Engineering Commons^™

Quantifying And Characterizing The Behavior Of Dissolved And Suspended Icp-Oes Detectible Elements In Utah Lake, Rachel Ann Valek

Theses and Dissertations

For Utah Lake in Utah, USA, we analyzed a uniquely comprehensive and longitudinal water quality dataset that extended over two summer sampling seasons. We measured 61 parameters using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES), YSI ProDSS water sondes, and laboratory procedures to quantify and characterize dissolved and suspended behavior of trace elements in Utah Lake. We analyzed the data using principal component analysis (PCA) and multidimensional scaling (MDS) to understand the lake geochemistry and inform Utah Lake management decisions regarding nutrients and algal blooms. We found that 1) sediments rich in phosphorus (P) act as a source for bioavailable …

A Multi-Directional Smart Hip Implant With Wireless Connectivity For Enhanced Health Monitoring, Leila Donyaparastlivari

Mechanical Engineering Theses

The thesis presents the culmination of the smart hip implant project, which signifies a significant stride in orthopedic technology. By integrating piezoelectric and triboelectric systems into conventional implants, this study demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of creating intelligent implants. Through a meticulous design process and rigorous testing, novel configurations were developed to optimize energy harvesting efficiency and enable precise detection of mechanical loads experienced during various physical activities. The application of Finite Element Analysis provided critical insights into the localization of contact points, informing the strategic placement of harvesters within the implant for enhanced performance. Utilizing a cam follower and …

Strategies To Decrease Separation Rates Among Highly Skilled Manufacturing Employees To Gain A Competitive Advantage, Rebecca J. Mileham

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Company leaders have a decreased competitive advantage when losing their highly skilled manufacturing employees due to separation from the company. Grounded in Herzberg’s two-factor theory, the purpose of this qualitative single-case study was to explore strategies aeronautical leaders used to decrease separation rates among highly skilled manufacturing employees to gain a competitive advantage. The participants comprised eight frontline managers in southern California with 2 years or more experience using strategies to decrease separation in their organization. Data were collected through face-to-face semistructured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis, resulting in four themes: pay and promotion; benefits and feedback; treatment from …

Investigating Which Muscles Are Most Responsible For Tremor Through Both Experimental Data And Simulation, Daniel Benjamin Free

Theses and Dissertations

Tremor affects millions of people and many patients desire alternative treatment options to medication or neural surgery. Peripheral suppression techniques are gaining greater use, but are currently applied in a trial-and-error method. To optimize these techniques, the muscles most responsible for an individual patient's tremor need to be identified. In this dissertation, I explored two parallel paths that both could aid in identifying muscles responsible for tremor. The first method utilizies measured data and a technique (coherence) that quantifies the frequency dependent correlation between two signals. Using coherence to identify muscles contributing to tremor requires at least two parts: an …

Improving Criticality Safety Benchmark Coverage By Developing A Benchmark Evaluation Of The Unm Agn-201m Reactor, Rowdy Davis

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

This research aimed to improve the benchmark coverage of the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) handbook and the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) with respect to High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel (HALEU). This was accomplished by creating a benchmark of the University of New Mexico’s Aerojet General Nucleonics model 201-M reactor and submitting it to the ICSBEP. This research then aimed to quantify to what extent this benchmark improves coverage of the benchmark suites for HALEU and TRISO fuel applications. This investigation utilized WHISPER, TSUNAMI-IP, and TSURFER with 36 application cases developed in SCALE and 2,929 experiments …

Investigating The Role Of Fluid Shear Stress During Metastasis On Enhanced Breast Cancer Extravasation, Alejandra M. Ham

LSU Master's Theses

In 2022, ~288,000 American women were diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer which was the leading cause of patient mortality with ~43,000 American women succumbing to the disease. Women can be diagnosed with four different molecular subtypes of breast cancer: luminal A, luminal B, human epithelial growth receptor type 2 enriched (HER2+), and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). TNBC accounts for ~12% of all breast cancers, yet it has the worst outcomes. TNBC is highly invasive, with ~46% of TNBC patients developing metastatic disease. A further understanding of metastatic TNBC is needed to provide a greater understanding of how to treat this …

