the backdrop of accelerating global digital transformation, intelligent upgrades, and intensifying geopolitical competition, the semiconductor supply chain has become the focal point of global technological, economic, and security dynamics. This study systematically examines the evolution of the global semiconductor supply chain, assesses security risks in China’s semiconductor industry, and analyzes the impact of China-US semiconductor decoupling using a hypothesis extraction approach. Based on these findings, it proposes strategic pathways to enhance China’s semiconductor competitiveness. Key findings include the following: (1) The global semiconductor supply chain exhibits both “regional concentration” and “industry fragmentation”. The US and Europe dominate upstream segments, …

Research On The Early Warning Model Of Online Public Opinion Risk Based On Cross-Social-Media Platforms, Tiejun Cheng, Tong Wang, Jianxiang Wei, Lanping Feng

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance] Under the influence of cross-social media interactions, online public opinion can ferment simultaneously across different media platforms, deeply interact, and resonate multiple times, which is more likely to trigger a chain reaction of risks or even new types of risks. Therefore, it is significant to analyze the interactive influence of risks based on cross-social media public opinion data to promote the management of online public opinion towards preemptive prevention and early warning. [Method/process] Firstly, based on the analysis of the risk characteristics of cross-social media public opinion, a risk early warning indicator system for cross-social media online public opinion …

Technical, Environmental And Institutional Readiness For Nuclear Power Deployment In Seismically Active Power Systems, King Harold A. Recto, Izech Brian O. Edwin

Electronics, Computer, and Communications Engineering Faculty Publications

The deployment of nuclear power in seismically active power systems presents significant engineering, environmental, and institutional challenges. Although nuclear energy offers a low-carbon option capable of supporting long-term energy transition goals, its adoption requires careful evaluation of readiness factors beyond reactor technology alone. This study investigates the technical, environmental, and institutional determinants influencing nuclear power deployment in seismically active regions. A systematic review of engineering, environmental, and policy literature was conducted to identify key factors affecting nuclear energy integration, including grid capacity requirements, seismic safety considerations, hydrological conditions for reactor cooling, and long-term radioactive waste management strategies. These factors are …

Could 'Real Existing Ai' Be Sentient?, Tim Crane

Animal Sentience

Jonathan Birch is rightly sceptical about the idea that today’s AI machines (e.g. LLMs) are candidates for sentience. Nonetheless, he gives three reasons for taking the future possibility of AI sentience seriously. I dispute them all. Birch fails to distinguish the very idea of an artificial mind from computational AI (what I call ‘Real Existing AI’); he does not adequately distinguish a simulation from a replica or copy; and he fails to acknowledge that the appeal to computational functionalism in this context is straightforwardly question-begging.

The Algorithmic Narcissus: Ai Validation And The Atrophy Of The 'Athletic' Social Self, Ilham Phalosa Reswara, Anggi Mayangsari

Jurnal Psikologi Sosial

Artificial intelligence systems designed around continuous affirmation and minimal friction are becoming increasingly prominent as social and relational partners in everyday life. This article examines how sustained interaction with such frictionless AI systems may reshape the developmental conditions under which social selfhood forms and is maintained. Drawing on Cooley's (1902) looking glass self, Kohut's (1971) concept of optimal frustration, and the developmental literature on social competence, the article argues that frictionless AI may distort the social mirror through which identity forms, remove the manageable frustration that appears necessary for psychological growth, weaken empathic capacity, and erode the social stakes that …

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 …

Reducing Drag Of Vehicles With Half-Stepped Cylinder Surfaces Part I: Numerical Optimization, Ryan Moffit, Hamid Rahai, Komal Gada

Mineta Transportation Institute

Aerodynamic drag is a major source of energy loss for vehicles, increasing fuel consumption, reducing the driving range of electric vehicles, and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. For a vehicle, the major components of its drag are pressure and viscous drag. Engineers have developed a variety of strategies to reduce drag, including streamlined vehicle designs, surface modifications, and devices that alter airflow around the vehicle. This research focuses on reducing the viscous drag. Specifically, this study investigates whether microscopic surface features called half-stepped cylinder arrays can reduce skin friction by altering the turbulent boundary layer and promoting smoother airflow near …

Hands-On Ransomware: An Experiential Wannacry Case Study For Undergraduate Cybersecurity Education, Eli Creek Richmond, Thomas R. Devine

Military Cyber Affairs

Ransomware represents one of the most disruptive threats in the cyber landscape, yet hands-on malware analysis remains rare in undergraduate cybersecurity curricula. This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of an experiential learning module centered on the WannaCry ransomware case study, deployed in a senior-level course at West Virginia University. Students performed static and dynamic analysis using industry-standard tools. Pre- and post-module assessments demonstrated measurable gains in self-reported competency across seven technical dimensions. The module's competencies align directly with DoD Cyber Workforce Framework Work Role 212, Cyber Defense Forensics Analyst, supporting education-to-workforce pipeline development.

