Engineering Commons^™

The Food Truck: A Multi-Product Newsvendor With Trans-Shipment Cost, Samuel Ajibola

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Newsvendor Problem is a key model in supply chain management that focuses on determining the optimal order quantity to minimize costs under uncertain demand. This thesis introduces the Food Truck Problem, an extension of the Newsvendor model that incorporates nonlinear transshipment costs for inventory transportation. In this context, a Food Truck must determine the optimal stock levels for multiple products while minimizing costs related to stock shortages, excess inventory, and transportation. Unlike traditional Newsvendor models, our approach explicitly considers a quadratic transshipment cost, which necessitates the use of Lagrangian duality and Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions for analysis. Moreover, we apply …

Women Overcoming Barriers In Stem: How Mentors, Allies, And Sponsors Assist Career Trajectories In Higher Education, Leila Romeo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on the personal narratives of women in STEM in both public and private higher education institutions within various roles. Specifically, the researcher aimed to determine the following: (a) if mentors/allies influence the career trajectories of women in STEM in higher education institutions and (b) if mentors/allies aid in the support of women in STEM in higher education institutions. The researcher used semistructured interviews with a narrative analysis to determine areas of struggle for the sample within their careers and how mentors, allies, and sponsors were present throughout their careers to help the women overcome these challenges. Data …

Development, Optimization, And Validation Of A High-Sensitivity Capillary Zone Electrophoresis System For Bioanalytical Applications, Aaron I. Mena

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) is a powerful analytical technique widely used for biomolecular separation due to its high resolution, efficiency, and sensitivity. This report presents the development and validation of a novel CZE system designed to improve modularity, reproducibility, and operational efficiency. The system integrates a laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection method with a 488 nm laser, enhanced fluid control through a negative pressure system, and a user-friendly GUI for automated operation and data acquisition. Performance verification included pressure stability tests, fluorescence accuracy assessments, and electrophoretic reproducibility studies. Comparative analysis with a previous CZE iteration confirmed improved baseline stability, peak resolution, …

Advancing Tka Biomechanics: From Joint Simulator To Boundary Condition Development, Yashar Ali Behnam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses four specific aims that collectively attempted to advance the experimental and computational analysis of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) components. The first study focused on the development of a novel whole knee joint simulator capable of simultaneous tibiofemoral and patellofemoral knee loading. This simulator employs custom fixturing to facilitate dynamic, unconstrained, muscle-driven PF articulation alongside controlled TF contact mechanics. Validation against experimental measurements showed strong agreement, demonstrating the simulator's potential as a valuable tool for future TKA design and surgical technique investigations.

The second study verified implant-specific physiological boundary conditions which accurately simulate activities of daily living using …

Determinants Of Knee Motion In Health, Disease, And Repair, Sean Edward Higinbotham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The human knee joint is a complex and intricate structure, enabling a wide range of motions and facilitating various dynamic activities throughout a person's lifetime. The combination of the knee's complexity and its role as a primary load-bearing joint has made it susceptible to regular wear and tear, leading to pain and the development of Osteoarthritis (OA), to which, the only treatment currently is total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Despite TKA being a mature procedure, 20% of patients receiving a TKA are dissatisfied with their “new” knee. To reduce that 20% dissatisfaction and improve surgical outcomes, orthopedic companies are developing advanced …

A Framework For Fair And Trustworthy Multimodal Video Anomaly Detection: Fusion, Dataset Quality Auditing, Explainability, And Fairness, Omeshamisu Judith Anigala

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

St-Hybrid: Dynamic Graph Learning With Multi-Scale Spatio-Temporal Attention For Traffic Forecasting, Dhe Yeong Ewaza Tchalla

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Accurate short-term traffic forecasting is central to modern Intelligent Transportation Systems, supporting route guidance, adaptive signal control, and incident response. Yet producing reliable predictions remains difficult because traffic is highly non-stationary. The relationships among roadway sensors shift during congestion, incidents, weather changes, or fluctuations in demand, and the temporal structure of traffic spans several scales from abrupt minute-level variations to broader daily and weekly rhythms. Models that rely on fixed spatial graphs or a single temporal scale tend to miss these evolving and layered dependencies. This thesis addresses these challenges by developing a graph-learning framework that adapts to changing traffic …