Assessment Of Engineering Performance And Environmental Impacts Of High Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (Rap) Asphalt Mixtures In Flexible Pavements, Ibrahim A.I.E. Elnaml

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Due to the critical role of asphalt pavements in national infrastructure development, there is a pressing need to investigate more sustainable materials and approaches. The use of natural aggregates and asphalt binders in asphalt pavement presents sustainability challenges due to the depletion of finite resources. Recycling Asphalt Pavement (RAP) offers a promising sustainable solution by substituting virgin aggregates and asphalt binders with recycled ones. However, increasing RAP contents in asphalt mixtures (>25%) can lead to premature cracking, insufficient durability, and limited longevity due to the presence of aged RAP-asphalt binder. To address these concerns, the application of novel recycling …

What Effect Does Standards-Based Grading Versus Traditional Grading Have On Standardized Tests For Fifth-Grade Students In Mathematics In Arkansas?, Ruby Dean

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

WHAT EFFECT DOES STANDARDS-BASED GRADING VERSUS TRADITIONAL

GRADING HAVE ON STANDARDIZED TESTS FOR FIFTH GRADE STUDENTS IN MATHEMATICS IN ARKANSAS?

Ruby Earlene Dean

This study examined the effects of standards-based grading and traditional grading on standardized tests for fifth grade students in mathematics in Arkansas. The purpose of the study was to determine whether the type of grading system (traditional or standards-based) used to assess student progress makes a difference on the ACT Aspire results in fifth grade in mathematics. The information gleaned from this study will provide school leaders and teachers with information to make more informed decisions to …

Multi Base Station Energy Efficient Cluster-Aware Routing For Wireless Sensor Networks With Realtime Data Backup, Martinaa M

Theses and Dissertations

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is created, stemming from their applications in distinct areas. This research focuses on implementing an efficient clustering and routing protocols to maximize the lifespan of the WSN by proposing a novel method known as the Energy Efficient Cluster-aware Routing Protocol (EECR). The proposed method comprises of three steps: cluster formation, cluster head (CH) selection, and multi-hop data transmission. The factors needed are residual energy, the minimum distance to the base station (BS), and the minimum Load Count as given in the Energy and Distance CH selection algorithm. The shortest pathway is estimated by the Energy Route …

Thermal Frontal Polymerization – Applications In Coatings And Composites, Maria Martinez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Thermal frontal polymerization has long been used as a method to cure composites and coatings. However, this is the first time these applications have been used without the use of a catalyst, for the case of composites and coatings.

Chapter 2 discusses how to optimize cure-on-demand, thin layer coatings, using frontal polymerization. Previously, for the use of curing thin layer coating using thermal FP, it was known to just make the formulation viscous enough, as this would prevent premature quenching caused by heat loss. It was discovered that for a given layer thickness, a minimum viscosity and initiator concentration were …

Remote Sensing Of Residential Landscape Irrigation In Weber County, Utah, Annelise Marie Capener

Theses and Dissertations

Irrigation of residential properties in urban settings is typified by small and irregular areas, many untrained water users, limited end-use metering, and differing groundcover in contrast to agricultural settings. This makes analyzing irrigation patterns to promote efficient water use challenging. Analysis of Irrigation by Remote Sensing (AIRS) combines multispectral aerial imagery, evapotranspiration data, and ground-truthed measurements to overcome these challenges. We demonstrate the application of AIRS on eight neighborhoods in West Haven, Utah, using 0.6 m National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) and 0.07 m drone imagery, reference evapotranspiration (ET), and water meter data from Weber Basin Water Conservancy District (WBWCD). …

Exploration Of Characteristic Curve In Fox Float 3 Shock Dampers To Expedite Shock Damp Tuning., Joshua R. Moore

