Engineering Commons^™

Photonically Enhanced Flow Boiling In A Channel Coated With Carbon Nanotubes, Arun S. Kousalya, Chad N. Hunter, Shawn A. Putnam, Timothy Miller, Timothy S. Fisher

Birck and NCN Publications

High heat dissipation rates are enabled by multi-phase cooling schemes owing to latent heat uptake. We demonstrate enhanced flow boiling from a carbon nanotube (CNT)-coated copper surface exposed to low-intensity ultraviolet (UV)-visible excitation. Compared to non-illuminated results, the average boiling incipience temperature decreased by 4.6 degrees C and heat transfer coefficients improved by 41.5% with light exposure. These improved results are attributed to augmented hydrophilicity upon exposure to UV light and possible nanoscale opto-thermal effects, and suggest opportunities for active temperature control of temperature-sensitive devices. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3681594]

Influence Of Solid-Phase Wall Boundary Condition On Cfd Simulation Of Spouted Beds, Xingying Lan, Chunming Xu, Jinsen Gao, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Influence of Solid-Phase Wall Boundary Condition in Terms of Specularity Coefficient and Particle-Wall Restitution Coefficient on the Flow Behavior of Spouted Beds Was Investigated using Two-Fluid Model Approach in the Computational Fluid Dynamics Software FLUENT 6.3. Parametric Studies of Specularity Coefficient and Particle-Wall Restitution Coefficient Were Performed to Evaluate their Effects on the Flow Hydrodynamics in Terms of Fountain Height, Spout Diameter, Pressure Drop, Local Voidage and Particles Velocity. the Numerical Predictions Were Compared with Available Experimental Data in the Literatures to Obtain the Suitable Values of Specularity Coefficient and Particle-Wall Restitution Coefficient for Spouted Beds. the Simulated Results …

Determination Of Effective Training Methods To Learn A Laparoscopic Camera Navigation Task Under Stressful Environments, Devnath Vasudevan

Theses and Dissertations

Stress in surgical environment is generally very high and can result in performance degradation increasing patient risk .Current Training systems for learning minimally invasive surgical skills do not consider the component of stress in their training model. In this study the focus was on developing alternative training models that would allow the learner to effectively perform minimally invasive skill under stress. Two alternate training methods: 1) Training under stress until high performance levels and 2) training until high performance and low cognitive load are achieved were considered for this study. The control group consisted of training under no stress and …

Fabrication Of Biocompatible, Vibrational Magnetoelastic Materials For Controlling Cellular Adhesion, Hal Holmes, Ee Lim Tan, Keat Ghee Ong, Rupak Rajachar

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

This paper describes the functionalization of magnetoelastic (ME) materials with Parylene-C coating to improve the surface reactivity to cellular response. Previous study has demonstrated that vibrating ME materials were capable of modulating cellular adhesion when activated by an externally applied AC magnetic field. However, since ME materials are not inherently biocompatible, surface modifications are needed for their implementation in biological settings. Here, the long-term stability of the ME material in an aqueous and biological environment is achieved by chemical-vapor deposition of a conformal Parylene-C layer, and further functionalized by methods of oxygen plasma etching and protein adsorption. In vitro cytotoxicity …

Traumatic Brain Injury Assessment Using The Integration Of Pattern Recognition Methods And Finite Element Analysis, Aghazadeh Babak Seyed

Theses and Dissertations

The overall goal of this research is to develop methods and algorithms to investigate the severity of Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to estimate the intracranial pressure (ICP) level non-invasively. Brain x-ray computed tomography (CT) images and artificial intelligence methods are employed to estimate the level of ICP. Fully anisotropic complex wavelet transform features are proposed to extract directional textural features from brain images. Different feature selection and classification methods are tested to find the optimal feature vector and estimate the ICP using support vector regression. By using systematic feature extraction, selection and classification, promising results on ICP estimation are …

Best Practices In Engineering Education Series : Rubrics, Suzette R. Burckhard, Byron G. Garry

ASEE Best Practice Series Presentations

No abstract provided.

