Engineering Commons^™

Design Of Energy-Efficient, Scalable, And Flexible Tensor Processing Architectures With Electro-Photonic Integrated Circuits, Oluwaseun Alo

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

In recent years, artificial intelligence has achieved remarkable success across domains such as computer vision, natural language processing, and scientific computing. This progress has been driven largely by advances in deep learning, particularly deep neural networks (DNNs), including convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and transformer-based models. While these models deliver unprecedented accuracy, often surpassing human performance, their computational complexity continues to grow rapidly due to multibillion- and trillion-parameter designs. As model sizes and deployment scales expand, the demand for energy-efficient and high-throughput hardware accelerators has intensified. Conventional electronic platforms based on CPUs, GPUs, ASICs, and FPGAs are increasingly constrained by the …

Learning-Enabled Methods For Optimal, Constrained, And Fault-Tolerant Robot Motion Planning, Charles L. Clark

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Safe and efficient motion planning is a core requirement for robots operating in complex real-world environments, yet traditional model-based approaches struggle to simultaneously achieve computational efficiency, solution optimality, and the ability to handle complex constraints and potential hardware failures. This dissertation investigates how neural networks, as general purpose function approximators, can be leveraged in both traditional and novel ways to overcome these limitations and advance beyond what purely model-based methods can offer. Three distinct contributions are presented. First, a new motion planner is developed that uses ReLU neural networks to decompose the configuration space into linear cost regions, enabling existing …

Advancing Edge Intelligence: Strategies For Improving Machine Learning On Embedded Devices, Prakash Dhungana

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Artificial intelligence (AI) has demonstrated tremendous success in handling complex tasks across multiple domains, a leap largely attributed to complex deep neural network (DNN) architectures. However, the increasing demand for real-time processing, low latency, limited connectivity, and enhanced privacy necessitates edge intelligence, where computation is performed directly on resource-constrained embedded devices rather than relying on cloud infrastructures. While optimized TinyML techniques such as pruning, quantization, and neural architecture search (NAS) have made edge deployment feasible by significantly reducing computation and memory demands, achievable performance remains severely limited by hardware constraints. Furthermore, models deployed in highly dynamic real-world environments suffer from …

Frequency And Phase Synchronization Of Antenna Arrays With Phase Incoherent Microcontrollers, Harley W. Byrd

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The construction of phased array antennas has traditionally been an expensive and complex task. It has recently been claimed that it is possible to construct high-performance Wi Fi antenna arrays using inexpensive consumer components. Motivated by some limited data available from online presentations of such devices, this thesis covers an attempt to construct a phased-array Wi-Fi antenna using several ESP32 chips, which have native Wi-Fi modulation and demodulation capabilities. While there are many positive aspects associated with utilizing ESP32 chips for this purpose, a key challenge is the inherent phase incoherence of their internal Phase Locked Loops (PLLs). The approach …

Development Of An Adhesive Emulsion Hydrogel For Soft Tissue Reconstruction, David J. Alpert

Dissertations and Theses

Soft tissue filling materials are most commonly associated with various aesthetic, cosmetic procedures, primarily using lightly cross-linked hyaluronic acid to fill wrinkles and give facial features a more youthful appearance. These natural materials are biocompatible but degrade over time while more persistent synthetic fillers may provoke a chronic inflammatory response. Migration from the injection site is also a key factor as this may not only render the implant non- functional but necessitate further procedures for removal of the foreign material. Such concerns are more pronounced for soft tissue reconstruction procedures (e.g., to treat congenital defects or traumatic injuries), which require …

Design, Testing And Controls For Air Source Heat Pump System In Cold Climates Using Natural & Conventional Refrigerants, S M Abdur Rob

Dissertations and Theses

Fossil-fuel based heating systems used in the residential buildings in northeastern U.S region are not only inefficient but also largely responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions in U.S. Electrification of the buildings has been proved to be the most efficient way to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions where Heat Pumps can be the best alternative to replace the natural gas based heating system to accelerate the electrification process. Among different types of heat pumps, the Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) system is widely used due to the easy installation and energy efficiency. Conventional heat pump technologies use various types of …

Pillpetz: A Smarter Way To Encourage Medication Adherence In Children, John H. Begley

CMC Senior Theses

Medication adherence is usually framed as a problem of patient behavior, but this thesis argues that it is equally a problem of design. Children who take daily medication face barriers that adults often do not: developing executive function, dependence on caregivers, shifting school and home routines, privacy concerns, and stigma around being perceived as different. The standard prescription bottle, by contrast, was designed primarily for dispensing efficiency, safety, and accidental ingestion prevention—not for sustained daily use by a developing child.

