Engineering Commons^™

Noise Reduction In Eeg Signals Using Convolutional Autoencoding Techniques, Conor Hanrahan

Dissertations

The presence of noise in electroencephalography (EEG) signals can significantly reduce the accuracy of the analysis of the signal. This study assesses to what extent stacked autoencoders designed using one-dimensional convolutional neural network layers can reduce noise in EEG signals. The EEG signals, obtained from 81 people, were processed by a two-layer one-dimensional convolutional autoencoder (CAE), whom performed 3 independent button pressing tasks. The signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of the signals before and after processing were calculated and the distributions of the SNRs were compared. The performance of the model was compared to noise reduction performance of Principal Component Analysis, with …

Background And Design Of A Qualitative Study On Globally Responsible Decision-Making In Civil Engineering, Shannon Chance, Inês Direito, Rob Lawlor, Katie Cresswell-Maynard, Jon Pritchard, Nick Tyler, John Mitchell

Conference papers

Abstract: Organizations that regulate civil engineering have been pressing for integration of 'global responsibility' into higher education curricula since around 2006, with a goal of achieving environmental sustainability and social justice. In an effort led by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE, 2007, 2009), a global vision for civil engineering was identified. Within the UK, the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) has been leading the way alongside non-governmental organizations (Bourn & Neal, 2008). Via the in-progress study reported here, a UK-based research team is now studying the effects of ACSE and ICE initiatives. The team seeks to benchmark how …

Series Compensation To Increase Power Flow: A Case Study On The Irish Transmission System, Aidan Heffernan, Jane Courtney

Conference papers

Ireland presents an interesting case study for transmission network strengthening. The majority of load in the country is located at the nation's capital, Dublin, in the East, while most of the new conventional generation and renewable generation are found in the South-West. Power is transferred between the two via a 400 kV network. This leads to large cross- country power flows. This power distribution disparity is due to increase. A large thermal generating station which is connected to the 400 kV system in the West, will close by 2025. This generation will be replaced partially with wind generation in the …

Impact Of Consumer Profiles On A Consumer Convenience Prioritised Demand Response, Chittesh Veni Chandran, Keith Sunderland, Malabika Basu

Conference papers

Distribution network (DN) load flexibility has simultaneously created challenges and opportunities. The major challenge is to meet the demand-supply balance while maintaining a positive profit-loss ratio. Further, Government enforced climate change policies attract low carbon technology (LCT) distributed energy resources (DER), which further complicate matters. Along with DN, the domestic appliance industry has undergone drastic modernization leading to appliances with advanced control and power efficient technologies as well as automation capabilities. This paper proposes a demand response (DR) program that facilitates these advancements while micromanaging the domestic load consumption pattern so as to manage peak demand in the network. This …

Sliding Mode Control Strategy For Three-Phase Three-Level T-Type Shunt Active Power Filters, Hasan Komurcugil, Sertac Bayhan, Samet Biricik

Conference papers

In this paper, a sliding mode control (SMC) strategy is proposed for three-phase three-level T-type shunt active power filters (SAPF). The proposed control strategy has the ability to balance the capacitor voltages with respect to the neutral-point. The proposed SMC strategy is formulated in the natural frame which eliminates abc/dq transformation and two PI controllers compared to the design in the dq frame. In natural frame, only one PI controller is needed to generate the amplitude of grid current reference. The output of the PI controller is multiplied by the unity sinusoidal waveforms, obtained from the grid voltages, so as …

Reliability Issues Caused By The Retirement Of Large Thermal Generation Facilities: An Irish Case Study, Kyle Lawson, Jane Courtney

Conference papers

Like all developed countries Ireland faces increasing pressure to reduce their carbon footprint. Part of the governments plans include the scaling back of fossil fuel generation facilities and increasing renewable resources. Moneypoint is Irelands only coal fired generation station. In 2025 Moneypoint is due to reach the end of its life cycle. At this point the Irish government will have to make a decission on the future of the generation facility. Currently Moneypoint is responsible for the generation of approximately 10 % of Irelands energy needs. In this paper, the removal of Moneypoint from the Irish generation portfolio will be …

