Engineering Commons^™

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 54 Number 3, Winter 2013, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

16 - TO CATCH A THIEF by Vince Beiser. Mathematician George Mohler has helped equip police in Santa Cruz and L.A. with an algorithm that predicts where crimes might happen next. Is this the future of policing?

22 - HOW TO PREVENT A BONFIRE OF THE HUMANITIES by Michael S. Malone '75, MBA '77. A veteran chronicler of Silicon Valley looks at why the high-tech industry needs-and wants-folks who know how to tell a story.

26 - A POEM, A PRAYER, AND A MARTINI FOR THE RHINO Two conversations with Chancellor William J. Rewak, S.J.-who's just published his first collection …

Maintaining The Master International Frequency Register, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

The present paper is the written elaboration of a presentation held under the same title at the workshop “International Regulations of Space Communications” held in Luxembourg on 24 and 25 May 2012. Consequently, the topic of this paper, the maintenance of the Master International Frequency Register as a key tool for allowing satellite communications to be a viable international sector of space activities, is viewed through the looking glass of the session title, “WRC-12 from the Perspective of International Telecommunications Law.”

In other words, it does not purport to deal with the actual details of maintaining the Register …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 55 Number 1, Fall 2013, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

6 - ONE IN A MILLION By Michael E. Engh, S.J. A note of thanks from the president to SCU alumni. For the Leavey Challenge, you came through in record numbers to secure a $1 million challenge grant for the University.

20 - GOOD LIGHT: A PHOTO RETROSPECTIVE with Charles Barry. For a quarter century he has told Santa Clara's stories in photographs. Here are a few.

26 - YES, BUT IS IT THE RIGHT THING TO DO? By Sam Scott '96. From business to government to college campuses, it's not always a question that gets asked. But here's how …

Research Week 2013, Linda Gardiner

Office of Research Institutional Research and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Hitran Matrix Elements As A Fluidization Promoter In Slugging Columns, Suren Sookai, Avinash Harilal

The 14th International Conference on Fluidization – From Fundamentals to Products

No abstract provided.

Green Diesel Production Via Catalytic Hydrogenation/Decarboxylation Of Triglycerides And Fatty Acids Of Vegetable Oil And Brown Grease, Elvan Sari

Wayne State University Dissertations

Increase in the petroleum prices, projected increases in the world’s energy demand and environmental awareness have shifted the research interest to the alternative fuel technologies. In particular, green diesel, vegetable oil/animal fat/waste oil and grease derived hydrocarbons in diesel boiling range, has become an attractive alternative to biodiesel— a mixture of fatty acid methyl esters, particularly due to its superior fuel properties that are similar to petroleum diesel. Hence, green diesel can be used as a drop-in fuel in the current diesel engines. The current technology for production of green diesel– hydrodeoxygenation of triglycerides and fatty acids over conventional hydrotreating …

Post-Project Assessment Of Pit Latrines In Rural Panama, Jacob B. Midkiff

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

In Panama, one of the Environmental Health (EH) Sector’s primary goals is to improve the health of rural Panamanians by helping them to adopt behaviors and practices that improve access to and use of sanitation systems. In complying with this goal, the EH sector has used participatory development models to improve hygiene and increase access to latrines through volunteer managed latrine construction projects. Unfortunately, there is little understanding of the long term sustainability of these interventions after the volunteers have completed their service. With the Peace Corps adapting their Monitoring, Reporting, and Evaluation procedures, it is appropriate to evaluate the …

Vibration Energy Harvesting For Wireless Underground Sensor Networks, Salman Kahrobaee, Mehmet C. Vuran

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Recent developments in wireless underground communication have enabled the realization of underground sensor network applications. To this end, it is desirable to provide a sustainable operation for wireless underground sensor networks (WUSNs) with extended lifetimes as maintenance is significantly costly. One promising method towards sustainable operation is to harvest energy underground based on the vibration sources in the environment. However, to the best of our knowledge, underground vibration energy harvesting has not been investigated before. In this paper, the feasibility of vibration energy harvesting for WUSNs is investigated. First, an analytical framework is developed to model the maximum harvestable power …

Development Of Statistical Models For Predicting Leachate Parameters From Simulated Landfills, Arpita Hetal Bhatt

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Leachate generation and management is recognized as one of the greatest problems associated with environmentally sound operation of landfills, as leachate can cause major pollution problems to surrounding soil, ground water, and surface waters. There are many landfills, especially in developing parts of the world like India, Bangladesh, Africa, and Latin America, where open dump systems are used for final disposal of solid waste rather than engineered landfills. In the near future, regulations in developing countries will likely require installation of liner systems, leachate collection systems, and treatment operations. A major requirement for successful leachate treatment is quantifying its typical …

