Engineering Commons^™

Transformation Optics: Approaching Broadband Electromagnetic Cloaking, Alexander V. Kildishev, W Cai, U K. Chettiar, V. M. Shalaev

Birck and NCN Publications

An approach to broadband cloaking of light waves is analysed for a simplified case of a scaling transformation for a general cylindrical coordinate system. The proposed approach requires metamaterials with specifically engineered dispersion. The restriction on the signs of gradients in the dispersion dependencies of the dielectric permittivity and the magnetic permeability for different operational wavelengths is revealed and is shown to cause difficulties unless additional gain-assisted compensation for losses or electromagnetically induced transparency is introduced in the cloaking system.

Incorporating Spatial Data And Gis To Improve Sea Of Land Use Plans: Opportunities And Limitations: Case Studies In The Republic Of Ireland, Ainhoa Gonzalez Del Campo

Doctoral

This research aimed at establishing whether spatial data and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can contribute to Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). To achieve this, an integrated GISEA approach was developed and applied to a number of spatial planning SEAs in the Republic of Ireland. The practical applicability of the approach was examined, evaluating the potential benefits derived from using spatial data and GIS in SEA and assessing the potential barriers to an effective GIS use. The implementation of the SEA Directive incorporated a new dimension into plan-making by calling for the assessment of potential environmental effects that may derive from implementing …

Graphical User Interfaces As Updatable Views, James Felger Terwilliger

Dissertations and Theses

In contrast to a traditional setting where users express queries against the database schema, we assert that the semantics of data can often be understood by viewing the data in the context of the user interface (UI) of the software tool used to enter the data. That is, we believe that users will understand the data in a database by seeing the labels, dropdown menus, tool tips, help text, control contents, and juxtaposition or arrangement of controls that are built in to the user interface. Our goal is to allow domain experts with little technical skill to understand and query …

Ecad To Mcad Interoperability For Automated Enclosure Design, Adam C. Wilcox

Theses and Dissertations

Enclosure design is the process of creating a package that will support and protect enclosed circuitry. Electronic enclosures are used in almost all industries, such as aerospace, automotive, naval, computer, toy, etc. Many designers use computer aided design (CAD) packages to aid them in creating these enclosures. Enclosure creation involves a working knowledge of the physics behind electrical and mechanical systems. Each of these engineering disciplines has separate CAD packages with their own set of rules, programming language, and interfaces. This creates a barrier for communication flow between electrical CAD (ECAD) and mechanical CAD (MCAD). The purpose of this thesis …

Product Family Design Using Smart Pareto Filters, Jonathan D. Yearsley

Theses and Dissertations

Product families are frequently used to provide consumers with a variety of appealing products and to help maintain reasonably low production costs for manufacturers. Three common objectives in the design of product families are used to balance the interests of both consumers and manufacturers. These objectives are to maximize (i) product performance, (ii) product distinctiveness as perceived by the consumer, and (iii) product commonality as seen by the manufacturer. In this thesis, three methods are introduced that use multiobjective optimization and Smart Pareto filtering to satisfy the three objectives of product family design. The methods are progressive in nature and …

Design And Testing Of A Pumpless Microelectromechanical System Nanoinjector, Quentin Theodore Aten

Theses and Dissertations

A deeper understanding of human development and disease is made possible partly through the study of genetically modified model organisms, such as the common mouse (Mus musculus). By genetically modifying such model organisms, scientists can activate, deactivate, or highlight particular characteristics. A genetically modified animal is generated by adding exogenous (foreign) genetic material to one or more embryonic cells at their earliest stages of development. Frequently, this exogenous genetic material consists of specially engineered DNA, which is introduced into a fertilized egg cell (zygote). When successfully introduced into the zygote, the exogenous DNA will be incorporated into the …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Novel Temperature-Responsive Dendritic Peg-Pdlla Star Polymers For Drug Delivery, Arunvel Kailasan

