Engineering Commons^™

Interactive Computer Simulation And Animation Learning Modules: A Mixed-Method Study Of Their Effects On Students' Problem Solving In Particle Dynamics, Yongquing Guo

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Engineering dynamics is a fundamental core course in many undergraduate engineering curricula. This course is widely regarded as one of the most difficult engineering courses for students to succeed in. A variety of instructional strategies, such as hands-on experimentation, multimedia games, and computer simulation and animation (CSA), have been developed to improve student learning. Among these instructional strategies, CSA has been receiving increasing attention and applications in the international engineering education community. CSA provides students with a visualization tool and a constructivist environment to better understand various engineering problems.

The goal of this dissertation research was to improve student learning …

The Effect Of Deposition From Static Rocket Tests On Immature Corn, Alfalfa, And Winter Wheat, Eric Curry

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

ATK tests the performance of large solid rocket motors (SRMs) at their facility located in Promontory Point, Utah, USA. During these tests, an estimated 1.5 million kg (~3.3 million lbs.) of entrained soil and rocket exhaust are sent skyward in a cloud that can travel as far as 10-12 miles from the test site. As the cloud cools deposition known as Test Fire Soil (TFS) can settle on local crops. Farmers in the area have voiced concerns about the effects of TFS on their crops.

To address the concerns, I looked at the effect of a typical TFS deposition loading …

Optimization And Control Of Lumped Transmitting Coil-Based In-Motion Wireless Power Transfer Systems, Nazmul Hasan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis explores optimization and control aspects of in-motion electric vehicle charging. The vision is of an electrified roadway, where the vehicles can move and charge at the same time. The present systems have long tracks embedded in the roadway which transfer energy. This thesis explores smaller coils in the road, which has the promise of higher efficiency and lower volt ampere ratings. The promise can only be realized through optimized design and synchronized control of charging with respect to vehicle position. The existing design procedures lack comprehensiveness, require designer experience and use computationally costly 3D FEM algorithms. The proposed …

In Vitro, Non-Invasive Imaging And Detection Of Single Living Mammalian Cells Interacting With Bio-Nano-Interfaces, Qifei Li

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Study of bio-nano-interfaces of living mammalian cells will help the identification of cellular alterations (e.g. nucleic acids, amino acids, biomechanics, etc.) due to external stimuli, the design of biomaterials (e.g. nanoparticles, nanotubes) and the investigation on the interaction between cells and bio-nano-interfaces (e.g. cell differentiation on 3D nanostructured materials). The chemical, physical, and mechanical changes of mammalian cells interacting with biomaterials can be investigated by analytical techniques. In this dissertation, cellular responses and property changes are evaluated by non-invasive spectroscopic technique, Raman microscopy (RM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) combined with traditional biological methods. This dissertation includes the biophysical, biochemical …

Runtime Detection Of A Bandwidth Denial Attack From A Rogue Network-On-Chip, Rajesh Jayashankarashridevi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Chips with high computational power are the crux of today’s pervasive complex digital systems. Microprocessor circuits are evolving towards many core designs with the integration of hundreds of processing cores, memory elements and other devices on a single chip to sustain high performance computing while maintaining low design costs. Two decisive paradigm shifts in the semiconductor industry have made this evolution possible: (a) architectural and (b) organizational.

At the heart of the architectural innovation is a scalable high speed data communication structure, the network-on-chip (NoC). NoC is an interconnect network for the glueless integration of on-chip components in the …

Evaluation Of Tracking Regimes For, And Security Of, Pli Systems, Shayan Taheri

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In recent years, the researchers and engineers have realized that the trustiness of computer and networking devices and hardware can no longer be examined properly using the existing identification and security checking methods that operate based on the digital representation of data. As an example, since the digital identifiers can be copied, it is difficult to tie a digital identity to a device for sure. Also, the new or present created cyber attacks can manipulate the used digital data in a network easily. Due to these issues, the trend in development of new identification and security checking methods has moved …

The Influence Of A Fluctuating Water Table On Arsenic Mobility In A Western U.S. Aquifer, Allia Maher Abu-Ramaileh

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Significant amounts of Arsenic (As) are seen in groundwater used for drinking water in the United States, especially in the Southwest (SW). Long-term exposure to As concentrations over the drinking water limit of 10 μg/L can cause skin and lung cancer, along with several other adverse health effects. Previous studies have evaluated the hydro-biogeochemical processes leading to the exposure of millions of people in West Bengal, Bangladesh, and Southeast Asia to unsafe levels of As in drinking water. There are some similarities between Southeast Asia and the SW U.S., but only a few studies analyzing As have been performed in …

Extensions Of High-Order Flux Correction Methods To Flows With Source Terms At Low Speeds, Jonathan L. Thorne

