Engineering Commons^™

Application Of Information And Communication Technologies For Historical Research, Michael Polczynski, Mark Polczynski

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Ceas E-News 09.12.2014, College Of Engineering And Applied Sciences

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences News

• 2014 Passport Day at the Parkview Campus Attended by More Than 350 Incoming Students
• Dr. Ala Al-Fuqaha Awarded $499,986 National Science Foundation Grant
• Dr. Steve Carr Awarded $400,000 National Science Foundation Grant
• Advanced Technology Summer Camp at WMU

Feasibility Considerations For A Long-Range Passive Vibrometer, Alan Marchant, Chad Fish, Jie Yao, Phillip Cunio, Wellesley Pereira

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

Hypertemporal imaging enables the long-range characterization of vibration modes and amplitudes of a passively illuminated structure. The vibration signature arises from modulation of the bidirectional reflection distribution function (BRDF) as the surface normal oscillates with respect to a fixed, directional source. This paper considers the instrument design characteristics and environmental factors that limit passive vibrometer performance including BRDF angle sensitivity, receiver spatial resolution, interference from atmospheric scintillation, and intrinsic detector performance. It also identifies a sensor architecture that is capable of characterizing surface vibration at amplitudes below 1 mrad rms and discuss detector technology that can further improve long-range vibrometer …

Tales Of A Combat Advisor In Iraq, Jerry Kidrick

ERAU Prescott Aviation History Program

In 2010, Army aviator Jerry Kidrick was mobilized from the Alaska National Guard to lead a team of Combat Advisors in Iraq. For 16 months in Basra, he advised the Iraqi Army on counter-insurgent actions. He also acted as liaison between the US State Dept.,CIA and US Commanders. He will discuss his experiences and how the Iraqi military assumed a greater counter-insurgent role under Operation New Dawn.

Mechanical Engineering News, Georgia Southern University

Mechanical Engineering: News & Publications (2013-2023)

• Dr. Soloiu wins Award for Excellence in Research

• Dr. Mitra wins Award for Excellence in Service

Integrating Cognitive Science With Innovative Teaching In Stem Disciplines, Mark A. Mcdaniel, Regina F. Frey, Susan M. Fitzpatrick, Henry L. Roediger Iii

Books and Monographs

This volume collects the ideas and insights discussed at a novel conference, the Integrating Cognitive Science with Innovative Teaching in STEM Disciplines Conference, which was held September 27-28, 2012 at Washington University in St. Louis. With funding from the James S. McDonnell Foundation, the conference was hosted by Washington University’s Center for Integrative Research on Cognition, Learning, and Education (CIRCLE), a center established in 2011. Available for download as a PDF. Titles of individual chapters can be found at http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/circle_book/.

A Collagen‐Glycosaminoglycan‐Fibrin Scaffold For Heart Valve Tissue Engineering Applications, Claire Brougham, Stefan Jockenhoevel, Thomas Flanagan, Fergal O'Brien

Conference Papers

The field of heart valve biology and tissue engineering a heart valve continue to expand. The presentatio ns at this meeting reflect the advances made in both areas due to the multi-disciplinary approach taken by many laboratories.

Practitioner Interview, Kirk Westphal

All ECSTATIC Materials

Phone interview with Kirk Westphal from CDM Smith by Emily Berglund and David Watkins, Jr.. Interview questions asked inquired about (i) practitioner’s professional background, (ii) practitioner’s personal experience with systems analysis techniques and software in their job, (iii) role, benefits, and challenges in using systems analysis concepts in the water resources engineering profession, and (iv) recommendations for improving education of environmental and water resources systems analysis in universities.

Emerging Role Of Photovoltaics For Sustainably Powering Underdeveloped, Emerging, And Developed Economies, Rajendra Singh, Amir A. Asif, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy, Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Mahmoud Abdelhamid, Githin F. Alapatt, David A. Ladner

Publications

With the advent of low-cost solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and our ability to generate, store, and use electrical energy locally without the need for long-range transmission, the world is about to witness transformational changes in electricity infrastructures. The use of DC electricity enhances systemwide efficiency. DC microgrids and nanogrids powered by solar PV systems and gigawatt batteries for electricity storage can sustainably power the needs of all human beings equitably and empower every individual. Ultralarge-scale manufacturing of PV systems and batteries, a vertically integrated business model, and a targeted monetary policy of quantitative easing can rapidly power all human activities.

Electric Bike Photovoltaic Charging Station (Pv-Cs): Experimental Design For Electrical Fault Investigations, Ayda Esfandyari, Kevin O'Farrell, Brian Norton, Sarah Mccormack

Conference Papers

Electric Vehicles (EV) have gained interest over the past decade. Accordingly, to support EV technology installation of charging stations are required. A Photovoltaic Charging Station (PV_CS) can generate clean electricity from the sun for charging electric bikes but as can be exposed to harsh weather conditions and faults, which can result in deviations of system characteristics from their normal operating conditions. Reliability of these charging stations is extremely important for supplying adequate charge to EVs, and therefore it must be maintained at all times. This paper presents a systematic approach to electrical reliability issues for PV_CS, by establishing an experimental …

Last Mile Asset Monitoring: Low Cost Rapid Deployment Asset Monitoring, Zdenek Zumr

Dissertations and Theses

Installation and utilization of residential distribution transformers has not changed substantially over a long period of time. Utilities typically size their transformers based on a formula that takes into account broadly what types and how many dwellings will be connected.

