Engineering Commons^™

Dehalococcoides Abundance And Alternate Electron Acceptor Effects On Large, Flow-Through Trichloroethene Dechlorinating Columns, Babur S. Mirza, Darwin L. Sorensen, Ryan Dupont, Joan E. Mclean

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Trichloroethene (TCE) in groundwater is a major health concern and biostimulation/bioaugmentation-based strategies have been evaluated to achieve complete reductive dechlorination with varying success. Different carbon sources were hypothesized to stimulate different extents of TCE reductive dechlorination. Ecological conditions that developed different dechlorination stages were investigated by quantitating Dehalococcoides 16S rRNA (Dhc) and reductive dehalogenase gene abundance, and by describing biogeochemical properties of laboratory columns in response to this biostimulation. Eight large columns (183 cm × 15.2 cm), packed with aquifer material from Hill AFB, Utah, that were continuously fed TCE for 7.5 years. Duplicate columns were biostimulated with whey or …

Igem Vs. The Cheese Killer | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Cheese manufacturing is under attack by a type of virus called bacteriophages. The viruses infect bacteria used in the dairy fermentation process that yields our beloved cheese and yoghurt. Utah State’s 2015 International Genetically Engineered Machines, or iGEM, team has been researching ways to fight back against the virus. The iGEM event is a competition that promotes student involvement in real world synthetic biology research.

Dr. Catherine E. Brewer Research Presentation | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Biomass resources are available all around us and are frequently underutilized. These resources can come in the form of agricultural residues like pecan shells or cotton gin trash, forest residues, invasive species like tumbleweed and salt cedar, yard waste, organic materials and nutrients in wastewater, and even garbage on spacecraft. There are many opportunities to use these resources to meet our feed, water, and energy needs—with the right engineering. Thermochemical processes, namely pyrolysis, torrefaction, and hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), provide platforms to convert low-value materials into heat, power, liquid fuels, adsorbents, fertilizers, and soil amendments. In this presentation, Dr. Brewer will …

Engineering Thinking | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Nov. 2, 2015 - It’s no surprise: engineering courses are tough. Professors assign complex homework problems that can take hours to solve, and for some the experience feels like drinking from a fire hose.

Most engineering programs begin with a handful of rigorous courses in statics and dynamics that can be stumbling blocks for some. This has engineering education experts looking for retention solutions and rethinking how these difficult courses are taught.

Engineers Without Borders | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Nov. 2, 2015 – Members of the Engineers Without Borders Team Mexico have been working with residents in the community of La Salitrera, Mexico for several years to help eliminate arsenic from water supplies using an improved design on a classic tool – the bio-sand water filter.

A Smarter Baby Monitor | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Nate Ruben and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Dr. Jake Gunther can see something on the surface that most people can’t. The two are developing a new technology that uses a video camera to detect a person’s heartbeat. It’s not the first time engineers have tried to remotely measure a heartbeat signal. Medical technology experts have been at it for years with different designs that tether a child or his bedding to an electronic device that alerts parents to the possibility of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS.

Tandemonium | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Nov. 2, 2015 — Jay Lindstrom’s love for biking and Laura Birkhold’s enthusiasm for a hands-on project made designing a side-by-side quadricycle perfect for their senior design project. Along with their team members and representatives from Common Ground Outdoor Adventures and Icon Health & Fitness, the group of mechanical engineering students set out to build a unique tandem cycle they dubbed ‘Tandemonium.’

Darp-Mp: Dynamically Adaptable Resilient Pipeline Design In Multicore Processors, Hu Chen, Sanghamitra Roy, Koushik Chakraborty

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

In this article, we demonstrate that the sensitized path delays in various microprocessor pipe stages exhibit intriguing temporal and spatial variations during the execution of real-world applications. To effectively exploit these delay variations, we propose dynamically adaptable resilient pipeline (DARP)-a series of runtime techniques to boost power-performance efficiency and fault tolerance in a pipelined microprocessor. DARP employs early error prediction to avoid amajor portion of the timing errors.We combine DARP with the state-of-art topologically homogeneous and power-performance heterogeneous (THPH) architecture to build up a new frontier for the energy efficiency of multicore processors (DARP-MP). Using a rigorous circuitarchitectural infrastructure, we …

Farewell Bruce Bishop | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Oct. 31, 2015 – For Bruce Bishop, a cozy retirement is still a ways off. On his last official day of work in June, the former dean and professor of civil engineering was waist deep in activities at the Water Lab and taking on a new project to showcase the College of Engineering across South America.

Engineering Answers: Elegant Solutions Start With Simple Ideas | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Courtney Richards was inspired to create her solar-powered backpack while working as a report writer for a paleontologist. While on long surveys both her camera and GPS would often run out of power making it impossible to do her job properly. She realized the problem could be solved with a portable power supply system which she created for her senior project.

