Engineering Commons^™

Teaching Engineering Courses With Workbooks, Yaşar Demirel

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: News Releases

Society expects that a modem college education will turn out students who are analytical. intellectually curious, culturally aware, employable, and capable of leadership. Some important skills needed for all degree programs are problem solving, communication (written and oral), team or group work, learning and information processing, and technology. Instructors feel rewarded and satisfied when they sense that they have made a difference in the life of a student.

Teaching Coupled Transport And Rate Processes, Yaşar Demirel

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: News Releases

Coupling refers to a flux occurring without its primary thermodynamic driving force; for example, mass flux without a concentration gradient called the thermal diffusion is a well-known coupled process. Coupling also refers to a flux occurring in a direction opposite to the direction imposed by its driving force; for example, a mass flux can occur from a low to a high concentration region and is called the active transport or uphill transport, such as potassium and sodium pumps coupled to chemical energy released by the hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in biological systems. Although the coupled processes seem to be …

Modified Convolutional Interleavers And Their Performance In Turbo Codes, Sina Vafi, Tadeusz Wysocki

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications (to 2015)

In previous work,we have presented application of a model of the convolutional interleaver in turbo codes acting as a block interleaver through inserting a number of stuff bits equal to the number of interleaver memories at the end of each data 6lock.h order to get better turbo codes performance, the interleaver with larger period, which increases the number of stuff bits and educes effective channel bandwidth usage, has been suggested. In this paper, we introduce a modification to this interleaver improving turbo codes performance without increasing the interleaver period. This is carried out by increasing distance of adjacent bits that …

Two Complex Orthogonal Space-Time Codes For Eight Transmit Antennas, Le Chung Tran, J. Seberry, Yejing Wang, B. J. Wysocki, T. A. Wysocki, Tianbing Xia, Ying Zhao

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications (to 2015)

Two new constructions of complex orthogonal space-time block codes of order 8 based on the theory of amicable orthogonal designs are presented and their performance compared with that of the standard code of order 8. These new codes are suitable for multi-modulation schemes where the performance can be sacrificed for a higher throughput.

The Effect Of Imperfect Carrier Recovery On The Performance Of The Diversity Antenna Selection Technique In Wireless Channels Utilizing Dstm, Le Chug Tran, Tadeusz Wysocki, Jennifer Seberry, Alfred Mertins

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications (to 2015)

his paper examines the effect of imperfect carrier phase/frequency recovery at the receiver on the bit error performance of our diversity antenna selection technique (AST) proposed for channels utilizing Differential Space-Time Modulation (DSTM). The tolerance of differential detection associated with the proposed AST to phase/frequency errors is then analyzed.

Space Time Spreading With Modified Walsh-Hadamard Sequences, P Vial, B. J. Wysocki, I Raad, Tadeusz Wysocki

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications (to 2015)

Previous work has shown that the performance of a Space Time Spreading (STS) system using walsh codes with two transmit antennas at the Base Station (BS) is degraded in the presence of mutual interference from adjacent sectors in the same cell. In this paper we use Modified Walsh-Hadamard sequences exhibiting improved cross-correlation performance, which potentially mitigates the effects of MA1 (Multiple Access Interference). The presented study also looks at variation of sets of different Modified Walsh- Hadamard codes being used by the adjacent interferer, with a hundred randomly selected pairings being chosen, as well as the case where one set …

The Reactivity Of Dissolved Organic Matter For Disinfection By-Product Formation, Mehmet Kitis, Tanju Karanfil, James E. Kilduff

Publications

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in 6 water samples collected from 4 surface waters were fractionated using some or all of 5 physicochemical separation processes (activated carbon and XAD-8 batch adsorption, alum coagulation, ultrafiltration (UF), and XAD-8 column fractionation). Activated carbon, XAD-8 batch adsorption and alum coagulation processes fractionated DOM by preferentially removing high-SUVA components from solution. The XAD-8 column method fractionated DOM into hydrophobic and hydrophilic components while UF separated DOM into different size fractions. Over 40 DOM fractions, characterized using carbon-normalized (specific) ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA), were obtained for each water. Trihalomethane (THM) and haloacetic acid (HAA_9) formation after chlorination …

A Multi-Objective Decision-Making Framework For Transportation Investments, Mashrur Chowdhury, Pulin Tan

