Engineering Commons^™

Enabling Distributed Scientific Computing On The Campus, Derek J. Weitzel

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Campus research computing has evolved from many small decentralized resources, such as individual desktops, to fewer, larger centralized resources, such as clusters. This change has been necessitated by the increasing size of researcher's workloads, but this change has harmed the researcher's user experience. We propose to improve the user experience on the computational resources by creating an overlay cluster they are able to control. This overlay should transparently scale to national cyberinfrastructure as the user's demands increase.

We explore methods for improving the user experience when submitting jobs on a campus grid. To this end, we created a remote submission …

Biodegradable Medical Device Having An Adjustable Degradation Rate And Methods Of Making The Same, Yuebin Guo, Michael Sealy, Meisam Salahshoor Pirsoltan

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Disclosed herein are biodegradable medical devices comprising biodegradable material (e.g., magnesium-calcium alloys) having an adjustable rate of degradation that can be used in various applications, including, but not limited to, drug delivery applications, cardiovascular applications, and orthopedic applications to make biodegradable and biocompatible devices. Also disclosed herein are methods of making biodegradable medical devices comprising biodegradable materials by using, for instance, hybrid dry cutting/hydrostatic burnishing.

Design And Evaluation Of An Energy-Absorbing, Reusable Roadside/Median Barrier, Scott Rosenbaugh, Ronald K. Faller, Robert W. Bielenberg, James C. Holloway, Karla A. Lechtenberg, Jennifer D. Schmidt, John D. Reid, Justice E. Kohtz

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

No abstract provided.

Detecting Grain Flow Rate Using A Laser Scanner, Hossein Navid, Randal K. Taylor, Arzu Yazgi, Ning Wang, Yeyin Shi, Paul Weckler

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Detecting and measuring agricultural material flow is important in a wide range of applications in agricultural engineering, such as material handling, food processing, yield monitoring, and fertilizer spreading. In these applications, flow rate is determined by measuring material mass or volume as a function of time. Although different materials require detection, the methods for a given material type (e.g., granular) can be similar. Researchers have developed methods such as impact based sensors, radiometric-based sensors, and optical methods to detect and measure material flow. Abdul Rahim and Green (1998) studied an optical-fiber sensor (containing 32 light sources and 32 light detectors) …

Airborne Infection In Healthcare Environments: Implications To Hospital Corridor Design, Ehsan Mousavi

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Several studies have linked nosocomial transmission airborne diseases to airflow in healthcare settings. Quasi-experimental methods are developed to observe the aerodynamic transport behavior of synthetic respiratory particles in corridors of a hospital. Computational models, validated by experimental results, are then developed to explore the spatial relationships of supply-exhaust air ventilation in patient corridors. The aim of this study is to determine optimal HVAC design strategies to contain and remove airborne contaminants in healthcare environments.

In addition to occupant comfort, hospital HVAC systems are designed to provide ventilation and directional airflow to contain, dilute and remove contaminants including airborne disease. Of …

Room Acoustic Effects On Speech Comprehension Of English-As-Second-Language Talkers And Listeners Versus Native-English-Speaking Talkers And Listeners, Lily M. Wang

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Approximately 21% of the children in the United States school system speak a language other than English at home, but are being taught in English at school. English is additionally being used more and more often as a common language in international settings, even though participants at these international events again are not native English speakers. How do adverse room acoustic environments, including higher background noise levels and longer reverberation times, impact English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) talkers and listeners versus native English-speaking talkers and listeners? This presentation focuses on two recent studies at the University of Nebraska that investigate how assorted room …

Quantification And Subjective Perception Of Varying Reflection Densities In Measured Room Impulsed Responses, Hyun Hong, Lily M. Wang

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

This project focuses on quantifying and testing the subjective perception of reflection densities, or the number of reflections per second, from different room impulse responses. The widely used room acoustic metric, reverberation time, is linked to the perceived reverberation in a room. Two different rooms having the same reverberation time, though, can have different reflection densities in their room impulse responses, and this difference in reflection density may affect how listeners perceive spatial impression in rooms. To investigate how sensitive humans are to a change of reflection density, this paper first reviews assorted parameters for quantifying reflection density from measured …

Computer Vision System For Grading Mangos In Bangladesh, Md Abdul Momin, Md Towfiqur Rahman, Mst Sabrina Sultana, Igathinathane Cannayen

