Engineering Commons^™

Computational And Experimental Analysis Of Silica Nanoparticles Under Dc And Ac Electric Fields Using A Self-Induced Back Action Actuated Nanopore Electrophoresis (Sane) Sensor, Homayoun Asadzadeh, Scott Renkes, George Alexandrakis, Minjun Kim, Scott Turpin

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

In this dissertation I have studied a novel single-molecule nanosensor that integrates a Solid-State Nanopore (SSNP), milled in silicon nitride with a Double Nanohole (DNH) nanoaperture, milled in gold. This device leverages Self-Induced Back-Action (SIBA) for optical trapping with ssNP electrical sensing and is called the SIBA-Actuated Nanopore Electrophoresis (SANE) sensor. My lab has previously shown that simultaneous acquisition of bimodal optical and direct current (DC) electrical signatures enables more detailed characterization of nanoscopic analytes compared to using electrical data alone, which are typically collected by ssNP sensors. In this work I have first studied by COMSOL Multiphysics simulations the …

Spray-On Sensor Formulations That Enable Detection Of Physical And Chemical Stimuli, Priyanka Shiveshwarkar

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Polydiacetylene based materials have been used for a variety of liquid phase sensing applications. There remains a need for low cost, easy-to-read gas phase sensors for continuous monitoring of physiological parameters and environmental hazards at work or at home. Such sensors could have applications in everyday life, for example as point-of-care or at home testing devices to enable early detection of disease to reduce healthcare costs. Making accessible and non-invasive technologies for monitoring of health and health risks provides individuals with the ability to be proactive in regard to their health and safety. In other examples, environmental monitoring systems could …

Development Of Anti-Microbial Nanocoatings On Metallic Surfaces To Prevent Infections, Luis Fernando Soto Garcia

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Healthcare-associated infections have a prevalence of about 7% in the United States and up to 50% in some developing nations. They not only present a constant risk for inpatients and healthcare workers but are also a serious challenge to human health services worldwide. These infections can be transmitted via contaminated non-critical surfaces like doorknobs and bedrails, which are routinely cleaned with low-level disinfectants approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. However, this strategy has limited efficacy since recontamination occurs, resulting in these surfaces again becoming vectors of infection. In this work, we addressed this issue by developing a self-disinfecting nanocomposite …

Evaluation Of Air Emissions For Cured-In-Place Pipe Construction Method For Sewer Pipe Rehabilitation, Rasoul Adnan Abbas

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The aging underground pipelines in the United States, which include sewer and water supply systems, have exceeded their design lifespan and will have to be renewed or replaced to continue providing these vital services to communities. Two methods can be used to replace the pipes: open-cut and trenchless technologies. Trenchless methods offer several advantages in urban areas: a small work area, lower operational and maintenance costs, and fewer negative impacts on the surrounding communities. Among the trenchless options, the CIPP method has been chosen for this research since it minimizes surface disruption, making it particularly well-suited for densely populated areas …

Sustainable Use Of Wastewater In Concrete Construction, Mohammadamin Soltanianfard

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation investigates the use of wastewater from various treatment stages in concrete production to promote sustainable construction practices. Concrete prepared with potable water (PW) served as a control, while wastewater from plant final effluent (FE), chlorine contact basin (CL), secondary clarifier effluent (SC), primary clarifier effluent (PC), and bar screen effluent (BSE) was evaluated.

A comprehensive testing program was implemented to assess performance, including compressive strength tests, water absorption measurements, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results showed that wastewater from advanced stages (FE, CL, SC) had minimal impact on strength and durability, …

Net-Zero Home Race: Gamification For Learning Energy Consumption Merit, Terry E. Payne

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Buildings have contributed significantly to carbon emissions over the past decades, amplified by rapid construction growth. To address this, sustainable concepts like energy efficiency and financial planning for home retrofitting have become essential in promoting environmentally conscious practices. NZHR was created as a gamified experience to help bridge the gap between education and motivational enjoyment. Testing the game demonstrated participants' ability to learn and understand the importance of strategic thinking with home retrofit upgrades. Gamification principles such as the Octalysis and Bartle test were incorporated into the design process to construct a well-rounded game that provides intrinsic and extrinsic principles. …

