Engineering Commons^™

The Beauty Of Fluid Dynamics | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Tadd Truscott is an MIT-trained engineer of fluid dynamics – a profession steeped in dizzying mathematics and complex physics.

Star Light, Star Blight | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Humans have been rocketing themselves and their stuff into space for more than half a century.

Two Dimensional Grating Magneto-Optical Trap, Eric A. Imhof, Benjamin K. Stuhl, Brian Kasch, Bethany Kroese, Spencer E. Olson, Matthew B. Squires

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

We demonstrate a two-dimensional grating magneto optical trap (2D GMOT) with a single input beam and a planar diffraction grating in ⁸⁷Rb. This configuration allows for an increase in experimental access when compared with a traditional 2D MOT. As configured in the paper, the output flux is > 4 × 10⁸ rubidium atoms/s at a mean velocity of 18 m/s. The velocity distribution has a 3 m/s standard deviation. We use the atomic beam from the 2D GMOT to demonstrate loading of a three dimensional grating MOT (3D GMOT) with 2 × 10⁸ atoms. Methods to improve flux …

Shear Joy Of Watching Paint Dry, Randy Craig Hurd, Nathan B. Spiers, J. Belden, Zhao Pan, B. Lovett, W. G. Robinson, M. A. Zamora, Saberul I. Sharker, Mohammad M. Mansoor, A. Merritt, Tadd T. Truscott

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper is associated with a video winner of a 2016 APS/DFD Milton van Dyke Award for work presented at the DFD Gallery of Fluid Motion.

Usu To Lead $4m Collaborative Water Research Initiative | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Utah State University hydrologists are revolutionizing the way scientific data is stored and shared among scientists around the globe.

Swedish Transportation Officials Visit Usu’S Electric Vehicle And Roadway Research Facility | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Authorities from the Swedish Transport Administration were in Logan on Sept. 18 to see the latest electrified vehicle and roadway research underway at Utah State University.

Usu Opens State-Of-The-Art Idea Factory For Aggie Engineers | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

The College of Engineering at Utah State University is debuting its brand new Idea Factory, a state-of-the-art design and fabrication facility on the Logan campus.

Feasibility Analysis Of Electric Roadways, Regan Zane

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Cyberinfrastructure For Advancing Hydrologic Knowledge Through Collaborative Integration Of Data Science, Modeling And Analysis, David Tarboton

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Spatial Scale Gap Filling Using An Unmanned Aerial System: A Statistical Downscaling Method For Applications In Precision Agriculture, Leila Hassan-Esfahani, Ardeshir M. Ebtehaj, Alfonso F. Torres-Rua, Mac Mckee

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Applications of satellite-borne observations in precision agriculture (PA) are often limited due to the coarse spatial resolution of satellite imagery. This paper uses high-resolution airborne observations to increase the spatial resolution of satellite data for related applications in PA. A new variational downscaling scheme is presented that uses coincident aerial imagery products from “AggieAir”, an unmanned aerial system, to increase the spatial resolution of Landsat satellite data. This approach is primarily tested for downscaling individual band Landsat images that can be used to derive normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and surface soil moisture (SSM). Quantitative and qualitative results demonstrate promising …

Water Resources Adaptation To Climate And Demand Change In The Potomac River, James H. Stagge, Glenn E. Moglen

Publications

The effects of climate change are increasingly considered in conjunction with changes in water demand and reservoir sedimentation in forecasts of water supply vulnerability. Here, the relative effects of these factors are evaluated for the Washington, DC metropolitan area water supply for the near (2010 to 2039), intermediate (2040-2069), and distant future (2070 to 2099) by repeated water resources model simulations. This system poses water management challenges due to long water delivery travel times that increase uncertainty, multiple water jurisdictions that constrain potential decisions, and future scenarios that simultaneously increase demand and decrease water supply during the critical summer period. …

Be Capstone Design Students Sample Scofield Reservoir: Harmful Algal Blooms | Sustainable Waste-To-Bioproducts Engineering Center, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Identifying, harvesting, and treating harmful algae blooms (HABs) is the ultimate goal of the BE Capstone Design team for 2017.

Acid: Anti-Jam Cots Infiltrator Drone, Scott Anderson

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

Anticipating the adversaries’ next move

Next-generation improvised, RF-silent drone:

• No GPS and no RF link in or out
• Passive sensor navigation (inertial, vision, etc.)
• Impervious to electronic countermeasures
• Renders electronic attack devices obsolete
• Freely operates in GPS-denied/EW areas

Low-cost, fire-and-forget, improvised weapon

Red team test asset

Deployable system in its own right

Kinetic/directed energy is the only way to defeat

Ususub Qualifies At 2017 International Robosub Competition | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Engineering students from the Utah State University RoboSub team competed last month in San Diego at Robonation's annual International RoboSub Competition and made it through the qualifying rounds.

Second Annual Meeting And Technology Showcase - September 2017 | Utah State University Power Electronics Lab, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

The second annual SELECT meeting and technology showcase will be held on September 26-27, 2017.

Designing And Implementing A Network For Sensing Water Quality And Hydrology Across Mountain To Urban Transitions, Amber Spackman Jones, Zachary T. Aanderud, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, David P. Eiriksson, Dylan Dastrup, Christopher Cox, Scott B. Jones, David R. Bowling, Jonathan Carlisle, Gregory T. Carling, Michelle A. Baker

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Water resources are increasingly impacted by growing human populations, land use, and climate changes, and complex interactions among biophysical processes. In an effort to better understand these factors in semiarid northern Utah, United States, we created a real-time observatory consisting of sensors deployed at aquatic and terrestrial stations to monitor water quality, water inputs, and outputs along mountain to urban gradients. The Gradients Along Mountain to Urban Transitions (GAMUT) monitoring network spans three watersheds with similar climates and streams fed by mountain winter-derived precipitation, but that differ in urbanization level, land use, and biophysical characteristics. The aquatic monitoring stations in …

Biological Engineering Undergrad Wins International Video Contest | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Utah State University undergraduate student Nathan Guymon won a second-place award in an international video contest aimed at educating the public about solid waste.

