Engineering Commons^™

Introducing The Engineering Technology Programs To All Incoming Freshmen Engineering And Technology Students–The Result Is Better For All, Gary Crossman, Anthony Dean

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The Department of Engineering Technology at Old Dominion University participates in a freshman engineering course sequence, along with four engineering departments in the Batten College of Engineering and Technology. The two course sequence, Exploring Engineering and Technology I and II, involve the five departments in teaching at least one five week module in each of the two courses. Each department generally involves the students in a basic design project related to its discipline. Since the Department of Engineering Technology has three main programs – Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical – it has elected to divide its five week segment into three …

Nanoelectropulse-Driven Membrane Perturbation And Small Molecule Permeabilization, P. Thomas Vernier, Yinghua Sun, Martin A. Gundersen

Bioelectrics Publications

Background
Nanosecond, megavolt-per-meter pulsed electric fields scramble membrane phospholipids, release intracellular calcium, and induce apoptosis. Flow cytometric and fluorescence microscopy evidence has associated phospholipid rearrangement directly with nanoelectropulse exposure and supports the hypothesis that the potential that develops across the lipid bilayer during an electric pulse drives phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization.

Results
In this work we extend observations of cells exposed to electric pulses with 30 ns and 7 ns durations to still narrower pulse widths, and we find that even 3 ns pulses are sufficient to produce responses similar to those reported previously. We show here that in contrast to …

Variational Approach To The Volume Viscosity Of Fluids, Allan J. Zuckerwar, Robert L. Ash

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

The variational principle of Hamilton is applied to develop an analytical formulation to describe the volume viscosity in fluids. The procedure described here differs from those used in the past in that a dissipative process is represented by the chemical affinity and progress variable (sometimes called "order parameter") of a reacting species. These state variables appear in the variational integral in two places: first, in the expression for the internal energy, and second, in a subsidiary condition accounting for the conservation of the reacting species. As a result of the variational procedure, two dissipative terms appear in the Navier-Stokes equation. …

Using Rfid Technology In Collaborative Design Of The Assembly Systems, Stevan Stankovski, Gordana Ostojić, Vukica Jovanović, Branislav Stevanov

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Modern production conditions require the application of the concept of distributing production. This approach means coordinative production in a number of small and middle size companies. Multiplex products, consisting of a number of parts, components, and modules are assembled in one function unit in one company, but they may not be manufactured in one place. Huge factory and production complex, which existed in our country, comprised all phases of product lifecycle, from the development of a concept solution to the assembly. Technology of product manufacturing, resource logistics, quality control, product testing and verification of product function characteristics all represented activities …

An Assessment And Continuous Improvement Model For Engineering Technology Programs, Alok Verma, Gary Crossman

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Assessment and continuous improvement are essential and critical processes for higher education. Development and implementation of such processes are not only required by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) but it is also a necessary condition for the maturation and development of any engineering technology program. The assessment and continuous improvement plan discussed here was developed at Old Dominion University (ODU) and implemented during the last accreditation cycle within the Engineering Technology Department. The plan is based on two cycles of assessment and evaluation, a short cycle of one year and a long term cycle of three years. …

Ontological Implications Of The Levels Of Conceptual Interoperability Model, Andreas Tolk, Charles D. Turnitsa, Saikou Y. Diallo

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

The Levels of Conceptual Interoperability Model (LCIM) was developed to cope with the different layers of interoperation of modeling & simulation applications. It introduced technical, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic, dynamic, and conceptual layers of interoperation and showed how they are related to the ideas of integratability, interoperability, and composability. This paper will be presented in the invited session "Ontology Driven Interoperability for Agile Applications using Information Systems: Requirements and Applications for Agent Mediated Decision Support" at WMSCI 2006.

