Engineering Commons^™

A Validated Tropical-Extratropical Flood Hazard Assessment For New York Harbor, Philip M. Orton, T. M. Hall, Stefan A. Talke, Alan F. Blumberg, Nickitas Georgas, S. Vinogradov

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recent studies of flood risk at New York Harbor (NYH) have shown disparate results for the 100 year storm tide, providing an uncertain foundation for the flood mitigation response after Hurricane Sandy. Here we present a flood hazard assessment that improves confidence in our understanding of the region's present-day potential for flooding, by separately including the contribution of tropical cyclones (TCs) and extratropical cyclones (ETCs), and validating our modeling study at multiple stages against historical observations. The TC assessment is based on a climatology of 606 synthetic storms developed from a statistical-stochastic model of North Atlantic TCs. The ETC assessment …

Evaluation Of A Supervisor Training Program For Odot’S Ecodrive Program, Donald M. Truxillo, John Macarthur, Leslie B. Hammer, Talya N. Bauer

TREC Final Reports

Eco-driving consists of using energy-efficient approaches to driving aimed at reducing fuel consumption and, ultimately, CO2 emissions. A previous study found that an EcoDrive informational campaign was effective at increasing the use of eco-driving behaviors, but only when employees perceived that their supervisor supported the program and when they were personally motivated to perform the eco-driving behaviors. In order to build upon the findings of our previous study, the present study focused on increasing the use of eco-driving behaviors through an informational eco-driving campaign combined with supervisor training to support the use of eco-driving practices.

In this study we collected …

Safety Effectiveness Of Pedestrian Crossing Enhancements, Christopher M. Monsere, Miguel Figliozzi, Sirisha Kothuri, Ali Razmpa, Daniel R. Hazel

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Over the last decade, the Oregon DOT and other agencies have systematically implemented many pedestrian crossing enhancements (PCEs) across the state. This study explored the safety performance of these enhanced crossing in Oregon. Detailed data were collected on 191 crossings. Supplemental data items included crossing location information, route characteristics, surrounding land use and crossing enhancement descriptions. Pedestrian volume at the crossing locations was a highly desirable but unavailable data element. To characterize pedestrian activity, a method was developed to estimate ranges for pedestrian crosswalk activity levels based on the land use classification at the census block level and the presence …

Investigating Co2 Removal By Ca- And Mg-Based Sorbents With Application To Indoor Air Treatment, Elliott T. Gall, Cem Sonat, William W. Nazaroff, Cise Unluer

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Indoor carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) levels serve as an indicator of ventilation sufficiency in relation to metabolic effluents. Recent evidence suggests that elevated CO 2 exposure (with or without other bioeffluents) may cause adverse cognitive effects. In shelter-in-place (SIP) facilities, indoor CO 2 levels may become particularly elevated. This study evaluates four low-cost alkaline earth metal oxides and hydroxides as CO 2 sorbents for potential use in indoor air cleaning applications. Sorbents studied were MgO, Mg(OH) 2 , Ca(OH) 2 and commercially available soda lime. Uncarbonated sorbents characterized with nitrogen adsorption porosimetry showed BET surface areas in the 5.6–27 …

Task And Participant Scheduling Of Trading Platforms In Vehicular Participatory Sensing Networks, Heyuan Shi, Xiaoyu Song, Ming Gu, Jiaguang Sun

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The vehicular participatory sensing network (VPSN) is now becoming more and more prevalent, and additionally has shown its great potential in various applications. A general VPSN consists of many tasks from task, publishers, trading platforms and a crowd of participants. Some literature treats publishers and the trading platform as a whole, which is impractical since they are two independent economic entities with respective purposes. For a trading platform in markets, its purpose is to maximize the profit by selecting tasks and recruiting participants who satisfy the requirements of accepted tasks, rather than to improve the quality of each task. This …

Focused-Based Multifractal Analysis Of The Wake In A Wind Turbine Array Utilizing Proper Orthogonal Decomposition, Naseem Ali, Hawwa Falih Kadum, Raúl Bayoán Cal

