Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Engineering Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Wright State University

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 661 - 690 of 3445

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Utilizing Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy For Prediction Of Cognitive Workload In Noisy Work Environments, Ryan Gabbard, Mary E. Fendley, Irfaan A. Dar, Rik Warren, Nasser H. Kashou Oct 2017

Utilizing Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy For Prediction Of Cognitive Workload In Noisy Work Environments, Ryan Gabbard, Mary E. Fendley, Irfaan A. Dar, Rik Warren, Nasser H. Kashou

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

Occupational noise frequently occurs in the work environment in military intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations. This impacts cognitive performance by acting as a stressor, potentially interfering with the analysts’ decision-making process. We investigated the effects of different noise stimuli on analysts’ performance and workload in anomaly detection by simulating a noisy work environment. We utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to quantify oxy-hemoglobin (HbO) and deoxy-hemoglobin concentration changes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), as well as behavioral measures, which include eye tracking, reaction time, and accuracy rate. We hypothesized that noisy environments would have a negative effect on the participant in …


Macrodamage Accumulation Model For A Human Femur, Farah Hamandi, Tarun Goswami Aug 2017

Macrodamage Accumulation Model For A Human Femur, Farah Hamandi, Tarun Goswami

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to more fully understand the mechanical behavior of bone tissue that is important to find an alternative material to be used as an implant and to develop an accurate model to predict the fracture of the bone. Predicting and preventing bone failure is an important area in orthopaedics. In this paper, the macrodamage accumulation models in the bone tissue have been investigated. Phenomenological models for bone damage have been discussed in detail. In addition, 3D finite element model of the femur prepared from imaging data with both cortical and trabecular structures is delineated using …


Explaining Trained Neural Networks With Semantic Web Technologies: First Steps, Md Kamruzzaman Sarker, Ning Xie, Derek Doran, Michael L. Raymer, Pascal Hitzler Jul 2017

Explaining Trained Neural Networks With Semantic Web Technologies: First Steps, Md Kamruzzaman Sarker, Ning Xie, Derek Doran, Michael L. Raymer, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

The ever increasing prevalence of publicly available struc-tured data on the World Wide Web enables new applications in a varietyof domains. In this paper, we provide a conceptual approach that lever-ages such data in order to explain the input-output behavior of trainedartificial neural networks. We apply existing Semantic Web technologiesin order to provide an experimental proof of concept.


Human Biomechanics Ii Course Project, Abdelaziz Mohammad Jun 2017

Human Biomechanics Ii Course Project, Abdelaziz Mohammad

Best Integrated Writing

Mohammad tested Human Arm Module PASCO ME-6807A, in order to determine some of the biomechanical characteristics, such as force, tension, instantaneous angular velocity, and acceleration vs. angular position required for various movements and arm positions in space.


Intuitive Error Space Exploration Of Medical Image Data In Clinical Daily Routine, Christina Gillmann, Pablo Arbeláez, José Tiberio Hernández Peñaloza, Hans Hagen, Thomas Wischgoll Jun 2017

Intuitive Error Space Exploration Of Medical Image Data In Clinical Daily Routine, Christina Gillmann, Pablo Arbeláez, José Tiberio Hernández Peñaloza, Hans Hagen, Thomas Wischgoll

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

Medical image data can be affected by several image errors. These errors can lead to uncertain or wrong diagnosis in clinical daily routine. A large variety of image error metrics are available that target different aspects of image quality forming a highdimensional error space, which cannot be reviewed trivially. To solve this problem, this paper presents a novel error space exploration technique that is suitable for clinical daily routine. Therefore, the clinical workflow for reviewing medical data is extended by error space cluster information, that can be explored by user-defined selections. The presented tool was applied to two real-world datasets …


Wettability Tailoring Of Nanotube Carpets: Morphology-Chemistry Synergy For Hydrophobic–Hydrophilic Cycling, Lymeng He, Anil Karumuri, Sharmila M. Mukhopadhyay May 2017