Publications

This paper presents a framework based on multi-objective optimization that can be used to generate and analyze the most desirable transportation investment options based on their objectives and constraints. The framework, which is based on the surrogate worth trade-off analysis, could be applied to both discrete or continuous decision-problem scenarios. In a discrete problem, a predefined set of alternatives is available, whereas continuous problems are not characterized by a predefined set of alternatives. This framework was applied with the data generated for a Capital Beltway Corridor investment study. The multi-objective decision-making framework was found to be adaptable to this typical …

Acknowledgment Use With Synthesized And Recorded Prompts, Karen Ward, Tasha Hollingsed, Javier A. Aldaz Salmon

Graduate Student Papers (CS)

Acknowledgments, e.g., “yeah” and “uh-huh,” are ubiquitous in human conversation but are rarer in human-computer interaction. What interface factors might contribute to this difference? Using a simple spoken-language interface that responded to acknowledgments, we compared subjects’ use of acknowledgments when the interface used recorded speech with that seen when the interface used synthesized speech. Contrary to our hypothesis, we saw a drop in the numbers of subjects using acknowledgments: subjects appeared to interpret the recorded-voice interface as signalling a more limited interface. These results were consistent for both Mexican Spanish and American English versions of the interface.

Planetary Cliff Descent Using Cooperative Robots, Erik Mumm, Shane Farritor, Paola Pirjanian, Chris Leger, Paul Schenker

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Future robotic planetary exploration will need to traverse geographically diverse and challenging terrain. Cliffs, ravines, and fissures are of great scientific interest because they may contain important data regarding past water flow and past life.
Highly sloped terrain is difficult and often impossible to safely navigate using a single robot. This paper describes a control system for a team of three robots that access cliff walls at inclines up to 70°. Two robot assistants, or anchors, lower a third robot, called the rappeller, down the cliff using tethers. The anchors use actively controlled winches to first assist the rappeller in …

A Helical Tow Model And Numerical Simulation Of On-Line Thermal Curing Of Thermoset Composites In Filament Winding, Xuefeng Wang, David Y.S. Lou, Negli Zhang`

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A helical tow model of on-line curing of thermoset composites in winding is developed and solved numerically. Actual shape of tow in winding process is considered, and consequently, the modeling of the on-line curing process is more realistic. A numerical grid generation method is developed for the complicated geometry. Transformations of three-dimensional energy equation and its boundary conditions from physical domain to computational domain are performed, which are crucial in numerical grid generation method when an anisotropic medium is involved. A set of concise and regular equations is obtained. The numerical simulation results show that the helical tow model, in …

Accuracy And Interferences For Enzyme-Linked Immunoassay Tests For Atrazine, Craig D. Adams, Hua Jiang, Michael Mcguire, Nicole Graziano, Alan Roberson, Michelle Frey

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Atrazine is one of the most commonly used herbicides in the United States, therefore it is a regulatory concern and is extensively monitored in the environment, especially in drinking water. Because of the higher costs of gas chromatography (GC) methods, utility managers and regulators are considering the increased use of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods for monitoring atrazine. an ELISA test kit was recently approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency. the research in this article points out potential biases and inaccuracies that may occur with such test kits. ELISA test kits for atrazine are typically precise (repeatable) but often …

A Predictive Sensor Network Using Ant System, Rajani Muraleedharan, Lisa Ann Osadciw

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - All Scholarship

The need for a robust predictive sensor communication network inspired this research. There are many critical issues in a communication network with different data rate requirements, limited power and bandwidth. Energy consumption is one of the key issues in a sensor network as energy dissipation occurs during routing, communication and monitoring of the environment. This paper covers the routing of a sensor communication network by applying an evolutionary algorithm- the ant system. The issues considered include optimal energy, data fusion from different sensor types and predicting changes in environment with respect to time.

Techniques For Assessing And Improving Performance In Navigation And Wayfinding Using Mobile Augmented Reality, Brian Goldiez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Augmented reality is a field of technology in which the real world is overlaid with additional information from a computer generated display. Enhancements to augmented reality technology presently support limited mobility which is expected to increase in the future to provide much greater real world functionality. This work reports on a set of experiments that investigate performance in search and rescue navigating tasks using augmented reality. Augmentation consisted of a spatially and temporally registered map of a maze that was overlaid onto a real world maze. Participants were required to traverse the maze, answer spatially oriented questions in the maze, …

Post-Training Support For Learning Technology, Sam Snoddy Jr., David G. Novick

Departmental Papers (CS)

To examine the effects of post-training support, we studied the introduction of new gradebook software in a public high school. The school's 108 faculty members received training on the software, and approximately half of the faculty received posttraining support for eight weeks. The study measured the faculty's current computer usage, usage of earlier versions of the software, and their perceived skill levels in using the software. The data suggest that the faculty members who received post-training support maintained and raised their skill levels, while unsupported faculty had their skill levels decline.