The Deployment Of An Iot Network Infrastructure, As A Localised Regional Service, John Fox, Andrew Donnellan, Liam Doumen

Conference papers

The Internet of things (IoT) is fast evolving with a wide range of technologies being designated specifically as IoT solutions. Studies on such solutions generally reference the specific communication medium while negating the complete architecture of the IoT system. From a system perspective, a complete IoT solution can be separated into three categories, the data collector, the communication method and the cloud platform service. The data collector relates to the embedded system device (or the `things' element) at the source of the application, the communication method relates to the network protocol used to send or receive the data and the …

Design And Development Of Artificial Spinal Ligaments For Paediatric Synthetic Spine, Nor Amalina Muhayudin, Khairul Salleh Basaruddin, Fiona Mcevoy, Anthony Tansey

Articles

A synthetic spine is a model fabricated from artificial materials consisting of the vertebrae, intervertebral discs and ligaments for spinal testing. The synthetic spine overcomes many difficulties associated with biological specimens such as handling, biohazard concerns, high costs, and limited availability of specimens, quality and large inter-specimen variability. This paper presents the design and development of spinal ligaments to mimic the stiffness of the paediatric ligaments for use in the synthetic spine. Spinal ligaments are uniaxial structures in the spine that carry tensile loads along the direction of the fibres. Early in the research, silicone materials were used to cover …

Evaluation Of Skin-Mounted Sensor For Head Impact Measurement, Stephen Tiernan, Gary Byrne, David Michael O’Sullivan

Articles

Background: The requirement to measure the number and severity of head impacts in sports has led to the development of wearable sensors.

Aim: The objective of this study was to determine the reliability and accuracy of a wearable head impact sensor: xPatch, X2Biosystems Inc.

Methods: The skin mounted sensor, xPatch, was fixed onto a Hybrid III headform, and dropped using an impact test rig. Four hundred impacts were performed, ranging from 20 to 200g linear acceleration, and impact velocities of 1.2m/s to 3.9m/s. During each impact, the peak linear acceleration, angular velocity and angular acceleration, were recorded and compared to …

Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers In Diamond For Nanoscale Magnetic Resonance Imaging Applications, Alberto Boretti, Lorenzo Rosa, Jonathan Blackledge, Stefania Castelletto

Articles

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center is a point defect in diamond with unique properties for use in ultra-sensitive, high-resolution magnetometry. One of the most interesting and challenging applications is nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging (nano-MRI). While many review papers have covered other NV centers in diamond applications, there is no survey targeting the specific development of nano-MRI devices based on NV centers in diamond. Several different nano-MRI methods based on NV centers have been proposed with the goal of improving the spatial and temporal resolution, but without any coordinated effort. After summarizing the main NV magnetic imaging methods, this review presents a …

Economic Appraisal Of Hybrid Solar-Biomass Thermophotovoltaic Power Generation, C. M. Iftekhar Hussain Cmih, Aidan Duffy, Brian Norton

Conference Papers

The techno-economic parameters that influence the commercial deployment of hybrid thermophotovoltaic (TPV) solar power generation are determined using annual system simulations. It has been found that a TPV cell price of E5/cm2 or less together with a TPV operating temperature under 800°C is required for a hybrid solar–biomass TPV power plant to be economically competitive with the state-of-the-art hybrid solar–biomass Rankine cycle power plants.