Similarity Of Climate Control On Base Flow And Perennial Stream Density In The Budyko Framework, Liuliu Wu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Streams are classified into perennial, intermittent, and ephemeral streams based on flow durations. Perennial stream is the basic network, while intermittent or ephemeral stream is the expanded network. Connection between perennial stream and base flow at the mean annual scale exists since one of the hydrologic functions of perennial stream is to deliver runoff even in low flow seasons. The partitioning of precipitation into runoff and evaporation at the mean annual scale, on the first order, is captured by the ratio of potential evaporation to precipitation (Ep/P called climate aridity index) based on the Budyko hypothesis. The primary focus of …

Measuring The Evolving Internet Ecosystem With Exchange Points, Mohammad Zubair Ahmad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Internet ecosystem comprising of thousands of Autonomous Systems (ASes) now include Internet eXchange Points (IXPs) as another critical component in the infrastructure. Peering plays a significant part in driving the economic growth of ASes and is contributing to a variety of structural changes in the Internet. IXPs are a primary component of this peering ecosystem and are playing an increasing role not only in the topology evolution of the Internet but also inter-domain path routing. In this dissertation we study and analyze the overall affects of peering and IXP infrastructure on the Internet. We observe IXP peering is enabling …

Climate Change Impacts On Rainfed Corn Production In Malawi, Kondwani Msowoya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy in Malawi and accounts for 40% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 90% of the export revenues. Corn (maize) is the major cereal crop grown as staple food under rainfed conditions, covers over 92% of the total agricultural area, and contributes 54% of the caloric intake. Corn production is the principle occupation and major source of income for over 85% of the total population in Malawi. Issues of hunger and food insecurity for the entire nation are associated with corn scarcity and low production. Global warming is expected to cause climate change …

Chemical Partitioning And Mobility Of Trace Elements In Dry Disposed Weathered Ash Conditioned With High-Saline Effluents, S.A. Akinyemi, A. Akinlua, W.M. Gitari, R.O. Akinyeye, L.F. Petrik

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

Weinvestigated the mobility of inorganic elements in the ash dump due to chemical interaction of weathered dry disposed ash conditioned with high-saline effluents and ingressed CO2 from atmosphere and percolating rainwater. Drilled ash core samples collected from dry disposed ash dump at a South African coal-burning power station were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses. A modified sequential extraction procedure was selected to determine the mineralogical association of the investigated elements in the 1-year-old drilled ash cores. Major mineral phases are quartz and mullite and other minor phases included hematite, lime, calcite, anorthite, mica, and enstatite. …

Predicting The Dynamic Behavior Of Coal Mine Tailings Using State-Of-Practice Geotechnical Field Methods, Ali Salehian

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

This study is focused on developing a method to predict the dynamic behavior of mine tailings dams under earthquake loading. Tailings dams are a by-product of coal mining and processing activities. Mine tailings impoundments are prone to instability and failure under seismic loading as a result of the mechanical behavior of the tailings. Due to the existence of potential seismic sources in close proximity to the coal mining regions in the United States, it is necessary to assess the post-earthquake stability of these tailings dams.

To develop the aforementioned methodology, 34 cyclic triaxial tests along with vane shear tests were …

Rheological Study Of Asphalt Binders With A Wax-Based Warm Mix Additive And Its Relationships To Mix Compaction And Rutting, Rajan Saha

Doctoral Dissertations

Although the energy saving Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) technology that produces asphalt mixes at lower temperatures are around for about a decade, there still exist some concerns that are hindering its wide spread implementation. The overall objective of this study is to investigate if the viscosity reductions at higher temperatures have any impacts on asphalt mix compaction and rutting performances. This study reveals that there exists a critical temperature for each asphalt binder below which viscosity will increase with addition of Sasobit®. Therefore, compaction below the critical temperature can negatively impact density.

For PG 64-22, the critical temperature is 104 …

Synthetic Asphaltene As A Novel Dye In Dye Sensitized Solar Cells Dsscs, Hassan Sharif

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation approves the possibility of the first time use of synthetic asphaltene as new dye in dye sensitized solar cells. In which the conversion efficiency of synthetic asphaltene DSSC has improved up to 2.0 %. Synthetic asphaltene sample was prepared from the starting material as in literature and applied for various solar cell parameters of TiO2 based dyesensitized solar cell DSSC. DSSCs were fabricated using the synthetic asphaltene as dye. Different variables and parameters were carried out to test the photovoltaic performance of the cells, these parameters include open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current; fill factor. The first result was obtained …

Modeling Of An Air-Based Density Separator, Tathagata Ghosh

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

There is a lack of fundamental studies by means of state of the art numerical and scale modeling techniques scrutinizing the theoretical and technical aspect of air table separators as well as means to comprehend and improve the efficiency of the process. The dissertation details the development of a workable empirical model, a numerical model and a scale model to demonstrate the use of a laboratory air table unit.