Wettability Tailoring Of Nanotube Carpets: Morphology-Chemistry Synergy For Hydrophobic–Hydrophilic Cycling, Lymeng He, Anil Karumuri, Sharmila M. Mukhopadhyay

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Carpet-like arrays of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on graphitic carbon materials have been investigated in order to understand all-carbon hierarchical structures for multifunctional surface-active devices. Pure CNT carpets are seen to be super-hydrophobic as long as they are well aligned. For future applications involving aqueous environments, the ability to tailor the surface wettability and switch it on demand can be very useful, and enable unprecedented devices related to microfluidics, catalysis and sensing/detection systems. In this study, microwave plasma treatments were used to functionalize CNT carpets for a progressive increase in wettability so that they could eventually become super-hydrophilic. This change could …


Social Workers’ Salaries Vs. Educational Student Debt Burden: A Losing Battle, Michael Wadham Apr 2017

Social Workers’ Salaries Vs. Educational Student Debt Burden: A Losing Battle, Michael Wadham

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

College tuitions rise at disparate rates with starting salaries and inflation, causing student debt to weigh on social work graduates. Data was collected from 701 social workers in an NASW - Ohio Chapter survey to investigate this disparity and its consequences. The purpose of this study was to analyze the qualitative data set, 174 written comments, for themes and perceptions. The following themes, echoed in current research on the topics of social work salary and student debt burden, were identified: unmanageable debt and financial burden, varying lengths of time and repayment methods, social workers feeling undervalued and underpaid, loan forgiveness …


Legalization Of Gay Marriage And Its Impact On Military Stereotypes Of Homosexuals, Jasmine Moore Apr 2017

Legalization Of Gay Marriage And Its Impact On Military Stereotypes Of Homosexuals, Jasmine Moore

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

Homosexuality has become a popular research topic in a variety of professional fields, and over the last decade has become a priority for the military. Since the implementation of the law repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) researchers have questioned what effects repealing this law has had on the military as a whole. Particular attention has been spent on studying the attitudes and stereotypes about homosexuals after DADT was repealed. However, there is a lack of research examining how marriage equality affects society's stereotypes about homosexuals serving in the United States military.

It was hypothesized that participants that have personal …


Wright State University's Celebration Of Research, Scholarship And Creative Activities Book Of Abstracts From Friday, April 21, 2017, Wright State University Apr 2017

Wright State University's Celebration Of Research, Scholarship And Creative Activities Book Of Abstracts From Friday, April 21, 2017, Wright State University

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

The student abstract booklet is a compilation of abstracts from students' oral and poster presentations at Wright State University's Annual Celebration of Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities on April 21, 2017.


Treating Chronic Post Herpetic Neuralgia Using Topical Superconcentrated Capsaicin, Jaree Naqvi, Scott Seider, Jason Miller, Cole Budinsky, Amol Soin Apr 2017

Treating Chronic Post Herpetic Neuralgia Using Topical Superconcentrated Capsaicin, Jaree Naqvi, Scott Seider, Jason Miller, Cole Budinsky, Amol Soin

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

Post Herpetic Neuralgia (PHN) is a painful condition that occurs after reactivation of the dormant Herpes Zoster Virus.Typically PHN presents with a unilateral rash affecting a single dermatome which is accompanied by burning, irritation, and hypersensitivity for >3 months.Current treatment includes anticonvulsants, tricyclic antidepressants, narcotic/nonnarcotic painkillers, and topical lidocaine.

We propose the utilization of a superconcentrated transdermal patch of capsaicin called Qutenza 8%, which is 300 times more potent than current OTC capsaicin. The treatment protocol using Qutenza to treat refractory PHN proposes a novel approach to the treatment of this condition.