Honors College Theses

The shock absorber is an integral part of a vehicle suspension system and has a strong influence on its performance, especially in the case of motorsports. It is important to study the force versus velocity relationship, commonly known as the characteristic curve of the shock absorber both during compression and rebound. Vendor-supplied characteristics often reflect the behavior of the shock absorber in a particular setting. However, during the installation, the settings inside the shock absorber are adjusted to increase the human comfort level and performance of the vehicle. This may change the characteristic curve of the shock. The available data …

Formulation, Characterization, And In Vivo Immunogenicity Evaluation Of Heat-Stabilized Dissolvable Polymeric Microneedles, Aidan Lane Leyba

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

Since its introduction, vaccination has improved health outcomes tremendously. However, modern vaccination efforts are still difficult to implement, particularly in developing countries with warm climates. This includes complex and expensive cold-chain management of vaccines to maintain stability, a lack of medical personnel to administer parental vaccines, and needle phobia. As an alternative, dissolvable microneedles have recently been studied for their simple and painless application. In this thesis, I present a novel manufacturing process for polymer-based dissolvable microneedles, loaded with virus-like particles vaccines conjugated to TRIO or Sialokinin peptides to target malaria and arboviruses, respectively. We have performed multiple characterization studies …

Profiling Of Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Subtype Expression And Resulting Susceptibility To Targeted Osmotic Lysis In Cancer, Spencer Gerard Lemoine

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Cancer is a disease characterized by a wide array of dysregulated cellular function, activity, and growth. At times, specific dysregulations associated with cancer can be exploited as avenues of potential treatment. The sodium handling mechanisms and their associated proteins in cancer have received closer attention recently closely as such a potential mechanism to exploit for treating advanced cancer. Some novel treatments aim to inhibit the expression or activity of these sodium handling proteins in an attempt to prevent the cancer from advancing or becoming more aggressive; however, such approaches have had limited success. Targeted osmotic lysis (TOL) is a new …

Electrochemical Phosphorus Recovery From The Anaerobically Digested Sludge: Mechanism, Performance, Application, And Solids Disposal, Zixuan Wang

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Phosphorus (P) is life’s bottleneck element and an essential nutrient for food production. However, phosphate rock is a non-renewable resource and its geological distribution is highly uneven, making P recovery a crucial step for a circular economy. Approximately 55% of mined phosphorus ends up in centralized wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), where up to 90% is captured in the sludge. This sludge, treated in anaerobic digesters to produce anaerobically digested sludge (ADS), emerges as a viable secondary source for phosphorus recovery. Recovering phosphorus from ADS typically involves leaching and separation. Leaching mobilizes phosphates from sludge solid phase into a liquid phase, …

Assessment Of Improvement In Unpaved Roadway Performance Using 3d Geogrids Under Cyclic Loading, Munibhaskar Pagadala

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Geogrids have been used for decades to improve the performance in both paved and unpaved road construction. This research focuses on quantifying the performance and optimizing the design of unpaved roadways using the results from an extensive cyclic triaxial testing program. Twenty-seven cyclic triaxial tests were performed, consisting of unreinforced (control) and reinforced samples using two types of 3D geogrids: Grid1 and Grid2. The samples measured 150 mm in diameter and a height of 300 mm. The tests were run under different loading sequences ranging from 41 kPa to 55 psi (6 psi to 8 psi of confining stress and …

Trend Tour, Aaron Ancheta, Khushboo Gupta, Xiomara Quinonez

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

Choosing outfits as a college student can prove challenging – especially for new college students and students new to the area where their college is. Trend Tour, our web-based application, displays what the fashion trends are in the user's college and near their area. This helps the user with ideas on how to dress. Furthermore, the user can change the color, silhouette, and/or accessories of outfits they want to see at that college and near their area. This web application aims to help college students feel more confident and comfortable.