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Hot-wire anemometry measurements have been performed in a 3×3 wind turbine array to study the multifractality of the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation. A multifractal spectrum and Hurst exponents are determined at nine locations downstream of the hub height, bottom and top tips. Higher multifractality is found at 0.5D and 1D downstream of the bottom tip and hub height. The second order of the Hurst exponent and combination factor shows the ability to predict the flow state in terms of its development. Snapshot proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) is used to identify the coherent and incoherent structures and to reconstruct the stochastic …

Designing A Continuously Variable Magnetic Gear, J. Pritchard, Pavithra Padmanathan, Jonathan Z. Bird

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper investigates the performance capabilities of a continuously variable magnetic gearbox that utilizes a flux focusing rotor structure. A fractional slot stator winding is designed to couple to the outer rotor of an existing magnetic gearbox in order to enable the magnetic gearbox to operate with a variable gear ratio.

Technology Trajectory Mapping Using Data Envelopment Analysis: The Ex-Ante Use Of Disruptive Innovation Theory On Flat Panel Technologies, Dong-Joon Lim, Timothy R. Anderson

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this paper, we propose a technology trajectory mapping approach using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) that scrutinizes technology progress patterns from multidimensional perspectives. Literature reviews on technology trajectory mappings have revealed that it is imperative to identify key performance measures that can represent different value propositions and then apply them to the investigation of technology systems in order to capture indications of the future disruption. The proposed approach provides a flexibility not only to take multiple characteristics of technology systems into account but also to deal with various tradeoffs among technology attributes by imposing weight restrictions in the DEA model. …

Distribution Of Mean Kinetic Energy Around An Isolated Wind Turbine And A Characteristic Wind Turbine Of A Very Large Wind Farm, Gerard Cortina, Marc Calaf, Raul Bayoan Cal

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

An isolated wind turbine and a very large wind farm are introduced into large-eddy simulations of an atmospheric boundary layer. The atmospheric flow is forced with a constant geostrophic wind and a time-varying surface temperature extracted from a selected period of the CASES-99 field experiment. A control volume approach is used to directly compare the transfer of mean kinetic energy around a characteristic wind turbine throughout a diurnal cycle considering both scenarios. For the very large wind farm case, results illustrate that the recovery of mean kinetic energy around a wind turbine is dominated by the vertical flux, regardless of …

Bioaerosol Deposition On An Air-Conditioning Cooling Coil, Yan Wu, Ailu Chen, Irvan Luhung, Elliott T. Gall, Qingliang Cao, Victor Wei-Chung Chang, William W. Nazaroff

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study is concerned with the role of a fin-and-tube heat exchanger in modifying microbial indoor air quality. Specifically, depositional losses of ambient bioaerosols and particles onto dry (not cooled) and wet (cool) coil surfaces were measured for different airspeeds passing through the test coil. Total, bacterial and fungal DNA concentrations in condensate water produced by a wet coil were also quantified by means of fluorescent dsDNA-binding dye and qPCR assays. Results revealed that the deposition of bioaerosols and total particles is substantial on coil surfaces, especially when wet and cool. The average deposition fraction was 0.14 for total DNA, …

Memristor-Based Volistor Gates Compute Logic With Low Power Consumption, Muayad Aljafar, Marek Perkowski

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

We introduce a novel volistor logic gate which uses voltage as input and resistance as output. Volistors rely on the diode-like behavior of rectifying memristors. We show how to realize the first logic level, counted from the input, of any Boolean function with volistor gates in a memristive crossbar network. Unlike stateful logic, there is no need to store the inputs as resistances, and computation is performed directly. The fan-in and fan-out of volistor gates are large and different from traditional memristor circuits. Compared to solely memristive stateful logic, a combination of volistors and stateful inhibition gates can significantly reduce …

