Engineering Commons^™

Control Of Hydrogen Sulfide From Groundwater Using Packed-Bed Anion Exchange And Other Technologies, Camilo Romero Cotrino

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hydrogen sulfide imparts odors and taste to drinking water and can be corrosive to distribution systems. Groundwater sources used to produce drinking water tend to have sulfide concentrations ranging from below 0.1 to over 3 mg/L. Under anaerobic conditions, hydrogen sulfide can be formed from reduction of sulfate and elemental sulfur through chemical or biological reactions. Therefore, to decrease the potential for hydrogen sulfide in water systems, control of all forms of sulfur should be consistent.

Hydrogen sulfide in groundwater can be controlled through conversion or removal mechanisms. Conversion reactions result from chemical or biological reactions that oxidize hydrogen sulfide …

2006 - The Eleventh Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Eleventh Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 7, 2006. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Stanford Simulated Mars Lander: Aa 235 –Space Systems Engineering, Robert J. Twiggs, Omari Downey, Pat Kostun, James Mack, Matt Maniscalco, Alan Schoen

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint Presentation created by Professor Bob Twiggs, Omari Downey, Pat Kostun, James Mack, Matt Maniscalco, and Alan Schoen titled "Stanford Simulated Mars Lander: AA 235 –Space Systems Engineering" from April 5, 2006.

Current Trends In Bumper Design For Pedestrian Impact, Peter J. Schuster

Mechanical Engineering

Worldwide, the pace of development in pedestrian countermeasures is increasing rapidly. To better understand the state of the art in bumper design for pedestrian impact, a survey of literature and patents has been performed. Two general approaches to reducing the severity of pedestrian lower limb impacts were identified: (a) Provide cushioning and support of the lower limb with a bumper and a new lower stiffener, or (b) Use the bumper as a platform for impact sensors and exterior airbags. This study focused on the first approach. Excluding bumper sensors, airbags, and non-design-related articles, a total of 130 relevant technical articles …

An Investigation On The Importance Of Material Anisotropy In Finite-Element Modeling Of The Human Femur, Ryan Krone, Peter Schuster

Mechanical Engineering

Detailed finite element modeling of the human body offers a potential major enhancement to the prediction of injury risk during vehicle impacts. Currently, vehicle crash safety countermeasure development is based on a combination of testing with established anthropomorphic test devices (i.e., ATD or dummy) and a mixture of multi-body (dummy) and finite element (vehicle) modeling. If a relatively simple finite element model can be developed to capture additional information beyond the capabilities of the multi-body systems, it would allow improved countermeasure development through more detailed prediction of performance.

A simpler finite element model of human bones could be developed if …

Increasing Speed Limit Compliance In Reduced-Speed School Zones, Kelly Grant Ash

Theses and Dissertations

Reduced-speed school zones greatly improve the safety of young children commuting to and from school and provide larger gaps in traffic for children to cross the street. The main focus of this study was to determine effective methods for increasing speed compliance in reduced-speed school zones. This objective was accomplished through an in-depth literature review, a public opinion survey of Utah drivers, and an evaluation of the effects of speed monitoring displays (SMDs) in school zones. The main focus of the literature review was to determine how to increase and maintain speed limit compliance within school zones. Information about the …

Impact Of Solar Powered Disaster-Resistant Communities, Florida Solar Energy Center, William Young

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Natural and man made disasters can destroy lives, homes, businesses, the economy and the environment. Disasters can happen with little or no warning, leaving hundreds or even thousands of people without medical services, potable water, sanitation, communications and electrical services for up to several weeks. This paper identifies the imperative for and value of creating disaster-resistant homes and communities. The use of renewables, the application of distributed generation, implementation of energy-efficient building designs and construction of disaster-resistant structures can minimize the destruction of property, cost of recovery and disruption of lives. Through enhanced construction practices and the use of solar …

Combinatorial Fusion Criteria For Real-Time Tracking, D. Frank Hsu, Damian M. Lyons, Jizhou Ai