Novel Nano-Binders Treating Alzheimer’S Disease, Katie Ching, Sophie Criscione

Bioengineering Senior Theses

The objective of our project is to engineer exosomes to be an effective therapeutic agent as a possible new treatment option for the neurodegenerative disease, Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Among the various causes of AD, we are focusing on treating the pathogenesis linked to the build-up of amyloid-beta plaques in the brain, which disrupts neural connections and ultimately kills nerve cells. Currently, the most widely available treatment options for AD only provide symptomatic relief and targeting amyloid plaques in the brain is a promising new therapeutic approach in the field. Even the partial clearance of plaques could significantly improve the prognosis …

Skin Phantom Development For Electrophysiological Wearable Device Testing, Rohan Sodha, Kiet Vu, Jonathan Nguy

Bioengineering Senior Theses

This senior design project aimed to develop a skin phantom suitable for testing electrophysiological wearable devices. Our skin phantom consisted of a porous paper PDMS as the epithelial layer, initially paired with agarose gel as the tissue layer, and later with gelatin based on comparative analysis. Through rigorous experimentation and leveraging data from the IT’IS Foundation’s interactive database, we identified that gelatin exhibited superior electrical properties compared to agarose, making it a more effective medium for replicating human tissue. Our work not only validated the use of paper PDMS with both agarose and gelatin but also demonstrated that gelatin's lower …

Development Of Bamboo Connections With Iteso Universisdad In Guadalajara, Mexico, Turner Uyeda

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

In years prior, faculty and students at ITESO Universidad in Guadalajara, Mexico, have worked with local low-income communities in the development of bamboo structural end-to-end connections. To advance and expand on this bamboo structural research, faculty from ITESO reached out to Santa Clara University’s Frugal Innovation Hub to get a new perspective on the problem. With the given constraints of cost and strength, the engineer was otherwise free to explore solutions independently. In order to address the needs of the low-income community that ITESO faculty sought to help, a series of bamboo connections making use of bamboo culm end modifications …

Designing Embedded Systems With Large Language Models, Keeshan Rama, Paul Truong

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

AI has become increasingly involved in many development, research, and education facets. Tools have been made available to lend help in almost every field imaginable. From students asking for homework help on ChatGPT (GPT) to full-stack AI developers with Devin, the future of generative AI tools is now. Large language models (LLMs) have been developed for a breadth of applications and this is just the beginning. The main functionality this research is focused on is ChatGPT’s ability to code, specifically on FPGA boards in Verilog. As generative AI such as ChatGPT becomes more powerful and sophisticated, people should learn how …

Hardware Software Co-Design Of Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument Of Knowledge, Dev Shah, Allen Chellasamy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-interactive Argument of Knowledge (zk-SNARK) is an important security verification protocol in cryptography. However, zk-SNARK is a computationally expensive protocol in software, meaning that it takes a lot of time. In this paper, we focus on how we can increase the efficiency of the zk-SNARK protocol. The zk-SNARK protocol comprises of many algorithms put together. Our project focuses on optimizing one specific algorithm within the zk-SNARK protocol, the Number Theoretic Transform (NTT). We developed a hardware implementation of the NTT on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) board. To ensure the proper execution of the hardware, an external …

Enhancing Rotating Machinery Fault Diagnosis: A Dual-Head Attention Mechanism In Deep Learning Neural Networks, Qing Snyder

Dissertations

Rotating machinery is crucial to production efficiency and safety in manufacturing industries for an extended time. Ensuring machinery reliability necessitates effective diagnostic systems, particularly for rotating bearings, the key components of such equipment. Fault diagnosis in rotating machinery is essential to prevent failures and minimize downtime, thereby playing an important role in industrial operations. The application of advanced neural network techniques in industry has risen recently. Among these, attention-based neural networks, especially the Transformer models, are originally noteworthy for their sequential data handling capability. This research delves into attention-based algorithms for rotating machinery fault diagnosis, signifying a substantial advancement in …

Calculaser S.A. - Colombian Medical Clinic, Aaron Bumagat, Cody Ferguson, Daniela Valencia-London, Joell Macias

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

This report presents a comprehensive ground up design for the Calculaser S.A. medical clinic, located in Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia. The clinic contributes to providing affordable and comprehensive preventative healthcare services, bridging regional disparities and catering to individuals who may face limitations in accessing certain medical facilities. Calculaser aligns with the goal of fostering a more inclusive and accessible healthcare environment, striving to enhance the well-being of the surrounding population.