The modern air-based density separator achieves effective density-based separation for particle sizes greater than 6 mm. Parametric studies with the laboratory scale unit using low rank coal have demonstrated the applicability …

International Standardization Compliance In Aviation, Tyler Brogden Spence

Open Access Theses

The commercial aviation industry is global in the sense that passengers travel around the world from destination to destination. It is also global in that the states of the world (countries) regulate the industry domestically and internationally. There is a unique stage where the world comes together to promote aviation, discuss ideas and establish international standards. This stage is the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The 191 current member states signed treaties acknowledging their commitment to abiding by the standards and practices established by ICAO. No state is 100 percent compliant with international standards, however, and the purpose of this …

Rheological Properties Of Gluten Free Dough Systems, Stephany Aurea Tandazo

Open Access Theses

Bread is the one of the oldest processed foods and a major wheat based product. The basic process involves mixing of ingredients until the flour is converted into dough, followed by baking the dough into a loaf. A very important step in breadmaking is to know how to make good quality dough. However, the increasing knowledge of people being diagnosed with celiac disease (gluten intolerance) has encouraged scientists to develop healthier and better quality gluten-free products that would greatly improve the quality of life of celiac patients. The main objective of this study was to create a dough system composed …

Simulating Land Use Land Cover Change Using Data Mining And Machine Learning Algorithms, Amin Tayyebi

Open Access Dissertations

The objectives of this dissertation are to: (1) review the breadth and depth of land use land cover (LUCC) issues that are being addressed by the land change science community by discussing how an existing model, Purdue's Land Transformation Model (LTM), has been used to better understand these very important issues; (2) summarize the current state-of-the-art in LUCC modeling in an attempt to provide a context for the advances in LUCC modeling presented here; (3) use a variety of statistical, data mining and machine learning algorithms to model single LUCC transitions in diverse regions of the world (e.g. United States …

Interactional Analysis Of Emergent Risks In Institutionally Diverse Construction Projects, Nader Naderpajouh

Open Access Dissertations

Naderpajouh, Nader Ph.D., Purdue University, December 2013. Interactional Analysis of Emergent Risks in Institutionally Diverse Construction Projects. Major Professor: Makarand Hastak.

Construction projects, as complex systems of systems (SOS), increasingly involve institutionally diverse actors that escalate complexity of the projects. Examples of these actors include the export credit agencies, international organizations such as the World Bank, non-governmental organizations (NGO), regulatory actors, transnational organizations, as well as public and community groups. The observed surge in complexity of the projects aim to enhance their robustness in: i) sustaining the increasing demand for service of these projects, and ii) sustaining the contextual fluctuation …

Proceedings Of The Nebraska Academy Of Sciences: Anthropology

Nebraska Academy of Sciences: Programs and Proceedings

Presentations

A Marxist Approach to US Historical Archaeology: A Review and Summary of the History and Application of Marxism on the Field of Historical Archaeology in the US

John Collier, Anthropology, and the Indian New Deal

Colonoware and Culture: The Changing Interpretation of 17th Century Ceramic Traditions in the South Eastern United States

Creole Cottages and Garden Estates: Space and Purpose in Early New Orleans

Quality Control for In-field Photography: Digital Curationa and Non-collections of Artifacts

Assesing Lithics through Color Metrics

Refitting of Stone Artifacts Using Colorimetric Analysis

The Restroer of the Republic: An Analysis of Augustus’s Social, Moral, and …

Chemical Weathering And Mobility Of Inorganic Species In Dry Disposed Ash: An Insight From Geochemical Fractionation And Physicochemical Analysis, S.A. Akinyemi, W.M. Gitari, A. Akinlua, L.F. Petrik

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

The burning of low-grade coal produces vast amounts of ash and other solid by-products. In South Africa, coal combustion by-products undergo disposal on land as dry heaps or slurried to dams. In this study, the geochemical partitioning, transport, and mobility of elements in dry disposed ash dumps were investigated using a modified sequential extraction scheme. The chemical and mineralogical compositions of 50 drilled core samples were investigated by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Ternary plots of major elements as determined by XRF showed that the 15-year-old and 2-week-old dry disposed ashes are sialic, …