Assessing Effectiveness Of Personality Style In Documentation, Kenneth Sayles, David G. Novick

Departmental Papers (CS)

This paper extends previous work by other researchers that indicated that users of computers preferred a computer with a personality that was similar to theirs. We conducted a similar experiment, but looking beyond preference to see if the personality of documentation would make a difference in the user’s performance. Our data suggest did not indicate that personality match affects performance; and if such a relationship exists it is likely to be weak. We discuss the related research, describe our methodology, present our results, and describe their implications and limitations.

Joining Challenges In The Packaging Of Biomems, Hans Herfurth, Reiner Witte, S. Heinemann, Golam Newaz, Ahsan Mian, Daniel Georgiev, Greg Auner

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Micro-joining and hermetic sealing of dissimilar and biocompatible materials is a critical issue for a broad spectrum of products such as micro -electronical, micro -optical and biomedical products and devices. Novel implantable microsystems currently under development will include functions such as localized sensing of temperature and pressure, electrical stimulation of neural tissue and the delivery of drugs. These devices are designed to be long-term implants that are remotely powered and controlled. The development of new, biocompatible materials and manufacturing processes that ensure long-lasting functionality and reliability are critical challenges. Important factors in the assembly of such systems are the small …

An Asynchronous Gals Interface With Applications, Jennifer A. Smith

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A low-latency asynchronous interface for use in globally-asynchronous locally-synchronous (GALS) integrated circuits is presented. The interface is compact and does not alter the local clocks of the interfaced local clock domains in any way (unlike many existing GALS interfaces). Two applications of the interface to GALS systems are shown. The first is a single-chip shared-memory multiprocessor for generic supercomputing use. The second is an application-specific coprocessor for hardware acceleration of the Smith-Waterman algorithm. This is a bioinformatics algorithm used for sequence alignment (similarity searching) between DNA or amino acid (protein) sequences and sequence databases such as the recently completed human …

Protein Family Classification Using Structural And Sequence Information, Jennifer A. Smith

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Protein family classification usually relies on sequence information (as in the case of hidden Markov models and position-specific scoring matrices) or on structural information where some sort of average positional error between the atomic locations is used. The positional error method requires that the structure of all the proteins to be classified is known. Sequence methods have the advantage that a much larger number of proteins can be classified (since far more sequences are know than structures). However, sequence methods discard a large amount of useful information contained in the structures of the subset of proteins in the family for …

Hydrogen Sulfide Flux Measurements And Dispersion Modeling From Constr, Sangho Eun

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Odor problems are a common complaint from residents living near landfills. Many compounds can cause malodorous conditions. However, hydrogen sulfide (h2s) has been identified as a principal odorous component from construction and demolition (c&d)debris landfills. Although several studies have reported the ambient concentrations of h2s near c&d landfills, few studies have quantified emission rates of h2s. The most widely used and proven technique for measuring gas emission rates from landfills is the flux chamber method. Typically the flux chamber is a cylindrical enclosure device with a spherical top which limits the gas emission area. Pure zero grade air is introduced …

Time Series Prediction With Recurrent Neural Networks Using A Hybrid Pso-Ea Algorithm, Nian Zhang, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy, Donald C. Wunsch, Xindi Cai

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

To predict the 100 missing values from the time series consisting of 5000 data given for the IJCNN 2004 time series prediction competition, we applied an architecture which automates the design of recurrent neural networks using a new evolutionary learning algorithm. This new evolutionary learning algorithm is based on a hybrid of particle swarm optimization (PSO) and evolutionary algorithm (EA). By combining the searching abilities of these two global optimization methods, the evolution of individuals is no longer restricted to be in the same generation, and better performed individuals may produce offspring to replace those with poor performance. The novel …

Ergodic Capacity Of Mimo Triply Selective Rayleigh Fading Channels, Chengshan Xiao, Y. Rosa Zheng

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

New results are presented for the ergodic capacity of spatially-correlated, time-varying and frequency-selective (i.e., triply selective) MIMO Rayleigh fading channels. Simplified capacity formulas are also derived for special cases such as SIMO and MISO triply selective fading channels. A closed form formula is proposed that quantifies the effect of the frequency-selective fading on the ergodic capacity into an intersymbol interference (ISI) degradation factor. It is discovered that, in general frequency-selective MIMO channels, the ISI inter-tap correlations reduce the ergodic capacity compared to the frequency flat fading channel. Only in the special case when the fading does not have ISI inter-tap …

