Engineering Commons^™

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.

Rickettsia Africae Discovered In A Short-Term Urban Traveller To South Africa: A Case Report, Zunairah Sikder

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

Rickettsia Africae is a pathogen that causes African tick-bite fever (ATBF). Transmission typically occurs from ticks within the Central and South African regions. Previous studies suggested that ATBF is not uncommon amongst travelers to rural sub-Saharan Africa, especially during the rainy months of November through April. However, this case report highlights a woman who contracted ATBF in novel conditions. The 70-year-old woman reported travelling strictly to and from the local church and hotel for her four-day stay in July. After returning to America, the patient experienced extreme irritation on her arm, as well as complaints of headaches. She presented to …

Artificial Intelligence Decision Support And Pilot Performance, Aarohi Srivastava

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into aviation decision support systems (DSS) introduces new opportunities for pilots. While these systems offer considerable benefits, ensuring safe and optimal human-AI interaction requires further research. In the case of student pilots, trust calibration, system transparency, and appropriate reliance are all factors that influence the operational success of an integrated AI system. The systems are designed with the goal of decreasing cognitive workload, increasing situational awareness (SA), and providing data-based recommendations to help the pilot make quick and accurate decisions. This study will evaluate the effects of disclosed vs undisclosed AI accuracy on student …

Investigation Of Bio-Inspired Design Tools In Satellites, Spoorti Nanjamma

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

This study investigates the application of Biologically Inspired Design (BID) tools within student-led satellite design teams, with the goal of enhancing early-stage systems engineering practices. As CubeSat missions become increasingly complex and resource-constrained, there is a need for approaches that support innovative yet structured problem-solving. While BID has shown promise in other engineering domains, its practical integration into satellite design, remains limited. To address this gap, three interactive workshops were developed and implemented with a Embry-Riddle Aeronautical university CubeSat team – Project COMET. The first workshop focused on functional decomposition, guiding students to express subsystem behavior in verb–noun form and …

Quantitative Analysis Of A Single Operator’S Flight Behavior In Simulation, Zackrey Schraeder

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS), or more commonly known as drones, have become increasingly used for a variety of applications, and more research has emerged studying the human-machine interaction and pilot performance metrics. Current research focuses on desired behaviors or aggregated pilot data which does not provide a holistic picture of an individual pilot’s flight behaviors, which are shaped by their own experience, preferences, and risk tolerance. The study investigates whether an individual pilot’s flight behaviors can be considered a pattern or if there is enough flight-to-flight variability to consider the behaviors inconsistent. A series of 20 flights were conducted in …

Exploring Generation Z Pilots' Approach To Training Automation: An Interview Study, Mary Bender

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Introduction. Today's pilots learn to fly on aircraft with sophisticated automated systems, such as the G1000. Although automation can reduce workload, over-relying on this technology can lead to decreased situational awareness, complacency, and a loss in manual flying skills (Parasuraman, 2000; Parasuraman et al., 2000; Parasuraman & Wickens, 2017; Taylor et al., 2020). Instructor pilots, in turn, are faced with the challenge of teaching students how to leverage a system that can affect their performance, both positively and negatively. The purpose of this study was to explore the strategies and challenges that instructor pilots face when training students on automation. …

Is Lane Splitting/Lane Filtering Safe Or Dangerous?, Anastacio Doucas Nolas, Sierra Juliano, Shawn De La Osa, Kimberly R. Williamson

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

This course-based research project examines whether lane splitting and lane filtering are inherently dangerous or whether their safety depends on human factors and traffic conditions. Using published crash, behavioral, and policy literature, the project compares how these motorcycle maneuvers affect riders and other road users across different roadway environments. The analysis distinguishes lane splitting, which occurs between moving lanes of traffic, from lane filtering, which typically occurs at low speeds in stopped or slow traffic queues. Findings suggest that safety cannot be explained by the maneuver alone. Instead, outcomes are shaped by speed differential, driver perception failures, rider workload, intersection …