Assessment Of Physicochemical Characteristics, Thermal Stability And Release Profile Of Ascorbic Acid Microcapsules Obtained By Complex Coacervation, Michele Cristina Rodrigues Da Cruz, João Luiz Andreotti Dagostin, Camila Augusto Perussello, Maria Lúcia Masson

Articles

The aim of this study was to determine the physicochemical characteristics, thermal stability and release profile of ascorbic acid (AA) microcapsules obtained by complex coacervation. Gelatin and gum arabic were used as wall materials in concentrations of 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 g% (w/v). The coacervate microcapsules were freeze-dried and assessed for physicochemical characteristics, thermal behavior and stability during 60 days of storage. The release profile was evaluated at different pH values (1.1, 2.2, 5.4, 7.4, 9.6 and 12). The encapsulation efficiency ranged from 27.3 to 93.8%. The microcapsules of AA presented good characteristics for application in food matrices, such as …

Harnessing Smart Technology For Private Well Risk Assessment And Communication, Tanner Hoffman, Paul Hynds, Corinne Schuster-Wallace, Sarah Dickson-Anderson, Anna Majury

Articles

Unregulated, privately owned water supplies, including groundwater wells, are relied upon extensively, particularly in rural and remote regions. While adequate stewardship behaviors (water testing, treatment, and maintenance) have been shown to decrease the incidence and frequency of faecal indicator organism (FIO) presence and, by extension, the risk of pathogenic ingress, contaminated private water supplies continue to constitute a significant public health risk. Recognizing that innovative approaches are needed to bolster well stewardship, this paper identifies and assesses 35 tools (smartphone and web-based applications) to better understand components, functionality, strengths, and weaknesses. Applications for both data collection and risk communication were …

Rapid Fabrication Of Silver Nanoparticle/Polydopamine Functionalized Polyester Fibers, Yanfen Zhou, Liang Jiang, Ya Guo, Zhenhua Sun, Zhiqing Jiang, Shaojuan Chen, Jianwei Ma, Stephen Jerrams

Articles

In this paper, silver nanoparticles functionalized poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibers with antimicrobial activity, electrical conductivity and good coating stability are reported. Firstly, silver plated PET fibers were fabricated by rapid polydopamine (PDA) modification followed by electroless plating. Secondly, the surface morphologies and compositions of PDA modified and silver coated PET fibers were characterized by employing scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectrometry. Finally, the antimicrobial properties and electrical conductivity of the silver plated PET fibers were investigated. The results showed that the silver coated PET fibers exhibited excellent antimicrobial activity to both Escherichia coli and …

Study On Spinnability Of Pp/Pu Blends And Preparation Of Pp/Pu Bi-Component Melt Blown Nonwovens, Yanfen Zhou, Liang Jiang, Huiying Jia, Xiaolu Xing, Zhenhua Sun, Shaojuan Chen, Jianwei Ma, Stephen Jerrams

Articles

Melt blown polymer blends offers a good way to combine two polymers in the same fiber generating nonwovens with new and novel properties. In this study, polypropylene (PP) and polyurethane (PU) were blended to prepare PP/PU bicomponent melt blown nonwovens. The spinnability of PP/PU composites was investigated and PP/PU bi-component nonwovens with compositions of 95/5, 90/10, 80/20 and 70/30 were prepared by using the melt blowing technique. The melt blown fibers exhibited a ‘sea-island’ structure with PP as the continuous phase and PU as the dispersed phase. When the content of PU in the blend was above 40 %, PP/PU …

Guest Editorial Special Issue On Using Enquiry-And-Design-Based Learning To Spur Epistemological And Identity Development Of Engineering Students, Shannon Chance, Bill Williams, Tom Goldfinch, Robin S. Adams, Lorraine N. Fleming

Articles

This Special Issue of the IEEE Transactions on Education focuses on using enquiry-based design projects to spur engineering students’ development, so as to increase understanding and application of the relevant theories, foster higher rates of student development and achieve this in healthy and productive ways.

Report On The Future Role Of Engineers In Society And The Skills And Competences Engineering Will Require, Brad Tabas, Una Beagon, Klara Kövesi

Reports

This literature review outlines the current state of the art knowledge in relation to the influence of diversity, attractiveness of the engineering profession and the skills and competencies required of engineers to achieve the SDGs. We aim to answer the overall research question: How do engineering educators develop new learning and teaching approaches (methods) that will attract a diverse group of students (and mature learners) whilst achieving the SDGs in 2030? The main objective of the A-STEP 2030 project is to create an attractive and fascinating learning environment to encourage young people with diverse backgrounds to engage in engineering studies …

Engineering Skills Requirements For Sustainable Development And Achieving The Sdgs - Outcomes Of Focus Groups Held In Ireland, France, Denmark And Finland As Part Of A-Step 2030 Project Activity 1: Task 2, Una Beagon, Brian Bowe

Reports

No abstract provided.