New Research Lab Making A Splash | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Nov. 1, 2015 – WARNING: You will get wet. The mechanical engineering students who work inside one of Utah State’s newest research centers don’t mind getting the occasional work-related soak. The whole lab is one giant splash zone and the creative workshop of newly-hired assistant professor of mechanical engineering Dr. Tadd Truscott.

Going Back To Teton Dam | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Oct. 30, 2015 - Standing at a lookout on the upper banks of the Teton River in Southeastern Idaho, a handful of civil engineering students try to imagine the giant structure that should be standing firmly in front of them.

Usu Power Electronics Lab Collaborates With Strongwell | Utah State University Power Electronics Lab, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

USU has teamed up with Strongwell. Strongwell was awarded the ACE Award at this year's Composites and Advanced Materials Expo (CAMX) in Dallas, TX. This year's entry by Strongwell featured its DURAGRID® HD-4000 2.5" grating panels, manufactured at the company's Chatfield, Minnesota location, used at the Utah State University Electric Vehicle and Roadway (EVR) research facility in Logan, Utah. The EVR serves as the vehicle systems integration facility for the Center for Sustainable Electrified Transportation (SELECT). Magnetic transfer plates are housed beneath the grating which charge electric vehicles in motion.

All About The Buzz | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Oct. 30, 2015 – On a warm spring day at the USU Organic Farm, computer science professor Dr. Vladimir Kulyukin delivers a few puffs of sweet-smelling pine cone smoke into one of his beehives and gently opens the top. Everything appears normal, but it’s not your average backyard beekeeping setup. Kulyukin’s hives are equipped with electronics that monitor temperature, audio and video —all powered by solar energy and controlled by a credit card-sized Raspberry Pi computer.

A Legacy Of Gratitude | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Nov. 1, 2015 - It was standing room only at an Aug. 25 special event where the College of Engineering honored two fellow Aggies and longtime supporters who are helping more young people graduate with a degree in engineering.

Faculty, students and university officials gathered to celebrate the ongoing support of Richard and Moonyeen Anderson of Wellsville, Utah. At the special ceremony, Mr. Anderson and USU President Stan Albrecht pulled the cords on a 30-foot-wide veil, uncovering the new name of the 12-year-old engineering classroom building.

Supplying Vegas | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Oct. 30, 2015 – The community of Las Vegas, Nev., is acting to assure a reliable water supply by building new intake facilities at Lake Mead. After a series of drought years dropped Lake Mead levels to historic lows, the Southern Nevada Water Authority is moving forward with an ambitious project to keep the water flowing, and they’re turning to the Utah Water Research Lab to help do it right.

Hydroshare: Sharing Diverse Environmental Data Types And Models As Social Objects With Application To The Hydrology Domain, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Mohamed M. Morsy, Anthony M. Castronova, Jonathan L. Goodall, Tian Gan, Hong Yi, Michael J. Stealey, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The types of data and models used within the hydrologic science community are diverse. New repositories have succeeded in making data and models more accessible, but are, in most cases, limited to particular types or classes of data or models and also lack the type of collaborative and iterative functionality needed to enable shared data collection and modeling workflows. File sharing systems currently used within many scientific communities for private sharing of preliminary and intermediate data and modeling products do not support collaborative data capture, description, visualization, and annotation. In this article, we cast hydrologic datasets and models as “social …

Spac 2015 Announcement | Electrical And Computer Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

IEEE USU Student Branch is excited to announce SPAC 2015: The Practice of Innovation. The Student Professional Awareness Conference (SPAC) will be held on March 28, 2015. We are putting on this event to help students get connected with industry and better prepare them for their future careers.

The 2015 program includes speakers from IEEE and a key speaker who works as a Disney Imagineer. We are planning multiple workshops, such as technical discussions by companies and current innovators, Arduino and/or soldering workshops, and python and MATLAB workshops. During the conference, there will be tables set up for students …

Tackling Salinity In The Colorado River One Ion At A Time | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

10/27/2015 - It’s one of the most overtaxed waterways on the planet, and its shrinking flow is only part of the problem.

The Colorado River travels 1,500 miles through seven U.S. states before reaching the Gulf of California. Throughout its long journey the river supplies water for approximately 40 million people and is used to irrigate more than five million acres of land in the Western U.S. and Mexico.

Process Optimization To Enhance Quality And Quantity Of Transiently Expressed Proteins | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Transient transfection is a method to introduce foreign DNA into a healthy cell population. Transient transfection can be accomplished by chemical, mechanical, and electrical delivery. Although foreign DNA is not incorporated into the host cell genome, host cell machinery is used to transcribe and translate the gene of interest. This presentation will illustrate the enhancement of transgene production through reagent optimization and feeds and show benefits of transient work, such as, eliminating the need for generation of a stable engineered cell line; allowing the process scaleability; and decreasing the time for generation of comparable amounts of product.