Catalyst: A Unified Framework For Orbital Debris Risk, Conjunction Analysis, And Space Policy, Tyler Barr

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Catalyst is an analyst grade mission console and offline simulation service that operationalizes the Embry Riddle MIT Orbital Capacity Assessment Toolbox Monte Carlo (E-MOCAT-MC) for Space Situational Awareness (SSA) aligned assessment, connecting scenario assumptions to time tagged events, quantitative stability indicators, and evidence preserving exports. E-MOCAT-MC serves as the authoritative generator of seeded scenario runs under explicit configuration control, ingesting locally served Two Line Element sets (TLEs) and persisting each run as a structured record containing configuration data, stochastic seeds, event logs, derived metrics, and replayable artifacts for deterministic analysis. Unlike systems that primarily visualize TLEs and object tracks, Catalyst …

Human Factors Challenges In Automated Flight Operations, Jorge Ivan Gonzalez Rivera, Zoe Guyette, Emma Hatten, Katie Huynh, Benjamin Marsh

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Automation complacency, a critical aviation hazard, is commonly seen amongst flight crews in high-automation commercial flight decks. This issue occurs when over-reliance on automated systems leads to a decline in manual flying expertise and situational awareness, posing a severe risk of loss of control in-flight (LOC-I) and catastrophic accidents. To bridge the safety gap between current operational demands for efficiency and the regulatory requirement for pilot proficiency, this study proposes the Manual Flight Compliance and Monitoring System (MFCMS). This solution integrates engineering and administrative controls to reduce automation-related risks by mandating 15 minutes of manual flight per hour during cruise …

Multimodal Interpretation Of Pilot–Controller Communications For Runway Safety Assurance And Enhanced Atc Situational Awareness., Chaebin Song, Juin Park

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Recent runway safety events have highlighted the importance of accurate and timely interpretation of pilot–controller communications, especially in complex airport environments where aircraft and ground vehicles interact on or near active movement areas. In light of the recent LaGuardia Airport collision, which has drawn attention to communication, coordination, and surface safety challenges, this project investigates how multimodal data can support air traffic controllers’ situational awareness and safety assurance. This study develops an in-progress framework that combines Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) of pilot–controller radio communications with ADS-B trajectory data to improve interpretation of operational intent and cross-check communications against observed aircraft …

Applying The Hfacs Framework: A Case Study Of Air Florida Flight 90, Ashley Perez-Galvan, Cenk Altinkum, Ryan Hunt

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Applying the HFACS Framework: A Case Study of Air Florida Flight 90 Abstract   This study applies the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), a widely used safety framework for identifying human and organizational contributors to accidents to examine the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 crash on January 13, 1982. The accident occurred shortly after takeoff from Washington National Airport during severe winter weather, when the aircraft failed to gain sufficient lift and impacted a bridge before entering the Potomac River.   The goal this analysis is to understand how multiple layers of human and organizational factors contributed to this …

The Impact Of Environmental Contributing Factors In Spatial Disorientation And Non-Spatial Disorientation Related General Aviation Accidents, Victoria Cornaro, Molly Mersinger

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

The Impact of Environmental Contributing Factors in Spatial Disorientation and Non-Spatial Disorientation Related General Aviation Accidents   Spatial disorientation (SD) is an inherent risk of flying and with a high risk of resulting in a fatal accident (Gibbs et al, 2011). SD related accidents occur when a pilot’s perception of the aircraft altitude, position, or relative motion conflict with reality (Benson, 1999). SD accidents are significantly more likely to result in a fatality than non-SD cases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of different contributing factors on SD and non-SD general aviation accidents. We used the NTSB …

Customization That Clicks: Human Factors Evaluation Of A User-Centered Vehicle Customization System, Noah Clark, Shawn Mathura, Sarah Bailey, Paul Seal, Brandon Ibarra, Kailey Hrbek, Carissa Aumack, Kevin Sun, Olivia Honan, Kelly Nguyen, Caroline Deck, Brandon D. Dreslin