Method Of Creating Ultra-Fine Particles Of Materials Using A High-Pressure Mill, Marian Mazurkiewicz, B. E. Conrad

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A method for creating ultra-fine particles of material using a high-pressure mill is described. The method includes placing a material in a first chamber and subjecting the material to a high-pressure fluid jet to divide it into particles. These particles are then transferred to a second chamber in which they are subjected to cavitation to further divide the particles into relatively smaller particles. These relatively smaller particles are then transferred to a third chamber, in which the particles collide with a collider to still further divide them into ultra-fine particles of the material. The mill of the present invention includes …

Electromagnetic Analysis For Vehicle Antenna Development Using Method Of Auxiliary Sources, David Pommerenke, Kai Xiao, R. S. Zaridze, D. G. Kakulia, K. N. Tavzarashvili, G. N. Ghvedashvili

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In paper [l] the electromagnetic analysis of large semi-open structures like vehicles was presented formulated as scattering problem, illuminated by a wide range of incident EM fields. The effect of resonances within the semi-open structure on the RCS, near fields and pattem of reradiated fields had been shown. In this paper the interaction of the entire semi-open structure on the performance of an antenna is considered together with the investigation of near field distributions inside the cavity. The Method of Auxiliary Sources (MAS) [2] is utilized. For a simple geometry the results are compared to measurements.

Compact High-Voltage Generator Of Primary Power Based On Shock Wave Depolarization Of Lead Zirconate Titanate Piezoelectric Ceramics, Sergey I. Shkuratov, Evgueni F. Talantsev, Latika Menon, Henryk Temkin, Jason Baird, Larry L. Altgilbers

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The design and performance of a compact explosive-driven high-voltage primary power generator is presented. The generator utilizes a fundamental physical effect—depolarization of ferroelectric materials under longitudinal shock wave impact, when the shock wave is initiated along the polarization vector P. These primary power sources, containing energy-carrying elements made of lead zirconate titanate poled piezoelectric ceramics, with the volume from 0.35 to 3.3 cm3, are capable of producing pulses of high voltage with amplitudes up to 21.4 kV. The amplitude and full width at half-maximum of the high-voltage pulses are directly proportional to the thickness of the energy-carrying element, with coefficients …

Safety Performance Evaluation Of The Nebraska Open Bridge Rail On An Inverted Tee Bridge Deck, Karla A. Polivka, John R. Rohde, Dean L. Sicking, Ronald K. Faller, James C. Holloway M.S.C.E., E.I.T.

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Fidelity Level And Task/Non-Task Based Testing Scenarios On The Effectiveness Of Usability Testing, Joshua R. Dolecal

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Advances in usability are directing developers towards creating a better and all around friendlier environment for users. Unlike when buying a physical product where you purchase it first and then experience its usability, web site usability is immediately present. So, if a site doesn't meet our needs, we as users, are quick to look elsewhere. Some research has suggested that fidelity makes no significant impact on users' ability to locate errors or problems in a web site. This paper is intends to investigate the interaction between fidelity and task vs. non-task user testing with regards to the types of problems …

Building On A Solid Foundation: A History Of The College Of Engineering And Applied Sciences At Western Michigan University 1903-2003, Thomas Swartz

All Books and Monographs by WMU Authors

Contents of book include:

• Introduction
• Places
• People
• Programs
• CEAS Today
• Resources
• Index
• Author's Note

Using Information Technology To Enhance Control Engineering Education: Some Experiences, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

In the past decade, the use of computer based design and analysis tools, such as MATLAB/SIMULINK, has revolutionised practice in Control Engineering. Concepts that were previously only understandable after sustained mathematical analysis or experimental work may now be readily simulated on the computer. Over the past four years, the author has experimented with the use of MATLAB/SIMULINK, in the lecture and laboratory environment, with degree and taught masters students in control engineering at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT). It has been found that the tool helps to increase student understanding of challenging topics, to act as motivation to further exploration …

Harmonic Distortion Caused By Ev Battery Chargers In The Distribution Systems Network And Its Remedy, Malabika Basu, Kevin Gaughan, Eugene Coyle

Conference papers

An effective way to minimise harmonic pollution in power systems is by careful design of the equipment connected to them. It is important for designers of equipment associated with emerging technologies to be aware of the potential impact of their designs on power system quality. One such upcoming technology is electric vehicle (EV) battery charging which may contribute to high harmonic distortion in the power system during the charging period. The literature notes total harmonic distortion of up to 50%. These findings are the impetus behind the present paper, where an EV battery charger has been designed, with an inherent …