Theses and Dissertations

This study describes a novel thermoresponsive dendritic polyethylene glycol-poly(D, L-lactide) (PEG-PDLLA) core-shell nanoparticle with potential for drug delivery and controlled release. A series of dendritic PEG-PDLLA nanoparticles were synthesized through conjugation of PEG to Starburst™ polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer G3.0 and subsequent ring-opening polymerization of DLLA, in which PEG chain length (i.e., MW=1500, 6000 or 12000 Dalton) was varied; however, the feeding molar ratio of DLLA monomers to the overall PEG repeat units on the dendrimer surface was kept at 1:1. Linear PEG-PDLLA copolymers were also syntheiszed under the same condition and used as control. According to our results, dendritic PEG-PDLLA …

Long-Term Prediction Of Time Series Using Nne-Based Projection And Op-Elm, Antti Sorjamaa, Yoan Miche, Robert Weiss, Amaury Lendasse

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This Paper Proposes a Combination of Methodologies based on a Recent Development -Called Extreme Learning Machine (Elm)- Decreasing Drastically the Training Time of Nonlinear Models. Variable Selection is Beforehand Performed on the Original Dataset, using the Partial Least Squares (Pls) and a Projection based on Nonparametric Noise Estimation (NNE), to Ensure Proper Results by the Elm Method. Then, after the Network is First Created using the Original Elm, the Selection of the Most Relevant Nodes is Performed by using a Least Angle Regression (Lars) Ranking of the Nodes and a Leave-One-Out Estimation of the Performances, Leading to an Optimally Pruned …

Design Of A Three-Passage Low Reynolds Number Turbine Cascade With Periodic Flow Conditions, Daniel R. Rogers

Theses and Dissertations

A numerical method for modeling a low Reynolds number turbine blade, the L1M, is presented along with the pitfalls encountered. A laminar solution was confirmed to not accurately predict the flow features known in low Reynolds number turbine blade flow. Three fully turbulent models were then used to try to predict the separation and reattachment of the flow. These models were also found to be insufficient for transitioning flows. A domain was created to manually trip the laminar flow to turbulent flow using a predictive turbulence transition model. The trip in the domain introduced an instability in the flow field …

Accelerometer Based Measurement Of Body Movement For Communication, Play, And Creative Expression, Mark Nolan, Edward Burke, Frank Duignan

Conference Papers

This paper presents a newly designed wireless accelerometer-based movement measurement device. The device is capable of measuring activity ranging from gross body movements to more subtle vibrations emanating from the body, including laryngeal vibration and the mechanomyogram (mechanical vibrations from working muscles). The main body of the device, which is less than 20cm3 in volume and weighs less than 50g, contains a microcontroller, wireless transceiver, battery, and one accelerometer. A supplementary accelerometer module is connected to the main device by thin wires. This module is very light weight and can therefore be directly attached to the skin to measure laryngeal …

Drilling, Alternative Fuels And Efficiency: Can The United States Wean Itself From Imported Oil?, Florida Solar Energy Center, Philip W. Fairey

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Perhaps the most daunting challenge the next generation of Americans will face is what President Bush called our "addiction to oil." The challenge is to find the means to provide for our transportation needs in the face of declining world oil production. Perhaps the central question is whether we will export the great wealth of America to foreign countries in payment for oil before we tackle the grand challenge of creating a new transportation future that does not rely completely on oil.

This article presents the historical facts relative to America's oil demand and domestic and world oil production resources. …

Crashes In The Vicinity Of Major Crossroads, Charles G. Allen

Theses and Dissertations

Major crossroads are designed to facilitate the conflicting movements of numerous vehicles in a manner that is both safe and efficient. Accesses located within the functional areas of major crossroads add complication to intersection activity due to additional conflicts arising from ingressing and egressing movements at the accesses. In this research, the impact of accesses on crashes within major crossroad functional areas was analyzed. Specifically, the effects of access spacing within functional areas and access setback from intersections were addressed. In order to conduct the analysis, the functional areas of 159 signalized major arterial crossroads across the state of Utah …