Plasma Membrane Voltage Changes During Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Field Exposure, W. Frey, R. O. Price, P. F. Blackmore, R. P. Joshi, R. Nuccitelli, S. J. Beebe, K. H. Schoenbach, J. F. Kolb

Bioelectrics Publications

The change in the membrane potential of Jurkat cells in response to nanosecond pulsed electric fields was studied for pulses with a duration of 60 ns and maximum field strengths of similar to 100 kV/cm (100 V/cell diameter). Membranes of Jurkat cells were stained with a fast voltage-sensitive dye, ANNINE-6, which has a subnanosecond voltage response time. A temporal resolution of 5 ns was achieved by the excitation of this dye with a tunable laser pulse. The laser pulse was synchronized with the applied electric field to record images at times before, during, and after exposure. When exposing the Jurkat …

Designing A Microcontroller Training Platform For Active Distance Learning Engineering And Technology Students, Steve C. Hsiung, James E. Eiland, John R. Hackworth, John Ritz

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

This is an active distance-learning project that addresses the hands-on microprocessor/ mi-crocontroller-related courses. A research team designed a low-cost training system with supporting instructional materials to assist the teaching of these concepts. Individual laboratory activities are being developed to reinforce student learning and skill development in programming concepts. This basic system format eventually will support an array of engineering and technology courses. This project involves two community colleges, Blue Ridge Community College (BRCC) and Olympic College (OC), and a four-year university, Old Dominion University (ODU), in a collaborative research team to design and develop a specific PIC microcontroller training system …

Observed Web Robot Behavior On Decaying Web Subsites, Joan A. Smith, Frank Mccown, Michael L. Nelson

Computer Science Faculty Publications

We describe the observed crawling patterns of various search engines (including Google, Yahoo and MSN) as they traverse a series of web subsites whose contents decay at predetermined rates. We plot the progress of the crawlers through the subsites, and their behaviors regarding the various file types included in the web subsites. We chose decaying subsites because we were originally interested in tracking the implication of using search engine caches for digital preservation. However, some of the crawling behaviors themselves proved to be interesting and have implications on using a search engine as an interface to a digital library.

Fedcor: An Institutional Cordra Registry, Giridhar Manepalli, Henry Jerez, Michael L. Nelson

Computer Science Faculty Publications

FeDCOR (Federation of DSpace using CORDRA) is a registry-based federation system for DSpace instances. It is based on the CORDRA model. The first article in this issue of D-Lib Magazine describes the Advanced Distributed Learning-Registry (ADL-R) [1], which is the first operational CORDRA registry, and also includes an introduction to CORDRA. That introduction, or other prior knowledge of the CORDRA effort, is recommended for the best understanding of this article, which builds on that base to describe in detail the FeDCOR approach.

A New Approach In Microprocessor/Microcontroller Courses/Laboratories Material Design And Development, Steve C. Hsiung, Jeff Willis

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Courses in microprocessors and microcontrollers are standard parts of the Engineering Technology core curricula. The traditional course material developments include both lectures and associated laboratory exercises. No matter how creative is the curriculum; it is usually budgetary constraints that confine the creativity when developing new curricula. This limits the freedom of the major approach in new course development.

This article demonstrates new course lecture and laboratories material development that starts from ground up with both a hardware platform and simulation software design for microprocessor/microcontroller related courses. It is not only very cost effective, but also does not limit the instructor's …

A Comparison Between Frequent Out-Of-Class Assignments And Frequent In-Class Assessments Relative To Student Performance In A Sophomore Level Electrical Circuit Analysis Course, Isaac Flory, Christian Hearn

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Two parallel sections of a sophomore level circuit analysis course in Electrical Engineering Technology were structured to provide insight to the marginal utility of out-of-class assignments versus in-class assessments in academic performance. Student distributions for each section, the classroom model, the composition of the common tests and exam, and grading formats are discussed. The data presented and the conditions of the resulting observations indicate the model which favored out-of-class assignments led to improved test scores.

