Engineering Commons^™

Creation Of An Interactive Early-Stage Design Environment, Braden Hancock, Dr. Christopher Mattson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In my proposal for an ORCA grant, I provided a plan to assist design engineers in the early stages of the design process. This I proposed to do through the development of a computational environment wherein design engineers could more fully and simply analyze the relationships between the various design objects (variables, constraints, and objectives) that define a multiobjective optimization problem (MOP). Thanks to the opportunity that I received to pursue this research, that technology has been developed and disseminated in the scientific community through two academic journals, two professional conferences, and one student conference.

Radio-Frequency Microfluidic Interferometer In Printed Circuit Board Process, Shiul Khadka, Dr. Brian Mazzeo

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In this project, we developed a process to integrate microfluidic channels on standard radio- frequency (RF) A 10.56 GHz RF microstrip interferometer was fabricated using the proposed technique and used to compare electrical responses for liquids with various dielectric properties and thereby demonstrate the capability of RF PCB-integrated microfluidic devices for biological sensing. Microchannels were milled into a substrate and prepreg outlines for microchannels were cut using a laser system. Substrates were adhered and bonded by clamping and baking. The RF interferometer responded to changes in liquid permittivity with high sensitivity relative to many other types of dielectric sensors.

Research And Design Of Transtibial Prosthetic Shower Legs, Angelina Schwartz, Dr. Eric Homer

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The aim of 2ft Prosthetics is to design, test, and distribute low-cost prostheses to below-the-knee amputees in developing countries. To do this, a research and development team focuses on the design and construction of the prosthesis. It is then tested on local amputees by the clinical trials team. During this interaction we gain many insights regarding improvements that can be made to the prosthesis to make it more comfortable, reliable, and versatile. We learned that many high- level prostheses commonly used here in the United States are not designed to be used in wet environments. Amputees must remove it to …

Android Gloves To Control Smart Phone: Providing A Mouse And Keyboard To Every Smart Phone User, Skyler Greenman, Dr. Bret Swan

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I am reporting to the MTC on August 15th. I am therefore submitting my final report a few months early of the December deadline. However, I have put nearly a year’s amount of work into this project as I started researching early knowing that there were many different ideas and concepts that I had to understand before I could begin experimenting with the hardware. For example, I had to understand how an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) when attached to a user’s hand could navigate a phone like a mouse and how to overhaul the Android operating system to create a …

Gold Nanoparticle Conjugation With A2 Protein In Vlp For Symmetrical Alignment, Matthew Burnham, Dr. Brad Bundy

Journal of Undergraduate Research

A Virus-like Particle (VLP) is a nanostructure composed of many coat proteins. They differ from real viruses in that they are synthesized to be non-infectious. VLPs have many useful applications in vaccines, drug delivery, gene therapy, and material science¹. Last year, I attempted to create a high resolution image of the VLP Q-beta. This was to be accomplished by making modifications to the virus’ structure after its creation. Conjugating a gold nanoparticle to the Q-beta VLP-A2 protein complex would, in theory, provide a site of orientation and allow us to image the VLP (Figure 1). Although the goal …

Scaffold Design Of A Novel Nano-Particle For Single-Target Imaging, Chad Varner, Dr. Brad Bundy

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project has been to help develop a novel nano-imaging particle. Current methodologies have limitations that preclude them from being used for nanometric (1-500nm) imaging processes in living organisms. These include, but are not limited to, low signal to noise ratios, limited target specificity, and bio-incompatibility. To further the possibilities available for nano-imaging, we have attempted to create a scaffold, or framework, for a biocompatible nanoparticle that is capable of imaging specific targets in living systems.