Experimental And Finite Element Investigation Of Shear Transfer Mechanisms And Capacity Of Continuous Post-Tensioned Concrete Beams In One-Way Slab Buildings, Suman Rijal

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

This study investigates the shear behavior and resistance mechanisms of continuous post-tensioned beams commonly used in one-way slab buildings. Combining experimental and analytical methods, the research focuses on the targeted failure regions of prestressed and non-prestressed continuous beams to gain deeper insights into their shear behavior. The large-scale specimens used in this study featured realistic parabolic tendon profiles and an average prestress level comparable to that used in actual construction. The experimental program includes three test series, with beam designs and setups refined for each series based on observations of shear crack development and progression in the preceding series. This …

Assessing The Seismic Performance Of 45 Ft And 65 Ft Special Truss Moment Frames (Stmfs) Designed With Proposed 2027 Aisc Seismic Provisions Using Nonlinear Time-History Analysis, Vesal Shakibaie

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

This thesis presents a comprehensive investigation into the seismic design and performance of Special Truss Moment Frames (STMFs) with long spans, focusing on two configurations: STMFs with Vierendeel panels and those with X-braced diagonals in the special segment. The study assesses two case studies with spans of 45 ft and 65 ft, analyzing their behavior under Design Basis Earthquake (DBE) and Maximum Considered Earthquake (MCE) scenarios. The structures were designed according to the latest proposed 2027 revision of the AISC Seismic Provisions, which includes significant changes compared to the published 2022 version. Nonlinear time-history analysis and nonlinear static (push-over) analysis …

Towards Performance Guarantee For Federated Computing, Stoddard A. Rosenkrantz

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

In federated computing environments, where multiple independent devices collaborate without centralized resource control, ensuring reliable and predictable performance is crucial for meeting Service Level Objectives (SLOs). This dissertation presents a novel framework for achieving SLOs by utilizing measured subtask response times, which are obtained and processed locally on the client devices. Each device generates a performance curve based on its subtask response times, and only the essential parameters of this curve are transmitted to a centralized client selector. The client selector then uses these parameters to determine which devices are best suited to meet predefined SLOs for specific tasks, ensuring …

Design And Analysis Of Electrochemical Additive Manufacturing Based Cold Plates And Heat Sinks For Enhanced Electronics Cooling And Temperature-Dependent Density Characterization Of Phase Change Materials, Jacob Lamotte-Dawaghreh

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The body of work that comprises this dissertation is divided into two main sections. The first section is regarding novel heat sink and cold plate designs that leverage a metal additive manufacturing process called electrochemical additive manufacturing (ECAM) to drive increased thermal performance. The continuous advancements in electronics computational capabilities have resulted in ever-increasing thermal loads at the component and data center server level. These strides within the field are soon to be compounded by the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. Traditionally, high performance electronics components have been able to be cooled by forced-air cooling; however, the …

Graphene Reinforced Polymer Composite For Small-Scale Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Rotors, Kunal A. Bachim

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Polymers have evolved as an indispensable asset in various sectors ranging from packaging and construction to energy and aerospace. However, the accumulation of polymer waste poses a necessity to shift toward sustainable waste management processes. Mechanical recycling is a primary method in establishing a circular economy approach for polymers. However, a fundamental challenge arises in this process: a decrease in the mechanical performance of the recycled product compared to that of its pristine counterpart.