Mid-Scale Rover Gravity Offloader (Mrgo): Design, Implementation, And Experimental Validation, Alexander Schaar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the design, implementation, and validation of the Mid Scale Rover Gravity Offloader (MRGO), a terrestrial testbed developed to simulate partial-gravity conditions for planetary rover testing within a three-dimensional environment. The MRGO enables consistent, user-defined offloading force as a rover drives freely within a 20 by 18 ft test area, while a stepper motor rail gantry autonomously tracks the rover’s motion and maintains overhead alignment. Mounted to the moving gantry is a vertical carriage column that houses the offloading mechanism, which accommodates up to 5 ft of vertical displacement without loss of force accuracy. This configuration allows realistic …

Molecular Dynamics Simulations Of Key Parameters On Thermal Properties Of Carbon Nanotube Modified Epoxy Composites, Lida Najmi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The application of carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced epoxy matrix composites (CRECs) has attracted extensive attention in various industrial sectors due to the significant improvement of material properties imparted by CNTs. The thermal behavior of these nanocomposites is governed by complex heat transfer mechanisms operating at different scales, resulting in a complex relationship between the effective thermal response and the microstructural characteristics of the composite. In this study, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to investigate the thermal conductivity of CRECs, focusing on the effects of key parameters such as the length and volume fraction of CNTs, the degree of cross-linking within …

Simulating Positive Ion Distribution In The Protodune Single Phase Detector, Vishnu Pfeiffer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work covers the validation and implementation of a model to solve for argon ion (Ar+) distribution in the ProtoDUNE-SP liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC). ProtoDUNE-SP undergoes a constant flux of cosmic ray muons due to surface operation. The performance of the ProtoDUNE-SP provided valuable insights into single-phase technology, membrane cryostat technology, and calibration of cryogenic instrumentation. Still, challenges in achieving precise measurements persist due to the space charge effect—the distortion of the electric field within the detector due to the accumulation of positive argon ions generated from constant cosmic muon flux. The overarching goal of this thesis is …

Lorawan-Enabled Iot Solution For Smart Farming, Talha Khan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rising global demand for food, driven by population growth, alongside a declining rural workforce, presents a great challenge for agriculture. Precision agriculture, which relies on the widespread adoption of smart farming technologies, is anticipated to enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability. Emerging technologies, such as machine vision, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT), offer innovative and promising solutions to address these challenges. This study focuses on LoRaWAN, a prevalent Low-Power Wide-Area-Network (LPWAN) IoT technology, examining its application in crop and livestock farming as well as its associated cybersecurity challenges. LoRaWAN IoT systems were constructed for three application …

Computation-Efficient Deep Learning Models For Computer Vision And Multimodal Vision-Language Tasks Via Network Pruning, Abir Mohammad Hadi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the rapid evolution of deep neural networks over the past decade, the demand for efficient, generalizable, and task-adaptable models, especially in computer vision, has increased significantly. To address the computational and deployment challenges posed by overparameterized models, the research community has extensively explored model compression techniques such as pruning, quantization, and distillation. These approaches aim to enhance model efficiency without compromising performance, particularly when adapting to domain-specific tasks under limited resources. This dissertation investigates several underexplored yet critical aspects of task-aware deep learning model compression, spanning both convolutional and vision-language architectures. In the early part of this work, we …

Video Comprehension Score (Vcs): A Metric For Long-Form Video Description Evaluation, Harsh Dubey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Existing video description evaluation metrics fail to capture the long-range chronology and semantic alignment essential for long-form descriptions. An effective evaluation metric for long-form descriptions must (i) assess global thematic alignment, (ii) measure local semantic alignment, and (iii) evaluate chronological alignment while detecting corrupted content. We introduce Video Comprehension Score (VCS), a reference-based metric, which directly addresses these evaluation requirements through three components: Global Alignment Score for thematic alignment, Local Alignment Score for local semantic alignment, and Narrative Alignment Score for chronological alignment with adjustable tolerance. We evaluate VCS on two large-scale synthetic datasets designed to test corruption detection and …

Effects Of Peel Angle And Strain Rate On The Bond Between Frcm Composite And Concrete Substrate, Lucas Robert Gervais

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fiber-reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM) composites have gained increasing attention for the rehabilitation and strengthening of concrete and masonry structures due to their favorable mechanical properties, compatibility with existing substrates, and ease of application. The effectiveness of any strengthening procedure depends on the quality of the bond between the external reinforcement and the substrate, ensuring efficient stress transfer and enabling the system to reach its ultimate capacity without premature debonding. While research has focused on the bond performance of FRCM systems under pure shear loading and quasi-static, low strain rate conditions, the effects of mixed-mode loading and high strain rates representative …