A Hybrid Course In Fundamentals Of Building Construction Using Combination Archived Video And Live Session Distance Learning, Vernon W. Lewis Jr., Carol L. Considine, June Ritchie

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

A course in the Fundamentals of Building Construction has been a curricular requirement of the Civil Engineering Technology Program (CET) since its inception. This course was taught traditionally as an on-campus class. Over the last ten years, the CET program has expanded to contain an extensive distance learning component, with at least half of the enrollment located off campus. The model for the typical distance-learning class is to meet for three hours, once a week, with a fully interactive (voice) live class. In consideration of the demand of a growing distance learning system, it was decided to restructure this class …

Rfid Technology Use In Assembly And Disassembly Processes, Gordana Ostojić, Milovan Lazarević, Vukica Jovanović, Stevan Stankovski, Ilija Ćosić

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Modern production conditions demand the application of the concept of distributed production. Today companies are specialized for partial technology processes. Hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of collaborative processes depend on workers’ interaction and communication in product assembly and disassembly phases. RFID technologies can be really helpful in identifying objects in terms of sustainable development, regarding disassembly, recycling and reuse. In this paper we presented VCDE system architecture and the realization method of RFID technology as well as the data acquisition using RFID technology during the product lifecycle from the design process, production, assembly, usage, and an special example is given regard- …

Teaching Lean Manufacturing Concepts Using Physical Simulations Within Engineering Technology Program, Alok Verma

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Physical Simulations have a proven record as a teaching tool. Concepts that are often hard to grasp are made easy by the use of physical simulation activities. The constructivism learning theory suggests that people learn better by actively participating in the process of learning. Effectiveness of simulation-based learning is well recognized. According to the Encyclopedia of Educational Technology, "Simulation-based learning involves the placement of a student into a realistic scenario or situation. The student is then responsible for any changes that occur as a result of their decisions." The computer integrated manufacturing course in the mechanical engineering technology program was …

Developing A New Program In Marine Engineering Technology, Anthony Dean, Gary Crossman, Alok Verma

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The Department of Engineering Technology, in the Batten College of Engineering and Technology at Old Dominion University, in conjunction with members of its advisory board and other industry representatives have begun a sustained effort to promote and develop a strong course of study in Marine Engineering Technology. Located in Norfolk, Virginia, Old Dominion University, and particularly the Department of Engineering Technology, is uniquely positioned to develop such a program. With strong ties to the world's largest Naval Base and superlative shipbuilding, maintenance and repair facilities, early qualitative research indicated high interest for development of such a program in support of …

Wavelet Analysis In Virtual Colonoscopy, Sharon Greenblum, Jiang Li, Adam Huang, Ronald M. Summers, Armando Manduca (Ed.), Amir A. Amini (Ed.)

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The computed tomographic colonography (CTC) computer aided detection (CAD) program is a new method in development to detect colon polyps in virtual colonoscopy. While high sensitivity is consistently achieved, additional features are desired to increase specificity. In this paper, a wavelet analysis was applied to CTCCAD outputs in an attempt to filter out false positive detections. 52 CTCCAD detection images were obtained using a screen capture application. 26 of these images were real polyps, confirmed by optical colonoscopy and 26 were false positive detections. A discrete wavelet transform of each image was computed with the MATLAB wavelet toolbox using the …

A Dynamic Heuristic For The Stochastic Unrelated Parallel Machine Scheduling Problem, Jean-Paul Arnaout, Ghaith Rabadi, Ji Hyon Mun

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper addresses the problem of batch scheduling in an unrelated parallel machine environment with sequence dependent setup times and an objective of minimizing the total weighted mean completion time. The jobs' processing times and setup times are stochastic for better depiction of the real world. This is a NP-hard problem and in this paper, new heuristics are developed and compared to existing ones using simulation. The results and analysis obtained from the computational experiments proved the superiority of the proposed algorithm PMWP over the other algorithms presented.

