Engineering Commons^™

Factors Affecting Electrocoagulation Process For Different Water Types: A Review, Shahad Fadhil Abed Al-Rubaye, Naseer A. Alhaboubi, Aiman H. Al-Allaq

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Raw water must meet specific physical, chemical, and biological requirements to be suitable for drinking. There are various techniques available for treating wastewater, and aside from conventional methods that involve chemicals, electrocoagulation is an efficient and advanced approach. Electrocoagulation has proven effective in treating many pollutants, including bacteria, viruses, iron, fluoride, sulfate, boron, hardness, and turbidity. Total suspended solids, organic and inorganic materials, chemical oxygen demand COD, biochemical oxygen demand BOD, and color. It finds extensive application in treating different types of water and wastewater due to its exceptional ability to remove diverse contaminants. Recently, electrocoagulation has garnered significant attention …

A Novel Computational Analysis Of Boundary-Driven Two-Dimensional Heat Flow With Internal Heat Generation, Muhammad Abid, Madiha Bibi, Nasir Yasin, Muhammad Shahid

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

Accurate numerical solution of parabolic and elliptic partial differential equations governing two-dimensional heat transfer is critical for engineering simulations but computationally challenging. This work employs key numerical techniques finite differences, conjugate gradients, and Crank-Nicolson time stepping to solve the heat diffusion equation and analyze method performance. The Poisson equation is discretized using second-order central finite differences and solved with the conjugate gradient approach to determine the steady state solution. The transient heat equation is integrated in time via the Crank-Nicolson implicit scheme, also utilizing conjugate gradients. The methods effectively compute solutions matching analytical and boundary conditions. Convergence and stability are …

Plasma Protein Signatures Of Adult Asthma, Gordon J. Smilnak, Yura Lee, Abhijnan Chattopadhyay, Annah B. Wyss, Julie D. White, Sinjini Sikdar, Jianping Jin, Andrew J. Grant, Alison A. Motsinger-Reif, Jian-Liang Li, Mikyeong Lee, Bing Yu, Stephanie J. London

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

Background: Adult asthma is complex and incompletely understood. Plasma proteomics is an evolving technique that can both generate biomarkers and provide insights into disease mechanisms. We aimed to identify plasma proteomic signatures of adult asthma.

Methods: Protein abundance in plasma was measured in individuals from the Agricultural Lung Health Study (ALHS) (761 asthma, 1095 non-case) and the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study (470 asthma, 10,669 non-case) using the SOMAScan 5K array. Associations with asthma were estimated using covariate adjusted logistic regression and meta-analyzed using inverse-variance weighting. Additionally, in ALHS, we examined phenotypes based on both asthma and seroatopy (asthma with …

Integrative Machine Learning Approaches For Enhanced Classification Of Genomic Sequences: A Next-Generation Sequencing Perspective, Sujatha Alla, Nagesh Bheesetty, Sai Gireesh Komaragiri, Prasanthi Chidipudi, Joshit Mohanty, Sathish Kumar Chintala, Jubin Thomas, Jayapal Vummadi, Hemanth Volikatla, Navin Kamuni

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The advent of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) techniques has revolutionized genomic research by enabling the rapid sequencing of DNA and RNA. This data can be used for various applications, including genome sequencing, transcriptome profiling, metagenomics, and epigenetics studies. For this study, DNA classifier dataset was extracted from UCI repository of machine learning databases. This vast amount of genomic data necessitates the development of sophisticated machine learning (ML) models for effective classification and analysis. This study presents a comprehensive comparison of various ML models, including Support Vector Machines (SVM), Random Forests (RF), and Neural Networks (NNs), approaches, in classifying genomic data. We …

Integrating Generative Artificial Intelligence With Systems Architecting Diagram Creation: Advancement, Challenges, Opportunities And Future Perspectives, Cansu Yalim, Holly H. Handley