Molecular Dynamics Simulation Of Thermal Properties Of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes, Shiv Nath Jha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are a powerful tool for investigating the thermal behavior of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which are renowned for their exceptional thermal conductivity and potential in nanoscale thermal management applications. This study employs the open-source software LAMMPS, in conjunction with VMD for model generation, to explore the thermal transport properties of (10,10) single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD). The thermal conductivity of SWCNTs was evaluated across four tube lengths (5 nm, 10 nm, 20 nm, and 40 nm) and at temperatures ranging from 300 K to 600 K under two distinct boundary conditions: free boundary …

The Effect Of Huntington’S Disease On The Mechanical And Electrical Properties Of Red Blood Cells, Liliana Ponkratova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Huntington’s disease (HD) has an impact on brain tissues and can alter the biochemical properties of the peripheral blood. Evidence in existing literature suggests that peripheral mutant Huntingtin protein may be involved and deteriorate HD. Red blood cells (RBCs), being the most abundant type of cells in the peripheral blood, can show detectable changes in their biophysical properties due to subtle changes in cell membranes. These changes can offer a minimally invasive means to track the progression of the disease. The transgenic line R6/2 is used as the disease model. Utilizing the electro-deformation spectroscopy, we measured membrane permittivity, cytoplasm conductivity, …

Deep Learning For Computer Vision Applications In Medical Diagnostics And Wildlife Monitoring, Mostapha Al Saidi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores innovative applications of deep learning and computer vision techniques across three distinct domains: medical imaging, dermatological diagnostics, and wildlife monitoring. The research addresses critical challenges in each field through the development and optimization of convolutional neural networks and other deep learning architectures.

The first study examines COVID-19 classification from X-ray images, comparing one-shot versus two-stage classification approaches using transfer learning with pre-trained models such as VGG16 and VGG19. The initial hypothesis was that breaking down the classification task into two optimized tasks would yield better results than one-shot classification. Results demonstrated that the single-stage approach achieved superior …

Development Of Bio-Based Coating Materials For Environmentally Friendly Controlled-Release Nitrogen Fertilizer Applications, Anne Carolyne Mendonca Cidreira

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Lunar Payload Logistics: Advancing Autonomous Control For Lunar Surface Transporter Vehicles, Liam Murray

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Global Spectral Clustering Of Temporally Stable Pixels For Epics Identification, Validation, And Hyperspectral Assignment For Satellite Calibration, Juliana Maria Fajardo Rueda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Refinement Of Trend-To-Trend Cross Calibration Total Uncertainties Utilizing Extended Pseudo Invariant Calibration Sites (Epics) Global Temporally Stable Target, Minura Samaranayake

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cross-calibration is an essential technique for calibrating Earth Observation satellite sensors, which involves taking nearly simultaneous images of a ground target to compare uncalibrated sensor to a well-calibrated reference sensor. This study introduces the hyperspectral Trend-to-Trend (T2T) cross-calibration technique utilizing EPICS Cluster 13 Global Temporally Stable (Cluster 13-GTS) as the calibration target, offering better temporal stability than previous targets used in T2T cross-calibration by an absolute difference of 0.4%, between coefficients of variation across all bands excluding CA band. A multispectral sensor-specific normalized hyperspectral profile was developed using the EO-1 Hyperion hyperspectral profile over Cluster 13-GTS to improve Spectral Band …

Deep Learning Approaches For Predicting Strain Energy In Heterogeneous Materials, Junesh Gautam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Finite Element Analysis (FEA) faces computational challenges when analyzing nonlinear and heterogeneous materials. Utilizing the Mechanical MNIST dataset, comprising 60,000 simulated samples of 28x28 pixel domains under large deformation, the study evaluates classical regression methods (Linear Regression, Random Forest, Gradient Boosting) and advanced deep learning architectures (Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Residual Networks (ResNet)). CNN models achieved superior performance, with a Mean Squared Error (MSE) of 4.21 and an R2 value of approximately 0.982, outperforming classical regression models and slightly surpassing ResNet architectures. These deep learning methods automatically learn spatial relationships from pixel-based representations, eliminating the need for manual feature …

Electric Vehicles Historical Sales, Minerals Demand Risks, And Supply Chain Dynamics, Md Saidur Rahman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is transforming the automotive industry as governments, businesses, and consumers seek sustainable transportation options. This thesis examines the Electric Vehicles Historical Sales, future demand, key minerals demand risks, focusing on critical supply chain dynamics and sustainability challenges that influence EV production scalability. Specifically, the research explores demand forecasts and resource needs under policy scenarios from the International Energy Agency (IEA): the Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS), Announced Policies Scenario (APS), and Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario (NZES). Key materials analyzed include lithium, cobalt, and nickel, assessing potential bottlenecks in sourcing, refining, and logistics. …