This project addresses the challenge of enhancing the recyclability of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from discarded polymer material by incorporating graphene nanoparticles into the polymer matrix during …

A Study Of Multimodal Accessibility Equity And Spatio-Temporal Relationships Between Transit, Job Density And Modal Split, Seyedsoheil Sharifiasl

Planning Dissertations - Archive

In North American cities, the land use and transportation systems are associated with low-density, suburban-type urban development, where the built environment contributes to a mobility pattern that is extremely reliant on automobiles. Several studies in the past decades have documented noticeable and concerning patterns of unjust and unsustainable transportation in this context. As a result, for those population groups with limited access to private transportation, this form of urban structure is equivalent to limited access to opportunities, leading to various environmental and social problems. These problems exacerbate inequities in access to transportation, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities. From a sustainable development …

A Few-Shot Multi-Modality Traversability Segmentation Framework For Indoor Robotic Navigation, Qiyuan An

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Traversability in autonomous robotic navigation refers to the ability of an autonomous agent to safely navigate over a given terrain. It plays a critical role in enabling robots to navigate over unseen or unknown terrains. Traversability segmentation aims to find an arbitrary-shaped mask covering the traversable regions (termed free-space). Current research for traversability segmentation can be divided into two scenarios: outdoor and indoor environments. Compared to the outdoor environments mainly consists of paved roads, indoor environments present unique challenges for traversability segmentation, because of diverse lighting conditions, glass doors, various floor colors and textures, arbitrary shaped appliances and furniture, presence …

Enhancing Electromigration Reliability In Solder Interconnects Through Microstructure Control And Thermomechanical Failure Mechanisms In Thin Metal Lines Under Surge Current Conditions, Hariram Mohanram

Material Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The relentless miniaturization of semiconductor devices has intensified reliability challenges in electronic packaging, particularly for solder interconnects and thin metal lines. This dissertation investigates two critical failure mechanisms—electromigration (EM) and thermomechanical fatigue (TMF)—and explores strategies to mitigate these effects. Electromigration, driven by high-density current-induced atomic migration, significantly impacts solder interconnects. This study examines the role of Under-Bump Metallization (UBM) and solder microstructure in improving EM reliability. Findings reveal that thicker UBMs delay void nucleation and enhance EM resistance, while the absence of UBM leads to failure through vertical void propagation. Additionally, grain orientation, particularly the c-axis alignment in Sn grains, …

Evaluation Of Hydrophobic Materials For Stabilizing Expansive Soils, Suman Shrestha

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The swelling and shrinkage of the expansive soil as a response to moisture change is one of the significant challenges posed to infrastructure projects. The significant economic damage that is caused by the expansive soil, as well as its abundance in nature, has prompted various scientists and engineers all around the world to actively search for new and improved methods for stabilizing it. Various traditional methods, such as lime and cement treatment, have been used extensively to stabilize expansive soils and mitigate their harmful effects on the infrastructure. Although these methods are quite often effective and various studies have been …

Use Of Recycled Plastics To Improve Strength And Reduce Swelling Of Expansive Subgrade, Merina Thapa

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Managing solid waste, particularly non-degradable plastics, is a growing environmental concern due to its persistence and limited disposal options. With landfill space dwindling and costs increasing, innovative and sustainable solutions are critical. One promising approach is incorporating plastic waste into construction materials, specifically for subgrade soil stabilization in pavements. This study suggests a method that involves mixing recycled plastic with soil to enhance its properties.

To find out how useful this method is, LDPE, HDPE, PET, and PP plastics were shredded and mixed with soil in different amounts (2%, 3%, 4%, and 5% by weight). Laboratory tests, including compaction, unconfined …

Improvement In Benefit-Cost Analysis Of Bridges Through Assessment Of Secondary Benefits And Defect Based Maintenance Cost, Shadman Sakib

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Benefit-cost Analysis (BCA) is conducted prior to federal grant allocation for bridge replacement and enhancement projects to prioritize decision-making. Benefits are measured based on total bridge closures, requiring vehicles to take alternate detour paths. Primary benefits are the direct user costs such as travel time saving or emission costs. However, there are more secondary benefits that are intangible and hard to monetize, but United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) guidelines suggest considering them wherever possible. There are lack of US based data and research also no set guideline by authority.