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Mango (Mangifera indica) is one of the most common, important, and popular fruits among fruits produced in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, mango was cultivated in about 0.078 million acres with an annual production of 0.8 million tonne. However, the technologies used in post-harvest processing (e.g., grading, sorting, etc.) of mango are mostly traditional involving human labors; and the methods are far from satisfactory, in terms of accuracy and throughput. In order to grade mango according to size, we developed a machine vision system with image processing capabilities that can measure sizes of mango fruits from the images. In this system images …

Design Optimization Of A Linear Generator With Dual Halbach Array For Human Motion Energy Harvesting, Wenjia Zhao

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A linear generator for human motion energy harvesting is designed and optimized in this study. The linear generator can be used to convert human motion energy to electrical energy to charge portable electronics, such as cellular phones, wireless internet devices, etc. The use of dual Halbach magnet arrays in the proposed generator provides a significant improvement in power density. Different dual Halbach arrays were studied, and a novel Halbach array with nonuniform magnet blocks is proposed to enhance the air-gap flux density in the linear generator for a given size and weight of permanent magnet material. Sensitivity analyses were performed …

Implementation Of Sustainability Improvements At The Facility Level: Business Motivations And Impact Of P2 Intern Recommendations, Vincent D. Kuppig

Department of Environmental Engineering: Theses and Other Student Research

Many sustainability and pollution prevention (P2) technical assistance programs exist across the Unities States. There is a need to quantify the actual impact using various metrics and, in addition, to identify the driving forces behind a company’s decision-making process. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Partners in Pollution Prevention and the Kansas State University Pollution Prevention Institute intern programs partnered to complete 30 reassessments in 2014 to obtain specific information related to each P2 recommendation. After being reassessed, the clients were surveyed concerning their motivations for implementing and not implementing each recommendation; 23 clients responded to the survey.

The clients surveyed were …

Inert-Gas Condensed Co–W Nanoclusters: Formation, Structure And Magnetic Properties, Farhad Reza Golkar-Fard

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Rare-earth permanent magnets are used extensively in numerous technical applications, e.g. wind turbines, audio speakers, and hybrid/electric vehicles. The demand and production of rare-earth permanent magnets in the world has in the past decades increased significantly. However, the decrease in export of rare-earth elements from China in recent time has led to a renewed interest in developing rare-earth free permanent magnets. Elements such as Fe and Co have potential, due to their high magnetization, to be used as hosts in rare-earth free permanent magnets but a major challenge is to increase their magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant, K₁, which largely …

Estimation Of Optimal Productivity In Labor-Intensive Construction Operations, Krishna Prasad Kisi

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In an attempt to evaluate the efficiency of labor-intensive construction operations, project managers typically compare actual with historical productivity for equivalent operations. However, this approach toward examining productivity only provides a relative benchmark for efficiency and may lead to the characterization of operations as objectively efficient when in reality such operations might simply be comparably efficient.

Optimal productivity is the highest sustainable productivity achievable under good management and typical field conditions. Optimal productivity is useful in the determination of the absolute efficiency of construction operations because an accurate estimate of optimal labor productivity allows for the comparison of actual vs. …

Non-Wetting Surface-Driven High-Aspect-Ratio Crystalline Grain Growth For Efficient Hybrid Perovskite Solar Cells, Cheng Bi, Qi Wang, Yongbo Yuan, Zhengguo Xiao, Jinsong Huang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Large-aspect-ratio grains are needed in polycrystalline thin-film solar cells for reduced charge recombination at grain boundaries; however, the grain size in organolead trihalide perovskite (OTP) films is generally limited by the film thickness. Here we report the growth of OTP grains with high average aspect ratio of 2.3–7.9 on a wide range of non-wetting hole transport layers (HTLs), which increase nucleus spacing by suppressing heterogeneous nucleation and facilitate grain boundary migration in grain growth by imposing less drag force. The reduced grain boundary area and improved crystallinity dramatically reduce the charge recombination in OTP thin films to the level in …

Lessons Learned From A Simulation Project In Construction Education, Saeed Rokooei, James D. Goedert

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Faculty Publications

Virtual Interactive Construction Education (VICE) is a simulation designed for construction education. The purpose was to provide the traditional lecture-based construction contents along with supplementary instructions in a project-based learning environment. Six modules were proposed as a curriculum delivery guideline including: single span bridge, residential building, light commercial, heavy commercial, highway, and segmental bridge. The single span bridge was the first module used for prototype development providing an opportunity to design, analyze, implement, and test for effectiveness. This paper describes the design steps and results of this three-year research project. VICE-Bridge required participants to sequentially order the construction activities and …

Evaluation Of Thin Asphalt Overlay Practice Preserving Nebraska's Asphalt Pavement, Soohyok Im, Yong-Rak Kim, Hamzeh Haghshenas Fatmehsari, Gabriel Nsengiyumva, Taesun You

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

No abstract provided.