Capsaicin is commonly known as the active chemical …


Khealth Bariatrics: A Multisensory Approach To Monitoring Patient’S Postsurgical Behavior, Revathy Venkataramanan, Utkarshani Jaimini, Amit Sheth, Joon K. Shim, Priti Parikh, Dene S. Berman Apr 2017

Khealth Bariatrics: A Multisensory Approach To Monitoring Patient’S Postsurgical Behavior, Revathy Venkataramanan, Utkarshani Jaimini, Amit Sheth, Joon K. Shim, Priti Parikh, Dene S. Berman

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

The rate of obesity is on the rise reaching epidemic proportions. According to American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), 500 million people all over the world are obese. The data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) shows that more than 36% of adults in the United States have obesity. According to World Health Organization (WHO), 65% of the world’s population lives in countries where the occurrence of death due to overweight and obesity is higher than being underweight. It is well established that weight loss surgery can play a significant role in reducing, or even eliminating medical …


Measuring Gender-Based Violence Attitude On Twitter, Goonmeet Bajaj, Tanvi Banerjee, Amir Hossein Yazdavar, Valerie L. Shalin, Amit Sheth Apr 2017

Measuring Gender-Based Violence Attitude On Twitter, Goonmeet Bajaj, Tanvi Banerjee, Amir Hossein Yazdavar, Valerie L. Shalin, Amit Sheth

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

This study examines social media to analyze communication patterns, specifically in the Gender-Based Violence domain. It explores the pragmatic content of tweets to categorize them into one of the following groups: Belief, Fact Reporting, or Other to determine the tweeting practices prevalent in this domain.


Brain Lesions Among Orally Fed And Gastrostomy-Fed Dysphagic Preterm Infants: Can Routine Qualitative Or Volumetric Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging Predict Feeding Outcomes?, Nasser H. Kashou, Irfaan Akram Dar, Mohamed A. El-Mahdy, Charles Pluto, Mark Smith, Ish K. Gulati, Warren Lo, Sudarshan R. Jadcherla Apr 2017

Brain Lesions Among Orally Fed And Gastrostomy-Fed Dysphagic Preterm Infants: Can Routine Qualitative Or Volumetric Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging Predict Feeding Outcomes?, Nasser H. Kashou, Irfaan Akram Dar, Mohamed A. El-Mahdy, Charles Pluto, Mark Smith, Ish K. Gulati, Warren Lo, Sudarshan R. Jadcherla

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

Introduction: The usefulness of qualitative or quantitative volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in early detection of brain structural changes and prediction of adverse outcomes in neonatal illnesses warrants further investigation. Our aim was to correlate certain brain injuries and the brain volume of feeding-related cortical and subcortical regions with feeding method at discharge among preterm dysphagic infants.

Materials and methods: Using a retrospective observational study design, we examined MRI data among 43 (22 male; born at 31.5 ± 0.8 week gestation) infants who went home on oral feeding or gastrostomy feeding (G-tube). MRI scans were segmented, and volumes of brainstem, …


Engine Analysis, Thomas Gaier Apr 2017

Engine Analysis, Thomas Gaier

The University Honors Program

Engines were invented two hundred years ago but early dynamometers did not benefit from the technological advances until the last hundred years. A John Deere Model E hit-and-miss engine has a nominal power of3hp. The purpose of this project was to analyze this engine, including verifying power.

Outcomes of the analysis of this engine include brake horsepower and thermal efficiency. The first step was to put the engine under a load. This was done with a water pump system. Pressure, water flow, and rotation were measured from tests using the system.This type of system is analogous to a water brake …


Tracking Characteristics Of Tracer Particles For Piv Measurements In Supersonic Flows, Fang Chen, Hong Liu, Zifeng Yang, Hui Hu Apr 2017

Tracking Characteristics Of Tracer Particles For Piv Measurements In Supersonic Flows, Fang Chen, Hong Liu, Zifeng Yang, Hui Hu