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Older adults (OAs) and drivers with disabilities (DwDs) often encounter challenges when customizing vehicle features (e.g., seat adjustment, lighting, climate control) because existing human-machine interfaces (HMIs) may not be designed to accommodate diverse sensory, motor, and cognitive capabilities. HarmonIQ is a biometric-based, user-centered vehicle customization system designed to improve accessibility and inclusivity for OAs and DwDs, developed by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in collaboration with Bethune-Cookman University (BCU). This research, supported in part by the EcoCAR Electric Vehicle Challenge, builds on Fall 2024 proofs-of-concept and Spring 2025 initial development of HarmonIQ and its components, namely the driver profile software and …

Simplified Flight Controls For Urban Air Mobility (Uam), Sierra Martinez, Frank Cunningham Iv, Nicole Giordano, Olivia Honan, Katie Stubits, Heather Bond, Paul Seal, Brandon Ibarra

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Air taxis are meant to perform short-distance, lower-altitude flights in challenging terrain- whether it be maneuvering around skyscrapers in urban areas, or for emergency responders in remote, difficult to access areas. It is paramount that the control system is intuitive and user friendly, since air taxi pilots will likely receive less training than commercial airline pilots. The Human Factors Department is working to advance Urban Air Mobility (UAM) initiatives by evaluating alternative inceptors (ie. control systems) that might be used in Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) air taxi designs. The controller itself needs to have specific and distinct enough operations …

Nasa Micro-G Next Adjustable Tool Cart Handle, Lauren Manges, Montgomery Tompkins, Mira Giunta, Lucas Pulliam, Aaron Vera-Rodriguez, Abbigail Dipalma, Justin Campos

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Effectiveness, reliability, and dust resistance are essential for astronaut tools operating on the lunar surface, where vacuum exposure, temperature extremes, and abrasive regolith present severe design challenges. The 2026 NASA Micro-g NExT ATCH Challenge calls for a height-adjustable handle that accommodates the full anthropometric range of suited astronauts while maintaining mechanical durability in dusty conditions. Team Lunarticks presents L.A.T.C.H. (Locking Adjustable Telescoping Cart Handle)—a lightweight, ergonomic, and regolith-resistant device engineered for use during Artemis III surface operations. The handle adjusts between 35–47 inches, enabling astronauts from the 1st to 99th percentile to maneuver the tool cart comfortably and efficiently. A …

Policy Brief: Satellite Resiliency Against Nuclear Detonation In Space, Brianna Johnshon, Samantha Harper, Tyler Thompson

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

The deployment of nuclear weapons in space poses an arms challenge that is both critically important and inherently ambiguous. Although Article IV of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (OST) explicitly prohibits placing nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit (UNOOSA, 1966), recent developments suggest that this prohibition is not absolute. In 2024, the U.S. and Japan brought concerns regarding WMD in space to the UN Security Council, calling on states to work to prevent an arms race in space and agree not to place nuclear weapons and WMD in orbit (United Nations Security Council, 2024). However, this …

Case Study - China Airlines Flight 006, Jaxon Daniels, Ryan Lutwin, Jacob Patterson, Elizabeth Bosan, Ronyn Orrell

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

On February 19, 1985, China Airlines Flight 006, a regularly scheduled flight from Taipei, Taiwan, to Los Angeles, California, experienced a serious in-flight upset while cruising at high altitude. The aircraft subsequently entered a steep, uncontrolled spiral dive, during which it experienced extreme G-forces and sustained structural damage. After regaining control, the crew diverted the aircraft to San Francisco International Airport, where it landed safely (National Transportation Safety Board, 1986). The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) framework helps to identify and analyse the organizational elements and conditions that lead to aviation accidents (Small, 2020). Aviation accidents are not …

Fatigue And Circadian Disruption In Long-Haul Ferry Pilots: Human Factors Challenges And Mitigation Strategies, Parneet Makkar