Laser Doppler Velocimetry Using A Modified Computer Mouse, Edward D. Zaron

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A computer mouse has been modified for use as a low-cost laser Doppler interferometer and used to measure the two-component fluid velocity of a flowing soap film. The mouse sensor contains two vertical cavity surface emitting lasers, photodiodes, and signal processing hardware integrated into a single package, approximately 1 cm2 in size, and interfaces to a host computer via a standard USB port. Using the principle of self-mixing interferometry, whereby laser light re-enters the laser cavity after being scattered from a moving target, the Doppler shift and velocity of scatterers dispersed in the flow are measured. Observations of the boundary …

Puddle Jumping: Spontaneous Ejection Of Large Liquid Droplets From Hydrophobic Surfaces During Drop Tower Tests, Babek Attari, Mark M. Weislogel, Andrew Paul Wollman, Yongkang Chen, Trevor Snyder

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Large droplets and puddles jump spontaneously from sufficiently hydrophobicsurfaces during routine drop tower tests. The simple low-cost passive mechanism can in turn be used as an experimental device to investigate dynamic droplet phenomena for drops up to 104 times larger than their normal terrestrial counterparts. We provide and/or confirm quick and qualitative design guides for such “drop shooters” as employed in drop tower tests including relationships to predict droplet ejection durations and velocities as functions of drop volume, surface texture, surface contour, wettability pattern, and fluid properties including contact angle. The latter is determined via profile image comparisons with numerical …

Inverse Structure Functions In The Canonical Wind Turbine Array Boundary Layer, Bianca Viggiano, Moira Gion, Naseem Ali, Murat Tutkun, Raúl Bayoán Cal

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Wind tunnel measurements for a 3×3 canonical wind turbine array boundary layer are obtained using hot-wire anemometer velocity signals. Two downstream locations are considered, referring to the near- and far-wake, and 21 vertical points are acquired per profile. Velocity increments and exit distances are used to quantify inverse structure functions at both downstream locations. Inverse structure functions in the near-wake show a similar profile for the main vertical locations, but diverge as the moment is increased. In the far-wake, inverse structure functions converge toward a single function for all vertical location and moments. The scaling exponents for inverse structure functions …

Effect Of Fiber Material On Ozone Removal And Carbonyl Production From Carpets, Omed A. Abbass, David J. Sailor, Elliott T. Gall

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Indoor air quality is affected by indoor materials such as carpets that may act as sources and/or sinks of gas-phase air pollutants. Heterogeneous reactions of ozone with carpets may result in potentially harmful products. In this study, indoor residential carpets of varying fiber types were tested to evaluate their ability to remove ozone, and to assess their role in the production of carbonyls when exposed to elevated levels of ozone. Tests were conducted with six types of new unused carpets. Two sets of experiments were conducted, the first measured ozone removal and ozone deposition velocities, and the second measured primary …

Frequency Based Noise Coherence-Function Extension And Application To Passive Bottom-Loss Estimation, Lanfranco Muzi, Martin Siderius, Peter L. Nielsen

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Accurate modeling of acoustic propagation in the ocean waveguide is important to SONAR-performance prediction. Particularly in shallow waters, a crucial contribution to the total transmission loss is the bottom refection loss, which can be estimated passively by beamforming the natural surface-noise acoustic field recorded by a vertical line array of hydrophones. However, the performance in this task of arrays below 2 m of length is problematic for frequencies below 10 kHz" role="presentation" style="display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px 2px 0px …

Exploitation Of Frequency Information In Continuous Active Sonar, Lisa Zurk, Daniel Rouseff, Scott Schecklman

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In pulsed active sonar, short duration coded waveforms insonify the area of interest. The low duty cycle limits detection opportunities and decreases average energy. A recent concept is continuous active sonar (CAS), which has continuous source transmission over a broad frequency band. The low duty cycle limits detection opportunities and decreases average energy. A recent concept is continuous active sonar (CAS), which has continuous source transmission over a broad frequency band. Previous work by the authors has investigated the utility of extracting the propagation-induced frequency structure in pulsed sonar. The broadband, continuous CAS waveforms particularly lend themselves to this approach. …

Survey Of Value Assessment Programs Within Transportation Construction Projects In U.S, Rafaa Khalifa, Robert Stewart