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

The tracking characteristics of tracer particles for particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements in supersonic flows were investigated. The experimental tests were conducted at Mach number 4 in Multi-Mach Wind Tunnel (MMWT) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The motion of tracer particles carried by the supersonic flow across shockwaves was theoretically modelled, and then their aerodynamic characteristics with compressibility and rarefaction effects were evaluated. According to the proposed selection criterion of tracer particles, the PIV measured results clearly identified that the shockwave amplitude is in good agreement with theory and Schlieren visualizations. For the tracer particles in nanoscales, their effective aerodynamic …


Automated Impact Device, Jason Montavon Apr 2017

Automated Impact Device, Jason Montavon

The University Honors Program

This report outlines the progress and development ofan automated impact device (AID). This device was designed to be inexpensive, user-friendly, and modular. Developed with the parameters of vibration analysis. the AID can perform a variety of experimental procedures. Using simple C code and components that are both affordable and easy to obtain, the AID was designed to perform the same task as its more expensive counterparts. With this thought-process, the device was engineered to easily and quickly interchange components depending on the required task. Outlined in the report is the code used to operate the AID and the basic components …


Collective Nonaffine Displacements In Amorphous Materials During Large-Amplitude Oscillatory Shear, Nikolai V. Priezjev Feb 2017

Collective Nonaffine Displacements In Amorphous Materials During Large-Amplitude Oscillatory Shear, Nikolai V. Priezjev

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we study the transient response of a binary Lennard-Jones glass subjected to periodic shear deformation. The amorphous solid is modelled as the three-dimensional Kob-Andersen binary mixture at a low temperature. The cyclic loading is applied to slowly annealed, quiescent samples, which induces irreversible particle rearrangements at large strain amplitudes, leading to stress-strain hysteresis and a drift of the potential energy towards higher values. We find that the initial response to cyclic shear near the critical strain amplitude involves disconnected clusters of atoms with large nonaffine displacements. In contrast, the amplitude of shear stress oscillations decreases after …


Identifying Two Regimes Of Slip Of Simple Fluids Over Smooth Surfaces With Weak And Strong Wall-Fluid Interaction Energies, Haibao Hu, Luyao Bao, Nikolai V. Priezjev, Kai Luo Jan 2017

Identifying Two Regimes Of Slip Of Simple Fluids Over Smooth Surfaces With Weak And Strong Wall-Fluid Interaction Energies, Haibao Hu, Luyao Bao, Nikolai V. Priezjev, Kai Luo

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

The slip behavior of simple fluids over atomically smooth surfaces was investigated in a wide range of wall-fluid interaction (WFI) energies at low shear rates using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. The relationship between slip and WFI shows two regimes (the strong-WFI and weak-WFI regimes): as WFI decreases, the slip length increases in the strong-WFI regime and decreases in the weak-WFI regime. The critical value of WFI energy that separates these regimes increases with temperature, but it remains unaffected by the driving force. The mechanism of slip was analyzed by examining the density-weighted average energy barrier (∆E) encountered by fluid atoms …


Low Velocity Impact And Rf Response Of 3d Printed Heterogeneous Structures, Sandeep Keerthi Jan 2017

Low Velocity Impact And Rf Response Of 3d Printed Heterogeneous Structures, Sandeep Keerthi

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Three-dimensional (3D) printing, a form of Additive manufacturing (AM), is currently being explored to design materials or structures with required Electro-Mechanical-Physical properties. Microstrip patch antennas with a tunable radio-frequency (RF) response are a great candidate for 3D printing process. Due to the nature of extrusion based layered fabrication; the processed parts are of three-layer construction having inherent heterogeneity that affects structural and functional response. The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between the anisotropy in dielectric properties of AM fabricated acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) substrates in the RF domain and resonant frequencies of associated patch antennas and …


Virtuo-Its: An Interactive Tutoring System To Teach Virtual Memory Concepts Of An Operating System, Venkata Krishna Kanth Musunuru Jan 2017

Virtuo-Its: An Interactive Tutoring System To Teach Virtual Memory Concepts Of An Operating System, Venkata Krishna Kanth Musunuru