Prisoners Of The Capitalist Machine: Captivity And The Corporate Engineer, Eddie Conlon

Books/Book chapters

This chapter will focus on how engineering practice is conditioned by an economic system which promotes production for profit and economic growth as an end in itself. As such it will focus on the notion of the captivity of engineering which emanates from features of the economic system. By drawing on Critical Realism and a Marxist literature, and by focusing on the issues of safety and sustainability (in particular the issue of climate change), it will examine the extent to which disasters and workplace accidents result from the economic imperative for profitable production and how efforts by engineers to address …

Pathological Speech Classification Using A Convolutional Neural Network, Nam H. Trinh, Darragh O'Brien

Session 2: Deep Learning for Computer Vision

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have enabled significant improvements across a number of applications in computer vision such as object detection, face recognition and image classification. An audio signal can be visually represented as a spectrogram that captures the time-varying frequency content of the signal. This paper describes how a CNN can be applied to the spectrogram of an audio signal to distinguish pathological from healthy speech. We propose a CNN structure and implement it using Keras to test the approach. A classification accuracy of over 95% is obtained in experiments on two public pathological speech datasets.

A Twelve-Wavelength Thulium-Doped Fibre Laser Based On A Microfibre Coil Resonator Incorporating Black Phosphorus, Shi Li, Yu Yin, Elfed Lewis, Gerald Farrell, Pengfei Wang

Articles

A novel multi-wavelength continuous Thulium-doped fibre laser incorporating a microfibre coil resonator based on black phosphorus (MCR-BP) material has been successfully fabricated and demonstrated. A twelve-wavelength spectrum with 0.54 nm channel spacing has been achieved by simply adjusting the pump source power. A single peak extinction ratio of more than 40 dB was observed. The superior performance of the MCR-BP described in this article compared to conventional MCR based fibre lasers can be attributed the inclusion of the Black Phosphorous Material. The enhanced lasing is primarily due to the twin properties of the MCR-BP device combining a comb-like filter effect …

Mode Transition In Conventional Step-Index Optical Fibers, Xiaokang Lian, Gerald Farrell, Qiang Wu, Wei Han, Fangfang Wei, Yuliya Semenova

Conference Papers

The discrete self-imaging effect reveals the distinct properties of cladding modes with core modes in step-index optical fibers, as was shown in our previous work [1], where only the linearly polarized LP0n modes were studied. In this paper, the dispersion diagram of the first 17 vector modes (TE0n, TM0n, HEmn and EHmn) and the related first 9 LPmn modes are calculated by both the full-vector finite element method and the graphical method with a three-layer step-index optical fiber model. The cladding modes distributions and the transitions between the core and cladding modes are analyzed. The results of this work are …

What Is A Bim Design Model?, James Peters, Malachy Mathews

Conference papers

The recent report into Building Information Management or BIM, by construction law experts May Winfield and Sarah Rock entitled “Winfield Rock Report” [1] gives reason to state that the UK architectural, engineering and construction industry or AEC, is hindered by the absence of a clear definition of Level 2 BIM. The ISO 19650-2 standard published in 2019, is based upon PAS1192-2:2013. The intent of ISO 19650-2 is to provide a road map to facilitate the standardisation of BIM process in a uniformed fashion. A key pillar of ISO 19650 is the “information cycle” and central to this is a federated …

Assessing The Grit And Mindset Of Incoming Engineering Students With An Emphasis On Gender, Ines Direito, Shannon Chance, Emanuela Tilley, John Mitchell