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Generative AI (GenAI) serves as a powerful tool that can create a wide range of content, including but not limited to text, speech, images, code, videos, and 3D models. ChatGPT stands out as a particularly appealing Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT) model that offers supplementary capabilities through GPTs and plugins. These extensions enable users to engage with the chatbot and improve its functionality, surpassing mere content generation. Our study delves into the potential of ChatGPT, specifically GPT-4, to expedite the creation of diagrams to support the system architecting process. To this end, we explored the use of ChatGPT's Diagrams Show Me …

A Point Of Singularity For Technology And Engineering Education, Philip A. Reed

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

[First paragraph] I attended graduate school at Virginia Tech in the late 1990's and some of my fondest memories are from the side conversations with the faculty. The faculty at that time consisted of my mentor and program leader, Jim LaPorte, and other leaders in the field: Allen Bame, Sharon Brusic, Tom Jeffries, and Mark Sanders. Bill Dugger had recently retired from the university but maintained an office in Blacksburg to work full time on the Technology for All Americans Project (TfAAP, ITEEA, 2024) and he was very gracious about hosting students at the TfAAP office …

Advancing Environmental Engineering: The Role Of Artificial Intelligence In Sustainable Solutions - A Short Review, Amirreza Talaie, Hesam Kamyab, Ashkan Razmfarsa

Management Faculty Publications

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force in environmental engineering, offering innovative solutions to complex environmental challenges. From air pollution monitoring and water resource management to waste management, climate change mitigation, and ecological preservation, AI is revolutionizing the way we address environmental issues. Machine learning, neural networks, and other AI technologies are enabling more accurate predictions, optimizing resource use, and improving conservation efforts. However, despite its many advantages, AI also faces challenges such as data availability, energy consumption, ethical concerns, and the need for transparency. This review explores the diverse applications of AI in environmental engineering, highlighting the …

Analysis Of Traffic Conflicts With Right Turning Vehicles At Unsignalized Intersections In Suburban Areas, Abbas Sheykhfard, Farshidreza Haghighi, Sarah Bakhtiari, Sara Moridpour, Kun Xie, Grigorios Fountas

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Right-turn collisions at intersections are one of the most dominant crash types in suburban areas, especially at unsignalized intersections. There is, however, a lack of comprehensive research on the speed patterns of vehicles during right-turn manoeuvres and their impact on crashes. To provide an in-depth investigation of the factors determining the safety of right-turn manoeuvres, driving behaviour data were collected through an instrumented vehicle study. Using this data, binary logistic regression models were developed to identify the factors affecting the probability of Vehicle-Vehicle (V-V) and Vehicle-Pedestrian (V-P) conflicts at six suburban intersections in Babol, Iran, during right-turn stage manoeuvres. In …

Designing High-Performance Identity-Based Quantum Signature Protocol With Strong Security, Sunil Prajapat, Pankaj Kumar, Sandeep Kumar, Ashok Kumar Das, Sachin Shetty, M. Shamim Hossain

VMASC Publications

Due to the rapid advancement of quantum computers, there has been a furious race for quantum technologies in academia and industry. Quantum cryptography is an important tool for achieving security services during quantum communication. Designated verifier signature, a variant of quantum cryptography, is very useful in applications like the Internet of Things (IoT) and auctions. An identity-based quantum-designated verifier signature (QDVS) scheme is suggested in this work. Our protocol features security attributes like eavesdropping, non-repudiation, designated verification, and hiding sources attacks. Additionally, it is protected from attacks on forgery, inter-resending, and impersonation. The proposed scheme benefits from the traditional designated …

Embedding Software Engineering In Mixed Methods: Computationally Enhanced Risk Communication, Ann Marie Reinhold, Madison H. Munro, Elizabeth A. Shanahan, Ross J. Gore, Barry C. Ezell, Clemente I. Izurieta

VMASC Publications

Mixed methods research ameliorates many convergent research challenges within the contemporary sociotechnical landscape. We suggest the integration of software engineering in mixed methods studies is a critical step to address some of the remaining and persistent challenges. One such research challenge where software engineering is particularly well suited is in hazard preparedness—in particular, the creation of risk communication messages to mitigate or prevent harm. Computationally enhanced risk communication is convergent research that integrates software engineering and social science research for the benefit of protecting humans and infrastructure. To this end, we developed a mixed methods framework for the efficient construction …

