Engineering Commons^™

Study Conditions Of Aluminum Billets For Relationship Between Precipitated Phases And Homogenizing Temperature With Different Cooling Methods, U Phongsophitanan, M Polboon, N Chumchery

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

In producing cast aluminum billets for using in extruded profile production, homogenization is one of the significant steps of the process. This project examined a suitable homogenizing temperature for usage in manufacturing besides common condition. Computerized fluid dynamics and image analysis solution were techniques to identify the relationship between the area fraction of precipitated phases and homogenizing temperature with different cooling methods. Temperature gradient pattern revealed that soaking temperatures at 575C and 565C are suitable conditions to be used in manufacturing. Furthermore, area fraction calculation showed that the area fractions of precipitated phases of each cooling method were not significantly …

Brain-Related Chronic Pain Disorder Diagnosis And Assessment Method, Jeffrey Hargrove

Mechanical Engineering Patents

A method for diagnosing and assessing a brain-related chronic pain disorder. The method includes assessing a subject's brain function, deterrnining the probability that a subject is suffering from chronic pain as a result of an abnormal brain function condition by obtaining a quantitative assessment of the subject's brain function, and making a statistical comparison between the subject's quantitative brain function assessment and either a database of quantitative assessments of the brain functions of normal, healthy individuals, or a database of quantitative assessments of the brain functions of individuals known to have been suffering from chronic pain as a result of …

Comparing Fbg And Pcf Force Sensors In A Laparoscopic Smart Surgical Scissor Instrument, Dean Callaghan, Ginu Rajan, Mark Mcgrath, Eugene Coyle, Yuliya Semenova, Gerald Farrell

Conference Papers

This paper presents a sensorized laparoscopic surgical scissor instrument using both a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and a tapered photonic crystal fiber (PCF) as force sensors. The sensors are located on the blades for the detection of interaction forces generated between the instrument and tissue during cutting. The force sensitivity of each sensorized blade is examined. Results show that the scissor blade-PCF sensor arrangement outperforms the blade with the FBG during static loading calibration experimentation. Moreover, experiments show that the PCF based arrangement is less sensitive to temperature effects than its FBG counterpart. This negates the need for additional temperature …

Performance Analysis And Assessment Of A Tf-Idf Based Archetype-Snomed-Ct Binding Algorithm, Sheng Yu, Jesus Bisbal, Damon Berry

Conference Papers

Term bindings in archetypes are at a boundary between health information models and health terminology for dual model-based electronic health-care record (EHR) systems. The development of archetypes and the population of archetypes with bound terms is in its infancy. Terminological binding is currently performed “manually” by the teams who create archetypes. This process could be made more efficient, if it was supported by automatic tools. This paper presents a method for evaluating the performance of automatic code search approaches. In order to assess the quality of the automatic search, the authors extracted all the unique bound codes from 1133 archetypes …

An Investigation Of The Perception Of Gains From Undergraduate International Exchange Programs: The Tale Of Atlantis, Donal Mchale, Gul Okudan Kremer, Michael Dyrenfurth, Brian Bowe

Conference Papers

In this paper, we provide the quantitative results collected through a two-column survey instrument with which students recorded their perceptions of their educational experiences, and then summarize the qualitative study findings to outline the benefits of being immersed in different educational settings through study abroad experiences. Given the current resource constraint environment in higher education settings, we hope to help our community in making better decisions relevant to developing and sustaining study abroad programs

Teaching Sustainability Analysis In Electronics Lecture Courses, David Braun

Electrical Engineering

Based on positive prior experiences teaching sustainability analysis in electronics laboratory courses, this work explores techniques for teaching sustainability analysis in lecture courses. As difficult as it may seem to incorporate sustainability into integrated circuit courses or other engineering courses, it may prove as easy as asking students to consider how the coursework relates to sustainability issues.

The need to educate students “to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability” has gained sufficient value to deserve its own ABET Program Outcome, …

Fpga Communication Framework For Communication, Debugging, Testing, And Rapid Prototyping, Peter Andrew Lieber

Theses and Dissertations

FPGA-CF is an open-source, portable, extensible communications framework that consists of a small hardware core (less than 600 slices) and a software library/API (Java and C++). It enables a host PC to transmit data at 120 Mb/s to Xilinx-based FPGA boards via Ethernet using standard inter-networking protocols (UDP/IP). A custom lightweight connection-oriented protocol guarantees reliability. The hardware core is directly connected to the Xilinx internal configuration port (ICAP) and supports all ICAP functionality. The core also provides an extensible user-channel interface and provides up to 15, 8-bit user-data channels that can be connected to user circuitry (configurable by the user). …