Climate Variability Study For Arid Regions, Faisal Almutairi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Water is the primary source for all living species to thrive, and water scarcity has been a primary concern for biological species and plants in arid regions due to urban planning, population growth, poor water management, and overgrazing. The objective of this research was to study the climate variability in precipitation and temperature for an arid region. This research encompasses two distinct studies. The first study examined the impact of climate variability on precipitation in Phoenix. Precipitation data were acquired from NOAA from 1948 to 2023 and the study was broken down into three time scales: annually, seasonally, and monthly. …

Development Of Food Preservative Hydrogel Using Bioactive Compounds Extracted From Canola Meal, Kayla Christopherson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With an ever-growing population comes the need for a greater food supply. Yet land and other agricultural resources put a limit on the availability of food production. As farmers strive to optimize higher produce yields, society must turn to greener, more sustainable food preservation techniques to reduce food spoilage. The inclusion of extracted bioactive compounds found in canola meal into a food preservative hydrogel is such a solution for food spoilage reduction. In this thesis, extraction parameters of glucosinolates were examined along with their inhibition of E. coli DH5αZ1 when incorporated into 2 developed hydrogels: gelatin A Schiff-base and agar-agar. …

Design And Optimization Of The Injection Molding Process Of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymeric Car Fender Using Computational Simulation, Synthia Ferdouse

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The increasing demand for lightweight and energy-efficient materials in the automotive industry has accelerated the adoption of fiber-reinforced polymer composites. This research presents the design and optimization of the injection molding process for glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) car fenders using computational simulation. The effects of various gate types and locations on key process parameters, including fiber orientation, volumetric shrinkage, shear rate, and fill time, were investigated using Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Autodesk Moldflow Insight 2024, and MATLAB-based Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCMD) techniques. Simulations were conducted across multiple configurations involving three, four, and five gates, with several variations in location. Among all, …

Impact Of Automated Controlled Tile Drainage On Field Discharge Water, Soil Moisture, And Crop Yield In Southeastern South Dakota, Joshua Becker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Automated controlled tile drainage is an innovative approach to water management, using dynamic weir settings programmed to drain water out of the tile system if it encroaches into the root zone at pre-programmed depths and duration. While past studies have indicated potential yield and water quality benefits of controlled drainage, there has been very little research into the performance of automated controlled drainage. In addition to overall performance, there is a gap in knowledge of management settings to optimize yield and water quality benefits. Two experiments, one plot-scale and one modeling, were conducted to assess the impact of automated controlled …

Biopolymer-Induced Soil Ductility Enhancement: Mitigating The Effects Of Desiccation Cracks, Rabindra Prasad Bohara

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the formidable challenges of expansive clayey soils, notorious for their swelling-shrinkage characteristics, which often lead to ground instability and structural damage. While effective in mitigating soil swell-shrink potential and enhancing strength, traditional calcium-based stabilizers can react with higher sulfate content to form ettringite, causing volumetric changes and infrastructure distress. To assess the impact of stabilizing sulfate-rich soils and determining the various engineering properties, samples of both control and stabilized soils were prepared using lime, biopolymer (guar gum), and lime with guar gum at concentrations of 2% and 4% lime only, 0.5%, 1% and 1.5% guar gum only, …

Evolution Of Bed Shear Stress In Open Channel Flow Over A Rough-To-Smooth Transition, Monika Kafle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study of flow over roughness transition in an open channel is very important in the field of hydraulic engineering. Bed shear stress is the key factor in predicting sediment transport and determining the stability of hydraulic structures while flow depth, flow velocity, surface roughness are some hydraulic parameters that can affect the bed shear stress in an open channel flow. In this thesis, a detailed investigation into the development of bed shear stress in a rough-to-smooth transition is performed. Experiments were conducted on flow over a rough-to-smooth transition in an open channel flume with an M2 to S2 composite …

Improving K-Mean Clustering: A Comparative Study Of Parallelized Version Of Modified K-Mean Algorithm For Clustering Of Satellite Images, Yuv Raj Pant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Efficient clustering of high-dimensional satellite image datasets remains a critical challenge, particularly due to the computational demands of spectral distance calculations, random centroid initialization, and sensitivity to outliers in conventional K-Mean algorithms. This study presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of eight parallelized variants of the K-means algorithm, designed to enhance clustering efficiency and reduce computational burden for large-scale satellite image analysis. The proposed parallelized implementations incorporate optimized centroid initialization for better starting point selection, a Dynamic K-mean sharp method to detect the outlier to improve cluster robustness, and a Nearest-Neighbor Iteration Calculation Reduction method to minimize redundant computations. These enhancements …