Applications Of Ai/Ml In Maritime Cyber Supply Chains, Rafael Diaz, Ricardo Ungo, Katie Smith, Lida Haghnegahdar, Bikash Singh, Tran Phuong

School of Cybersecurity Faculty Publications

Digital transformation is a new trend that describes enterprise efforts in transitioning manual and likely outdated processes and activities to digital formats dominated by the extensive use of Industry 4.0 elements, including the pervasive use of cyber-physical systems to increase efficiency, reduce waste, and increase responsiveness. A new domain that intersects supply chain management and cybersecurity emerges as many processes as possible of the enterprise require the convergence and synchronizing of resources and information flows in data-driven environments to support planning and execution activities. Protecting the information becomes imperative as big data flows must be parsed and translated into actions …

Project Control System (Pcs) Implementation In Engineering And Construction Projects: An Empirical Study In Saudi's Petroleum And Chemical Industry, Sahar Jawad, Ann Ledwith, Rashid Khan

School of Cybersecurity Faculty Publications

Purpose

There is growing recognition that effective project control systems (PCS) are critical to the success of projects. The relationship between the individual elements of PCS and successfully achieving project objectives has yet to be explored. This research investigates the enablers and barriers that influence the elements of PCS success and drive project objectives.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts a mixed approach of descriptive analysis and regression models to explore the impact of six PCS elements on project outcomes. Petroleum and chemical projects in Saudi Arabia were selected as a case study to validate the research model.

Findings

Data from a …

Anonymous Attribute-Based Broadcast Encryption With Hidden Multiple Access Structures, Tran Viet Xuan Phuong

School of Cybersecurity Faculty Publications

Due to the high demands of data communication, the broadcasting system streams the data daily. This service not only sends out the message to the correct participant but also respects the security of the identity user. In addition, when delivered, all the information must be protected for the party who employs the broadcasting service. Currently, Attribute-Based Broadcast Encryption (ABBE) is useful to apply for the broadcasting service. (ABBE) is a combination of Attribute-Based Encryption (ABE) and Broadcast Encryption (BE), which allows a broadcaster (or encrypter) to broadcast an encrypted message, including a predefined user set and specified access policy to …

Evaluating The Performance Of 5g Nr In Indoor Environments: An Experimental Study, Bikash Chandra Singh, Rafael Diaz, Sachin Shetty

School of Cybersecurity Faculty Publications

The 5G wireless standard has emerged as a trans-formative technology with the potential to revolutionize various industries by providing enhanced connectivity and communication capabilities. This advanced standard offers a diverse range of applications, including Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), and Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC). In this Scientific research paper, we present a comprehensive analysis of the performance and capabilities of a deployed indoor 5G network in a controlled laboratory environment. The experimental setup comprises an Amarisoft Callbox, serving as the 5G core, along with a Remote Radio Head (RRH) and user equipment (UEs). Our primary objective …

Estimation Of Differential Pathlength Factor From Nirs Measurement In Skeletal Muscle, B. Koirala, A. Concas, A. Cincotti, Yi Sun, A. Hernández, M. L. Goodwin, L. B. Gladden, N. Lai

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The utilization of continuous wave (CW) near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) device to measure non-invasively muscle oxygenation in healthy and disease states is limited by the uncertainties related to the differential path length factor (DPF). DPF value is required to quantify oxygenated and deoxygenated heme groups' concentration changes from measurement of optical densities by NIRS. An integrated approach that combines animal and computational models of oxygen transport and utilization was used to estimate the DPF value in situ. The canine model of muscle oxidative metabolism allowed measurement of both venous oxygen content and tissue oxygenation by CW NIRS under different oxygen delivery …

Effect Of Resin Bleed Out On Compaction Behavior Of The Fiber Tow Gap Region During Automated Fiber Placement Manufacturing, Von Clyde Jamora, Virginia Rauch, Sergii G. Kravchenko, Oleksandr G. Kravchenko