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Fatigue and circadian rhythm disruption present significant human factors challenges in long-haul aviation operations, particularly for ferry pilots (pilots responsible for transporting aircraft long distances between locations) who often travel across multiple time zones before beginning flight duties. Circadian rhythms regulate the human sleep-wake cycle and are closely tied to cognitive performance, alertness, and coordination. Rapid travel across time zones can disrupt these rhythms, producing symptoms commonly associated with jet lag such as sleep disturbances, fatigue, and reduced cognitive functioning. For ferry pilots, long travel periods and irregular schedules may increase the likelihood of fatigue before flight operations even begin. …

Greenwall Use For Air Repair And Depollution (G.U.A.R.D.), Sophia Elwood, Sophia Piro, Maura Barrada, Kathrine Lopez, Wendi Goffer

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Creating habitable indoor environments for long-duration space missions and extraterrestrial habitats requires reliable, sustainable air quality improvement. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s ACE Lab provides a unique opportunity to investigate plant-based purification in a controlled environment while addressing campus air quality concerns linked to a high-traffic airport and exposure to jet fuel particulate matter and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This collaborative project between Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering researchers and the Botanical Society evaluates whether a green wall can improve indoor air quality as a scalable model for future closed-loop habitats. In the study's first phase, student researchers documented ACE Lab dimensions to …

Fall Hazard Prevention: A Zero-Fatality Goal For Health, Safety, And Well-Being On Construction Sites, Alena Richardson, Chaidaliz Minguela Alicea, Nicola Kaehler, Charlene Weaver

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Jobsites face hazards like falls, which threaten the health, safety, and well-being of construction workers. Falls are the leading cause of all accidents and fatalities in construction, accounting for approximately 40% of all worker deaths in 2023. While achieving a zero-accident rate for falls is inherently challenging, prioritizing a zero-fatality objective represents a practical and impactful starting point. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recommends a six-step action approach for the prevention and control of hazards like falls. Of particular interest, the State of Florida is consistently ranked among the highest for construction fall fatalities, often attributed to insufficient …

The Electric Crackdown: Exploring The Human Factors Impacts Of Controls & Displays In Evs Across The Market, Rae Okada, Robin Hanen, Liam Brennan

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Title: The Electric Crackdown: Exploring the Human Factors Impacts of Controls & Displays in Electric Vehicles Across the Market   Despite a global adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) with partial driving automation (i.e., advanced driver assistance systems; ADAS), differences exist at societal (i.e., legislation, regulation), individual (i.e., use of), and system (i.e., vehicle-to-vehicle) levels surrounding these vehicles. While these former societal divergences can be considered based on the: (1) mechanisms promoting or limiting EV adoption, (2) number of EVs on the road, and (3) respective incident reports; system differences require investigation for each vehicle based on its make and model. In …

Bridging The Gap: Cybersecurity And Occupational Safety Frameworks In Ai Data Centers, Athena Leader

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Bridging the Gap: Cybersecurity and Occupational Safety Frameworks in AI Data Centers   As artificial intelligence infrastructure expands, AI data centers represent a critical and underexamined convergence of cybersecurity and occupational safety risk. Existing frameworks such as NIST, OSHA, and ISO standards were largely developed in isolation, leaving significant gaps in how organizations manage risks that are simultaneously digital and physical in nature. This study investigates the gaps and overlaps between cybersecurity and occupational safety frameworks as they apply specifically to AI data center environments. Drawing on a targeted literature review of established regulatory and standards-based frameworks, this research identifies where …

Mountain Development In Nepal: Settlements, Infrastructure, And Economic Transformation, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

As Nepal urbanizes, expands infrastructure, strengthens local governments, and explores deeper connectivity with India and China, climate change is increasing floods, landslides, heat, and water insecurity. Rapid internal migration, rising disaster risks, youth outmigration, and dependence on remittances are also revealing the limits of conventional urban development, especially in the mountainous region. The central challenge for Nepal is no longer just to accommodate growing towns and cities, but to build settlements that are safe, productive, environmentally resilient, and capable of sustaining long-term prosperity.