A New Digital Image Steganography Algorithm Based On Visible Wavelength, İbrahi̇m Coşkun, Feyzi̇ Akar, Özdemi̇r Çeti̇n

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Stenography is the science that ensures secret communication through multimedia carriers such as image, audio, and video files. The ultimate end of stenography is to hide the secret data in the carrier file so that they are not detected. To that end, stenography applications should have such features as undetectability; robustness; resistance to various images process, sing methods, and compression; and capacity of the hidden data. At the same time, those features distinguish stenography applications from watermarking and cryptography applications. This study is different from other studies in the literature in that the undetectability parameter has been achieved through hiding …

Sustainability Of Water And Wastewater Infrastructure: Using A Public-Private Partnership Model For Project Financial Assessment, Rebecca Werner Trotter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To supplement current and future budget shortfalls for improvements to water and wastewater infrastructure, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs or P3) are being advocated by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and others as a practical mechanism to ensure financial sustainability. A PPP involves a partnership between a government entity and a concessionaire--consisting of one or more private companies acting as a single, private incorporation--who make an agreement on funding, building, and operating a usually government-provided service, such as drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. This is different from a traditional contract between a government entity and a contractor because the concessionaire …

A New Class Of Solid Oxide Metal-Air Redox Batteries For Advanced Stationary Energy Storage, Xuan Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

Cost-effective and large-scale energy storage technologies are a key enabler of grid modernization. Among energy storage technologies currently being researched, developed and deployed, rechargeable batteries are unique and important that can offer a myriad of advantages over the conventional large scale siting- and geography- constrained pumped-hydro and compressed-air energy storage systems. However, current rechargeable batteries still need many breakthroughs in material optimization and system design to become commercially viable for stationary energy storage.

This PhD research project investigates the energy storage characteristics of a new class of rechargeable solid oxide metal-air redox batteries (SOMARBs) that combines a regenerative solid oxide …

Characterizing The Variability In Respirable Dust Exposure Using Johnson Transformation And Re-Examining 2010 Proposed Changes To The U.S. Underground Coal Mine Dust Standard, Al I. Khan

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

Coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), commonly referred to as black lung, is a chronic lung disease that results from the inhalation and deposition of coal dust in the lungs. While this disease continues to afflict coal miners, its prevalence has steadily declined over three decades since 1970. Based on a voluntary X-ray surveillance program, conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), this downward trend, however, ended in 2000 and has actually begun to rise. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) instituted a Comprehensive Initiative to “End Black Lung” to combat the reported upturn in black …

Enhanced Phosphate Flotation Using Novel Depressants, Lingyu Zhang

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

Froth flotation is the most efficient method for phosphate separation, which is a physic-chemical separation process based on the difference of surface properties between the valuable minerals and unwanted gangue minerals. However, the presence of clay slimes in the slurry after grinding consumes a large amount of reagents, decreases the collision probability between bubbles and minerals, prevents phosphate particle attachment to air bubbles, and thus considerably reduces flotation recovery and concentrate grade. Georgia Pacific Chemical, LLC has recently developed novel depressants, i.e., clay binders, which are a series of low molecular weight specialty polymers to help improve phosphate flotation performance …

Assessment, Optimization, And Enhancement Of Ultrafiltration (Uf) Membrane Processes In Potable Water Treatment, Christopher Boyd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation reports on research related to ultrafiltration (UF) membranes in drinking water applications. A pilot-scale investigation identified seasonal surface water quality impacts on UF performance and resulted in the development of a dynamic chemically enhanced backwash protocol for fouling management. Subsequent analysis of UF process data revealed limitations with the use of specific flux, transmembrane pressure (TMP), and other normalization techniques for assessing UF process fouling. A new TMP balance approach is presented that identifies the pressure contribution of membrane fouling and structural changes, enables direct process performance comparisons at different operating fluxes, and distinguishes between physically and chemically …

Evaluation Of The Biodegradability And Toxicity Of Pca And Mpca, Juan Rueda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main types of hypergolic propellants used at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) are hydrazine (HZ) and monomethylhydrazine (MMH). HZ and MMH are classified as hazardous materials and they are also known to be potentially carcinogenic to humans; therefore, handling these substances and their waste is strictly regulated. The wastes streams from HZ and MMH have been estimated to be the main hazardous wastes streams at KSC. Currently at KSC these wastes are first neutralized using citric acid and then they are transported on public roads for incineration as hazardous materials. A new method using alpha ketoglutaric acid (AKGA) was proposed …