Cell-Free Protein Synthesis Extract Preparation Methods, Troy Holland, Dr. Brad Bundy

Journal of Undergraduate Research

My ORCA project proposed to test and optimize various low capital cost cell lysis methods, while leaving the internal cell machinery intact and viable for cell-free protein synthesis research. Our cells of interest were a strain of the bacterium E. coli, and their cellular machinery consists of the chemicals and enzymes they use in their every-day life processes, including (and of particular interest to us) the synthesis of proteins. These proteins have an almost limitless number of potential applications in medicine, food services, and chemical production, so the various methods of protein synthesis are of significant importance, both financially, and …

Geographic Information Systems And Transportation Safety: A Prototype, Clancy Black, Dr. Grant Schultz

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this report is to describe work completed for the ORCA sponsored research project “Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Transportation Safety: A Prototype”. A literature review was conducted to identify the best existing tools and technology. From the research, a GIS model prototype was created to assist in data processing and identification of high-risk crash locations. Applications of the model were tested.

Compressive Strength Of Emulsion-Treated Base Material Stabilized With Cement, Lisa Gurney, Dr. Spencer Guthrie

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Full-Depth Reclamation (FDR) in conjunction with stabilization is becoming an increasingly popular method for flexible pavement reconstruction. FDR can be more economically and environmentally friendly than excavation and replacement; however successful reconstruction greatly depends on the stabilization method employed, base material properties, and site conditions.

Using Photolithographically-Produced Micro-Channels With Controlled Pores To Create A Bacteria Filter For Blood, Sara Ehlert, Dr. Aaron Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The importance of blood to humans cannot be understated. Its important functions include transporting oxygen and nutrients around the body, preventing blood loss, fighting infection, carrying antibodies to fight infection, delivering waste products to the kidneys and liver to be removed from the body, and regulating body temperature [1]. Unfortunately, there are several severe diseases that are directly related to blood, including anemia, hemophilia, blood cancers, blood clotting problems, septicemia (blood poisoning), and sepsis. Furthermore, many important diagnostic tests are performed using blood, such as evaluating organs (e.g. kidney, liver, thyroid, and heart), diagnosing cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and medicine effectiveness …

Distributed Multi-Object Tracking With Multi-Camera Systems Composed Of Overlapping And Non-Overlapping Cameras, Youlu Wang

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Multiple cameras have been used to improve the coverage and accuracy of visual surveillance systems. Nowadays, there are estimated 30 million surveillance cameras deployed in the United States. The large amount of video data generated by cameras necessitate automatic activity analysis, and automatic object detection and tracking are essential steps before any activity/event analysis.

Most work on automatic tracking of objects across multiple camera views has considered systems that rely on a back-end server to process video inputs from multiple cameras. In this dissertation, we propose distributed camera systems in peer-to-peer communication. Each camera in the proposed systems performs object …

Flow And Geometry Measurements At An Active Knickpoint, Clark W. Kephart

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Channel degradation is an area of growing concern in areas of the Midwestern United States where there are large deposits of loess soils. Channel degradation occurs as a result of disturbances to the sediment load, bed soil configuration, and hydraulic characteristics of the stream (i.e. discharge, channel slope and geometry). These changes may occur suddenly or slowly over time. A given disturbance may be due to a large rain event, channel adjustments (i.e. dredging and straightening), and changes in land use around the stream (Chen et al. 1999).

A knickpoint is an abrupt drop in stream bed elevation over which …

Sensor Application Of Poly (Ethylene Glycol) Diacrylate Hydrogels Chemically-Anchored On Polymer Surface, Zhan Gao, Chang-Soo Kim, David B. Henthorn

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We demonstrate a device process combining two photo patternable polymers, poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG)-diacrylate-based-hydrogel and epoxy-based photoresist SU-8, to implement an optofluidic bioanalytical platform through a surface anchoring technique. As an exemplary sensor application, optical dissolved oxygen sensors are fabricated and their performance characterized. The PEG-rich hydrogel is used as a matrix material for the immobilization of oxygen-responsive fluorophore, dichlorotris (1, 10-phenanthroline) ruthenium (II) hydrate. This hydrogel is chemically anchored on the surface of negative-tone photoresist, SU-8, through a free radical reaction in which 1-hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone served as the surface bound photo initiator. The sensor exhibits a reversible Stern-Volmer …