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Interactive tutoring systems are software applications that help individuals to learn difficult concepts. They can allow students to interact with ideas from essential mathematics to more complicated subjects like software engineering. This thesis concentrates on one such interactive tutoring system (ITS) designed for teaching concepts related to operating system virtual memory. Operating system concepts can be troublesome to learn without having someone or something to explain them. Even when an instructor is able to provide detailed explanations, it is still exceptionally difficult for students without a computer science foundation to comprehend these concepts. Students require a sophisticated set of mental …


Intelligent Tutoring System Effects On The Learning Process, Ali Talib Qasim Al-Aqbi Jan 2017

Intelligent Tutoring System Effects On The Learning Process, Ali Talib Qasim Al-Aqbi

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The traditional education systems that have been used for several centuries have evolved very slowly and might be ineffective for addressing diverse learning styles and levels of preparation. This system is characterized by many students interacting with a single teacher, who is unable to address the individual needs of every student. Therefore, some students can become frustrated and fail to reach their educational potential. An Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS), which is a computer application used to provide students with one-to-one supplemental tutoring tailored to the student's learning style and pace, is of interest to educators for improving student learning. To …


Effects Of The Kinematic Model On Forward-Model Based Spotlight Sar Ecm, David T. Pyles Jan 2017

Effects Of The Kinematic Model On Forward-Model Based Spotlight Sar Ecm, David T. Pyles

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Spotlight synthetic aperture radar (SAR) provides a high-resolution remote image formation capability for airborne platforms. SAR image formation processes exploit the amplitude, time, and frequency shifts that occur in the transmitted waveform due to electromagnetic propagation and scattering. These shifts are predictable through the SAR forward model which is dependent on the waveform parameters and emitter flight path. The approach to develop an electronic countermeasure (ECM) system that is founded on the SAR forward model implies that the ECM system should alter the radar's waveform in a manner that produces the same amplitude, time, and frequency shifts that a real …


Friction Stir Welding Between Similar And Dissimilar Materials, Khaled Yousif Ali Jan 2017

Friction Stir Welding Between Similar And Dissimilar Materials, Khaled Yousif Ali

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on the friction stir welding (FSW) between similar and dissimilar alloys. FSW is a solid state joining process that welds the work-pieces through a combination of heat generated by friction and mechanical stirring of the metals in the region of the joint. Being a solid state process, FSW can be used to weld alloys with significantly different melting points. This provides a significant benefit over traditional fusion welding process in a variety of applications in automotive, biomedical, aerospace, nuclear and petroleum industries. Two materials - an aluminum alloy (6061-T6, m.p. 582 - 652°C) and a steel (SAE …


Collaboratively Detecting Http-Based Distributed Denial Of Service Attack Using Software Defined Network, Ademola A. Ikusan Jan 2017

Collaboratively Detecting Http-Based Distributed Denial Of Service Attack Using Software Defined Network, Ademola A. Ikusan

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Over the years, there have been a lot of attacks on the web servers of critical companies and organization. As much as these organizations tighten their security, it always tends not to be enough to stop all the attacks towards their servers. These attack vectors are so difficult to stop because of the technicalities behind the attack. Furthermore, there are different classes of distributed denial of service(DDoS) attacks such as the high rates (SYN Flood attacks, ARP Flood attacks, etc), low-rate(HTTP-GET, HTTP-POST). Although there are different ways to stop high rate DDoS attacks by traffic sampling and detecting malformed packets …


Finding Street Gang Member Profiles On Twitter, Lakshika Balasuriya Jan 2017

Finding Street Gang Member Profiles On Twitter, Lakshika Balasuriya

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The crime and violence street gangs introduce into neighborhoods is a growing epidemic in cities around the world. Today, over 1.4 million people, belonging to more than 33,000 gangs, are active in the United States, of which 88% identify themselves as being members of a street gang. With the recent popularity of social media, street gang members have established online presences coinciding with their physical occupation of neighborhoods. Recent studies report that approximately 45% of gang members participate in online offending activities such as threatening, harassing individuals, posting violent videos or attacking someone on the street for something they said …