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Automated fiber placement is a state-of-the-art manufacturing method which allows for precise control over layup design. However, AFP results in irregular morphology due to fiber tow deposition induced features such as tow gaps and overlaps. Factors such as the squeeze flow and resin bleed out, combined with large non-linear deformation, lead to morphological variability. To understand these complex interacting phenomena, a coupled multiphysics finite element framework was developed to simulate the compaction behavior around fiber tow gap regions, which consists of coupled chemo-rheological and flow-compaction analysis. The compaction analysis incorporated a visco-hyperelastic constitutive model with anisotropic tensorial prepreg viscosity, which …

Parametric Optimization Of Friction Stir Welding Of Aa6061-T6 Samples Using The Copper Donor Stir-Assisted Material Method, Aiman H. Al-Allaq, Joseph Maniscalco, Srinivasa Naik Bhukya, Zhenhua Wu, Abdelmageed Elmustafa

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This study presents an optimization of the process parameters for the effect of copper (Cu) donor material percentage on the friction stir welding (FSW) of AA6061-T6 alloy. Extensive factorial experiments were conducted to determine the significance of the rotational speed (ω), the transverse speed (v), the interface coefficient of friction (μ), and the Cu donor material percentage in the plunge, left, right, and downstream zones. Design Expert 13 software was used to identify the number of simulation experiments to be conducted using the Abaqus simulation software. From Design Expert 13, which is a thorough multi-objective optimization analysis software, we were …

Effect Of Post-Cured Through Thickness Reinforcement On Disbonding Behavior In Skin-Stringer Configuration, Jimesh D. Bhagatji, Christopher Morris, Yogaraja Sridhar, Bodhisatwa Bhattacharjee, Krishnanand N. Kaipa, Oleksandr G. Kravchenko

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

An experimental investigation of interlaminar toughness for post-cured through-thickness reinforcement (PTTR) skin-stringer sub-element is presented. The improvement in the crack resistance capability of skin-stringer samples was shown through experimental testing and finite element analysis (FEA) modeling. The performance of PTTR was evaluated on a pristine and initial-disbond of the skin-stringer specimen. A macro-scale pin-spring modeling approach was employed in FEA using a non-linear spring to capture the pin failure under the mixed-mode load. The experimental results showed a 15.5% and 20.9% increase in strength for the pristine-PTTR and initial-disbond PTTR specimens, respectively. The modeling approach accurately represents the overall structural …

A New Cache Replacement Policy In Named Data Network Based On Fib Table Information, Mehran Hosseinzadeh, Neda Moghim, Samira Taheri, Nasrin Gholami

VMASC Publications

Named Data Network (NDN) is proposed for the Internet as an information-centric architecture. Content storing in the router’s cache plays a significant role in NDN. When a router’s cache becomes full, a cache replacement policy determines which content should be discarded for the new content storage. This paper proposes a new cache replacement policy called Discard of Fast Retrievable Content (DFRC). In DFRC, the retrieval time of the content is evaluated using the FIB table information, and the content with less retrieval time receives more discard priority. An impact weight is also used to involve both the grade of retrieval …

Type-B Energetic Processes: Introduction And Invitation To Special Issue Of Energies, James Weifu Lee, Daniel P. Sheehan

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

[First paragraph] Currently, there is substantial scientific evidence for the existence of Type-B energetic processes on Earth, such as the naturally occurring transmembrane-electrostatically localized protons (TELP) thermotrophic properties in life [1]. A number of groundbreaking human-made Type-B energetic processes, including (but not limited to) “asymmetric function-gated isothermal electricity production” [2], “epicatalysis generating a temperature difference between catalysis-asymmetric filaments” [3], “artificially made asymmetric membrane concentration cell” [4,5], “Fu’s experiment on heat–electric conversion using surface electron emission under a static magnetic field” [6], and the “dynamic processes in superconductors indicating Type-B energetic process” [7,8,9] have been invented and/or experimentally demonstrated. The innovative …