Noise And Vibration Reduction Of A Clothes Dryer, Daniel O'Hare

Honors Theses

As placement of washers and dryers becomes common in apartment buildings and high rises, noise generated by the dryer becomes a nuisance to the inhabitants. Whirlpool Corporation is experiencing this issue first hand with their Horizon model long vent dryers. A focus was placed on noise and vibrations caused by the dryer motor, because its vibrations are transferred throughout the structure of the dryer. The motor causing sound problems was a modified motor from the standard model, including a speed-increasing attachment in order to operate the fan at an increased speed. Through sound and vibration measurements, structural and airborne noise …

Multi-Objective Time-Cost Optimization Using Cobb-Douglas Production Function And Hybrid Genetic Algorithm, Zhigang Shen, Ashkan Hassani, Qian Shi

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Existing research on construction time-cost tradeoff issues rarely explore the origin of the crashing cost. Crashing cost function was either assumed without much justification, or came from historical data of some real projects. As a result the conclusions of the papers can hardly be used to guide allocations of labor and equipment resources respectively. The authors believe Cobb-Douglas function provides a much-needed piece to modeling the cost functions in the construction time-cost tradeoff problem during the crashing process. We believe this new perspective fills a gap of existing time-cost tradeoff research by considering project duration, labor and equipment cost as …

Design Of Cable-To-Post Attachments For Use In A Non-Proprietary, High-Tension, Cable Median Barrier, Ryan Joseph Bateman

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Cable median barriers are widely used across the country to prevent cross-median crashes. Several years ago, the Midwest States Pooled Fund Program contracted with the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility (MwRSF) to develop a new, non-proprietary, high-tension, 4-cable median barrier. In the Fall of 2011 and following two failed full-scale vehicle crash tests on prototype barrier systems, it was determined that design modifications were necessary to improve barrier performance. In addition, members of the Midwest States Pooled Fund Program desired to redirect the development effort.

Both of the barrier system failures which prompted the re-design effort could be partially attributed to …

Industrial Wireless Communication System For Notification, Jolica Dias, Devin Semrau, Jumana Abukabbos

Honors Theses

An industrial wireless communication system for short structured messages was needed to support lean manufacturing environments. While first generation prototypes of end devices were previously constructed for the network, it lacked the range, robustness and battery operation desired. The advances made in the new system incorporate multiple small rechargeable user modules that communicate with and through one or more higher powered fixed location message router stations. This configuration ensures that wireless signal integrity is maintained throughout an industrial facility, and that the messages are successfully sent and received. XBee wireless transceivers were imbedded onto the router to enable communication between …

Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle (Phev) Component Pre-Heater, Ria Pereira

Honors Theses

In plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, the optimum temperatures of the cabin and various fluids are achieved through the dissipating heat of the internal combustion engine. In colder climates the initial warm-up of components requires the internal combustion engine to run causing unnecessary consumption of fuel. This project improved the pre-heating system formerly in place. It uses a variety of electric heaters along with the positive temperature coefficient (PTC) heater and blower motor already installed on the vehicle. A system utilizing a microcontroller turns the heaters on and off based on the inputs from the temperature sensors installed on the vehicle. …

Micro Grids Fabricated For Miniature Ion Thruster, Deborah French, Jesse Taff

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Part of the research at Boise State is a miniaturized plasma propulsion thruster. The purpose of the thruster is to provide the necessary location realignments for small satellites in space. The grid creates an electrostatic field, which extracts plasma ions from an Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) source. The ions are propelled toward a collector plate being a second identical grid, which in turn creates the desired thrust. The size and density of the openings in the grid are essential to optimizing the thrust produced. The grid geometry contributes to the ion departure angle (focusing) and the ion transparency. The Stainless …

Mechanical Testing And Design Of The Magnetic Linear Test Apparatus, Sam Barker, Eric Rhoads, Brittni Blessie, Zachary Harris, Courtney Hollar