Apart from calculating primary benefits for a 95 sample of …

Statistical Analysis On The Effects Of Environmental Factors On Bridge Condition Rating In Texas, Mohammad Wasif Quadri

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The development of predictive models for bridge deterioration is crucial for ensuring the longevity and safety of transportation infrastructure. Bridge condition degradation is heavily influenced by environmental conditions. This research integrates various environmental variables such as rainfall, humidity, air temperature, coastal influence, and freezing effects to generate environmental risk scores. These scores help in developing environmental risk zones within the Texas region. Deck condition ratings from the National Bridge Inventory (NBI) database are used to develop deterioration models using linear regression and the Markov method. The results highlight the impact of different environmental risk zones on bridge degradation patterns and …

A Comprehensive Exploration Of Fundamental And Experimental Characteristics Of Nanophotonic Metasurfaces, Nasrin Razmjooei

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The advent of diffraction gratings with periodic unit cells has led to numerous advancements in theoretical studies and practical applications. Recently, these structures have been recognized as subsets of “meta-surfaces” or “meta-materials”, employing periodically aligned features at the wavelength scale to manipulate electromagnetic wave properties for diverse applications. This manipulation extends to controlling amplitude, phase, spectral distribution, polarization state, and the local mode structure of light across various spectral expressions. A significant characteristic of these metasurfaces is their ability to couple incident light to laterally propagating leaky Bloch modes in the subwavelength regime, resulting in resonance at specific wavelengths known …

A Wearable Sensing System For High-Speed Interface Of Wide Range Electrochemical Sensor Array, Shanthala Lakshminarayana

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Electrochemical sensing systems have emerged as indispensable tools in various fields due to their remarkable sensitivity, selectivity, and versatility. They play a pivotal role in modern research, industry, environmental monitoring, and healthcare devices. In environmental monitoring, these systems are deployed for detecting pollutants, heavy metals, and toxic gases, facilitating real-time monitoring, and ensuring environmental safety. Whereas, in the biomedical field, electrochemical sensing systems play a crucial role in diagnosing diseases, monitoring biomarkers etc, thereby revolutionizing healthcare practices.

Cost-effective wearable electrochemical sensing devices are significant for democratizing healthcare and improving public health outcomes. These devices enable continuous monitoring of physiological parameters, …

Pulsed Dielectric Breakdown And Permittivity Characterization Of Composite Solid Insulators In Pulsed Power Systems, Shawn T. Scoggin

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

In high voltage pulsed power systems, liquids and gases are often used as insulating materials because they offer high breakdown strengths, conform around complex geometries, and are self-healing, but they can introduce significant engineering challenges and restrictions when it comes to implementing them. Solid dielectrics can be desirable for improving the maintenance requirements, shelf life, and power/energy density metrics associated with insulating high voltage pulsed power systems, however they possess design challenges of their own. Solid dielectrics are not self-healing and can be difficult to manufacture, especially around complex geometries. Epoxy dielectrics are of high interest because of their naturally …

Manifold Learning In Robotics: A Tutorial And Survey, Marcus Hawkins

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

In this article, we hope to represent the current state of the art of manifold learning in an understandable and approachable way. The authors will present a general overview core algorithms associated with linear and nonlinear dimensionality reduction techniques, give rudimentary definitions from differential geometry, and tenets of robotic perception, manipulation and path planning. Some of the historical applications of these algorithms will be presented, as well as conjectures about future uses, through examples from peer-reviewed journals.

Exploring Machine Learning Techniques For Embedded Hardware, Neel R. Vora

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

This thesis delves into the intricate symbiosis between machine learning (ML) methodologies and embedded hardware systems, with a primary focus on augmenting efficiency and real-time processing capabilities across diverse application domains. It confronts the formidable challenge of deploying sophisticated ML algorithms on resource-constrained embedded hardware, aiming not only to optimize performance but also to minimize energy consumption. Innovative strategies are explored to tailor ML models for streamlined execution on embedded platforms, with validation conducted across various real-world application domains. Notable contributions include the development of a deep-learning framework leveraging a variational autoencoder (VAE) for compressing physiological signals from wearables while …

Stock Price Trend Prediction Using Emotion Analysis Of Financial Headlines With Distilled Llm Model, Rithesh H. Bhat