Corrosion Damage Studies Through Microscopy And Stress Analysis, Ronak Patel

Theses and Dissertations

Corrosion is the destructive result of chemical reaction between a metal or metal alloy and its environment. Airplanes, power generating plants, chemical process and manufacturing plants, concrete structure, and many others which widely uses aluminum alloy and stainless steel alloys are subjected to corrosion. The estimated cost of corrosion damage is in order of 3 to 5 percent of gross national product (GNP). Out of all forms of corrosion, pitting corrosion is most commonly observed in aluminum alloy 2024 and stainless steel type 316. There is a need to study the stress environment around the pits in order to predict …

Foundational Data Repository For Numeric Engine Validation, Jason Michael Hollingsworth

Theses and Dissertations

Many different numeric models have been created to address a variety of hydraulic and hydrologic engineering applications. Each utilizes formulations and numeric methods to represent processes such as contaminant transport, coastal circulation, and watershed runoff. Although one process may be adequately represented by a model, this does not guarantee that another process will be represented even if that process is similar. For example, a model that computes subcritical flow does not necessarily compute supercritical flow. Selecting an appropriate numeric model for a situation is a prerequisite to obtaining accurate results. Current policies and resources do not provide adequate guidance in …

Effect Of Initial Scarification And Overlay Treatment Timing On Chloride Concentrations In Concrete Bridge Decks, Curtis Daniel Nolan

Theses and Dissertations

Considering the pervasive presence of chlorides in concrete bridge decks, bridge engineers have a critical responsibility to perform proper and effective preventive maintenance and rehabilitation operations. Bridge engineers often perform scarification and overlay (SO) procedures on concrete bridge decks to minimize the corrosion of reinforcing steel due to chloride ingress. Given the need to develop guidelines for the initial timing of SO treatments, the specific objectives of this research were to collect information from several department of transportation (DOT) personnel about their SO procedures and, subsequently, to determine the recommended timing of initial SO procedures on concrete bridge decks for …

Ceas E-News 11.18.2008, College Of Engineering And Applied Sciences

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences News

Tues., Dec. 2, conference to showcase 42 senior engineering projects

Empirical Two-Point Α-Mixing Model For Calibrating The Ech2o Ec-5 Soil Moisture Sensor In Sands, Toshihiro Sakaki, Anuchit Limsuwat, Kathleen M. Smits, Tissa H. Illangasekare

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications - Archive

Recently improved ECH2O soil moisture sensors have received significant attention in many field and laboratory applications. Focusing on the EC-5 sensor, a simple and robust calibration method is proposed. The sensor-to-sensor variability in the readings (analog-to-digital converter (ADC) counts) among 30 EC-5 sensors was relatively small but not negligible. A large number of ADC counts were taken under various volumetric water contents (?) using four test sands. The proposed two-point a-mixing model, as well as linear and quadratic models, was fitted to the ADC – ? data. Unlike for conventional TDR measurements, the effect of sensor characteristics is lumped into …

An Attribute Model For Analyzing The Relative Value, Market Share And Yearly Shipments Of Newly Produced General Aviation Airplanes, Mitchell R. Cannon

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The airplane manufacturing industry has evolved into a low production rate –high unit price environment. The ability of manufacturers to easily and quickly estimate airplane market value, market share and yearly shipments during the conceptual design phase of product development has become increasingly important. The purpose of this review was to explore the influence attributes affecting the value of newly produced general aviation airplanes utilizing attribute based product valuation, market share and yearly shipments regression models.