Magnetic Resonance Elastography Methodology For The Evaluation Of Tissue Engineered Construct Growth., Evan Curtis, Simeng Zhang, Vahid Khalilzad-Sharghi, Thomas Boulet, Shadi F. Othman

All Faculty Articles - School of Engineering and Computer Science

Traditional mechanical testing often results in the destruction of the sample, and in the case of long term tissue engineered construct studies, the use of destructive assessment is not acceptable. A proposed alternative is the use of an imaging process called magnetic resonance elastography. Elastography is a nondestructive method for determining the engineered outcome by measuring local mechanical property values (i.e., complex shear modulus), which are essential markers for identifying the structure and functionality of a tissue. As a noninvasive means for evaluation, the monitoring of engineered constructs with imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has seen increasing …

Building A Wright Flyer - By Committee, Fred E.C. Culick

ERAU Prescott Aviation History Program

Hear the story of the earliest aircraft from 1895 to 1908 and how the Wright Brothers successfully built the first airplane but couldn’t build the second one!

Identification And Characterization Of Mtoa: A Decaheme C-Type Cytochrome Of The Neutrophilic Fe(Ii)-Oxidizing Bacterium Sideroxydans Lithotrophicus Es-1, Juan Liu, Zheming Wang, Sara M. Belchik, Marcus J. Edwards, Chongxuan Liu, David W. Kennedy, Eric D. Merkley, Mary S. Lipton, Julea N. Butt, David J. Richardson, John M. Zachara, James K. Fredrickson, Kevin M. Rosso, Liang Shi

United States Department of Energy: Publications

The Gram-negative bacterium Sideroxydans lithotrophicus ES-1(ES-1) grows on FeCO₃ or FeS at oxic–anoxic interfaces at circumneutral pH, and the ES-1-mediated Fe(II) oxidation occurs extracellularly. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying ES-1’s ability to oxidize Fe(II) remain unknown. Survey of the ES-1 genome for candidate genes formicrobial extracellular Fe(II) oxidation revealed that it contained a three-genecluster encoding homologs of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1(MR-1) MtrA, MtrB, and CymA that are involved in extracellular Fe(III) reduction. Homologs of MtrA and MtrB were also previously shown to be involved in extracellular Fe(II) oxidation by Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1. To distinguish them from those found in MR-1, …

Threshold Of Hierarchical Percolating Systems, Jiantong Li, Biswajit Ray, Muhammad Alam, Mikael Ostling

Birck and NCN Publications

Many modern nanostructured materials and doped polymers are morphologically too complex to be interpreted by classical percolation theory. Here, we develop the concept of a hierarchical percolating (percolation-within-percolation) system to describe such complex materials and illustrate how to generalize the conventional percolation to double-level percolation. Based on Monte Carlo simulations, we find that the double-level percolation threshold is close to, but definitely larger than, the product of the local percolation thresholds for the two enclosed single-level systems. The deviation may offer alternative insights into physics concerning infinite clusters and open up new research directions for percolation theory

Papaya (Carica Papaya) Seed As A Low-Cost Sorbent For Zinc Removal, Siew-Teng Ong, Shiau-Ping Yip, Pei-Sin Keng, Siew-Ling Lee, Yung-Tse Hung

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The potential of using papaya seed as a sorbent for the removal of Zn from aqueous solution was investigated. The sorption characteristics of the sorbent was studied under various experimental conditions, such as pH, contact time, concentration of Zn(II), agitation rate and sorbent’s particle size. The equilibrium data have been studied using Langmuir, Freundlich and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller equations. The best correlation was obtained using Langmuir isotherm with the regression coefficient value of 0.9799 and maximum sorption capacity of 19.88 mg/g. The effective pH for the maximum uptake of Zn(II) was at pH 5.0. An increase in percentage uptake of Zn(II) can …

Nanostructured Catalyst Materials For Next Generation Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (Pem) Fuel Cells, Wisam J. Khudhayer

