Engineering Commons^™

Factors Impacting Technology Transfer: The Maquiladora Industry In Yucatan, Mexico, Ana Maria Canto, Carlos Blanco, Pilar Pazos

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Technology transfer and knowledge transfer are the building blocks for innovation, efficiency and increased competitiveness. The topic of technology transfer in the context of multinational companies has been the focus of technology management researchers for well over two decades. Developing countries housing twin plans have been exposed to technology transfer from very diverse countries with different approaches to the technology transfer process and different levels of success. This cultural and national diversity adds an additional level of complexity to the technology transfer domain that has been largely unexplored. This paper will explore critical factors that had an impact in successful …

The Impact Of Online Collaboration Spaces On Virtual Team Outcomes, Anil Ustun, Pilar Pazos

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

With the emergence of information technology, organizational teams often work virtually, relying on different technologies to successfully complete tasks. This paper investigates the influence of online collaboration spaces on team performance and team affective outcomes such as satisfaction with the process. An experiment will be conducted in which teams of 3 participants will work together on a survival decision-making activity (Lost at Sea). Teams will be collaborating in a web-conferencing (Adobe Connecta™) space and a 3D (three-dimensional) virtual space (Second Life). Based on Social Presence Theory, we expect that the avatar-based 3D environment will provide a richer environment for social …

Using Quest3d To Develop Ves: A Tool For Enhancing Electrical Safety And Design In The Built Environment, Martin Barrett, Jonathan Blackledge

Conference papers

This paper presents a novel desktop virtual reality model titled Virtual Electrical Services (VES), developed to enhance electrical safety and design in the built environment. The model developed using Quest3D has the potential to be used as an industry design tool or as an educational tool for third level students and represents a significant watershed in how electrical services engineers can potentially design buildings and interpret their design decisions. A description of the software development process of the virtual reality model is presented along with the applications that were developed within the model. Based on the early implementation of this …

Forensic Analysis Of Social Networking Applications On Mobile Devices, Noora Al Mutawa, Ibrahim Baggili, Andrew Marrington

Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

The increased use of social networking applications on smartphones makes these devices a goldmine for forensic investigators. Potential evidence can be held on these devices and recovered with the right tools and examination methods. This paper focuses on conducting forensic analyses on three widely used social networking applications on smartphones: Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. The tests were conducted on three popular smartphones: BlackBerrys, iPhones, and Android phones. The tests consisted of installing the social networking applications on each device, conducting common user activities through each application, acquiring a forensically sound logical image of each device, and performing manual forensic analysis …

A Decentralized Fault Diagnosis And Prognosis Scheme For Nonlinear Interconnected Systems, Deepthi Shreeya Lathamaheswari Raja

Masters Theses

"Today's systems are getting more complex with a significant number of variables to be monitored for information processing to aid in fault diagnosis and prognosis. Centralized diagnosis and prognosis schemes are not preferred for such complex systems as they lead to delayed or missed alarms and possibly catastropic [sic] failures. Instead, this thesis addresses a decentralized fault diagnosis and prognosis scheme both in continuous and discrete-time for nonlinear complex systems which can be divided into smaller subsystems. Such complex systems are referred to as a large-scale interconnected nonlinear system. This thesis is presented in the form of two papers first …

Force Sensing Of An Asymmetric Dielectric Barrier Discharge Using Mechanical Resonators, Mark Dawson Emanuel

Masters Theses

"Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators are of great interest in flow control research and application. DBD plasma actuators are low-cost, lightweight, high voltage devices that have the capability of generating small amounts of thrust on the order of a few tenths of a gram. The thrust is created by rapidly pulsing plasma discharges which correlate to the frequency of the applied alternating current waveform, in the low kilohertz range.