Conclusions derived from the critical analysis are: (1) product valuation models exist and are abundant, (2) many of the product valuation models are either …

Hardware Architectures And Implementations For Associative Memories : The Building Blocks Of Hierarchically Distributed Memories, Changjian Gao

Dissertations and Theses

During the past several decades, the semiconductor industry has grown into a global industry with revenues around $300 billion. Intel no longer relies on only transistor scaling for higher CPU performance, but instead, focuses more on multiple cores on a single die. It has been projected that in 2016 most CMOS circuits will be manufactured with 22 nm process. The CMOS circuits will have a large number of defects. Especially when the transistor goes below sub-micron, the original deterministic circuits will start having probabilistic characteristics. Hence, it would be challenging to map traditional computational models onto probabilistic circuits, suggesting a …

Median Crossover Crashes In The Vicinity Of Interchanges On Utah Interstates, Katherine Elaine Winters

Theses and Dissertations

While not accounting for a significant proportion of overall crashes, median crossover crashes in the state of Utah do account for a significant proportion of interstate fatalities. Due to the seriousness of median crossover crashes in the state of Utah, the need exists to evaluate the impact of median crossover crashes in the state, to identify locations where median crossover crashes may be occurring at particularly high rates, and to identify methods to help mitigate these crashes. Previous research has noted that median crossover crash rates appear to increase in the vicinity of interchanges. The purpose of this research, therefore, …

A Biomechanical Comparison Of Locking Plates Contrasted With Intramedullary Treatment Of Distal Femur Fracture, Christina Salas

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

This study compares the pattern of failure of locking compression plates (LCP) and intramedullary nails (IM) used in treatment of unstable comminuted distal femur fractures in osteoporotic and normal bones. Possible late failure of the fixation represents a critical problem in the treatment of distal femur fractures. Few biomechanical studies have examined the effects of osteoporosis on stability of the bone after fixation. Some reports have described catastrophic failure of fixation when LCP were used compared with IM nails making salvage procedures difficult. This thesis reports on the behavior of synthetic composite bone and embalmed cadaveric bone with and without …

A Computer-Based Economic Analysis For Manufacturing Process Selection, Manocher Djassemi

Industrial Technology and Packaging

An important part of financial planning in product development is considering whether the capital expenditures meet volume and cost goals. A good business plan should provide investors with the implications of process selection on the company's bottom line. It is estimated that there are least 1000 manufacturing processes and sub-processes. Considering the number of process choices and quantity of cost data, an economic analysis for process selection may pose a challenge for decision makers. This paper provides an insight to Ashby’s cost modeling method for generating an estimate of unit product cost. The cost model provides a broad indicator for …

Fpga Acceleration Of Mean Variance Framework For Optimal Asset Allocation, Ali Irturk, Bridget Benson, Nikolay Laptev, Ryan Kastner

Electrical Engineering

Asset classes respond differently to shifts in financial markets, thus an investor can minimize the risk of loss and maximize return of his portfolio by diversification of assets. Increasing the number of diversified assets in a financial portfolio significantly improves the optimal allocation of different assets giving better investment opportunities. However, a large number of assets require a significant amount of computation that only high performance computing can currently provide. Because of the highly parallel nature of Markowitzpsila mean variance framework (the most popular approximation approach for optimal asset allocation) an FPGA implementation of the framework can also provide the …

Micromechanics Model Based On The Nanostructure Of Pfsa Membranes, Ahmet Kusoglu, Michael H. Santare, Anette M. Karlsson, William B. Johnson, Simon Cleghorn

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

A micromechanics model is developed to predict Young’s modulus of perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membranes at various temperatures and water contents. The morphology of PFSA membranes is characterized by a two-phase structure, where hydrophilic clusters expand to hold water molecules during swelling, whereas the hydrophobic polymer network maintains the structural stability. A representative volume element (RVE) is proposed based on the descriptions for the nanostructure of PFSA membranes available in the literature. On the basis of mechanics model, we estimate Young’s modulus in tension of PFSA membranes as a function of water volume fraction for various temperatures. The results show that …

Wire-Braced Semirigid Elevated Rotor System Concept For A Human-Powered Helicopter, Jonathan Richard Silvester