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

In order to deliver transportation project on time and within budget, project planners and decision makers need to understand the desirable outcomes of projects or programs to make intelligent decisions. In addition, they also need effective tools and techniques to guide those decisions. In development of a guide that identifies available tools and techniques to foster useable and improved practices for key stakeholders of transportation projects, this paper as a preliminary study assessed current utilization of project delivery value improvement programs such as value engineering (VE), risk analysis/management (RA/RM) and constructability reviews (CR) for transportation projects. To determine whether states …

An Inductive Ethnographic Study In Elderly Woman Technology Adoption And The Role Of Her Children, Noshad Rahimi, Antonie J, Jetter, Charles M. Weber

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Elderly woman strives to have a streamlined life surrounded by ease and familiarity. As she is aging, her desire for simplicity grows, her self-efficacy weakens, her prudency intensifies and her overall inclination toward status quo strengthens. As a result, she delays, or refuses, making any decision that might bring complexity and disrupt the continuity in her life, particularly new and unfamiliar technologies (which often bring complexity, before providing ease). Consequently, her technology adoption has a much lower rate than that of other demographics. To open the black box of elderly woman technology adoption process, this study focuses on the role …

A Framework For Technology Transfer Potential Assessment, Judith Estep, Tugrul U. Daim

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper is motivated by a need to move research into application, specifically in the utility industry. There are many challenges facing the industry: an aging infrastructure, a growing population, and aggressive energy efficiency targets are just a few examples. Many technologies exist or are in development but the rate at which they are being adopted is slow. Despite a clear need to apply research results to the utility industry, a cursory review of how research proposals are evaluated within the utility industry confirms that technology transfer is only peripherally addressed. In addition, there is no mechanism to quantitatively assess …

Comparative Analysis For Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping, Byung Sung Yoon, Antoine J. Jetter

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM) is a semi-quantitative system modeling technique that is used in technology management to capture, synthesize and analyze expert and stakeholder knowledge for the purpose of technology assessment, product planning, and scenario studies. The resulting FCM models are generated in interviews, focus groups, or workshops and represent complex and dynamic systems as elements (so-called concepts) and cause-and-effect relationships. Researchers often compare FCM to investigate cognitive differences between individuals or groups, identify unique perspectives on a specific topic, or track changes in knowledge (i.e. learning). Using a variety of metrics, comparison studies investigate diverse characteristics of FCMs, such …

Understanding Risk Perception Using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps, Pei Zhang, Antoine J. Jetter

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

When making decision that can have far-researching effects, such as governmental policies or decisions on new technologies, decision-makers use their understanding of the risks that are associated with their choices to guide their decisions. Measuring how people perceive risks can be helpful for understanding and possibly improving the decision-making process. Building on a review of existing methods for investigating risk perceptions, this paper suggests Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCM) as a method for investigating differences in risk perception among stakeholders and stakeholder groups. The approach is illustrated with an example of wildfire risk perceptions. Results suggest that FCM can contribute to …

Selecting Medical Hardware Using Pairwise Comparisons: A Patient's Perspective Of Cochlear Implant Device Selection, Timothy R. Anderson, Shabnam Razeghian Jahromi

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Selecting medical hardware can be a difficult and permanent decision for patients that they are often unprepared for. The authors explore the use of pairwise comparison techniques to better inform medical decision making in an application of choosing between three major cochlear implant manufacturers. This paper appears to be the first study to apply a pairwise comparison decision making approach for cochlear implant device selection. Also, unlike many medical decision making studies that are developed by the healthcare professional, this model and analysis was conducted entirely by the patient for the purpose of making the real-world decision of a device. …

A Measurement System For Science And Engineering Research Center Performance Evaluation, Elizabeth Carole Gibson, Tugrul U. Daim

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

This research is focused on gaining deeper insights into US National Science Foundation (NSF) science and engineering research center challenges and motivated to develop a method that effectively measures the performance of these organizations. While research has addressed organizational performance at the micro, or single-actor level for universities or companies and at the regional or national macro level, the middle level where the NSF centers reside is largely missing. The bulk of the cooperative research center studies use either case-based methods or bibliometric data to measure traditional research outputs. Many are excellent studies; however, they only focus on a piece …