From Framework To Toolchain: Implementing Zero Trust Architecture In Cloud-Native Environments For Dow Compliance, Shelby C. Snyder

Military Cyber Affairs

Federal agencies face a fiscal year 2027 target for enterprise-wide Zero Trust deployment, but NIST SP 800-207A defines logical components without identifying the Kubernetes technologies that implement them. This paper proposes a three-tier mapping of the Policy Engine, Policy Administrator, and Policy Enforcement Point to service mesh, microsegmentation, and perimeter tooling, stating the criteria by which each component is classified. It then applies a defined rubric to six Zero Trust vendors across component alignment, Kubernetes capability, federal authorization posture, and evidence quality, finding that no single vendor covers all three tiers. The mapping is a testable architectural proposition; a Stage …

Hybrid Deep (Cnn-Bilstm) Intrusion Detection For Defense And Mission-Critical Networks, Corey A Cheng, Jermaine Anim-Addo, Asma Jakir Hussain, Zion O Smith-Fox, Sanjay Goel, Yuksel Celik

Military Cyber Affairs

This article examines how hybrid deep learning can strengthen intrusion detection for military and defense networks. Using the CSE-CIC-IDS2018 dataset, the study evaluates a CNN-BiLSTM model designed to detect benign traffic and multiple attack categories, including DDoS, DoS, botnet, brute-force, web attack, and infiltration activity. The model achieved strong multi-class detection performance, with 0.9893 accuracy and 0.9979 ROC-AUC. The findings suggest that AI-supported intrusion detection can improve cyber defense operations, analyst triage, and protection of mission-critical networks.

Foreward, Todd Arnold

Military Cyber Affairs

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Director: Mastery In Practice, Joseph Schafer

Military Cyber Affairs

No abstract provided.

Main Challenges To China’S Scientific Research Instrument Innovation From Perspective Of The United States Export Controls, Jing Li, Daixie Chen, Qinghua Lin, Guohua Xiao

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

China has long been heavily dependent on imports of scientific research instruments, making this sector particularly vulnerable to intensified technological containment by the United States and other Western countries and their efforts to maintain technological dominance. Since the Donald Trump’s tenure as the 45th president of the United States began in 2017, the United States has frequently used export controls to suppress China’s scientific and technological progress, posing great security risks to China. Based on a review of the development of scientific research instrument innovation in China, this article analyzes the updates and trends of the United States export controls …

Empirical Study Of Impact Of National Science And Technology Program On Development Of New Energy Vehicle Industry, Dan Du, Xiaoyong Shi, Yong Cao, Yang Yang, Yao Yang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The national science and technology program serves as the primary instrument for the government to support scientific and technological innovation through financial funding. This study employs impact assessment methods to conduct an empirical study on the path of technological development in the field of new energy vehicles and its economic impact supported by the national science and technology program, and explores the role of scientific and technological support in forming new quality productive forces. It was found that the task layout of the national science and technology program has expanded from the midstream of the industrial chain to both upstream …

From Disaster To Resilience: Developing Smart Settlements In The Himalayas, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

Nepal’s catastrophic 26 August 2026 Bhote Koshi–Trishuli flood should be understood not only as a humanitarian tragedy but also as a potentially major turning point in updating national settlement and reconstruction policy. Engineers and scientists have described the floods as a glacier–bedrock collapse that triggered an ice-rock avalanche and debris flow. As per the live updates on September 7, 2026, the total death toll was 1,355, and 4,996 people were missing (The Hindu, 2026). Indian and Nepali rescuers worked urgently to locate and rescue people buried under hydropower tunnels, buildings, mud, and landslide debris.

UN News reported on September 3, …

From Himalayan Catastrophe To National Resilience: Lessons From The 2026 Bhote Koshi And Trishuli River Floods In Nepal, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

On the morning of 26 August 2026, the mountains above Nepal’s northern frontier delivered a disaster of almost unimaginable speed and scale. A massive mass of ice, rock, and sediment detached in the high Himalayan terrain near the Nepal–Tibet border, descended roughly 1,200 metres, interacted with the Lhende Khola system, and generated a debris-rich flood that surged through the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river corridors, destroying settlements, markets, roads, bridges, hydropower facilities, and an international border crossing and transforming them into fields of mud, boulders, and wreckage within minutes (ICIMOD, 2026b; Reuters, 2026a). Satellite analysis indicates that a substantial section …

Notes For The Contributors, Space & Defense

Space and Defense

No abstract provided.

The Global Chessboard: Strategic Deterrence In A New Era Of Great Power Competition, The 66th Annual Academy Assembly

Space and Defense

The 66th annual Academy Assembly brought together twenty-seven student delegates from civilian institutions and sister military service academies to discuss urgent issues in national affairs. This national student congress was held during March 3-5, 2026 and produced the following committee reports.

Critical Strategic Deterrence Questions For Today, Keith B. Payne

Space and Defense

r. Payne visited the U.S. Air Force Academy to offer keynote remarks at a national student congress, the 66th Academy Assembly, held during March 3-5,2026 and dedicated to the topic of the Global Chessboard: Strategic Deterrence in a New Era of Great Power Competition. Dr. Payne is co-founder of the National Institute for Public Policy, former Department Head at the Graduate School of Defense and Strategic Studies, Missouri State University, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, and former Senior Advisor to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He has authored or co-authored over 230 published articles and 50 …

Death Of Battlefield Hide-And-Seek, Lily Cheatham

Space and Defense

For the past twenty years, the stealth regime defined military thinking, prioritizing technologies and tactics designed to evade enemy defense systems. Ensuring radar invisibility and maintaining information dominance have been the keys to survival and strategic advantage. On June 21-22, 2025, the United States conducted "Operation Midnight Hammer" against Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The principal strike package included seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, whose crews flew approximately 18 hours to reach the target area and roughly 36 hours and 13,000 miles round trip. The B-2s dropped 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators on Fordow and Natanz, marking …