Practitioner Interview, Ron Anderson

All ECSTATIC Materials

Phone interview with Ron Anderson from LCRA by Paul Block and Ali Mirchi. Interview questions asked inquired about (i) practitioner’s professional background, (ii) practitioner’s personal experience with systems analysis techniques and software in their job, (iii) role, benefits, and challenges in using systems analysis concepts in the water resources engineering profession, and (iv) recommendations for improving education of environmental and water resources systems analysis in universities.

Brigham Young University Honors Usu's Todd Moon | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Originally posted Oct. 22, 2015 – Brigham Young University’s department of electrical and computer engineering has named its alumn and current USU professor and department head Todd Moon as a 2015-2016 Honored Alumnus.

The university made the announcement the week of Oct. 19. Dr. Todd K. Moon received his double BS in electrical and computer engineering and mathematics in 1988, and a master's degree in electrical engineering also in 1988 from Brigham Young University.

Igem Jamboree | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

The 2015 iGEM Giant Jamboree was an inspiring and enjoyable experience for members of Utah State’s iGEM team. Sara Gertsch, Chad Nielsen, Alex Torgesen, and Tom Overbeck traveled to Boston with Dr. Charles Miller for the 11th annual Jamboree from September 24th to September 28th and presented on this year’s team project, “LactoWare: Reprogramming Lactic Acid Bacteria to Fight Malicious Viruses.” The project was well received, and the judges awarded the team a silver medal.

When not involved in the oral presentation and two poster sessions, team members were able to attend presentations by other teams and workshops that provided …

Practitioner Interview, Eric Loucks

All ECSTATIC Materials

Phone interview with Eric Loucks from CDM Smith by Marcio Giacomoni and Meghna Babbar-Sebens. Interview questions asked inquired about (i) practitioner’s professional background, (ii) practitioner’s personal experience with systems analysis techniques and software in their job, (iii) role, benefits, and challenges in using systems analysis concepts in the water resources engineering profession, and (iv) recommendations for improving education of environmental and water resources systems analysis in universities.

Water Resource Systems Analysis - University Of Kentucky, Lexington, Lindell Ormsbee

All ECSTATIC Materials

Graduate course in water resource systems analysis offered at University of Kentucky, Lexington in Fall 2015.

Engineering Optimization: Methods/Applications - Colorado State University, John Labadie

All ECSTATIC Materials

This course provides a comprehensive treatment of methods of optimization with focus on linear programming and its extensions, network flow optimization, integer programming, quadratic programming, and an introduction to nonlinear programming. The goal is to maintain a balance between theory, numerical computation, problem setup for solution by computer algorithms, and engineering applications. Course taught at Colorado State University.

Water Resources Systems Analysis - University Of Texas San Antonio, Marcio Giacomoni

All ECSTATIC Materials

Systems Analysis methods use algorithmic and mathematical approaches for problem-solving. These are powerful methods that can be applied to solve complex design and management problems for water resources systems and other engineering areas. This class will focus on optimization methods, such as linear programming, integer programming, nonlinear programming, genetic algorithms, and dynamic programming, and their application to water resources systems. Advanced Systems Analysis methods, including sensitivity analysis, alternatives generation, and multi-objective optimization will be introduced to address the complexities associated with public sector decision-making. Course taught at University of Texas San Antonio.

Little Bear And Blacksmith Fork Rivers Environmental Flows, Bio-West, Inc.

All In-stream Flows Material

This report describes existing information and first steps related to developing environmental flow recommendations for the Little Bear and Blacksmith Fork Rivers in Cache County, Utah. This project was undertaken by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in partnership with Trout Unlimited (TU), Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR), Cache County, and Utah State University (USU). Both rivers have been identified as conservation priorities, primarily for Bonneville cutthroat trout (BCT) and their riparian and aquatic systems.

Environmental Systems Analysis - Hong Kong University Of Science And Technology, Hong Kong, Ng Tze Ling

All ECSTATIC Materials

Undergraduate course in environmental systems analysis offered at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong in Fall 2015.

Little Bear And Blacksmith Fork Rivers Environmental Flows: Background Report, Bio-West, Inc.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

This report describes existing information and first steps related to developing environmental flow recommendations for the Little Bear and Blacksmith Fork Rivers in Cache County, Utah. This project was undertaken by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in partnership with Trout Unlimited (TU), Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR), Cache County, and Utah State University (USU). Both rivers have been identified as conservation priorities, primarily for Bonneville cutthroat trout (BCT) and their riparian and aquatic systems.