Theses and Dissertations

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells are electrochemical energy conversion devices which have demonstrated great promise as future energy sources for electric vehicles, as they convert chemical energy to electrical energy with a significantly higher efficiency and lower environmental impact than in standard combustion processes. However, the commercialization of PEM fuel cells for transportation applications has been hindered by several factors such as high cost of Pt, low Pt utilization, poor long-term durability of the conventional PEM fuel cell catalyst (Pt nanoparticels supported on carbon black, Pt/C), and poor thermal and chemical stability of the electrocatalyst supports (carbon black). The …

Biomolecular Mechanisms And Functional Characterization Of Nanomaterials In Programmed Cancer Cell Death For Potential Applications In Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, And Bioengineering, Md. Zakir Hossain

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer bionanotechnology is an interdisciplinary area of research in applied biosciences, biomedical engineering, and nano-medicine. Currently, apoptotic cell death inducers and regulators are considered to have significant potential for cancer therapy. The ability to escape apoptosis is one of the key properties of human cancer. Pancreatic cancer that has the highest fatality rates of all cancers is prompt to evade apoptosis. Nanomaterials like Ni NWs have various novel properties that could be very useful in bio-medical applications at the molecular and cellular levels. The overall objective of this research was to investigate the antiproliferative and apoptogenic properties of Ni NWs …

The Influence Of Nozzle Spacing And Diameter On The Acoustic Emissions Of Closely Spaced Supersonic Jet Arrays, Ian S. Coltrin

Theses and Dissertations

The acoustic emissions from supersonic jets represent an area of significant research needs; not only in the field of aero-acoustics, but in industry as well where high pressure let down processes have been known to cause acoustically induced vibrations. A common method to reduce the acoustic emissions of such processes involves dividing the single larger supersonic flow into several smaller ones. Though this is common practice, there is not yet a current model which describes the reduction of acoustic emissions from an array of smaller supersonic jets. Current research which studies supersonic jet arrays are mainly focused on the effects …

Ablation Test-Case Series #2. Numerical Simulation Of Ablative-Material Response: Code And Model Comparisons, Jean R. Lachaud, Alexandre Martin, Tom Van Eekelen, Ioana Cozmuta

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

This test-case series on the numerical simulation of the response of ablative-materials really started out of pure curiosity. Code developers and users were curious to see "how the codes compare" and "what is the effect of the different hypotheses in the models implemented". The objective of these test-case series is to propose problems of increasing complexity until it is agreed that the most-elaborated well-defined problem is formulated. The first test-case was mostly a simple heat transfer problem chosen for it’s simplicity (it is summarized in section 2.1). The second test-case series goes one step further, with the objective of reaching …

Ablation Test-Case Series #3. Numerical Simulation Of Ablative-Material Response: Code And Model Comparisons, Tom Van Eekelen, Jean R. Lachaud, Alexandre Martin, Ioana Cozmuta

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

The test-case series #3 will be a further extension of the tests defined within the framework of the NASA ablation modelling workshops. In order to reduce the amount of work, all tests within test-case series #3, will use the TACOT material defined by Lachaud et al. The main goal of this new series, is to test the 3D modelling capabilities of the participating codes. The first 1D results were presented at the 4th Ablation workshop, and together with the results of the second test-case series, will be discussed and analyzed more thoroughly at the 5th Ablation Workshop, Feb. 28- March …

The Design And Fabrication Of A Microfluidic Reactor For Synthesis Of Cadmium Selenide Quantum Dots Using Silicon And Glass Substrates, Peter Robert Gonsalves

Master's Theses

A microfluidic reactor for synthesizing cadmium selenide (CdSe) quantum dots (QDs) was synthesized out of a silicon wafer and Pyrex glass. Microfabrication techniques were used to etch channels into the silicon wafer. Holes were wet-drilled into the Pyrex glass using a diamond-tip drill bit. The Pyrex wafer was anodically bonded to the etched silicon wafer to enclose the microfluidic reactor. Conditions for anodic bonding were created by exposing the stacked substrates to 300V at ~350oC under 5.46N of force. A syringe containing a room temperature CdSe solution was interfaced to the microfluidic reactor by using Poly (dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) as an …