This thesis proposes PillPetz, a smart pill case and digital companion that uses routine, play, dose confirmation, and caregiver-connected support …

Autonomous Coupler Alignment Using Position-Based Visual Servoing In A Ros~2 Framework, Nickolas Giffen

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

As robotic arms are becoming increasingly common alongside humans as collaborative robots, their high precision in motion enables tasks to be performed at significantly higher speeds with reduced disruption in the environment. The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is exploring this application by incorporating a UR16e from Universal Robots in a cleanroom setting during assembly of couplers to superconducting radio frequency cavities as part of the PIP-II project. The goal of the robotic assembly process is to precisely position the UR16e robot so that the coupler flange, mounted on the robot’s end-effector, is accurately aligned with and pressed against the cavity …

Deterministic Black-Box Context-Free Grammar Inference: Scaling From Small To Big Languages, Mohammad Rifat Arefin

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations

Context-free grammars are essential for a number of software engineering tasks like program understanding, debugging, and grammar-based testing. However, formal language descriptions (i.e. grammars) are often unavailable, outdated, or inaccessible because parsers are closed-source or cannot be instrumented. Black-box grammar inference addresses this gap using only valid sample programs and parser acceptance decisions. The problem is challenging because finite samples rarely exercise all language features or their combinations, while the inference process cannot inspect the parser’s internal representation of syntax. This dissertation develops deterministic techniques for black-box context-free grammar inference. The first tool, TreeVada introduces the structural assumption that balanced …

Probing Proficiency-Related Neural Representations With Pca And Ica, Onila R. Narayana Mudalige Don

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

How proficiency-related information is represented in task fMRI depends not only on the data themselves, but on the representational lens used to summarize them. This thesis examines second-language (L2) proficiency as a problem of representational organization rather than as a simple classification exercise. Using task fMRI from adult language learners performing semantic animacy judgments in their native language (L1) and second language (L2), I derive shared low-dimensional network representations with principal component analysis (PCA) and independent component analysis (ICA), then evaluate those representations under matched leakage-controlled decoding pipelines.

Across analyses, the central comparison is between representational frameworks rather than between …

Cross-Layer Supervisory Control For Low-Altitude Uav Swarm Networks, Nitin Singh Rathore

Computer Science and Engineering Theses

Low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms are increasingly used in applications such as aerial sensing, disaster response, and communication support, where reliable operation under dynamic and uncertain conditions is essential. In these environments, performance degradation arises from multiple sources, including external disturbances, sensing uncertainty, and communication impairments. Although these effects originate from different layers of the system, such as dynamics, observation, and networking, they often manifest as similar tracking or coordination errors. Conventional control approaches, which rely primarily on error-driven feedback, do not explicitly account for the underlying cause of these deviations, limiting their effectiveness in multi-agent settings. This thesis …

Effects Of Metals On Persulfate Activation For The Decomposition Of Pfas, Malu Deav Devadasan

Civil Engineering Dissertations

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent environmental contaminants widely used in industrial and consumer products due to their unique physicochemical properties. Their resistance to degradation, potential for bioaccumulation, and associated adverse health effects have prompted increasing regulatory attention, including the establishment of drinking water standards for six PFAS compounds by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2024.