The design provided in this report will include three (3) main scopes: transportation & municipal, structural, and construction management. The transportation scope covers a configuration of the proposed parking garage, an …

Solar Panel Canopies Over Central Valley Canals, Danial Garcia, Sam Loeffler, Luke Shoenberger, Thomas Vithanage

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

California's agricultural presence is undeniably as impressive as it is important, but there is an ongoing significant challenge that the irrigation systems have grappled with: evaporation loss. Annually, a tremendous 63 billion gallons of water is lost due to evaporation along 4,000 miles of canals within California (source). In response to this issue, a new initiative emerged which is the implementation of solar panel over a section of the irrigation canals near Kettleman City. The team's structure is constructed using a steel cable truss along a 164 foot span. This structure both decreases evaporation and contributes to California's mission to …

Sustainable Design And Construction With Cob, Alessandro Moya, Bailey Mclaughlin, Maddie Ly, Quinn Boardman

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

Conventional building materials contribute to over 16% of global greenhouse gas emissions annually, therefore, more sustainable materials must be explored. The most readily available material is earth, cob being one of them. Cob is a monolithic earthen material made up of sand, clay, and straw, integrated using water. While this material has been used for thousands of years across the world, it is lacking research, and thus, limiting its implementation into official codes. This project tested six (6) 2’x 2’ cob walls, three (3) six (6) inch thick walls and three (3) twelve (12) inch thick walls using the ASTM …

Standardized Sustainable Rapid Housing Design, Octavio Diaz, Ernesto Escalante, Lily Sieber

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

DignityMoves is an organization committed to providing interim supportive housing to the unhoused population. DignityMoves partners with philanthropic organizations, owners, and cities to borrow unused and empty lands for anywhere from five (5) to twenty (20) years and organize the development of sites using prefabricated modular tiny homes. These homes meet housing department codes and standards while also allowing DignityMoves to capitalize on city emergency housing codes.

The goal of this project is to address the structural, geotechnical, greywater, building envelope, and construction management scopes of building interim supportive housing sites to create standardized solutions that:

(a) Lower the cost …

Impact-Reducing Prosthetic Liner With Variable Volume & Integrated Haptic Feedback, Luke Brothers, Gigi Schaefer, Zoe Straughn

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Transtibial amputees face challenges such as loss of proprioception and fluctuations in the size and composition of their residual limb, which can compromise comfort and mobility. This project aims to create a transtibial impact-reducing liner combined with integrated haptic feedback to enhance comfort and restore proprioceptive senses. The impact-reducing liner includes impact reduction over pressure-intolerant regions, impact redistribution over pressure-tolerant regions, and a variable volume system that dynamically adjusts to changes in the residual limb’s volume throughout the day. The haptic feedback system employs force-sensitive resistors located on various regions of the prosthetic foot. These sensors transmit via Bluetooth to …

Nuerogen: Eeg And Near-Infared Stimulation Control System, Michael Kreienkamp, Olivia Mcconaghy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

People suffering from neurodegenerative diseases need a viable option to help slow the progression of their symptoms and improve remaining cognitive function because brain problems can greatly limit basic body function such as balance, movement, talking, breathing, and heart function which steadily declines quality of life. Transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) is an experimental treatment that has shown promise in helping slow or stop the progression of neurodegenerative diseases.

This year, we were able to extend the preliminary exploratory work of the senior design groups from the past two years and build upon it to make a more flexible and reliable research …

Dunne Hall Redesign, Isabel Andaya, Rianna Maulino, Jason Uechi

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

As Santa Clara University expands its community, more on-campus residence halls are needed to support the growing student population. Constructing brand new residence halls using traditional framing could take months or years, interrupting the academic environment and campus aesthetic. This demands technology that can speed up construction time. A proposed solution is to use modular construction, or construction that is partially or fully assembled before it is delivered to site. This paper will explore the feasibility of using modular construction to build a residence hall within a three (3) month summer quarter, when campus is less active and less student …