Plasma actuators experience a reactant force generated by the pulsed plasma charging and then expelling air away from the charged surface. This force fluctuates with time as the plasma is …

Direct Measurement Of Thicknesses, Volumes Or Compositions Of Nanomaterials By Quantitative Atomic Number Contrast In High-Angle Annular Dark-Field Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy, Biao Yuan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The sizes, shapes, volumes and compositions of nanoparticles are very important parameters determining many of their properties. Efforts to measure these parameters for individual nanoparticles and to obtain reliable statistics for a large number of nanoparticles require a fast and reliable method for 3-D characterization. In this dissertation, a direct measurement method for thicknesses, volumes or compositions of nanomaterials by quantitative atomic number contrast in High-Angle Annular Dark-Field (HAADF) Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) is presented. A HAADF detector collects electrons scattered incoherently to high angles. The HAADF signal intensity is in first-order approximation proportional to the sample thickness and …

Surface Acoustic Wave (Saw) Cryogenic Liquid And Hydrogen Gas Sensors, Brian Fisher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research was born from NASA Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) need for passive, wireless and individually distinguishable cryogenic liquid and H2 gas sensors in various facilities. The risks of catastrophic accidents, associated with the storage and use of cryogenic fluids may be minimized by constant monitoring. Accidents involving the release of H2 gas or LH2 were responsible for 81% of total accidents in the aerospace industry. These problems may be mitigated by the implementation of a passive (or low-power), wireless, gas detection system, which continuously monitors multiple nodes and reports temperature and H2 gas presence. Passive, wireless, cryogenic liquid level …

A Framework For Personalized Dynamic Cross-Selling In E-Commerce Retailing, Arun K. Timalsina

Wayne State University Dissertations

Cross-selling and product bundling are prevalent strategies in the retail sector. Instead of static bundling offers, i.e. giving the same offer to everyone, personalized dynamic cross-selling generates targeted bundle offers and can help maximize revenues and profits. In resolving the two basic problems of dynamic cross-selling, which involves selecting the right complementary products and optimizing the discount, the issue of computational complexity becomes central as the customer base and length of the product list grows. Traditional recommender systems are built upon simple collaborative filtering techniques, which exploit the informational cues gained from users in the form of product ratings and …

Raman Spectroscopy And Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy For Diagnosis Of Human Cancer And Acanthosis Nigricans, Suneetha Devpura

Wayne State University Dissertations

Cancer and diabetes are common chronic diseases in today's world causing numerous deaths in adults as well as children. Most common types of cancers in adults include prostate, lung, breast, colorectal and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, while among children; leukemia, and brain and central nervous system cancers are quite common. In each of these cases, early detection of the cancer or disease dramatically increases the chances of successful treatment. In recent years, there has been much interest in using Raman spectroscopy and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy as analytical optical spectroscopic methods for early diagnosis of diseases. Raman spectroscopy can …

Rfid-Based Business Process And Workflow Management In Healthcare:Design And Implementation, Xiaoyu Ma

Wayne State University Dissertations

The healthcare system in the United States is considered one of the most complex systems and has encountered challenges related to patient safety concerns, escalating costs, and unpredictable outcomes. Many of these problems share a common cause - a lack of efficient business process management and visibility into the real-time location, status, and condition of medical resources. The goal of this research is to propose a newly integrated system to model, automate, and monitor healthcare business processes using an automatic data collection technology to record the timing and location of activities and identify their various resources.

This dissertation makes several …

Third Order Nonlinearity Of Organic Molecules, Honghua Hu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main goal of this dissertation is to investigate the third-order nonlinearity of organic molecules. This topic contains two aspects: two-photon absorption (2PA) and nonlinear refraction (NLR), which are associated with the imaginary and real part of the third-order nonlinearity (χ (3)) of the material, respectively. With the optical properties tailored through meticulous molecular structure engineering, organic molecules are promising candidates to exhibit large third-order nonlinearities. Both linear (absorption, fluorescence, fluorescence excitation anisotropy) and nonlinear (Z-scan, two-photon fluorescence, pump-probe) techniques are described and utilized to fully characterize the spectroscopic properties of organic molecules in solution or solid-state form. These properties …