An Integrated Framework For Modeling And Simulation Of The U.S. Southern Border: A Border Patrol Perspective, Shannon R. Bowling, Ghaith Rabadi, Charles Keating

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Border Security is a complex system consisting of many interrelated components that must function as a whole in order to be effective. The efficacy of border security is dependent on several independent agencies; these include U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Justice (DOJ), state and local law enforcement, and many others. Border security is not only a function of how well each of the agencies perform individually but also how well they interact to accomplish a goal. This paper attempts to model border security from a Border Patrol (BP) perspective using discrete …

A Tabu Search Algorithm To Minimize The Makespan For The Unrelated Parallel Machines Scheduling Problem With Setup Times, Magdy Helal, Ghaith Rabadi, Ameer Al-Salem

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

In this paper we propose a tabu search implementation to solve the unrelated parallel machines scheduling problem with sequence- and machine- dependent setup times to minimize the schedules makespan. The problem is NP-hard and finding an optimal solution efficiently is unlikely. Therefore, heuristic techniques are more appropriate to find near-optimal solutions. The proposed tabu search algorithm uses two phases of perturbation schemes: the intra-machine perturbation, which optimizes the sequence of jobs on the machines, and the inter-machine perturbation, which balances the assignment of the jobs to the machines. We compare the proposed algorithm to an existing one that addressed the …

Analyzing Faulty Knowledge Systems In Project-Based Environments: An Empirical Investigation In A R&D Organization, Rafael E. Landaeta, Cesar Ariel Pinto, Timothy G. Kotnour, William R. Peterson

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

This investigation contributes a framework of the relationships among the faulty elements of a knowledge system in a project-based organization. The framework was developed during an applied research project at a R&D organization. A knowledge system can be defined as a series of inputs, processes, and outputs that interact with each other with the purpose of enhance the performance and capabilities of an organization or work unit through knowledge. The framework was developed using literature, our experience as applied researchers, and data collected from members of a R&D organization. Data was collected through a survey, interviews, and group meetings. The …

Dynamics Of An Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Plume Generated By Submicrosecond Voltage Pulses, Xinpei Lu, Mounir Laroussi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Nonequilibrium plasmas driven by submicrosecond high voltage pulses have been proven to produce high-energy electrons, which in turn lead to enhanced ionization and excitations. Here, we describe a device capable of launching a cold plasma plume in the surrounding air. This device, "the plasma pencil," is driven by few hundred nanosecond wide pulses at repetition rates of a few kilohertz. Correlation between current-voltage characteristics and fast photography shows that the plasma plume is in fact a small bulletlike volume of plasma traveling at unusually high velocities. A model based on photoionization is used to explain the propagation kinetics of the …

Femtosecond Pulsed Laser Deposition Of Indium On Si (100), Mohamed A. Hafez, Hani E. Elsayed-Ali

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Deposition of indium on Si(100) substrates is performed under ultrahigh vacuum with an amplified Ti:sapphire laser (130 fs) at wavelength of 800 nm and laser fluence of 0.5 J/cm². Indium films are grown at room temperature and at higher substrate temperatures with a deposition rate of similar to 0.05 ML/pulse. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) is used during the deposition to study the growth dynamics and the surface structure of the grown films. The morphology of the grown films is examined by ex situ atomic force microscopy (AFM). At room temperature indium is found to form epitaxial two-dimensional …

Quantum Dot Infrared Photodetector Fabricated By Pulsed Laser Deposition Technique, Mohammed Hegazy, Tamer Refaat, Nurul Abedin, Hani Elsayed-Ali

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Pulsed laser deposition is used to fabricate multilayered Ge quantum-dot photodetector on Si(100). Growth was studied by reflection high-energy electron diffraction and atomic force microscopy. The difference in the current values in dark and illumination conditions was used to measure the device sensitivity to radiation. Spectral responsivity measurements reveal a peak around 2 μm, with responsity that increases three orders of magnitude as bias increases from 0.5 to 3.5 V.