Current PFAS treatment technologies are often energy-intensive and costly or generate secondary waste streams requiring further management. Meanwhile, this research investigated transition metal-catalyzed advanced oxidation processes for PFAS decomposition in water under ambient conditions. Previous studies demonstrated effective degradation of perfluorocarboxylic acids …

Gaussian Process Regression–Based Uncertainty Quantification For Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management And Advanced Air Mobility Applications, Aakarshan Khanal

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations

Uncertainty quantification has gained significant attention in recent years as a research area in dynamical systems. Mathematical representations of the physical system, combined with an understanding of model uncertainties, enable the propagation of uncertainty in temporal space, which allows us to make informed decisions. However, what if the true dynamics of the system is unknown or too complex to define explicitly? In such cases, the system’s behavior can instead be inferred or learned from observed input–output data rather than from an analytical or physics-based model. To this end, this dissertation focuses on developing a data-driven framework for nonparametric dynamics modeling, …

Development Of An Apparatus For Advanced Selective Laser Melting And Polishing Research, Joshua A. Fishbein

Open Access Master's Theses

Abstract contains Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and cannot be provided.

Assessing Modular And Conventional Construction For Sustainable Student Housing At The University Of Rhode Island: A Life Cycle Approach, Lasse Franzen

Open Access Master's Theses

The building sector accounts for a significant share of global greenhouse gas emissions, with embodied impacts gaining importance as operational efficiency improves. Modular construction is frequently proposed as a lower-impact alternative to conventional site-built methods, yet reported findings remain inconsistent, and no comparative study of student housing was identified in the reviewed literature. This thesis compares the embodied environmental impacts of two student housing developments at the University of Rhode Island: the New University Housing Project (NUHP), a hybrid development combining a site-built concrete and steel podium with a factory-built volumetric timber module superstructure, and Brookside Hall, a conventional site-built …

Effect Of Kelvin Seamount On Acoustic Propagation, Lindsey Moss

Open Access Master's Theses

This thesis contains CUI. It cannot be distributed, exported, uploaded, or published until it has gone through the proper public release process.

Assessment Of Local Amplification Causes At Coastal Strong Motion Stations With Elevated Ground Motion Residuals From The 2024 Tewksbury, New Jersey Earthquake, Patrick Daniele

Open Access Master's Theses

Elevated ground motion amplitudes at individual stations are commonly observed in earthquake datasets, yet the physical causes of these residuals are often not explicitly identified. This study investigates two seismic monitoring stations in southeastern New York that recorded amplified motions during the 2024 Mw 4.8 Tewksbury, New Jersey earthquake. A consistent set of established geophysical methods -- including multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW), passive ambient noise arrays (MAM), stochastic inversion, horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) analysis, and directional spectral ratio techniques -- was applied to directly characterize site conditions and identify the mechanisms contributing to amplification.

Results show that elevated …

Eco-Friendly Solvent-Based Fabrication Of Single-Layer And Polydopamine-Modified Bilayer Pvdf-Hfp Membranes, Eesh M. Kulshrestha

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

The growing global demand for clean drinking water has intensified the need for advanced water treatment technologies capable of efficiently removing contaminants while maintaining environmental sustainability. Polymeric membrane systems have emerged as an effective approach for water separations due to their high separation efficiency, simplicity, and adaptability to a wide range of water treatment applications. However, traditional membrane fabrication processes often rely on toxic organic solvents, such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and diemethylacetamide (DMAc), which pose environmental and health risks. These concerns have led to an increase in regulatory restrictions, primarily through the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) …

Investigation Of Succinylated Zwitterionic Polyethylenimine/Dna Complexes: Performance In Serum, Internalization, And Intracellular Fate, Levi Lampe

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Gene therapy has promised to revolutionize medicine since the earliest clinical trials, but a lack of delivery methods that are both safe and efficient has hampered progress. Gene therapy with viral vectors is effective at delivering nucleic acids to cells, but is associated with dangerous immunogenic responses and cancer-causing insertions into the genome. Viral vectors are also among the most prohibitively costly therapeutics in medicine. Polymeric vectors avoid these dangers and are made from inexpensive, off-the- shelf materials, but have been hindered by poor efficiency compared to viral vectors.