Gis-Based Data Model And Tools For Creating And Managing Two-Dimensional Cross Sections, Timothy L. Whiteaker, Norm Jones, Gil Strassberg, Alan Lemon, Doug Gallup

Faculty Publications

While modern Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software is robust in handling maps and data in plan view, the software generally falls short when representing features in section view. Further complicating the issue is the fact that geologic cross sections are often drawn by connecting a series of wells together that do not fall along a single straight line. In this case, the x-axis of the cross section represents the distance along the set of individual lines connecting the series of wells, effectively “flattening out” the cross section along this path to create a view of the subsurface with which …

Integration Of Micropore And Nanopore Features With Optofluidic Waveguides For Single Particle Sensing, Matthew R. Holmes

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation outlines the research and development of ground-breaking nanometer sized openings (nanopores) integrated with an on-chip optofluidic platform. This platform represents a significant advancement for single nanoparticle sensing. In this work specifically, the integrated optofluidic platform has been used to electrically and optically filter and detect single nanoparticles using ionic current blockade and fluorescence experiments. The correlation of electrical and optical signal has provided the highest sensitivity single nanoparticle measurements ever taken with integrated optofluidic platforms. The particular optofluidic platform used for this work is an antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW). ARROW hollow and solid core waveguides are interference …

Devices And Methods For Electro-Physical Transport Of Dna Across Cell Membranes, Quentin Theodore Aten

Theses and Dissertations

A novel method for charged macromolecule delivery, called nanoinjection, has been developed at Brigham Young University. Nanoinjection combines micro-fabrication technology, mechanism design, and nano-scale electrical phenomenon to transport exogenous DNA across cell membranes on a nano-featured lance. DNA is electrically accumulated on the lance, precision movements of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) physically insert the lance into cell, and DNA is electrically released from the lance into the cell. Penetration into the cell is achieved through a two-phase, self-reconfiguring metamorphic mechanism. The surface-micromachined, metamorphic nanoinjector mechanism elevates the lance above the fabrication substrate, then translates in-plane at a constant height as the …

A Wideband Precision Quadrature Phase Shifter, Steve T. Noall

Theses and Dissertations

A new circuit is proposed that uses an RC-CR filter in a feedback configuration to achieve a wideband precision quadrature phase shift with constant amplitude response. Such a circuit can be used to perform image rejection in a low IF receiver using the Hartley method. Simulation results show that the circuit can achieve an average image rejection ratio of 50 dB over a 16 MHz bandwidth. The feedback loop enables the circuit to maintain high accuracy over process and temperature.

Magnetic Field Sensing With Slab Coupled Optical Fiber Sensors, Bryson J. Shreeve

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reports an in-fiber magnetic field sensor that is able to detect magnetic fields as low as 2 A/m at a spatial resolution of 1 mm. The small sensor consists of a magneto-optic slab waveguide, bismuth-doped rare earth iron garnet (Bi-RIG) that is coupled to an optical fiber. By coupling light from the fiber to the slab waveguide, it becomes an in-fiber magnetic field sensor. This is due to the Magneto-Optic Kerr effect; a change in refractive index is proportional to the applied magnetic field. When an AC field is applied, an AC component in the output power can …

Ceas E-News 06.27.2011, College Of Engineering And Applied Sciences

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences News

Outstanding Student Engineer, BTR Bike Race

Guided Discovery Modules For Statics And Dynamics, Javier A. Kypuros, Horacio Vazquez, Constantine Tarawneh, Robert R. Wrinkle

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Students struggle to conceptualize Engineering Mechanics (i.e. Newtonian Physics, Statics, and Dynamics) fundamentals because they cannot successfully visualize the effects of external loads on physical systems and/or do not intuitively comprehend the static or dynamic response. Traditionally, Engineering Mechanics courses like Statics and Dynamics have been primarily lecture-based with little experimentation. The authors contend that through the use of inquirybased, multimodal activities, lower-division engineering students can more effectively interpret Engineering Mechanics concepts. Instructors must place emphasis on engendering properly conceived engineering intuition and contextualizing concepts and fundamentals. The authors hypothesize that by utilizing often simple, multimodal, inquiry-based exercises, instructors can …

Crash Safety In The Introductory Physics Lab, Daniel Ludwigsen, Janet Brelin-Fornari, Joseph Neal

Crash Safety Center Publications

Crash Safety in the Introductory Physics Lab Abstract In the field of vehicle occupant protection and crash safety, the Deceleration Sled offers researchers a controlled, repeatable, and relatively cost-effective means to test interior parts such as safety restraint systems. The sled can accelerate a 2000 lb payload to achieve a speed of 40 mph before a hydraulically controlled deceleration models the deformation of the vehicle structure during a crash. Understanding the dynamics of the sled and interpreting test results incorporates many of the core concepts of a first course in introductory physics. This application of physics principles is the inspiration …