Theses and Dissertations

In order for a human-powered helicopter (HPH) to fly, lifting the weight of its human pilot-engine and the weight of its own structure, the rotary wings need to be extremely large and exceptionally lightweight. Through centuries of dreaming and decades of modern attempts, no design so far has been able to obtain the combination of an adequately large rotor size, sufficiently lightweight structure, and an inherently stable aircraft. This thesis describes a concept of a wire-braced semi-rigid elevated rotor system for a proposed HPH. Then, using scale models and quantitative analysis, tests a series of supporting hypotheses in order to …

Lean Six Sigma As A Source Of Competitive Advantage, Alessandro Giorgio Cavallini

Theses and Dissertations

Anecdotal data affirms that companies applying Lean Six Sigma in their operations not only deliver higher quality products and services, but also obtain superior financial results. The goal of this research was to empirically verify anecdotal data. The study proposed to analyze a group of publicly traded manufacturing companies with the intent of verifying if a correlation exists between companies being lean and the attainment of superior returns on investments. The researcher performed a series of statistical tests comparing key Financial Performance Indicators (FPI) extracted from annual reports (10-K) from a large pool of companies. The outcome of this study …

Hydrophobic Silver Nanoparticles Trapped In Lipid Bilayers: Size Distribution, Bilayer Phase Behavior, And Optical Properties, Geoffrey D. Bothun

Chemical, Biomolecular, and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Background: Lipid-based dispersion of nanoparticles provides a biologically inspired route to designing therapeutic agents and a means of reducing nanoparticle toxicity. Little is currently known on how the presence of nanoparticles influences lipid vesicle stability and bilayer phase behavior. In this work, the formation of aqueous lipid/nanoparticle assemblies (LNAs) consisting of hydrophobic silver-decanethiol particles (5.7 ± 1.8 nm) embedded within 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3- phosphocholine (DPPC) bilayers is demonstrated as a function of the DPPC/Ag nanoparticle (AgNP) ratio. The effect of nanoparticle loading on the size distribution, bilayer phase behavior, and bilayer fluidity is determined. Concomitantly, the effect of bilayer incorporation on …

Transcriptome Analysis Identifies Novel Responses And Potential Regulatory Genes Involved In Seasonal Dormancy Transitions Of Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia Esula L.), David P. Horvath, Wun S. Chao, Jeffrey C. Suttle, Jyothi Thimmapuram, James V. Anderson

Cyber Center Publications

Dormancy of buds is a critical developmental process that allows perennial plants to survive extreme seasonal variations in climate. Dormancy transitions in underground crown buds of the model herbaceous perennial weed leafy spurge were investigated using a 23 K element cDNA microarray. These data represent the first large-scale transcriptome analysis of dormancy in underground buds of an herbaceous perennial species. Crown buds collected monthly from August through December, over a five year period, were used to monitor the changes in the transcriptome during dormancy transitions.

Adventures On The Dark Continent, Hal Cope

ERAU Prescott Aviation History Program

Fascinating stories of flying adventures in Kenya, from
1962-1967 as told by a bush pilot, safari guide, African
wildlife photographer, airline Captain, and aviation
executive/consultant, better known as “Bwana Hal”

N,N’-Bis(3,5-Di-T-Butylsalicylideneimine) Propanediamine And Its Some Tetradentate Schiff Base Complexes Synthesis, Characterization And Thermal Study, Fatih Dogan, M. Ulusoy, O. F. Ozturk, I. Kaya, B. Salih

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Several mononuclear Co (II), Ni (II), Cu (II) and Fe (II) complexes of tetradentate salpren-type diamine, obtained from 3,5-di-tert–butyl-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde and 1,3-diaminopropane have been prepared and characterized by analytical, spectroscopic (FTIR, UV-Vis) techniques, magnetic susceptibility measurements and thermogravimetric analyses (TG). The thermodynamic and thermal properties of complexes have been investigated. For further characterization direct insertion probe-mass spectrometry (DIP-MS) was used and the fragmentation pattern and also stability of the ions were evaluated. The characterization of the end products of the decomposition was achieved by X-ray diffraction. The thermal stabilities of metal complexes of N,N’-bis(3,5-di-t-butylsalicylideneimine) propane diamine ligand (L) were found as …