Cable-To-Post Attachments For Use In Non-Proprietary High-Tension Cable Median Barrier – Phase Ii, Scott K. Rosenbaugh, Robert W. Bielenberg, Brandt M. Humphrey, Ronald K. Faller, John D. Reid, Karla A. Lechtenberg

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

The research objectives reported herein were based on further development of cable-to-post attachment hardware for use in the non-proprietary high-tension cable barrier system. Specifically, this project aimed to develop and evaluate alternative attachment designs for the bolted, tabbed bracket and evaluate the use of a larger diameter, keeper rod for use in the top cable attachment. From a group of over 25 alternative attachment concepts, two tabbed bracket designs were selected for evaluation through dynamic component testing: 1) the lateral shear plate attachment and 2) the drop-in shear plate attachment. The drop-in shear plate concept did not perform as intended, …

Multiphysics Modeling To Enhance Understanding Of Microwave Heating Of Food In Domestic Ovens, Jiajia Chen

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Nonuniform heating is the biggest issue in the microwave heating of prepared meals. Multiphysics based models are promising tools to improve microwave heating uniformity by properly designing the food product. However, limited availability of accurate temperature-dependent material properties, inadequate model prediction accuracy, and high computational power and complexity in model development are three gaps that greatly limited the application of these models in the food industry.

To fill in the gaps, firstly, we developed a multitemperature calibration protocol to measure temperature-dependent dielectric properties (dielectric constant and loss factor). The temperature-dependent dielectric and thermal (thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity) properties …

Using Swat To Simulate Crop Yields And Salinity Levels In The North Fork River Basin, Usa, Aaron R. Mittelstet, Daniel E. Storm, Art L. Stoecker

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Crop yields and salinity levels in the North Fork of the Red River (North Fork River) basin, located in southwestern Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle, were analyzed based on the diverse climate in the region. Saline irrigation water is a major problem in the basin. The Elm Fork Creek flows through salt deposits, making the creek and its receiving stream, the North Fork River, too saline to use for irrigation. This greatly reduces the number of hectares that can be utilized for agricultural crops within the basin. A baseline SWAT model was setup, calibrated and validated to simulate streamflow and …

Water And Energy Use And Wastewater Production In A Beef Packing Plant, Rami Ziara

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Accurate information about water and energy use and wastewater production in beef packing plants is scarce. The objective of this study was to collect baseline water and energy use data within a beef packing plant with a special focus on antimicrobial interventions and to collect preliminary wastewater production data in addition. Permanent and portable water flow meters were installed on the plant’s plumbing system to collect water flow data from March 2014 to March 2015. A local utility company was hired to meter electricity at antimicrobial interventions using portable data loggers. Metered water flows and temperatures were combined with fundamental …

Swift Fox Abundance Along The Heartland Expressway Corridor In Nebraska, Marc Albrecht

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

No abstract provided.

A Stand-Alone Dna Hybridization Detection System, Sinan S. Sayood

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The goal of this project was to design a portable device that can quickly and accurately detect the difference between single and double stranded DNA. This was accomplished by analyzing the capacitive properties of DNA solutions and implementing a charge-based capacitive monitoring system to detect and analyze the solutions. The detection system was designed without reliance on expensive functionalized electrodes, and instead is able to detect the properties of free- oating DNA. This approach greatly reduces the cost of the materials needed to construct the device. It also decouples the main sensor apparatus from the bulk of the electronics, reducing …

Measuring Reliability In Dynamic And Stochastic Transportation Networks, Zifeng Wu

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

As the traffic demand levels continue to grow in cities, more and more transportation systems experience instability during recurrent and non-recurrent congestion periods. Therefore, reliability has taken on increasing emphases in performance evaluation for transportation agencies, and in performance communication between agencies and the public. Existing reliability-related studies in transportation engineering focus on the long-term reliability of day-to-day travel time variations. This dissertation expands the reliability research literature with studies on the short-term reliability which is valuable for both real-time management and real-time traffic information systems.