The Inside-Out Classroom: A Win-Win Strategy For Teaching With Technology, Daniel J. Waldorf, Lizabeth Schlemer

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

As costs of higher education soar and many universities face uncertain funding models, institutional pressures have increased to improve instructor efficiency. At the same time, U.S. industry leaders and leading educators have called for improvements in engineering education based on more interactive, hands-on student learning experiences. Although many efforts have been made to take advantage of technology to either improve student learning or to maintain student learning while increasing instructor efficiency, few approaches have been shown to improve both learning and efficiency. A teaching method is proposed to improve student learning and increase student satisfaction while also addressing the instructors’ …

Teaching Reliability At The Undergraduate Level, Robb E.S. Moss

Civil and Environmental Engineering

For Cal Poly's Civil and Environmental Engineering curriculum a stand‐alone introductory course called Engineering Risk Analysis introduces concepts of reliability analysis. This course encompasses all the sub‐disciplines in civil and environmental engineering. After five years of teaching this course there are a number of lessons that may be useful to other instructors including; solving a simple example problem using multiple methods, focusing on the normal and lognormal distributions for a quick preliminary solution, using reliability spreadsheet solutions, and allowing the students to develop their own applications of probabilistic tools. A discussion of the course format, references and resources, pedagogy devices, …

Bounding The Probability Of Failure For Levee Systems, Justin C. Hollenback, Robb E.S. Moss

Civil and Environmental Engineering

An exact solution for the probability of failure of large complex infrastructure systems is rarely obtainable; however the probability of failure can often be bounded. An example of this type of system is the levee system in the California Bay Delta. Large levee systems often consist of many components arranged in series and parallel sub‐systems. There is the problem of defining component (or reach) length, and therefore the total number of components in the system where component length is dependent on failure mode. Methods of bounding probability of failure based on uni‐, bi‐, and tri‐modal component probability of failure are …

Evolving A Summer Engineering Camp Through Assessment, Katherine Chen, Lizabeth Schlemer, Heather Scott Smith, Teana Fredeen

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

EPIC (Engineering Possibilities in College) is a one-week summer program for high school students (entering 9th-12th grades) to learn about engineering and experience hands-on labs in a university atmosphere. It's an opportunity for students to explore the different types of engineering available at many universities. The aim of EPIC is to expand the College of Engineering mission to K-12 students: "To educate students for careers of service, leadership and distinction in engineering or other fields by using a participatory, learn by doing, ‘hands-on’ approach".

Design Projects With Out-Of-Town Companies, Lizabeth Schlemer

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The capstone design class in the industrial engineering department at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) includes projects with companies. The projects are large ambiguous facilities design problems that allow students to incorporate many aspects of the IE curriculum. For the past 15 years students have been participating in these projects with local companies. Over the past several years, companies from out of town (200 miles to the north in Mountain View or 200 miles to the south in Oxnard) have participated. These out of town companies have presented certain logistical issues, but they have proven to …

A Simple Lab Project Integrating Theoretical, Numerical, And Experimental Stress Analysis, Peter Schuster

Mechanical Engineering

Learning is enhanced when students consider problems from different perspectives. Unfortunately, in stress analysis courses, the depth of the mathematical analysis and limited time and resources often restricts the focus to traditional closed-form solutions occasionally supplemented with simple demonstrations. In order to enhance student engagement and understanding, a lab mini-project was developed for teaching Castigliano’s method for structural analysis in a stress analysis course.

The mini-project consists of a design evaluation task which is investigated using three different methods: closed-form analysis, finite element analysis, and simple model build and test. The task is to select the better of two alternative …

Effect Of Freshman Chemistry On Student Performance In Sophomore Engineering Courses, Michael A. Collura, Shannon Ciston, Nancy Ortins Savage

Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications

The role of first year chemistry courses in engineering programs varies somewhat across programs and disciplines. Clearly most engineering majors will encounter chemistry topics of a general nature in some of their upper-level course work. The purpose of requiring chemistry in the first year, however, goes well beyond learning chemical concepts. As a quantitative science, chemistry requires the use of math, principally algebra, on a regular basis in solving various problems. Students should gain an appreciation of the importance of units in solving problems should come to understand the difference between implicit and explicit properties and should develop other quantitative …

A New Model Of Project Based Learning, Ron Ulseth, Jefferey E. Froyd, Thomas A. Lotzinger, Dan Ewert, Bart Johnson

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

A new model for engineering education has been developed and funded. The model is 100% project based learning (PBL) where the students develop their own learning objectives. The projects are authentic needs contributed by collaborating industries. Students monitor the acquisition of 32 technical competencies and all of the design and professionalism competencies required of new practicing engineers. The reasons for the new model, description of the model, research supporting the model, methods for evaluating the model and its transportability are discussed.