A Survey Based Analysis Of It Adoption And 3pls’ Performance, Pietro Evangelista, Riccardo Mogre, Alessandro Perego, Antonino Raspagliesi, Edward Sweeney

Articles

Purpose – In today’s competitive scenario, effective supply chain management is increasingly dependant on third party logistics (3PL) companies’ capabilities and performance. The dissemination of information technology (IT) has contributed to change the supply chain role of 3PL companies and IT is considered an important element influencing performance of modern logistics companies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between IT and 3PLs’ performance, assuming that logistics capabilities play a mediating role in this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach – Empirical evidence based on a questionnaire survey conducted on a sample of logistics service companies operating in the Italian …

Validated Templates For Specification Of Complex Ltl Formulas, Salamah Salamah, Ann Q. Gates, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Formal verification approaches that check software correctness against formal specifications have been shown to improve program dependability. Tools such as Specification Pattern System (SPS) and Property Specification (Prospec) support the generation of formal specifications. SPS has defined a set of patterns (common recurring properties) and scopes (system states over which a pattern must hold) that allows a user to generate formal specifications by using direct substitution of propositions into parameters of selected patterns and scopes. Prospec extended SPS to support the definition of patterns and scopes that include the ability to specify parameters with multiple propositions (referred to as composite …

Predicting Requirement Change Propagation Using Higher Order Design Structure Matrices: An Industry Case Study, Beshoy Morkos, Prabhu Shankar, Joshua D. Summers

All CEDAR Publications

This research examines higher order design structure matrices as requirements change modelling tools to predict requirement change propagation through two large-scale industry design projects. Due to the iterative nature of design, requirements will evolve and change. Changes in requirements can propagate to other requirements on different subsystems leading to possible increases in the project cost and lead-time. Predicting these requirement changes enables the designers to foresee unanticipated changes and maximises the probability for the project's success. These studies reveal that second-order relationships are influential in predicting requirement change propagation. Unforeseen propagation occurring in first-order form was rare, rather it was …

Aligned Layers Of Silver Nano-Fibers, Andrii B. Golovin, Jeremy Stromer, Liubov Kreminska

Publications and Research

We describe a new dichroic polarizers made by ordering silver nano-fibers to aligned layers. The aligned layers consist of nano-fibers and self-assembled molecular aggregates of lyotropic liquid crystals. Unidirectional alignment of the layers is achieved by means of mechanical shearing. Aligned layers of silver nano-fibers are partially transparent to a linearly polarized electromagnetic radiation. The unidirectional alignment and density of the silver nano-fibers determine degree of polarization of transmitted light. The aligned layers of silver nano-fibers might be used in optics, microwave applications, and organic electronics.

Towards Optimizing Cloud Computing: An Example Of Optimization Under Uncertainty, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

One of the most efficient way to store and process data is cloud computing. In cloud computing, instead of storing the data at the user-defined location (e.g., at the user's computer or at the centralized server), the computer system ("cloud") selects the location of the data storage that speeds up computations -- by minimizing the (average) communication time. In this chapter, we provide an analytical solution to the corresponding optimization problem.

The demand for cloud computing is growing fast, and we expect that this demand -- and thus, the size of the resulting cloud -- will continue to grow. …

Do Constraints Facilitate Or Inhibit Creative Problem Solving: A Theoretical Explanation Of Two Seemingly Contradictory Experimental Studies, Karen Villaverde, Olga Kosheleva, Martine Ceberio

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Do constraints facilitate or inhibit creative problem solving? Recently, two experimental studies appeared, one showing that removing constraints may enhance creativity, another showing that adding constraints can facilitate creative problem solving. In this paper, we provide a theoretical explanation of these two seemingly contradictory experimental results.