Synthetic Approaches Of Carbohydrate Based Self-Assembling Systems, Guijun Wang, Anji Chen, Pramod Aryal, Jonathan Bietsch

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Carbohydrate-based self-assembling systems are essential for the formation of advanced biocompatible materials via a bottom-up approach. The self-assembling of sugar-based small molecules has applications encompassing many research fields and has been studied extensively. In this focused review, we will discuss the synthetic approaches for carbohydrate-based self-assembling (SA) systems, the mechanisms of the assembly, as well as the main properties and applications. This review will mainly cover recent publications in the last four years from January 2020 to December 2023. We will essentially focus on small molecule self-assembly, excluding polymer-based systems, which include various derivatives of monosaccharides, disaccharides, and oligosaccharides. Glycolipids, …

Photoluminescence Switching In Quantum Dots Connected With Carboxylic Acid And Thiocarboxylic Acid End-Group Diarylethene Molecules, Ephraiem S. Sarabamoun, Pramod Aryal, Jonathan M. Bietsch, Maurice Curran, Sugandha Verma, Grayson Johnson, Lucy U. Yoon, Amelia G. Reid, Esther H. R. Tsai, Charles W. Machan, Christopher Paolucci, Guijun Wang, Joshua J. Choi

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

We contrast the switching of photoluminescence (PL) of PbS quantum dots (QDs) cross-linked with photochromic diarylethene molecules with different end groups, 4,4′-(1-cyclopentene-1,2-diyl)bis[5-methyl-2-thiophenecarboxylic acid] (1C) and 4,4′-(1-cyclopentene-1,2-diyl)bis[5-methyl-2-thiophenethiocarboxylic acid] (2T). Our results show that the QDs cross-linked with the carboxylic acid end group molecules (1C) exhibit a greater amount of switching in photoluminescence intensity compared to QDs cross-linked with the thiocarboxylic acid end group (2T). We also demonstrate that regardless of the molecule used, greater switching amounts are observed for smaller quantum dots. Varying these parameters allows for the fabrication of photoswitches with tunable PL change. We relate these observations to the …

Polarizable Amoeba Force Field Predicts Thin And Dense Hydration Layer Around Monosaccharides, Luke A. Newman, Mackenzie G. Patton, Breyanna A. Rodriguez, Ethan W. Summer, Valerie Vaissier Welbourn

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Polarizable force fields crucially enhance the modeling of macromolecules in polar media. Here, we present new parameters to model six common monosaccharides with the polarizable AMOEBA force field. These parameters yield a thinner, but denser, hydration layer than that previously reported. This denser hydration layer results in eliminating non-physical aggregation of glucose in water-an issue that has plagued molecular dynamics simulations of carbohydrates for decades.

Small-Strain Site Response Of Soft Soils In The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Region Of California Conditioned On Vₛ₃₀ And Mhvsr, Tristan E. Buckreis, Jonathan P. Stewart, Scott J. Brandenberg, Pengfei Wang

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Sites located in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region of California typically have peaty-organic soils near the ground surface, which are characteristically soft, with shear wave velocities as low as 30 m/s. These unusually soft geotechnical conditions, which are outside the range of applicability of existing ergodic site amplification models, can be anticipated to produce significant site effects during earthquake shaking. We evaluate site response for 36 seismic stations in the Delta region using non-ergodic methods with low-amplitude ground motion data. We model first-order site effects using a period-dependent relation conditioned on the 30 m time-averaged shear wave velocity (V …

A Review On Biochar As An Adsorbent For Pb(Ii) Removal From Water, Pushpita Kumkum, Sandeep Kumar

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Heavy metal contamination in drinking water is a growing concern due to its severe health effects on humans. Among the many metals, lead (Pb), which is a toxic and harmful element, has the most widespread global distribution. Pb pollution is a major problem of water pollution in developing countries and nations. The most common sources of lead in drinking water are lead pipes, faucets, and plumbing fixtures. Adsorption is the most efficient method for metal removal, and activated carbon has been used widely in many applications as an effective adsorbent, but its high production costs have created the necessity for …