The Montana Mule: A Case Study In Interdisciplinary Capstone Design, Brock J. Lameres, Ahsan Mian, Hunter Lloyd, Robb Larson

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

The Montana MULE: A Case Study in Interdisciplinary Capstone Design In May of 2010, NASA held the 1st annual Lunabotics Mining Competition at theKennedy Space Center in Florida. In this competition, 22 teams from across the nationbuilt remote-controlled, robotic excavators to mine lunar regolith simulant. The winnerof the competition was the team who could successfully deposit the most regolith into acollector in 15 minutes. The goal of this competition was to encourage multidisciplinarycapstone design projects. Of the 22 teams that participated in the competition, the“Montana MULE” from Montana State University (MSU) was the only robot tosuccessfully mine the qualifying weight …

Entrepreneurship In The Iron Range Engineering (Ire) Model, Dan Ewert, Ron Ulseth, Bart Johnson, Jeff Wandler, Andrew Lillesve

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

The aim of this paper is to describe a new model for engineering education that has entrepreneurship, in its many form, as a focus. Issues involved with integrating student-based entrepreneurship into the educational process are also described.

Crash Safety In The Introductory Physics Lab, Daniel Ludwigsen, Janet Brelin-Fornari, Joseph Neal

Mechanical Engineering Presentations And Conference Materials

Crash Safety in the Introductory Physics Lab Abstract In the field of vehicle occupant protection and crash safety, the Deceleration Sled offers researchers a controlled, repeatable, and relatively cost-effective means to test interior parts such as safety restraint systems. The sled can accelerate a 2000 lb payload to achieve a speed of 40 mph before a hydraulically controlled deceleration models the deformation of the vehicle structure during a crash. Understanding the dynamics of the sled and interpreting test results incorporates many of the core concepts of a first course in introductory physics. This application of physics principles is the inspiration …

A Viability Study Of Photovoltaic Systems, Youakim Kalaani, William Nichols

Electrical & Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Concerns over climate change and other environmental problems highlight a need for a shift toclean and renewable energy. The main objective of this study is to investigate the viability ofphotovoltaic electricity in the southeastern region of the United States. To achieve this goal, twocase studies were conducted involving a large retail store and a recreation center. Historical datarelated to weather conditions, solar energy and power demand were investigated and as a resultgrid-connected photovoltaic systems were designed to provide green energy for these facilities.Several engineering factors that went into the design process as well as economic andenvironmental considerations were thoroughly discussed …

Multi-Disciplinary Project-Based Paradigm That Uses Hands-On Desktop Learning Modules And Modern Learning Pedagogies, William David Schlecht, Bernard J. Wie, Paul B. Golter, Robert F. Richards, Marc Compere, Et Al.

Publications

It has been established that traditional lectures ARE NOT best for student learning – yet that is what the community almost universally does! Furthermore, engineers work in broad multidisciplinary teams while classroom learning is individual and narrow. Yet, educators rarely invest the time and resources necessary to employ such innovations.

In this CCLI type II award we are further refining Desktop Learning Modules (DLMs) within a Cooperative, Hands-on, Active, Problem based, Learning (CHAPL) setting for Chemical, Civil, Mechanical, Bio- and Electrical Engineering courses at a diverse set of institutions, including a community college engaged through a distance learning mode. A …

An Interdisciplinary Team-Based Mobile Robots Design Course For Engineering, Fernando Rios-Gutierrez, Rocio Alba-Flores

Electrical & Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

An Interdisciplinary, Team-Based Mobile Robots Design Course for Engineering TechnologyAbstractThis work describes the educational experience gained during a new course in mobile robotics, a fourthyear elective course in the undergraduate Electrical Engineering Technology program at our University.The main topic of this course is concentrated on team-based, one semester-long robotics projects in whichstudents design and build mobile robots for different applications. A mobile robot is a system that contains mechanical and electronic parts that can be programmed toperform some specific functions, responding to sensory inputs under the control of an internal or externalcomputer. The reasons to use mobile robots as the …

The 4+1 Program And Distance Learning Meeting Objectives And Outcomes, Daniel W. Walsh, Lanny Griffin, Robert S. Crockett

Biomedical Engineering

Graduate engineering education is a key to the maintenance of U.S. competitiveness in the world market. The world has been an extremely dynamic engine during the last fifty years, and we have witnessed a dramatic change in the world order. The change has been evolutionary in many cases, but events in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the erstwhile Soviet Union are only slightly less cataclysmic than the Second World War. In a world where strength is measured in terms of the financial resource, the technological ability and the intellectual capability of a populace Japan, China, India and the EEC …