Optical Microresonator Based On Hollow Sphere With Porous Wall For Chemical Sensing, Hanzheng Wang, Lei Yuan, Cheol Woon Kim, Qun Han, Tao Wei, Xinwei Lan, Hai Xiao

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

A porous-wall hollow glass microsphere (PW-HGM) was investigated as an optical resonator for chemical vapor sensing. a single mode optical fiber taper was used to interrogate the micro resonator. Adsorption of chemical molecules into the nanosized pores induced a refractive index change of the thin wall and thus a shift in its resonance spectrum. the PW-HGM resonator had shown higher vapor detection sensitivity in comparison with a solid microsphere under similar test conditions. © 2011 Optical Society of America.

3d Finite Element Analysis Of Pwa-Oil Sand Terrain System Interaction, Y. Li, Samuel Frimpong, W. Y. Liu

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A simulator for analyzing the interaction between the oil sand terrain and a pipe wagon articulating (PWA) system has been developed in this paper. An elastic-plastic oil sand model was built based on the finite element analysis (FEA) method and von Mises yield criterion using the Algor mechanical event simulation (MES) software. The three-dimensional (3D) distribution of the stress, strain, nodal displacement, and deformed shape of the oil sands was animated at an environmental temperature of 25C. The 3D behavior of the oil sand terrain was investigated with different loading conditions. The effect of the load and contact area on …

Type-Elimination-Based Reasoning For The Description Logic Shiqbs Using Decision Diagrams And Disjunctive Datalog, Sebastian Rudolph, Markus Krotzsch, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

We propose a novel, type-elimination-based method for standard reasoning in the description logic SHIQbs extended by DL-safe rules. To this end, we first establish a knowledge compilation method converting the terminological part of an ALCIb knowledge base into an ordered binary decision diagram (OBDD) that represents a canonical model. This OBDD can in turn be transformed into disjunctive Datalog and merged with the assertional part of the knowledge base in order to perform combined reasoning. In order to leverage our technique for full SHIQbs , we provide a stepwise reduction from SHIQbs to ALCIb that preserves satisfiability and entailment of …

Rigorous Characterization Of Carbon Nanotube Complex Permittivity Over A Broadband Of Rf Frequencies, Emmanuel Decrossas, Mahmoud El Sabbagh, Victor Fouad Hanna, Samir M. El-Ghazaly

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - All Scholarship

This work presents a comprehensive characterization of the frequency dependence of the effective complex permittivity of bundled carbon nanotubes considering different densities over a broadband of frequencies from 10 MHz to 50 GHz using only one measurement setup. The extraction technique is based on rigorous modeling of coaxial and circular discontinuities using mode matching technique in conjunction with inverse optimization method to map the simulated scattering parameters to those measured by vector network analyzer. The dramatic values of complex permittivity obtained at low frequencies are physically explained by the percolation theory. The effective permittivity of a mixture of nano-particles of …

Structural Analysis Of Microsatellites, Yezad H. Anklesaria

Masters Theses

"Satellite design, development, fabrication, testing and entry into service is a complex process. Each step of this process involves intricate steps to achieve the desired objective. This thesis summarizes a study relating to the area of development and testing of microsatellites to support qualification and eventually preparing a spacecraft for spaceflight. Students in the Space Systems Engineering laboratory (SSE Lab) in the Aerospace Engineering Program are in the process of developing a pair of microsatellites for a technology demonstration in space.