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

Capturing the volatility of stock prices helps individual traders, stock analysts, and institutions alike increase their returns in the stock market. Financial news headlines have been shown to have a significant effect on stock price mobility. Lately, many financial portals have restricted web scraping of stock prices and other related financial data of companies from their websites. In this study we demonstrate that emotion analysis of financial news headlines alone can be sufficient in predicting stock price movement, even in the absence of any financial data. We propose an approach that eliminates the need for web scraping of financial data. …

Development Of A Collaborative Research Platform For Efficient Data Management And Visualization Of Qubit Control, Devanshu Brahmbhatt

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

This thesis introduces QubiCSV, a pioneering open-source platform for quantum computing field. With an emphasis on collaborative research, QubiCSV addresses the critical need for specialized data management and visualization tools in qubit control. The platform is crafted to overcome the challenges posed by the high costs and complexities associated with quantum experimental setups. It emphasizes efficient utilization of resources through shared ideas, data, and implementation strategies. One of the primary obstacles in quantum computing research has been the ineffective management of extensive calibration data and the inability to visualize complex quantum experiment outcomes effectively. QubiCSV fills this gap by offering …

Pathology Slide Segmentation, Mohamed Mohamed

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

The goal of this project was to create an image segmentation model that would extract an image of H&E pathology slides from real life scenarios. This was a part of a project that required the extraction of an image, querying of the image, and displaying the results. The baselines of the model were to be efficient, run on mobile devices, and be able to work with cameras of varying resolutions.

Adaptive Load-Aware Elastic Data Reduction And Re-Computation For Adaptive Mesh Refinement, Mengxiao Wang

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

The increasing performance gap between computation and I/O creates huge data management challenges for simulation-based scientific discovery. Data reduction, among others, is deemed to be a promising technique to bridge the gap through reducing the amount of data migrated to persistent storage. However, the reduction performance is still far from what is being demanded from production applications. To this end, we propose a new methodology that aggressively reduces data despite the substantial loss of information, and re-computes the original accuracy on-demand. As a result, our scheme creates an illusion of a fast and large storage medium with the availability of …

Development And Application Of Guided Mode Resonance Biosensor Platforms For Highly Sensitive And Real-Time Cell Killing Assays, Seyedmohsen Vaziri

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

In this work, we developed and investigated the cancer cell killing efficacy of different instances using real-time high-sensitivity measurements facilitated by Guided-Mode Resonance (GMR) sensors. The GMR biosensor technology detects shifts in the spectral peak caused by changes in the refractive index of the surrounding medium, offering a label-free method for monitoring cellular events.

A549 cell line wild type and HER2 knockout (lung cancer cells) were exposed to different concentrations of Triton X-100 and ADC (Herceptin with αHFc-CL-DMDM). The GMR-based cell killing assay demonstrated exceptional sensitivity and specificity, with shifts in wavelength exhibiting a robust correlation with cell viability and …

Li-Ion Battery Resistance During External Short Circuits And Cyclic Ageing, Kaynat Zia

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

External short circuit testing (ESCT) is one of the many steps towards ensuring lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are safe for different applications. The nature of testing is sensitive due to the concern of safety and data integrity. Great care and planning must be done before conducting these tests. Bouncing in recorded data is observed in literatures with high sampling rates due to switching and moving mechanical parts. This impacts the estimation accuracy of battery internal parameter values especially the effective ohmic resistance (Ro). This dissertation proposes a zero bouncing circuit design to eliminate this problem. Multi-rate Pulse Discharge Testing (MPDT) is …

All-Optical Signal Processing With Fiber-Based Parametric Wavelength Converters, Cheng Guo

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The optical signal degradation by optical amplifier noise set the fundamental limit of link reach in the fiber-optics networks. The industrial solution is to use the optical-electrical-optical (OEO) regenerator to clean up the noise at the expense of high-speed electronics and extra cost of laser and photodetectors. All-optical signal processing, enabled by nonlinear optics and optical fiber, intrinsically provides 2-order of magnitude higher processing bandwidth and seamless interface to fiber communication channels. However, there is no robust phase-preserving regenerator that has been experimentally demonstrated without sophisticated polarization tuning and without instable interferometric structure. In this project, we explore the applications …