Evaluating Superconducting Ybco Film Properties Using Xray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Paul N. Barnes, Justin C. Tolliver, Timothy J. Haugan, Sharmila M. Mukhopadhyay, John T. Grant

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Initial results have been recently reported that suggest a potential correlation exists between the full-width-halfmaximum (FWHM) of the Y(3d) peak obtained by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the critical current density a YBa₂Cu₃O₇-x film can carry. In particular, the Y(3d_5/2) demonstrated a stronger correlation. Transport currents were determined by the 4-point contact method using the 1μV/cm criterion. An apparent correlation was also suggested between the Y(3d) FWHM and ac loss data points were acquired to further test the usefulness of the correlations. Samples were created by pulsed laser deposition of YBa_{2 …}

A Low-Complexity Design Of Linear Precoding For Mimo Channels With Finite-Alphabet Inputs, Weiliang Zeng, Chengshan Xiao, Jianhua Lu

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper investigates linear precoding scheme that maximizes mutual information for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels with finite-alphabet inputs. in contrast with recent studies, optimizing mutual information directly with extensive computational burden, this work proposes a low-complexity and high-performance design. It derives a lower bound that demands low computational effort and approximates, with a constant shift, the mutual information for various settings. based on this bound, the precoding problem is solved efficiently. Numerical examples show the efficacy of this method for constant and fading MIMO channels. Compared to its conventional counterparts, the proposed method reduces the computational complexity without performance loss. …

Analysis Of Resource Control In Nondeterministic Mobile Ad Hoc Network Systems : An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Example, Alex Fleshman

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

This thesis utilized known information about a dynamic graph in which resource needy nodes act as relays for control information to a supplier node in order to characterize system performance and analyze the effects of change on the system. The connectivity, or information sharing, was based on distance and since every node moved around a defined space, the connectivity of the graph changed constantly. Several different controllers and scenarios are investigated in order to extract the uniqueness in each performance curve which created a better understanding of this near nondeterministic system. One such application for this dynamic system is the …

Reconfigurable Filtenna For Cognitive Radio Applications, Maria Elizabeth Zamudio

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

In order to improve the efficiency of the spectrum usage (available idle spectrum), cognitive radio devices should identify their environment, work in conjunction with other cognitive radio devices, and reconfigure themselves. The concept that becomes crucial when designing cognitive radio devices is reconfigurability. Active components are used as switches in order to transform a device into a reconfigurable one. However, when switches are applied to an antenna design, we are not only making it reconfigurable, but we may also be affecting the electromagnetic properties of the reconfigurable communicating antenna. An alternate solution is presented in this thesis based on a …

Power Handling Of Electrostatic Mems Evanescent-Mode (Eva) Tunable Bandpass Filters, Xiaoguang Liu, Linda P.B. Katehi, William J. Chappell, Dimitrios Peroulis

Birck and NCN Publications

This paper presents the first theoretical and experimental study on the power handling capabilities of electrostatically tunable MEMS cavity filters. The theoretical analysis indicates that the frequency-dependent RF voltage inside a narrow-band filter may play an important role in the generation of electromechanical nonlinearities such as frequency response distortion, frequency shift, and bifurcation instability. This analysis also reveals that the filter's power handling capability is dependent on several critical factors, including the capacitive gap, stiffness of the diaphragm actuator, and the overall quality factor (Q) of the evanescent-mode (EVA) resonators. A nonlinear computer-aided design (CAD) model is proposed as a …

Acuta Enews February 2012 Vol. 41, No. 2

ACUTA Newsletters

In this issue...

1 Seminar in Review & What's New

3 jeri Semer Volunteer Recognition Award j Upcoming Events

4 Single- vs. Multi-Vendor Approaches to UC

5 Harness Mobile Technology's Potential

6 lnfo Links

7 Board Report

7 Committee Corner

8 Member Benefit of the Month: Membership Directory

8 Thanks to Exhibitors & Sponsors welcome New Members

9 Check It Out

Iowa Academy Of Science Position Paper On Biodiversity, Iowa Academy Of Science

Position Papers

No abstract provided.