This paper argues that Nepal's urban future must be guided by a new development paradigm centered on …

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.

The Impact Of Early Exposure To Engineering Concepts In The Form Of Family, School Classes, And Stem Extracurriculars On The Long-Term Sense Of Belonging In Undergraduate Women In Engineering, Hannah Lloyd

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Engineering continues to struggle with the underrepresentation of women, and many women who begin engineering programs report feeling isolated or uncertain about whether they belong. A strong sense of belonging has been linked to greater confidence, persistence, and success in engineering. This study examined how early experiences with engineering before college may influence students' sense of belonging later in their undergraduate engineering programs.

Using survey responses from undergraduate engineering students across the United States, this study explored several types of early exposure to engineering, including family influence, school-based engineering and STEM courses, extracurricular programs such as robotics clubs and engineering …

Machine Learning For Predictive Energy And Emissions Modeling Of Vehicles And Power Grids In The United States, S M Tanvir Faysal Alam Chowdhoury

Dissertations

The environmental benefits of electric vehicle (EV) adoption depend on more than replacing internal combustion engine vehicles with electric powertrains. EV adoption reshapes electricity demand, interacts with regional generation mixes, and influences travel behavior and congestion, creating a coupled transportation-energy system in which vehicle and power-plant emissions must be evaluated together. This dissertation develops machine-learning frameworks for predicting energy consumption and emissions from vehicles and power grids under rising EV adoption. The first component forecasts grid emissions from EV charging. Using simulation data from NREL's Cambium database, a Prophet-based time-series framework predicts carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane emission rates …

Automated Battery Management Systems For Electric Vehicles, Woonki Na, Yuanyuan Xie

Mineta Transportation Institute

Electric vehicle (EV) safety, efficiency, and lifetime are strongly influenced by how well battery cells are managed, and as EV adoption accelerates, improving battery performance has become critical to vehicle reliability, cost, and public trust. This report conducts a field study on the core technologies and challenges in Battery Management Systems (BMS), focusing on the classification of BMS circuit topologies (design/structures) and systematically reviewing different topologies of active cell balancing circuits (systems that move energy from stronger battery cells to weaker ones). The study provides a detailed analysis of the working principles, advantages, and disadvantages of various active balancing circuit …

Predicting Student Belonging In Computing Education: A Multimodal Machine Learning Approach Using Eeg And Survey Data, Hannah Moshtaghi

Master's Theses

Measuring students’ sense of belonging, characterized by feelings of acceptance, inclusion, and encouragement from teachers, remains a significant challenge in computing education. Prior research has associated this multidimensional construct with positive academic outcomes and has identified instructors’ growth- and fixed-mindset messaging as a potential influence. However, belonging is a complex and deeply personal experience that is difficult to capture through direct observation alone. Current measurement methods rely on self-report surveys, which may not capture every aspect of an experience that can also involve emotional and cognitive responses.

This thesis investigates whether combining EEG data recorded during a belonging questionnaire with …

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 …

Ascc-M Based Transformational Education Model For Enhancing Carbon Literacy And Agroecological Resilience Among Rural Farmers, Alya Dwi Arianty, Fitria Fatichatul Hidayah, Eny Winaryati, Rica Mae Badilla Guarin

Jurnal Pendidikan Geografi: Kajian, Teori, dan Praktek dalam Bidang Pendidikan dan Ilmu Geografi

Climate change has become a major ecological and social challenge affecting food security and agricultural sustainability worldwide. The agricultural sector significantly contributes to carbon emissions through fertilizer use and land conversion, particularly in developing countries. This study aims to conceptualize a place-based, technology-enhanced Transformational Education Model grounded in Agro-Smart Carbon Capture Microbiome (ASCC-M) technology, designed to strengthen rural farmers' carbon literacy and agroecological resilience while advancing geography education through deeper understanding of human–environment interactions, spatial agricultural processes, and climate-related dynamics within real rural landscapes. The research employed conceptual design through systematic literature review and model development, integrating theories of transformative …