Melting And Solidification Study Of As-Deposited And Recrystallized Bi Thin Films, M. K. Zayed, H. E. Elsayed-Ali

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Melting and solidification of as-deposited and recrystallized Bi crystallites, deposited on highly oriented 002-graphite at 423 K, were studied using reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED). Films with mean thickness between 1.5 and 33 ML (monolayers) were studied. Ex situ atomic force microscopy was used to study the morphology and the size distribution of the formed nanocrystals. The as-deposited films grew in the form of three-dimensional crystallites with different shapes and sizes, while those recrystallized from the melt were formed in nearly similar shapes but different sizes. The change in the RHEED pattern with temperature was used to probe the melting …

Hybrid Committee Classifier For A Computerized Colonic Polyp Detection System, Jiang Li, Jianhua Yao, Nicholas Petrick, Ronald M. Summers, Amy K. Hara, Joseph M. Reinhardt (Ed.), Josien P.W. Pluim (Ed.)

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We present a hybrid committee classifier for computer-aided detection (CAD) of colonic polyps in CT colonography (CTC). The classifier involved an ensemble of support vector machines (SVM) and neural networks (NN) for classification, a progressive search algorithm for selecting a set of features used by the SVMs and a floating search algorithm for selecting features used by the NNs. A total of 102 quantitative features were calculated for each polyp candidate found by a prototype CAD system. 3 features were selected for each of 7 SVM classifiers which were then combined to form a committee of SVMs classifier. Similarly, features …

Electron Bernstein Wave Simulations And Comparison To Preliminary Nstx Emission Data, Josef Preinhaelter, Jakub Urban, Pavol Pavlo, Gary Taylor, Steffi Diem, Linda L. Vahala, George Vahala

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Simulations indicate that during flattop current discharges the optimal angles for the aiming of the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) antennae are quite rugged and basically independent of time. The time development of electron Bernstein wave emission (EBWE) at particular frequencies as well as the frequency spectrum of EBWE as would be seen by the recently installed NSTX antennae are computed. The simulation of EBWE at low frequencies (e.g., 16 GHz) agrees well with the recent preliminary EBWE measurements on NSTX. At high frequencies, the sensitivity of EBWE to magnetic field variations is understood by considering the Doppler broadened electron …

The Formal Laplace-Borel Transform Of Fliess Operators And The Composition Product, Yaqin Li, W. Steven Gray

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The formal Laplace-Borel transform of an analytic integral operator, known as a Fliess operator, is defined and developed. Then, in conjunction with the composition product over formal power series, the formal Laplace-Borel transform is shown to provide an isomorphism between the semigroup of all Fliess operators under operator composition and the semigroup of all locally convergent formal power series under the composition product. Finally, the formal Laplace-Borel transform is applied in a systems theory setting to explicitly derive the relationship between the formal Laplace transform of the input and output functions of a Fliess operator. This gives a compact interpretation …

A Fast Parallelized Computational Approach Based On Sparse Lu Factorization For Predictions Of Spatial And Time-Dependent Currents And Voltages In Full-Body Biomodels, Ashutosh Mishra, Ravindra P. Joshi, Karl H. Schoenbach, C. D. Clark Iii

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Realistic and accurate numerical simulations of electrostimulation of tissues and full-body biomodels have been developed and implemented. Typically, whole-body systems are very complex and consist of a multitude of tissues, organs, and subcomponents with diverse properties. From an electrical standpoint, these can be characterized in terms of separate conductivities and permittivities. Accuracy demands good spatial resolution; thus, the overall tissue/animal models need to be discretized into a fine-grained mesh. This can lead to a large number of grid points (especially for a three-dimensional entity) and can place prohibitive requirements of memory storage and execution times on computing machines. Here, the …

Growth Of Ge Quantum Dots On Si(100)-(2×1) By Pulsed Laser Deposition, M. S. Hegazy, H. E. Elsayed-Ali

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Self-assembled germanium quantum dots (QDs) were grown on Si(100)-(2×1) by pulsed laser deposition. In situ reflection-high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and postdeposition atomic force microscopy are used to study the growth of the QDs. Several films of different thicknesses were grown at a substrate temperature of 400 °C using a Q-switched Nd:yttrium aluminum garnet laser (λ= 1064 nm, 40 ns pulse width, 23 J/cm ² fluence, and 10 Hz repetition rate). At low film thicknesses, hut clusters that are faceted by different planes, depending on their height, are observed after the completion of the wetting layer. With increasing film thickness, …