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is an attempt to mimic the physical world of fluids around us. In general, CFD simulations are completed by first making a mesh. Meshes are made of polygons that are arranged in such a way as to create the item in question and the fluid around it. There are many difficulties associated with mesh generation, and it can take days or weeks for a trained professional to produce adequate meshes. The CFD algorithms affect the accuracy of the simulation. Using high-order methods, more accurate results can be achieved than otherwise possible. Flux correction (FC) is a …

Stormwater Bioretention: Nitrogen, Phosphorous And Metal Removal By Plants, Malgorzata Rycewicz-Borecki

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Stormwater runoff is an environmental concern. It increases the volume and velocity of surface water flow and contains high pollutant concentrations. High flows erode stream channels. Nutrients in the runoff cause eutrophication. Some metals from stormwater runoff is regulated by the Federal National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Bioretention (BR) systems are often used in response to these regulations to retain and treat this stormwater runoff.

This study conducted greenhouse and field experiments, and evaluated differences in nutrient and metal removal among plant species that are typically found growing in BR systems but are not typically investigated in this detail. …

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy-Based Biomarker Detection For B-Cell Malignancies, Nathan Israelsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

B-cells are responsible for the production of antibodies and the recognition of dangerous pathogens. When B-cells become cancerous, they no longer perform these vital functions. This reduced B-cell activity results in greater susceptibility to opportunistic infections and increasing health risks. To effectively care for different cancer subtypes, targeted diagnosis and treatment is required. To determine the specific B-cell cancer type, up to twenty different cancer biomarkers on the cell surface need to be detected at the same time. Traditional methods are not capable of detecting such a large number of biomarkers simultaneously. This paper presents the design of a system …

High Regression Rate Hybrid Rocket Fuel Grains With Helical Port Structures, Sean D. Walker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Hybrid Rockets are popular in the aerospace industry due to their storage safety, simplicity, and controllability during rocket motor burn. However, they produce fuel regression rates typically 25% lower than solid fuel motors of the same thrust level. These lowered regression rates produce unacceptably high oxidizer-to-fuel (O/F) ratios that produce a potential for motor instability, nozzle erosion, and reduced motor duty cycles. To achieve O/F ratios that produce acceptable combustion charactersitics, traditional cylindrical fuel ports are fabricated with very long length-to-diameter ratios to increase the total burning area. these high aspect ratios produce further reduced fuel regression rate and trust …

Bio-Inspired Materials And Micro/Nanostructures Enabled By Peptides And Proteins, Swathi Swaminathan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Bio-nanotechnology refers to the field of science that intersects nanotechnology with biology. The study involves in the creation of bio-mimetic devices that emulate elements and systems of nature finding use in various applications. Nanotechnology involves the characterization of nanomaterials along with the study of molecular self-assembly and nanoelectronics. Controlled binding and assembly of proteins onto nanomaterials is at the core of biological materials science and engineering with wide-ranging applications. This hybrid technology opens up several avenues in the field of sensors, pharmaceuticals, artificial implants and so on.

In this work, different biomaterials and polymers were characterized for phage displayed peptide …

Modeling Transportation Planning Applications Via Path Flow Estimator, Seungkyu Ryu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The current practice for modeling in the field of transportation planning is through a four-step travel demand forecasting procedure (i.e., trip generation, trip distribution, mode choice, and traffic assignment); the practice is commonly referred to as the four-step model. Although such a modeling approach has become standard practice, it is deficient in several areas. Specifically, (1) it lacks capability for modeling non-motorized modes such as bicycles, (2) it is inadequate for modeling multiple vehicle types sharing the same roadway space, and (3) it is difficult to apply to small communities with limited resources. This dissertation recognizes these deficiencies and responds …

Non-Catalytic Co-Gasification Of Sub-Bituminous Coal And Biomass, Guevara Che Nyendu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Utilization of coal as a low-cost domestic energy source is becoming a subject of utmost importance due to fluctuating crude oil prices. However, coal use emits pollutants such as nitrous oxides (NO_x), sulfur oxides (SO_x), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and particulates that have negative environmental impact and significant issues on health. To minimize the harmful effects of coal use, renewable and sustainable biological or green materials called biomass are processed with coal to produce synthetic gas (syngas) that can be processed into clean energy fuels and value-added products.

Currently, coal is converted using combustion technology; …

African American Female Engineering Students' Persistence In Stereotype-Threatening Environments: A Critical Race Theory Perspective, Stacie Lesure Gregory

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

African American women are grossly underrepresented in engineering. Despite their low representation in engineering colleges, some are able to persist and earn their degrees. This qualitative study sought to better understand the strategies 10 African American women employed to help them remain resilient in engineering degree programs. For this investigation, there was an underlying assumption that African American women who persist in engineering must contend with stereotype threat. Stereotype threat is a psychosocial phenomenon in which people in stigmatized social categories fear confirming negative stereotypes about their group.