This dissertation proposes a level of service reliability metric for system evaluation. Instead of …

A Guide For Planning A Bike Share System At The University Of Nebraska–Lincoln, Wade M. Schuldt

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

The purpose of this document is to serve as a framework for planning a bicycle share system at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with the possible inclusion of the City of Lincoln, Nebraska, in the system. This document provides a background review of the evolution of bike share systems and the recent rapid growth of these systems around the world. The document describes planning methodologies used in other locations and the lessons learned from the bike share systems around the world, as to what processes should be pursued to implement a successful bike share system. With the University of Nebraska-Lincoln move …

Vcare: A Personal Emergency Response System To Promote Safe And Independent Living Among Elders Staying By Themselves In Community Or Residential Settings, Priyankar Bhattacharjee

Department of Computer Electronics and Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

‘Population aging’ is a growing concern for most of us living in the twenty first century, primarily because many of us in the next few years will have a senior person to care for - spending money towards their healthcare expenditures AND/OR having to balance a full-time job with the responsibility of care-giving, travelling from another city to be with this elderly citizen who might be our parent, grand-parent or even community elders. As informal care-givers, if somehow we were able to monitor the day-to-day activities of our elderly dependents, and be alerted when wrong happens to them that would …

Ensc 110 (Energy In Perspective) Bibliography, Supplementary Reading, Adam Liska

Adam Liska Papers

Energy, Thermodynamics, Complexity, Evolution, & Astronomy
Energy & Technology
Energy: Petroleum & Coal
Bioenergy, Animals, & Food
Energy & Environment
Energy & Climate Change
Energy, Oil Security, & War
Energy & Societal Collapse

Bibliography of 47 monographs

Ensc 300 (Energy Seminar) Annotated Bibliography, Supplementary Reading, Adam Liska

Adam Liska Papers

Innovation
Sociology of Innovation, Business, & Work
Sustainable Business Strategy
Leadership
Science, Engineering, & Business History
Economics
Energy, Business, & Environmental Policy
Climate Change & Insurance
Education
Ethics

62 monographic resources

Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles Trigger Loss Of Hepatic Function And Perturbation Of Mitochondrial Dynamics In Primary Hepatocytes, Vaishaali Natarajan

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles are one of the most highly manufactured nanomaterials in the world with applications in copious industrial and consumer products. The liver is a major accumulation site for many nanoparticles, including TiO₂, directly through intentional ingestion or indirectly through increased environmental contamination and unintentional ingestion via water, food or animals. Growing concerns over the current usage of TiO₂ coupled with the lack of mechanistic understanding of its potential health risk is the motivation for this study. Here we determined the toxic effect of three different TiO₂ nanoparticles (commercially available rutile, anatase …

Engineering Of Lipid Nanoparticles For Advanced Drug Deilvery Applications, Stephen L. Hayward

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

‘Nanomedicine’, the application of nanotechnology principles to the field of medicine, has stimulated the development of nano-platforms for next generation drug delivery. By exploiting nanoscale properties of materials to selectively alter intrinsic characteristics of therapeutics, researchers have improved the efficacy and pharmacokinetic profiles for a variety of drug types. Despite preliminary commercial and clinical success, there still remains a need to develop an improved delivery platform that can provide high cargo entrapment, efficient intracellular delivery, evasion of intracellular degradation pathways, and provide cell population specific targeting.

In this study we engineered a nanocarrier system composed of a core bilayer structure …

Generalized Ellipsometry Analysis Of Anisotropic Nanoporous Media: Polymer-Infiltrated Nanocolumnar And Inverse-Column Polymeric Films, Dan Liang

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Characterization of the structural and optical properties is a subject of significance for nanoporous material research. However, it remains a challenge to find non-destructive methods for investigating the anisotropy of porous thin films with three-dimensional nanostructures. In this thesis, a generalized ellipsometry (GE) analysis approach is employed to study two types of anisotropic nanoporous media: slanted columnar thin films (SCTFs) with polymer infiltration and inverse-SCTF polymeric films. The thesis presents the physical properties obtained from GE analysis, including porosity, columnar shape, principal optical constants, birefringence, etc.

The thesis reports on using a GE analysis approach, combining the homogeneous biaxial layer …

A Framework For Estimating Labor Productivity Frontiers, Nirajan Mani

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The efficiency of construction operations is typically determined by comparing actual versus historical productivity. This practice is accurate if historical data reflects optimal values. Otherwise, this comparison is a gauge of relative rather than absolute efficiency. Therefore, in order to determine absolute efficiency, one must compare actual versus optimal productivity. Optimal productivity is the highest sustainable productivity level achievable under “good management” and “typical field conditions,” while the productivity frontier is the theoretical maximum achievable under “perfect conditions.”

The productivity frontier is an abstraction useful in the estimation of optimal productivity of construction operations. This research contributes to the body …