Faculty Publications

We address the problem of automated video tracking of targets when targets undergo multiple mutual occlusions. Our approach is based on the idea that as targets are occluded, selection of feature subsets and combinations of those features are effective in identifying the target and improving tracking performance. We use Combinatorial Fusion Analysis to develop a metric to select which subset of features will produce the most accurate tracking. In particular we show that the combination of a pair of features A and B will improve the accuracy only if (a) A and B have relative high performance, and (b) A …

Feature Selection For Real-Time Tracking, D. Frank Hsu, Damian M. Lyons, Jizhou Ai

Faculty Publications

We address the problem of selecting features to improve automated video tracking of targets that undergo multiple mutual occlusions. As targets are occluded, different feature subsets and combinations of those features are effective in identifying the target and improving tracking performance. We use Combinatorial Fusion Analysis to develop a metric to dynamically select which subset of features will produce the most accurate tracking. In particular we show that the combination of a pair of features A and B will improve the accuracy only if (a) A and B have relative high performance, and (b) A and B are diverse. We …

Flight Physician - April, 2006, Civil Aviation Medical Association

Browse all Civil Aviation Medical Association Newsletters

A sixteen page newsletter of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. The newsletter provided news about civil aviation medicine and information related to the organization.

A Spatially Distributed Model For The Dynamic Prediction Of Sediment Erosion And Transport In Mountainous Forested Watersheds, Colleen O. Doten, Laura C. Bowling, Jordan S. Lanini, Edwin P. Maurer, Dennis P. Lettenmaier

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

Erosion and sediment transport in a temperate forested watershed are predicted with a new sediment model that represents the main sources of sediment generation in forested environments (mass wasting, hillslope erosion, and road surface erosion) within the distributed hydrology-soil-vegetation model (DHSVM) environment. The model produces slope failures on the basis of a factor-of-safety analysis with the infinite slope model through use of stochastically generated soil and vegetation parameters. Failed material is routed downslope with a rule-based scheme that determines sediment delivery to streams. Sediment from hillslopes and road surfaces is also transported to the channel network. A simple channel routing …

Acuta Enews April 2006, Vol. 35, No. 4

ACUTA Newsletters

ln This lssue

From the President............... Patricia Todus, Northwestern Univ., ACUTA President

Tech Talk: Working Up a Sweat over Power Consumption............ Kevin Tanzillo, Dux PR

Nominate for ACUTA Ruth A . Michalecki Award

lnfo Links................... Randy Hayes, Univ. of Northern lowa

How to Negotiate a Cell-Site Leasing Agreement............... Riny Ledgerwood, San Diego State Univ.

Board Report................. Riny Ledgerwood, Son Diego State Univ., ACUTA Sec..Treasurer

Web Tip: Visited the ACUTA Press Room Lately?................... Aaron Fuehrer, ACUTA lnformation Tech. Mgr.

DC Update...................... Whitney Johnson, Retired, No. Michigan Univ.

Welcome New Members

ACUTA Online Press Room

Engineering At San Jose State University, Spring 2006, San Jose State University, Charles W. Davidson College Of Engineering

Engineering at San Jose State University

No abstract provided.

Energy Efficient Process Heating: Insulation And Thermal Mass, Kevin Carpenter, J. Kelly Kissock

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Open tanks and exterior surfaces of process heating equipment lose heat to the surroundings via convection, radiation, and/or evaporation. A practical way of reducing heat loss is by insulating or covering the surfaces. This paper presents methods to quantify heat loss and energy savings from insulating hot surfaces and open tanks. The methods include radiation and evaporation losses, which are ignored by simplified methods. In addition, thermal mass, such as refractory, conveyor and racking equipment, acts as a heat sink and increases heating energy use in process heating applications. This paper presents lumped capacitance and finite-difference methods for estimating heat …

Ole Miss Engineer 2006

Ole Miss Engineer

No abstract provided.

Optimized Sampling Frequencies For Weld Reliability Assessments Of Long Pipeline Segments, Cesar J. Carrasco, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In this paper, we describe new faster algorithms that design an optimal testing strategy for long pipeline segments.