College Welcomes Newest Engineering Faculty | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

The College of Engineering at Utah State University is excited to welcome 11 new faculty members.

Thermal Conductance Measurement And Flexibility Enhancement Of Flexible Thermal Links, Matt Felt, Matt Sinfield, Brian Thompson, Matt Munns, K. Lloyd

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

Introduction

• Flexible thermal links provide a thermally conductive path with low mechanical stiffness

• Scope of this work is to characterize

– Uncertainty in thermal conductance measurements

– Compliance improvements gained by slitting foils

Discovery Canada Films At Water Lab | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Production crews for Discovery Canada were at the Utah Water Research Lab on Wednesday producing an upcoming TV special about the Oroville Dam spillway model.

A Smoother Ride Over Troubled Waters | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Boating through choppy waters can be an exciting but physically exhausting experience.

Nathan Guymon, Junior And Swbec Member Awarded Urco Project For 2017-2018 | Sustainable Waste-To-Bioproducts Engineering Center, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Nathan Guymon, a junior in the Biological Engineering department's Undergradaute program and member of SWBEC has been awarded an URCO grant by the USU Office of Research and Graduate Studies for the reseach he and his faculty mentor Dr. Ron Sims are working on titled the Effects of Photoperiods on the Performance of an Algal Biofilm Reactor for Wastewater Remeditation & Biomass Producst

Collaborative Research: Improving Student Learning In Hydrology & Water Resources Engineering By Enabling The Development, Sharing And Interoperability Of Active Learning Resources, David Tarboton

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Rocky Mountain Power Foundation Donates $13k To Usu Engineering | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

The College of Engineering at Utah State University is honored to receive a generous $13,000 donation from the Rocky Mountain Power Foundation.

Swbec Research And Development Ventures Receives Media Coverage In "Utah Business Magazine" | Sustainable Waste-To-Bioproducts Engineering Center, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

The article highlights the research and development regarding treatment of fracking wastewater that the Sustainable Waste to Bioproducts Engineering Center at USU has spearheaded and continues to develop.

Implementing Inexpensive Alternatives To The West’S Largest New Water Project, Utah Rivers Council

All In-stream Flows Material

In 2006, the Utah Rivers Council published our first paper on Bear River Development after completing a comprehensive analysis about the many inexpensive options to provide water for the future of the Wasatch Front. This 2^nd edition summarizes new research conducted by Utah Rivers Council staff, colleagues and that of other agencies, which demonstrates that Bear River Development is completely unnecessary for Utah’s future water needs. Although this is good news to Utah taxpayers, it is bad news for the many special interests that seek to profit from billions of dollars in spending for Bear River Water Development and …

Visualization And 3d Printing Of A 3d Solar Tracker Model Using Mayavi And Pov-Ray, Aditya Mehra

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

In this work, we have created a realistic model of a solar tracker using Mayavi: 3D scientific data visualization and plotting in Python, Enthought Canopy:a comprehensive Python analysis environment and Persistence of Vision Ray Tracer, or POV-Ray, a ray tracing program which generates photo-realistic images from a text-based scene description, a model of the solar tracker was also 3D printed.

Best Practices For Volume Flow Rate Measurements Using Piv At The Exit Of A Turbulent Round Jet, Robert Schaap

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is an optical flow measurement technique that is used to measure volume flow rate at the exit of a turbulent, round nozzle. The objective of this thesis is to determine how to best make this measurement. The quality of the measurement is affected by a range of data acquisition parameters and how data are processed. Measurements are made over a range of different flows using the two main types of PIV: Two Component (2C), which uses one camera, and Stereo, which uses two cameras, similar to human eyes. Previous work done for data acquisition and processing …

Phonon Dispersion And Relaxation Time In Uranium Dioxide, Dallin Parkinson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Phonon dispersion branches are used to obtain an effective relaxation time to calculate thermal conductivity of Uranium Dioxide (UO₂). The method presented closely follows that of Deskins’ phonon-phonon interaction that uses a three-phonon process which satisfies momentum and energy conservation. All phonon branches including longitudinal acoustic, transverse acoustic, longitudinal optical and transverse optical are considered in the calculation of the relaxation time.

After one phonon is identified, a scan is initiated to test all phonon combinations that will satisfy the conservation equations. When the scan identifies a valid three-phonon combination a relaxation time is calculated for that combination. …

Fatigue Crack Detection Using Unmanned Aerial Systems In Under-Bridge Inspection, Sattar Dorafshan, Marc Maguire, Nathan V. Hoffer, Calvin Coopmans

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The applications of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for bridge inspection, with emphasis on under-bridge inspection and fatigue crack detection, were studied in this report. The potential benefits and challenges of using UAS for bridge inspection were identified through an extensive literature survey. The feasibility of using UAS for fatigue crack detection was studied by determining the minimum lighting, camera distance and environmental requirements for three UAS. The DJI Mavic UAS performed better than the others in both indoor and outdoor GPS-denied inspections. An in-service bridge in Ashton, Idaho was inspected using this UAS to find fatigue cracks. No fatigue crack, …