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

In order to further understand the fatigue and electrical properties of multifunctional magnetic shape memory alloys (MSMA), such as nickel-manganese-gallium (Ni-Mn-Ga), it is often necessary to modify existing machinery or design unique devices. The existing linear test apparatus has accomplished the goal of straining specimens by applying linear compression in a static magnetic field. The data acquired by this apparatus has been useful, but is limited by the device’s lack of magnetic field strength variability and closed loop control, as well as its data acquisition speed. The proposed study seeks to design and test a linear test apparatus that performs …

Predicting Creep In An Alloy 617 Pressure Vessel Using Uniaxial Bar Test Data, Justin Allen, Allyssa Bateman, Yudhishthir Bhetwal, Theodora Caldwell, Joseph Croteau, Elias Lindau

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Alloy 617 is being investigated as a candidate for application in next generation nuclear plants (NGNPs), including the very high temperature reactor (VHTR). Creep deformation concerns the lifetime and failure of heat exchangers used at the very high operating temperatures and pressures of such plants. In order to meet the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Boiler and Pressure Vessel code (ASME B&PV), and be certified for use in NGNPs, a thorough understanding of creep must be demonstrated. Current methods of testing creep have limitations and there remains uncertainty and controversy as to the applicability of these tests to more complex …

Use Of Global Electrochemical Techniques To Characterize Localized Corrosion Behavior On Aluminum Alloys, Joe Croteau, Kerry N. Allahar, Darryl P. Butt, Michael F. Hurley

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Precipitated intermetallic phases strengthen aluminum aircraft alloys; these inclusions also establish localized electrochemical environments, significantly influencing the bulk corrosion behavior of such alloys. To gain insight on the effects of intermetallic phases on the bulk corrosion behavior, two established forms of electrochemical characterization techniques were used, polarization scans and impedance spectroscopy. This effort was undertaken to:

• Provide a statistical body of electrochemical data for aluminum alloys,
• Provide fundamental electrochemical parameters to aide in a continuum scale modeling effort,
• Validate the effect of solution chemistry on bulk corrosion behavior,
• Determine the influence of precipitated intermetallic phases on the bulk corrosion behavior, …

Time-Dependent Mechanical Response Of A Composite Pfsa Membrane, Narinder S. Khattra, Zongwen Lu, Anette M. Karlsson, Michael H. Santare, F. Colin Busby, Thomas Schmiedel

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

The mechanical response of a composite fuel cell membrane, made from layers of reinforced and unreinforced PFSA material, is investigated via both experimental and numerical means. First, the time-dependent mechanical properties for the reinforced layers are measured for a range of environmental and loading conditions. A three-network, viscoelastic-plastic constitutive model is developed to characterize the mechanical response of this reinforced membrane material. This constitutive model is then used in finite element simulations of a fuel cell unit (consisting of composite membrane, electrodes, gas diffusion layer and bipolar plates) where the effect of relative humidity (RH) cycling on the stress response …

The Executive Model And Efficiency Analysis Of Power Intrachange, Tai-Ken Lu, Wen-Chi Chang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In recent years, the deregulation of power companies has been a subject of discussion in many countries. However, irrespective of the degree of deregulation of a power industry, its power systems still have the same basic structure for power generation, transmission, distribution and the end user. In most countries, the power industry has institutions dedicated to achieving improvements in its power systems in order to maintain reliable power supply. Power companies often establish power interchange support mechanisms with nearby power systems to ensure a stable power supply. One such mechanism is “power intrachange,” wherein a power system can compensate for …

Numerical Simulations And Wind Tunnel Studies Of Pollutant Dispersion In The Urban Street Canyons With Different Height Arrangements, Cheng-Hsin Chang, Jin-Shian Lin, Chii-Ming Cheng, Yung-Shan Hong