Model Preparation And User Interface Aspects For Microsoft Hololens Medical Tutorial Applications, Andrew J. Mcnutt Jan 2017

Model Preparation And User Interface Aspects For Microsoft Hololens Medical Tutorial Applications, Andrew J. Mcnutt

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Augmented Reality (AR) is the combination of computer vision and graphics to allow a device to derive context about the environment and to display relevant information to the user. The Microsoft Hololens is the latest wearable AR device that includes a series of infrared sensors to perform hand tracking and Simultaneous Localization and Mapping, a wave guide optics system to project holograms, and an independent untethered operating system. This thesis will explore the hardware and software capabilities of the device, prepare 3D graphical models, and understand the user interface. Specifically, in our research the target application is a tutorial on …


Rapidly Solving Physics-Based Models For Uncertainty Propagation In Nondestructive Evaluation, Matthew Ryan Cherry Jan 2017

Rapidly Solving Physics-Based Models For Uncertainty Propagation In Nondestructive Evaluation, Matthew Ryan Cherry

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Recent research in extending nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods toward damage and materials characterization has led to an emphasis on the development of physics-based forward models in NDE. Furthermore, a desire to quantify levels of uncertainty in NDE inspections, particularly in Air Force applications, has driven the need for quick solving surrogate models for the traditional forward models, which have largely focused on accurately capturing many aspects of the problem with little emphasis on computational effort. In the past 5 years, many different techniques for creating lower-fidelity, quickly solving models to be used in place of the expensive high fidelity simulations …


Decision Support For Literal And Non-Literal Imaging Sensors, Holly K. Zelnio Jan 2017

Decision Support For Literal And Non-Literal Imaging Sensors, Holly K. Zelnio

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The key contribution of this research was to characterize decision support system (DSS) performance as a function of sensor types ranging from a very literal electrooptical (EO) sensor to a very non-literal synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensor. The specific DSS used in this research was developed based on the Applied Cognitive Task Analysis (ACTA), human performance modeling process, and a comprehensive literature search. The subject and DSS combined performance was characterized by objective interpretation accuracy and decision time and, in addition, the subject's trust, confidence, heuristics, and possible cognitive biases were elicited and analyzed. The measures of accuracy, time, and …


Distance Learning And Attribute Importance Analysis By Linear Regression On Idealized Distance Functions, Rupesh Kumar Singh Jan 2017

Distance Learning And Attribute Importance Analysis By Linear Regression On Idealized Distance Functions, Rupesh Kumar Singh

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

A good distance metric is instrumental on the performance of many tasks including classification and data retrieval. However, designing an optimal distance function is very challenging, especially when the data has high dimensions.Recently, a number of algorithms have been proposed to learn an optimal distance function in a supervised manner, using data with class labels. In this thesis we proposed methods to learn an optimal distance function that can also indicate the importance of attributes. Specifically, we present several ways to define idealized distance functions, two of which involving distance error correction involving KNN classification, and another involving a two-constant …


A Look At The Optimum Slope Of A Fixed Solar Panel For Maximum Energy Collection For A One Year Time Frame, Salah Alhaidari Jan 2017

A Look At The Optimum Slope Of A Fixed Solar Panel For Maximum Energy Collection For A One Year Time Frame, Salah Alhaidari

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

A rule-of-thumb for orientating fixed solar panels for optimum yearly collection of solar radiation that is not influenced by atmospheric effects is to face the panel due south in the Northern Hemisphere or due north in the Southern Hemisphere and to tilt the panel from the horizontal plane at an angle equal to the latitude of the location of the solar panel. The work presented in this thesis shows that this rule-of-thumb is an approximation for no-atmosphere, panel orientation; but not a precise value. This project presents a detailed method for determining the precise optimum tilt angle of a fixed …