A benchmark polymer for in vitro nucleic acid delivery has been …

Aqueous Synthesis Of Luminescent Semiconductors For Opto-Electronic Applications, Saurabh Singh

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

The advancement of opto-electronic and scintillation technologies relies heavily on developing low-temperature, eco-friendly, and scalable synthesis routes for high performance luminescent halide-based semiconductor materials. However, traditional synthesis methods for halide-based semiconductors, including hot-injection, solvothermal, solid-state reactions, Ligand-Assisted Reprecipitation (LARP), microwave-assisted synthesis, and thin film deposition techniques (spin coating, physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), etc.), often demand toxic organic/inorganic solvents, elevated processing temperatures, and high vacuum/inert environments. Such constraints limit their scalability, raise environmental concerns, and impede their commercial-level device integration. This research overcomes these long-standing challenges by employing water as a powerful crystallization-directing, and environmentally benign medium …

Anaerobic Digestion Of Food Waste Components: Modeling Biogas Production, Opeyemi E. Adelegan

Civil Engineering Dissertations

Food waste constitutes the single largest component of municipal solid waste landfilled in the United States — approximately 22% of 292.4 million tons generated in 2018 — and its anaerobic decomposition releases methane, a greenhouse gas with global warming potential approximately 27–30 times that of carbon dioxide over a 100-year horizon (IPCC, 2021). Anaerobic digestion (AD) offers an alternative management pathway that recovers energy and produces nutrient-rich digestate, but AD performance varies by as much as five-fold across food waste streams (130–630 m³ CH₄ per Mg VS added), and existing predictive tools either treat food waste as a …

Advancing Cyber-Physical Security And Resilience Of Modern Power Systems: Intelligent Monitoring, Secure Operation, And Resilient Recovery, Md Moshiur Rahman

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Modern power distribution systems are rapidly evolving into cyber-physical, DER-rich, and data-driven networks that rely on extensive sensing, communication, automation, grid-edge intelligence, and operator decision support. While this transformation improves flexibility, observability and controllability, it also expands the cyber-attack surface and increases the risk that cyber intrusions can propagate into physical disturbances, compromised DER operation, degraded situational awareness, and interrupted service continuity. This dissertation advances the cyber-physical security and resilience of modern distribution systems by developing a high-fidelity real-time cyber-physical hardware-in-the-loop testbed using OPAL-RT, EXata CPS, industrial relays, SCADA/RTAC, HMI, and grid-edge devices to emulate realistic DER-integrated distribution grid operation. …

Two-Phase Transcritical Carbon Dioxide Flow At The Microscale For Thermal Management Applications, Soroush Niazi

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

High-power electronic and power-conversion devices now generate heat fluxes that exceed what conventional air- and single-phase-liquid cooling can dissipate, motivating the search for more capable coolants and cooling mechanisms. Carbon dioxide is an attractive candidate for this role: it is inexpensive, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly, and near its critical point its thermophysical properties change rapidly, which raises the heat-transfer coefficient. In addition, a large pressure drop produces strong cooling through the Joule–Thomson effect and phase change, so that the throttling element itself becomes a source of cooling. This dissertation studies the throttling, phase change, and choking of high-pressure carbon dioxide …

Beyond The Square Pulse: Waveform Shape, Eeg Correlates, And The Pursuit Of Natural Sensation In Tens, Jason Whitson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study investigates the relationship between electrical stimulus characteristics of shape and charge on evoked sensations and electroencephalogram (EEG) data during multi-waveform transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) of the median nerve. Neuromodulation methods have traditionally had little control over the location and quality of their associated evoked sensation (e.g., electric, vibration, touch). This experiment utilized five unique stimulus waveforms during TENS stimulation. EEG data were collected concurrently to provide an introductory objective measure of the neural responses underlying these sensory changes. Eleven participants completed three tasks (thresholding, super-threshold stimulation, two-alternative forced choice) using a two-electrode TENS approach. Stimulus waveforms were …

Artificial Intelligence In Cybersecurity: Applications, Threats, And Implications, Brandon A. Rodriguez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The point of this thesis is to analyze the growth of artificial intelligence in the world of cyber security, highlighting the specific impacts it has in the use of defense and offensive misuse. The way that this research was done was by using three main methods, those being interviewing cybersecurity specialists, testing the uses of public AI models and by reviewing peer-reviewed studies. Some of the findings that were discovered with the research were that AI can be a great asset in supporting defensive systems with such things as assisting in the creation of scripts, but there are also negatives …