Conference papers

Engineering programs can be very demanding, particularly in the first years where students encounter new forms of highly challenging coursework. To better prepare and support students, educators must acknowledge non-academic factors, such as the role of self-beliefs and personal attributes. Education research suggests that students are more likely to give up and disengage from their studies when they lack grit or assume a fixed mindset. Previous studies suggest that female students are generally grittier but less confident when compared to male students. This paper presents the initial work of an ongoing study to explore self-confidence and motivations to study engineering …

A Demographic Picture Of Academics Teaching On Engineering Programmes In Ireland And Their Approaches To Teaching (Ati)., Una Beagon, Brian Bowe

Conference papers

This paper presents the results of an online survey (n=293) carried out on academics teaching on engineering programmes in Ireland in 2017/18. The primary purpose of the survey was to provide a selection pool for interviewees in a separate phenomenographic study, however the survey also provided some interesting findings. Previously, there has been little published data on the diversity of personnel teaching on engineering programmes in Ireland and this paper aims to provide an insight. In addition to collating the demographics of the survey respondents, and their background experiences in academic and industry, the Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI) [1] …

Engineering Skills Requirements: A Systematic Literature Review (2009-2016), Una Beagon, Brian Bowe

Conference papers

No abstract provided.

Graduate Engineering Skills A Literature Review & Call For Rigorous Methodological Approaches, Una Beagon, Darren Carthy, Brian Bowe

Conference papers

What sort of working world do our engineering graduates face? Engineering has become a global profession, where professional skills are as important as the intellectual prowess gained by obtaining the qualification itself. First, we must consider what skills are needed for engineers to meet the challenges of Industry 4.0. Academics who wish to engage in activities to enhance engineering education might therefore initially seek to identify which skills are most important and there is a wealth of literature addressing different viewpoints which adds further complexity to evaluating such studies. This paper reports on two independent systematic reviews of literature to …

Daylight: What Makes A Difference, M. Knoop, O. Stefani, B. Bueno, B. Matusiak, R. Hobday, A. Wirz-Justice, K. Martiny, T. Kantermann, M. Aarts, N. Zemmouri, S. Appelt, Brian Norton

Articles

Light is necessary for vision; it enables us to sense and perceive our surroundings and in many direct and indirect ways, via eye and skin, affects our physiological and psychological health. The use of light in built environments has comfort, behavioural, economic and environmental consequences. Daylight has many particular benefits including excellent visual performance, permitting good eyesight, effective entrainment of the circadian system as well as a number of acute non-image forming effects and the important role of vitamin D production. Some human responses to daylight seem to be well defined whilst others require more research to be adequately understood. …

Optimization Of Pv Powered Spd Switchable Glazing To Minimise Probability Of Loss Of Power Supply, Aritra Ghosh, Brian Norton

Articles

Suspended particle device (SPD) glazing is an electrically actuated switchable glazing. It requires alternate current (AC) power supply to switch from opaque to transparent state. To power this glazing using PV device requires inverter. Optimization of AC powered switchable SPD glazing using photovoltaic (PV) device has been evaluated using loss of power supply probability (LPSP). Electrically switchable direct current (DC) powered electrochromic glazing was also considered in this investigation as it doesn't need any inverter to couple with PV. It is concluded that behaviour of these glazings is the dominant factor in performance optimization outweighting than azimuthal orientation and inclination …

The Study Of Grit In Engineering Education Research: A Systematic Literature Review, Shannon Chance, Inês Direito, Manish Malik

Articles

Researchontheroleofgrit–definedasbothperseveranceandpassionfor long-termgoals–onhumanperformancehasbeenconductedforthepast decade. It has been suggested that this non-cognitive factor is a better predictor of students’ retention than traditional academic measures. These findings hold relevance for engineering education research but studies on this area are still scarce. This paper provides a systematic review of the current state of research on grit and its correlates in engineering higher education research. Publications were identified using three types of databases specific to engineering education; a final set of 31 relevant records was analysed by type of population, methods, research topics and main results. Most of the reviewed studies implemented quantitative methodologies to …