Ten African American female women who have persisted in engineering degree programs …

Persistence Of Engineering Undergraduates At A Public Research University, Matthew Meyer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This mixed-methodological study determined which factors contributed to undergraduate student attrition, and evaluated reasons ten undergraduate engineering students failed to complete their engineering degree at a major western research university. Institutional data were collected on engineering students over a multi-year period. These data were separated into groups of engineering students who persisted to the Junior year of their undergraduate engineering program (persisters), and those students who left their engineering program before their Junior year (nonpersisters). A quantitative analysis comparing these two groups of students uncovered significant predictors of persistence/nonpersistence in the engineering program. Qualitative inquiry was used to identify factors …

Risk Characterization From Multipathway Exposure Associated With Land Applying Biosolids By Accounting For Multimedia Mass Loss, Karthik Kumarasamy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

There continues to be concern among communities living in the vicinity of biosolids land application sites about potential adverse health effects from the chemical contaminants present in biosolids. This study describes a procedure that will help answer questions about the risks involved in biosolids land application at the site level, thus, this study will provide a crucial communication tool for wastewater treatment facilities and biosolids land appliers to address the concerns of the public. Specifically, the study quantifies the exposure concentrations that a human being can become exposed to during their lifetime from the practice. Crucially, it takes a quantitate …

Systems Modeling And Economic Analysis Of Photovoltaic (Pv) Powered Water Pumping Brackish Water Desalination For Agriculture, Michael A. Jones

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of this study was to determine the economic viability of solar powered water pumping and desalination systems for agriculture. Growing global demand for agricultural production has put increased pressure on limited freshwater resources in various locations around the word. Many areas have low quality groundwater resources that have not been utilized for agriculture due to limited availability to electricity, high operational costs of diesel generators and the economics associated with water pumping and processing. Reverse osmosis is a desalination technology that removes salts and other minerals from low-quality water, making it fit for drinking or irrigation. Reduced costs …

Two Types Of Conformal Antennas For Small Spacecrafts, Salahuddin Tariq

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Spacecraft and vehicular bodies often require antennas that are conformal to their surface. The advantage of this choice is that they do not suffer from air drag or breakage and can be formed into any desirable shape. We can make them to operate at those frequencies at which simple wire antennas will require considerably longer length. Our thesis is about conformal antenna design for two space projects. The first project involves an array of patch antennas placed on multi-layer cylindrical substrate. Four of these antennas are S-band and four of them are GPS-band antennas. The second project deals with the …

Successful Paths To Becoming A Lean Organization In The Construction Industry, Robert D. Warcup

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Lean construction is defined as the continuous process of eliminating waste, with the goal of increasing value on construction projects to the owner and to all stakeholders of a project. It has gained considerable momentum since the early 2000s because of its potential for problem-solving and increased productivity, especially as many construction firms still struggle to adapt to an ever-changing industry. This study was designed to assist construction companies, especially company executives and managers, to better understand the requirements of a lean transformation by describing the paths of three highly successful lean construction firms from the U.S.

Nine lean advocates, …

An Analysis Of Sensitivity In Economic Forecasting For Pavement Management Systems, Antonio Fuentes

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the scope of transportation asset management, the maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) performed on asphalt roads at the local government level requires careful planning and intelligent use of limited funding. For this reason, a Pavement Management System (PMS) is incorporated and used as a tool for local government leaders to make the best decision given their annual budget. The PMS process is a repeatable process which consists of determining present day pavement condition, evaluating future deterioration, performing an economic analysis of possible M&R treatments and finally implementing a proper M&R plan to keep the asphalt pavement network in good condition. …

Mechanical Properties Of Kenaf Composites Using Dynamic Mechanical Analysis, Thomas A. Loveless

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Natural fibers show potential to replace glass fibers in thermoset and thermoplastic composites. Kenaf is a bast-type fiber with high specific strength and great potential to compete with glass fibers.

In this research kenaf/epoxy composites were analyzed using Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA). A three-point bend apparatus was used in the DMA testing. The samples were tested at 1 hertz, at a displacement of 10 μm, and at room temperature.

The fiber volume content of the kenaf was varied from 20%-40% in 5% increments. Ten samples of each fiber volume fraction were manufactured and tested. The flexural storage modulus, the flexural …

Redox-Controlled Biogeochemical Processes Affecting Arsenic Solubility In Sediments From A Basin-Fill Aquifer In Northern Utah, Xianyu Meng

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The basin-fill aquifers of the American Southwest host elevated concentrations of arsenic in groundwater due to the local geology. Limited information is available on arsenic dynamics in semi-arid and arid regions of the world. This study describes arsenic biogeochemistry and mechanisms of arsenic solubilization for a soil profile collected from the surface to the depth of groundwater in the Cache Valley Basin, Northern Utah.