Testing Hypotheses On Simulated Data: Why Traditional Hypotheses-Testing Statistics Are Not Always Adequate For Simulated Data, And How To Modify Them, Richard Aló, Vladik Kreinovich, Scott A. Starks

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

To check whether a new algorithm is better, researchers use traditional statistical techniques for hypotheses testing. In particular, when the results are inconclusive, they run more and more simulations (n2>n1, n3>n2, ..., nm) until the results become conclusive. In this paper, we point out that these results may be misleading. Indeed, in the traditional approach, we select a statistic and then choose a threshold for which the probability of this statistic "accidentally" exceeding this threshold is smaller than, say, 1%. It is very easy to run additional simulations with ever-larger n. The probability of error is still 1% …

Expert System-Type Approach To Voice Disorders: Scheduling Botulinum Toxin Treatment For Adductor Spasmodic Dysphonia, Anthony P. Salvatore, Amitava Biswas, Vladik Kreinovich, Bertha Manriquez, Michael P. Cannito, Robert J. Sinard

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

One of the most debilitating disorders is adductor spasmodic dysphonia (ADSD), a voice disorder caused by involuntary movements of the muscles of the larynx (voice box). For treating ADSD, botulinum toxin (BT) injections turned out to be very useful. However, the effects of BT are highly variable, so at present, there is no objective criterion of when such a BT treatment is necessary. It is therefore desirable to develop such a criterion.

In this paper, we show that traditional statistical techniques are unable to generate such a criterion, while a natural expert system approach seems to be capable of generating …

Cpt-Based Probabilistic Assessment Of Seismic Soil Liquefaction Initiation, Robb E.S. Moss, R. B. Seed, R. E. Kayen, J. P. Stewart, Armen Der Kiureghian

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The correlation of seismic field performance with in situ index test results has been proven to be a reliable method for defining the threshold between liquefaction and non-liquefaction. The objective of this research was to define, in the most accurate and unbiased manner possible, the initiation of seismic soil liquefaction using the cone penetration test (CPT). Contained in this report are the results of this research.

Case histories of occurrence and non-occurrence of soil liquefaction were collected from seismic events that occurred over the past three decades. These were carefully processed to develop improved CPT-based correlations for prediction of the …

Soils Magic: Bringing Civil Engineering To The K–12 Classroom, David J. Elton, James Hanson, David M. Shannon

Civil and Environmental Engineering

An investigation was conducted to assess the effectiveness of a series of kindergarten through 12th grade (K–12) educational outreach activities related to civil engineering. In particular, a program called Soils Magic that contains a series of simple geotechnical engineering experiments was delivered in various formats to K–12 students. This paper provides an overview of the Soils Magic program and provides further details of selected experiments from the program. This paper highlights the experiences of various civil engineering professors bringing the program to school children to promote the excitement and accessibility of the engineering profession. Suggestions are provided for conducting successful …

Global Challenges As Inspiration: A Classroom Strategy To Foster Social Responsibility, Linda Vanasupa, Lynn Slivovsky, Katherine C. Chen

Materials Engineering

Social responsibility is at the heart of the Engineer’s Creed embodied in the pledge that we will “dedicate [our] professional knowledge and skill to the advancement and betterment of human welfare...[placing] public welfare above all other considerations.” However, half century after the original creed was written, we find ourselves in a world with great technological advances and great global-scale technologically-enabled peril. These issues can be naturally integrated into the engineering curriculum in a way that enhances the development of the technological skill set. We have found that these global challenges create a natural opportunity to foster social responsibility within the …

Nanotechnology, Biology, Ethics And Society: Overcoming The Multidisciplinary Teaching Challenges, Linda Vanasupa, Matthew Ritter, Barbara Schader, Katherine C. Chen, Richard N. Savage, Peter Schwartz, Lynne Slivovsky

Materials Engineering

One of the inherent challenges of teaching any emerging technology like nanotechnology, is the fact that its core competencies flux in the new disciplines' early stages. Nanotechnology presents an additional challenge in that its underpinnings cross multiple traditional disciplinary boundaries. We have designed a course that aims to address some of these challenges through a handful of structural features: team-based learning; a "reverse of the learning pyramid" approach; team-teaching; embedded information literacy techniques; and application-centered content. Our course is organized around four applications that are in their developmental stages: gold nanoshells for cancer treatment; molecular manufacturing; tissue engineering of a …