Consistency Thresholds For Hierarchical Decision Model, Mustafa S. Abbas, Dundar F. Kocaoglu

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The objective of this research is to establish consistency thresholds linked to alpha (α) levels for HDM's (Hierarchical Decision Model) judgment quantification method. Measuring consistency in order to control it is a crucial and inseparable part of any AHP/HDM experiment. The researchers on the subject recommend establishing thresholds that are statistically based on hypothesis testing, and are linked to the number of decision variables and a level. Such thresholds provide the means with which to evaluate the soundness and validity of an AHP/HDM decision. The linkage of thresholds to a levels allows the decision makers to set an appropriate inconsistency …

Exploring The Adoption And Use Of The Smartphone Technology In Emerging Regions: Case Of Saudi Arabia, Fahad Aldhaban, Tugrul Unsal Daim, Robert R. Harmon

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper starts with a preliminary theoretical research model which is developed based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). A number of qualitative methods, namely brainstorming, focus group and individual interviews, have been conducted to evaluate, select and validate the existing factors, as well as introduce new factors, to identify only the most related factors to be included in the preliminary research model. A survey questionnaire has been developed and validated to survey general users of the Smartphone in Saudi Arabia. A web-based survey has been designed and sent through email to 5,000 randomly selected …

A Model Of Academic Community Entrepreneurship (Ace): Initiation, Innovation, And Impacts Of Picmet, Min-Seok Cha

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Entrepreneurship is the process of creating problem solving system that generate knowledge and provide value. It is also seen as an innovation engine. It could be applied in many fields including academic community. This attempt of creating academic community can be view as an academic entrepreneurship. The impactful process of academic entrepreneurship is worthwhile to be noticed and shared. Because PICMET has shown a model of building a sustainable scholar community and its coordinating organization in the international level, it could be a successful case of academic community entrepreneurship (ACE) Model. ACE is focused on creating new value of academic …

Managing Technology In Financial Innovation, Frederick Betz

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The topic of managing technology had traditionally focused upon the manufacturing industries; but the service industries grew to become a major sector of industry and commerce. We examine how to manage technology in the financial commercial sector. What is innovation in the financial sector? How does innovation occur in the financial sector? What are the criteria of technology safety in financial innovations? Why did financial innovation contribute to financial instabilities, such as the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-08? Why had governmental agencies failed to properly regulate the financial sector for safety? How did U.S. government financial agencies handle that financial …

Technology Planning For Emerging Business Model And Regulatory Integration: The Case Of Electric Vehicle Smart Charging, Kelly Cowan, Tugrul U. Daim

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Smart grid has been described as the Energy Internet: Where Energy Technology meets Information Technology. The incorporation of such technology into vast existing utility infrastructures offers many advantages, including possibilities for new smart appliances, energy management systems, better integration of renewable energy, value added services, and new busiss models, both for supply-and demand-side management. This paper proposes to build upon existing roadmapping processes by considering an integrated set of factors, including policy issues, that are specifically tuned to the needs of smart grid and have not generally been considered in other types of roadmapping efforts. It will also incorporate expert …

Managing The Ethical And Risk Implications Of Rapid Advances In Artificial Intelligence: A Literature Review, Taylor Meek, Husam Barham, Nader Beltaif, Amani Kaadoor, Tanzila Akhter

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The development of emergent technologies carries with it ethical issues and risks. We review ways to better manage the ethical issues and risks of one emerging technology: Artificial Intelligence (AI). Depending on how AI's development is managed, it may have beneficial and/or deleterious effects. The processing capacity of Tianhe-2, the world's fastest supercomputer, by some measures, exceeds the processing capacity of a single human brain. but at a prohibitive processing/power consumption ratio and physical size. Given the current pace of AI R&D activities, some estimates in the literature suggest that the technology could become capable of self-determination and super intelligence …