The first objective was to delineate mechanisms of arsenic solubilization from sediments collected at the study site. Microcosms containing site groundwater and siteoxidized and site-reduced sediments, were monitored over time to observe changes in the solubilization …

Design Of Reliable And Secure Network-On-Chip Architectures, Dean Michael B Ancajas

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The trend towards massive parallel computing has necessitated the need for an On-Chip communication framework that can scale well with the increasing number of cores. At the same time, technology scaling has made transistors susceptible to a multitude of reliability issues. This dissertation demonstrates design techniques that address both reliability and security issues facing modern NoC architectures. The reliability and security problem is tackled at different abstraction levels using a series of schemes that combine information from the architecture-level as well as hardware-level in order to combat aging effects and meet secure design stipulations while maintaining modest power-performance overheads.

The Effect Of Polydimethylsiloxane Substrate Modification On A549 Human Epithelial Lung Cancer Cell Morphology And Biomechanics, Sherissa A. Ward

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The function of cells is dependent on factors including chemical, physical, and mechanical stimuli. A compilation of these factors make up the cellular niche. Though the impact of chemical stimuli has been a known factor for many years, the impact of mechanical and physical stimuli are areas of recent interest now being studied. Previous studies on mechanical and physical stimuli have shown a large impact on various aspects of cellular function.

The effects of cancer are wide spread throughout the entire population. The majority of cancer research and treatment is regarding intracellular chemical pathways. Yet, many forms of cancer are …

A Neural Network Approach To Fault Detection In Spacecraft Attitude Determination And Control Systems, John N. Schreiner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

CubeSats are employed in a variety of missions as scientific platforms, low-cost technology demonstrators, and in the future, they will conduct service missions as part of larger satellite constellations. CubeSat ADCS designers today are being tasked with designing to ever increasing accuracy requirements. The ability to hold those requirements rests with the attitude control system being robust enough and able to sufficiently respond to changes in the control environment. The need for greater control autonomy is then evident in the need for these systems to be able to react independently to changes in the system dynamics and to identify and …

A Radio Frequency Beacon Receiver For Detection Of Ionospheric Scintillation, Tim Neilsen, Don Thompson, Steve Higley, Todd Parris, Jake Gunther

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

Radio Frequency Beacon Receiver

• What is RFBR?
• A low-cost, ground-based beacon receiver
• Producing ionospheric parameters:
• Total Electron Content (TEC) 
• Amplitude scintillation (S4)
• Phase scintillation (σ_φ)
• Using COTS RF hardware and Software Defined Radios (SDRs) 
• Advanced algorithms and software

Estimating Chlorophyll With Thermal And Broadband Multispectral High Resolution Imagery From An Unmanned Aerial System Using Relevance Vector Machines For Precision Agriculture, Manal Elarab, Andres M. Ticlavilca, Alfonso F. Torres-Rua, Inga Maslova, Mac Mckee

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Precision agriculture requires high-resolution information to enable greater precision in the management of inputs to production. Actionable information about crop and field status must be acquired at high spatial resolution and at a temporal frequency appropriate for timely responses. In this study, high spatial resolution imagery was obtained through the use of a small, unmanned aerial system called AggieAirTM. Simultaneously with the AggieAir flights, intensive ground sampling for plant chlorophyll was conducted at precisely determined locations. This study reports the application of a relevance vector machine coupled with cross validation and backward elimination to a dataset composed of reflectance from …

From Plants To Bacteria | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

LOGAN, Utah – April 12, 2015 – A researcher at Utah State University is developing a cutting-edge method for synthesizing some of the most promising natural compounds found in plants using bacteria.

Particulate Matter Emission Estimates From Agricultural Spring Tillage Operations Using Lidar And Inverse Modeling, Kori D. Moore, Michael D. Wojcik, Randal S. Martin, Christian C. Marchant, Derek S. Jones, William J. Bradford, Gail E. Bingham, Richard L. Pfeiffer, John H. Prueger, Jerry L. Hatfield

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

Particulate matter (PM) emissions from a typical spring agricultural tillage sequence and a strip-till conservation tillage sequence in California’s San Joaquin Valley were estimated to calculate the emissions control efficiency (η) of the strip-till conservation management practice (CMP). Filter-based PM samplers, PM-calibrated optical particle counters (OPCs), and a PM-calibrated light detection and ranging (lidar) system were used to monitored upwind and downwind PM concentrations. Emission rates were estimated through inverse modeling coupled with the filter and OPC measurements and through applying a mass balance to the PM concentrations derived from lidar data. Sampling irregularities and errors prevented the estimation of …