Solar Energy Conversion Through Seaweed Photosynthesis With Combustion In A Zero-Emission Power Plant, Evgeny Yantovski, Jim Mcgovern

Other resources

A proposed ‘closed cycle’ power plant scheme, referred to as SOFT (Solar Oxygen Fuel Turbine), is described. The scheme involves the cultivation of macroalgae in a pond, combustion of their organic matter in a fluidised bed boiler that generates steam for a Rankine cycle steam power plant and the return of the combustion products to the pond to feed the algae. Oxygen, equivalent to that used for combustion, is re-released to the atmosphere by photosynthesis, while the carbon dioxide that is produced by combustion is absorbed by photosynthesis and thereby recycled. It is proposed that the seaweed Ulva, which is …

Resource And Technology Issues: Case Studies, Mike Murphy

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 47 Number 4, Spring 2006, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

8 - A DREAM OPPORTUNITY by Monte Lorenzet. Santa Clara University's sleep lab is one of just a handful of similar research facilities at undergraduate institutions. Students, alumni, faculty, and the research community are all benefiting from the fledgling lab.

10 - SCIENCE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE by Kim Kooyers. Social entrepreneurs use technology to address some of the world's urgent needs. Last November, some of these innovators were honored at the Tech Museum Awards, an international awards program.

14 - GIGANTES Y CABEZUDOS by Elizabeth Kelley Gillogly '93. In an intensive workshop featuring seasoned artists from Spain, SCU students explored …

38th Conference On Senior Engineering Design Projects, College Of Engineering And Applied Sciences

Senior Engineering Design Conference

The 38th Conference on Senior Engineering Design Projects was held on April 18, 2006 at the College of Engineering and applied Sciences on the Parkview Campus of Western Michigan University. The college sponsors the conference to showcase the work of its graduating seniors, who are required to complete a capstone project that puts into practice what they have learned. Many of the projects are sponsored by business and industry

A Decision Support System For Integrated Risk Management, Ibrahim El-Baroudy, Slobodan P. Simonovic

Water Resources Research Report

This report provides a detailed description of the Risk Assessment Support System (RASS) for use in municipal water supply. The report explores the utility of the developed support system for evaluating the performance of a complex water supply system. A regional water supply system for the city of London is used as the case study. The theoretical foundations and computational requirements for the implementation of the RASS are provided in the report.

A Multicultural Comparison Of Engineering Students, Zaki Shakir Seddigi, Luiz Fernando Capretz

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

A multicultural personality profile of engineering students is presented in this work. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was used as an instrument to sort personality types of engineering students at both King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia and University of Western Ontario in Canada. The paper discusses the differences and similarities in the personality profile of Saudi and Canadian engineering students and its implications for engineering education in the light of the MBTI scales.

Multicomponent Patterning Of Nanocomposite Polymer And Nanoparticle Films Using Photolithography And Layer-By-Layer Self -Assembly, Javeed Shaikh Mohammed

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, the fabrication, characterization, and application examples of 3D multicomponent nanocomposite micropatterns (MNMs) with precise spatial arrangements are described. The ability to produce such small-scale 3D structures with versatility in composition and structure is a new development based on the integration of nanoscale layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly and microscale photolithographic patterning, enabling construction of surfaces with microscale patterns that possess nanotopographies. The techniques used here are analogous to surface micromachining, except that the deposition materials are polymers, biological materials, and colloidal nanoparticles used to produce 3D MNMs. A key feature of the resulting 3D MNMs is that the physical …

Estimating Information Amount Under Interval Uncertainty: Algorithmic Solvability And Computational Complexity, Gang Xiang, Olga Kosheleva, George J. Klir

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In most real-life situations, we have uncertainty: we do not know the exact state of the world, there are several (n) different states which are consistent with our knowledge. In such situations, it is desirable to gauge how much information we need to gain to determine the actual state of the world. A natural measure of this amount of information is the average number of "yes"-"no" questions that we need to ask to find the exact state. When we know the probabilities p1,...,pn of different states, then, as Shannon has shown, this number of questions can be determined as S=-p1 …