A Chicken Model For Non-Invasive Diagnosis Of Infant Developmental Dysplasia Of The Hip (Ddh) Using Acoustic Transmission Measurements, Aliza Shah

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is a condition characterized by abnormal development and stability of the hip joint. In a healthy infant, the femoral head (ball) fits securely within the acetabulum (socket of the pelvis), allowing for proper joint function. In DDH, the relationship is disrupted, ranging from mild acetabular dysplasia to partial (subluxation) or complete dislocation of the femoral head. This condition represents a range of structural abnormalities that develop during early growth. The integrity of the hip joint is essential for physical mobility, and disruption of this structure can lead to significant functional impairment. DDH may result …

Volumetric Fluorescence Microscopy For High-Throughput And High-Sensitivity Imaging: From Single Molecules To Tissues, Le-Mei Wang

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Fluorescence microscopy is an indispensable tool in the biological sciences, enabling researchers to investigate intricate subcellular structures, particularly for volumetric studies. However, conventional optical microscopy for volumetric imaging remains fundamentally constrained by imaging speed and throughput. To bypass traditional serial z-scanning, we introduce an axially scan-free method using a phase layer cake to modulate the system's point spread function. This approach projects volumetric information onto a 2D plane in a single shot, offering high flexibility in tuning axial depth alongside simultaneous multicolor imaging with high spatial resolution and sensitivity. This dissertation divides these technical advancements into cellular and tissue imaging …

Advanced Ysz/Si(B)Cn And Bnnt/Si(B)Cn Ceramics Matrix Composites For Extreme Environments In Hydrogen Combustion, Yiting Wang

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

The growing demand for carbon-neutral energy conversion has accelerated the development of hydrogen-fueled gas turbine systems, which operate at significantly higher temperatures and more chemically aggressive environments than conventional natural gas turbines. To meet these stringent requirements, ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials consisting of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) fiber reinforced Si(B)CN ceramic matrix were developed. To further enhance in-plane heat dissipation, thermal stability, thermal shock resistance, and thermal cycling performance, a Si(B)CN/Boron Nitride Nanotubes (BNNT) nanocomposite coating was incorporated onto the YSZ/Si(B)CN composites. Microstructural characterization confirmed the formation of a continuous Si(B)CN ceramic matrix reinforced with uniformly distributed BNNTs. The resulting …

Generating Boundary Conditions For Compound Flood Modeling In A Probabilistic Framework, Pravin Maduwantha Mahanthe Gamage

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Flooding in coastal riverine environments is often driven by the combined influence of multiple hydrometeorological flood drivers, including storm surge, rainfall, waves, and river discharge, which is referred to as compound flooding. A robust flood hazard assessment requires simulation of a wide range of flood driver conditions through dynamic compound flood models to capture the variability in resultant flooding. However, such assessments remain limited by the short length of observational records and the high computational cost of physics-based methods used to generate temporally varying boundary conditions. This dissertation develops a statistical framework to characterize compound flood drivers and generate large …

Performance Analysis Of Labyrinth And Hybrid Seals For Supercritical Co₂ Turbomachinery Applications, Ghanshyam Sarobar Mandal

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Leaks account for large losses in turbomachinery systems, which has led to research on sealing technologies. The work presented studies the effect of a hybrid seal combining conventional labyrinth geometry and honeycomb structure by simulating supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) flow through this geometry. The CFD solver compares effects such as changes in mass flow rate, formation of vortices, pressure profile, and seal performance as geometry angles of labyrinth teeth and honeycomb walls change at conditions normally found at higher pressures in these seals. Honeycomb walls were placed on the stator, ranging from 125°< θc< 55°. Labyrinth teeth were placed on the rotor at the same degrees. Honeycomb cell diameters were also varied, creating more resistance and turbulence within the flow. It was discovered that the honeycomb angle created stronger effects on vortices and boundary layer formation, while the labyrinth angle mainly affected the throttling of flow and loss generation. Combining all three angles created a relationship dictating the seal leakage. Dimensions of seals were based on gas turbine seals with changes to meet sCO₂ conditions. ANSYS was used to simulate static and rotating conditions until convergence on a specific geometry