After the initial design of the spacecraft is completed in the design phase a significant amount of time is …

Understanding System Of Systems Development Using An Agent-Based Wave Model, Paulette Acheson, Louis Pape, Cihan H. Dagli, Nil Kilicay-Ergin, John Columbi, Khaled Haris

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

System of Systems (SoS) development is a complex process that depends on the cooperation of various independent Systems [1]. SoS acquisition and development differs from that typical for a single System; it has been shown to follow a wave paradigm known as the Wave Model [2]. Agent based models (ABMs) consist of a set of abstracted entities referred to as agents, and a framework using simplified rules for simulating agent decisions and interactions. Agents have their own goals and are capable of perceiving changes in the environment. Systemic (global) behavior emerges from the decisions and interactions of the agents. This …

Interfacing Building Response With Human Behavior Under Seismic Events, Z. Liu, Mehdi Jalalpour, C. Jacques, S. Szyniszewski, J. Mitrani-Reiser, James K. Guest, T. Igusa, B. W. Schafer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The goal of this paper is to model the interaction of humans with their built environment during and immediately following a natural disaster. The study uses finite element simulations to evaluate the response of buildings under input ground motions and agent-based dynamic modeling to model the subsequent evacuation of building occupants in the study area immediately following the seismic event. The structural model directly captures building damage and collapse, as well as floor accelerations and displacements to determine nonstructural damage, injuries and fatalities. The goal of this research is to make connections between building damage and occupant injuries, with geographic …

Development Of Gelatin Microbubble Based Plga Scaffold For Application In Bone Tissue Engineering, Krishna M. Shah

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

The overall goal of the study was to develop a delivery system for a potential bone tissue engineering application focusing on fabrication of gelatin microbubble (MB) based PLGA scaffolds capable of recruiting Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and delivering bioactive molecules. Challenges associated with inefficient use of stem cells, scaffolding techniques and poor understanding of the role of growth factors hinders the success of tissue engineering strategies. A major challenge with the use of autologous stem cells is its low proliferation and migratory capacity. Our lab previously established that using a biomaterial implant, autologous MSCs can be directed and recruited in …

New Detonation Concepts For Propulsion And Power Generation, Eric Braun

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

A series of related analytical and experimental studies are focused on utilizing detonations for emerging propulsion and power generation devices. An understanding of the physical and thermodynamic processes for this unsteady thermodynamic cycle has taken over 100 years to develop. An overview of the thermodynamic processes and development history is provided.Thermodynamic cycle analysis of detonation-based systems has often been studied using surrogate models. A real gas model is used for a thermal efficiency prediction of a detonation wave based on the work and heat specified by process path diagrams and a control volume analysis. A combined first and second law …

Hygrothermally Stable Laminated Composites For Optimal Extension Twist Coupling In Closed Cell Configuration, Sean Muder

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

An optimization routine utilizing the sequential quadratic programming method is used to develop laminates that are hygrothermally stable in flat-strip configuration and are optimal for extension twist coupling in closed cell configuration. The performance of the laminates obtained from the optimization in terms of the level of extension twist coupling and hygrothermal stability are evaluated and compared to laminates from a previous routine. A parametric study is conducted to illustrate the relationships between the geometric dimensions of a representative closed cell section and the level of extension twist coupling. Results from the parametric study suggested a more practical optimization approach …

Dynamic System Reduction And Fault Location Identification Using Synchrophasors, Eithar Nashawati

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The advent of the synchronized phasor measurement units' technology allow for new applications to the power systems and improvement of existing applications. This dissertation presents a new method for synchrophasor-assisted fault location. An initial screening of voltage phase angle swing determines the suspect part of the system where the disturbance occurred. The system is then reduced to a limited number of buses. A Positive-sequence voltage-only method is then used to provide a better estimation of the exact location of the fault using particle swarm optimization. This method is applied to a large power system in North Texas. Real-time synchrophasor measurement …

Multi-Directional Light Coupling Structures For Nanomembrane Photonic Integration, Tapas Kumar Saha

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Vertical coupling of light within an in-plane nanophotonic waveguide is an essential step towards the successful future realization of CMOS compatible optical interconnects and photonic integrated circuits. This is especially important, since silicon, though being the material of choice, is an extremely poor emitter of light. Through vertical to in-plane coupling, light can be coupled through any point on the planar on chip and the position is not only confined within the edges of the silicon wafer. Compact wafer scale testing is possible with this approach, without the need for polished edge cleaving. Another important aspect of this research is …