A General Framework For Modeling Subregional Path Effects, T. E. Buckreis, P. Wang, S. J. Brandenberg, J. P. Stewart

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Next Generation Attenuation (NGA) West2 ground motion models (GMMs) include regional path adjustments for broad jurisdictional regions, which necessarily averages spatially variable path effects within those regions. We extend that framework to account for systematic variations in attenuation within subregions defined in consideration of geologic differences. In recent years, cell-based methods which systematically account for spatial variations by summing the attenuation effects over a fine discretization of uniform-rectangular cells (e.g., Dawood and Rodriquez-Marek 2013; Kuehn et al. 2019) have been shown to be an effective alternative to regionalization and a step towards modelling non-ergodic path effects. The main drawbacks of …

Reliability Of Low Frequency Mhvsr Ordinates, F. J. Ornelas, C. C. Nweke, C. A. De La Torre, P. Wang, T. D. Mai, B. R. Cox, S. J. Brandenberg, J. P. Stewart

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Microtremor horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios (mHVSR) are frequency-dependent ratios of Fourier amplitude spectra of the horizontal to vertical components of a 3-component recording of ambient ground motions from microtremors. Results from mHVSR tests can identify the frequencies associated with site resonances at sites with large impedance contrasts, and hence have potential to provide useful parameters for predicting seismic site response. Site measurements are made by recording ground vibrations either from a temporarily deployed seismometer, typically recording for a relatively short period of time (~1-2 hrs.), or from a permanently-installed broadband seismometer. In this paper, we discuss ongoing work investigating the reliability …

User-Interaction With A Web-Served Global Ground Motion Relational Database, T. E. Buckreis, C. C. Nweke, P. Wang, S. J. Brandenberg, R. Shams, M. E. Ramos-Sepulveda, R. Pretell, S. Mazzoni

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

We present an application programming interface (API) which facilitates public access to a global relational database of earthquake ground motion intensity measures, associated metadata, and time-series data. Next Generation Attenuation (NGA)-East and NGA-West2 project spreadsheets have been adapted into a relational database format composed of multiple tables through a series of primary and foreign keys. The combined dataset has been expanded to include contributions from earthquakes, generally with magnitudes greater than M3.9, that have occurred since the conclusion of the data synthesis component of both projects in 2011. Currently the database includes 62,449 ground motions recorded at 9,092 stations for …

Modeling Coupled Driving Behavior During Lane Change: A Multi-Agent Transformer Reinforcement Learning Approach, Hongyu Guo, Mehdi Keyvan-Ekbatani, Kun Xie

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

In a lane change (LC) scenario, the lane change vehicle interacts with surrounding vehicles. The interactions not only affect their driving behaviors but also influence the traffic flow. This study aims to model the coupled behavior of the lane changer and the follower in the target lane during LC. Large-scale real-world connected vehicle (CV) data from the Safety Pilot Model Deployment (SPMD) program are used to extract LCs and study vehicle interactions. A multi-agent Transformer-based deep deterministic policy gradient (MA-TDDPG) method is proposed to model the coupled behaviors during LC. The multi-agent framework can handle the multiple agents’ behaviors with …

Implications Of Alternative Communications And Sensing Technologies For Implementing Variable Speed Limit Control Through Connected Vehicles: Sag Curve As A Case Study, Reza Vatani Nezafat, Mecit Cetin, Elizabeth Williams, George F. List

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Connected vehicles (CVs) will enable various applications to improve traffic flow. This paper's focus is to investigate how the potential implementation of variable speed limit (VSL) through different types of communication and sensing technologies on CVs makes it possible to mitigate congestion at a sag curve bottleneck. A VSL algorithm is developed and implemented in a simulation environment for controlling the inflow of vehicles to a sag curve to minimize delays and increase throughput. Both vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) options for CVs are investigated when implementing the VSL control strategy in a simulation environment. Also, for measuring traffic density …