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Air pollution in big city areas resulting from exhaust emissions is a major urban problem. Often traffic pollution excess controls air pollution management decisions. There are a number of elaborate predictive models of pollutant dispersion and diffusion that address the effects of variable shapes of city buildings on pollutant concentrations, but few are fully validated. This study presents ventilation behavior in different street canyon configurations. To evaluate dispersion in a model urban street canyon, a series of tests with various street canyons with different height in upwind and downwind of street canyon are presented. These buildings were arranged in 2-D …

Further Results On Robust Exponential Stabilization For Time-Varying Delay Saturating Actuator Systems With Delay-Dependence, Pin-Lin Liu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The problem of delay-dependent exponential robust stabilization for a class of uncertain saturating actuator systems with time-varying delay is investigated. Novel exponential stability and stabilization criteria for the system are derived using the Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional combined with Leibniz-Newton formula. The issue of exponential stabilization for time-varying delay systems with saturating actuator using generalized eigenvalue problem (GEVP) approach remains open, which motivates this paper. The designed controller is dependent on the time-delay and its rate of change. All the conditions are presented in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), which can solved efficiently by using the convex optimization algorithms. A state …

A Model Of Return Flow Recovery System In Paddy Field Base On Gis, Yu-Chuan Chang, Shih-Yi Fan, Jen-Yan Chen, Chun-E Kan

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this study, return flow in a paddy field was simulated in order to supply reuse water to industries. Field experiment and historical data were obtained for a two-tank model parameter estimation and verification. The selected boundary of paddy fields was identified based on GIS. The simulation results showed that the reasonable reuse flow rate corresponding to the area of 6,036 ha in the first crop season and 1,994 ha in the second crop season. The volumes of the return flow and reuse water are 18.74 × 106 and 15.52 × 106 t, respectively. However, the pattern of rainfall, active …

An Analytical Solution For Linear Long Wave Reflection By Two Submerged Rectangular Breakwaters, Huan-Wen Liu, Jiong-Xing Luo

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this paper, an analytical solution for linear long wave reflection by two rectangular breakwaters is explored. A closed-form expression of wave reflection coefficient is obtained which finds two well-known analytical solutions to be its special cases, including wave reflection by a rectangular breakwater given by Mei in 1989 and wave reflection by an infinite step given by Lamb in 1932. It is found that the periodicity of the reflection coefficient as a function of kh existed for a single rectangular breakwater disappears for a pair of breakwaters, and zero reflection phenomenon mostly occurs for symmetrical breakwater structure. It is …

Vibration Suppression Of Train-Induced Multiple Resonant Responses Of Two-Span Continuous Bridges Using Ve Dampers, Ying-Jie Wang, Jong-Dar Yau, Qing-Chao Wei

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper presents a study of reducing multiple resonant peaks of high-speed trains traveling over a two-span continuous railway bridge using visco-elastic (VE) dampers. The moving train is modeled as a series of two-degree-of-freedom (2 DOF) moving oscillators with identical intervals and the two-span continuous bridge as a Bernoulli-Euler beam with uniform span. Because of closely spaced frequencies of a continuous beam, the first several frequencies of the bridge would be excited to resonance during the passage of moving trains, which may result in multiple resonant peaks appearing on the response of train-bridge system. In order to reduce the multiple …

Passive Fuzzy Controller Design For Discrete Ship Steering Systems Via Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Model With Multiplicative Noises, Wen-Jer Chang, Min-Wei Chen, Cheung-Chieh Ku

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper proposes a passive fuzzy controller design for the discrete ship steering system that is represented by the Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy model with multiplicative noises. Applying the Lyapunov theory for guaranteeing mean square stability, the sufficient conditions are developed to design the fuzzy controller for the T-S fuzzy model with multiplicative noises. The sufficient conditions derived in this paper belong to the Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) forms which can be solved by the convex optimal programming algorithm. Besides, the fuzzy controller is carried out by the concept of Parallel Distribution Compensator (PDC). Finally, the simulation results are proposed to …