Development And Evaluation Of A Desktop Vr System For Electrical Services Engineers, Martin Barrett, Jonathan Blackledge

Articles

This paper presents a prototype desktop virtual reality model, developed to enhance electrical safety and design in the built environment. The model presented has the potential to be used as an educational tool for third level students, an industry design tool or as a virtual electrical safety manual for the general public. A description of the development of the virtual reality model is presented along with the applications that were developed within the model. Subsequently, a case study is carried out to evaluate the users’ attitudes toward VR learning environments and also the usability of the prototype model developed. Based …

Accelerated Simulation Of Supercapacitors Using Order Reduction Techniques And Waveform Relaxation Methods, Fatih Cingoz

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

Supercapacitors are promising energy storage devices due to their capability to deliver high peak current and to capture a huge amount of energy in a short time with very low internal power loss. They are candidate component to be used in as a secondary energy storage device in hybrid electric vehicles (HEV)). Precise model development and accelerated simulation environments are needed to minimize the design time (and subsequently the product-to-market time) and minimize the hardware redesign and retrofit. Transmission line and RC parallel-branch equivalent models show relatively higher accuracy in predicting the dynamic behavior of the device. They also have …

Characterization Of Flexible Antennas For Wirelessly Powering Medical Implants, Safwan Ahmed Muneer

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

To minimize the trouble experienced by the patient in undergoing invasive surgeries to replace non rechargeable batteries that are used to power body implants inside, medical experts and engineers are emphasizing on making use of wireless power. Since body implant powering from external wireless power requires a source that can be easily worn outside the body, a special type of integrated antenna was implemented on a flexible substrate that conforms to the shape of the stomach curvature, thus adding increased patient comfort. The antenna bend is concave which adds to increased focus and increases power transfer efficiency to power the …

Complexity Reduction Of H.264 Using Parallel Programming, Sudeep Prakash Gangavati

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

The H.264 encoder provides for adaptive directional intra-prediction, motion-compensated inter-prediction followed by transform, quantization, deblocking filtering and either variable length encoding or arithmetic coding. All these blocks of the H.264 encoder make it highly complex as compared to previous video coding standards. There is a need for measures to reduce the complexity. This thesis aims at reducing the complexity of the .H.264 encoder by reducing the encoding time of the H.264 standard while not sacrificing the video quality, compression efficiency and bitrate by parallel programming. There are several parallel programming models that can be used. The massively parallel Graphics Processing …

Design, Microfabrication And Characterization Of A Microheater Platform For Studying Dna-Surface Interactions, Annas Javed

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

The past few decades have witnessed significant research towards developing DNA biosensors and gene chips. These devices obtain sequence-specific DNA information in a faster, simpler and cheaper manner compared to traditional hybridization assays. Miniaturization of DNA handling and processing devices has contributed significantly towards this effort. Despite the large amount of work in this research direction, much more needs to be understood about the fundamental interactions of DNA and other biological macromolecules with their microenvironment, particularly with inorganic surfaces. For example, a basic understanding of thermal interactions of DNA with surfaces may help develop novel strategies for probing, purifying and …

Design Of Embedded Nios Ii Processor Based System For Implementing Bridging Algorithm Of Profiling Application, Vinay S. Ashi

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) uses multiple instruments for quality assurance of new and existing pavements. These instruments measure the different characteristics of the pavement such as the longitudinal profile, transverse profile, texture, rutting, etc. to determine the smoothness and ride quality of the pavement. These instruments mainly consist of different sensors such as lasers, accelerometers, distance encoders, etc., to calculate the ride quality. Various ride statistics such as International Roughness Index (IRI), Mean Profile Depth (MPD), and Present Serviceability Index (PSI) are then calculated and used to monitor the conditions of the roads.The Roline laser system is used …