Most new residential dwellings feature 200 Amp service per household with an anticipated energy demand of under 20,000 kWh per year. Average electrical energy consumption varies from state to state but averages to 11,280 kWh per year. Energy demand is expected to fall into a typical residential load curve that shows increased demand early in the morning, then decreasing during …

Computer Vision And Route Planning For Humanoid Robots, Michael Iannicca, Dawei Du, Dan Simon

Undergraduate Research Posters 2014

Our research focuses on vision-based route planning for the NAO humanoid robot. The robot is required to visually observe a scene and decide the shortest possible route for visiting the points of interest in that scene. A robust method for processing image information is used to determine the locations to be visited. We use a perspective projection algorithm to map points from a camera image to locations in three-dimensional space. A camera calibration algorithm finds the distance from the camera to the image plane. Linear regression is used to obtain the equations of camera calibration lines. Thresholds and binary masks …

Live Cell Imaging Of Bone Marrow Stromal Cells On Nano-Pitted And Polished Titanium Surfaces: A Micro-Incubator In Vitro Approach, Zakaria Benmerzouga, Surendra Tewari, Joanne Belovich

Undergraduate Research Posters 2014

Current orthopedic implants are not conducive for optimal integration of the biomaterial with newly-formed tissue (osseointegration) inside a patient’s body. In this study, medical-rade Ti-6Al-4V was used as a substrate due to its biocompatibility and ability to facilitate cellular adhesion and proliferation. Live cell imaging was conducted on bone marrow stromal cells, genetically modified to express the green fluorescent protein (GFP), from the 24-96 hours growth period, with the first 24 hours of growth being held inside a lab-scale incubator. Periodic images were recorded on nanopitted anodized and polished Ti-6Al-4V substrates to study how substratestiffness influences adhesion and proliferation. Collected …

Electronic Control Optimization Of A Regenerative Leg Prosthesis, Taylor Barto, Dan Simon

Undergraduate Research Posters 2014

Until recently, leg prostheses (artificial legs) operated similarly to a leg without muscles. With recent advances in electronic technology, motorized prostheses have become possible. However, these prostheses require large batteries and have a limited operation time. Our research focuses on using supercapacitors in prostheses to exploit the braking portion of human walking to regenerate energy, thus reducing the dependence on batteries. To use supercapacitors with the knee motor, electronic control circuitry is required. We are using a circuit that is similar to a standard motor controller to manage the flow of energy between the supercapacitor and the knee motor. This …

High-Content, 3d Cell Culture Assays On A Micropillar/Microwell Chip Platform, Pranav Joshi, Akshata Datar, Alexander D. Roth, Pratap Lama, Moo-Yeal Lee

Undergraduate Research Posters 2014

High content imaging (HCI) is a multi-parametric assay using multiple fluorescent dyes that are relevant to specific cell functions. The HCI assays provide an insight into the mechanisms of toxic drug responses, thus enhancing predictability of drug toxicity. However, current HCI assays are performed on 2D cell monolayer cultures which are physiologically irrelevant, creating a new opportunity for better predictable 3D HCI assays. The goal of this research is to develop HCI assays on 3D cellular microarrays that can be implemented for various toxicity screening, leading to classification of drug toxicity via investigating profiles of cell injury. As a model …

Monitoring Micelle Formation In Mixtures Of Linear And Foldon-Capped Polypeptides With Light Scattering Spectroscopy, Janna Mino, John P. Gavin, Michael G. Price, Kiril Streletzky, Nolan Holland

Undergraduate Research Posters 2014

Elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) polymers are ideal for producing environmentally responsive micellar systems because they exhibit a transition from being water-soluble at low temperatures to phase-separated at high temperatures. For application development of drug delivery vehicles and biosensing nanoparticles, it is important to prepare spherical micelles of controlled diameter and shape. Since at a given salt concentration, the headgroup area for each foldon should be constant, the size of the micelles is expected to be proportional to the volume of the linear ELP available per foldon headgroup. Therefore, adding linear ELPs to a system of ELP-foldon should result in changes of …

Modeling And Parameter Estimation Of An Actuator For Prosthetic Joints, Bartholomew J. Brown, Katherine Florek, Hanz Richter

Undergraduate Research Posters 2014

A mathematical model was developed for a linear actuator to be used in a powered leg prosthesis. The model consists of a differential equation relating motor voltage, external force and velocity. All model parameters were known from manufacturer's data, except inertia and friction. A numerical simulation was prepared to estimate these parameters from experimental data. Experiments were conducted and a numerical search was performed to arrive at parameter values that closely fit the data. The mathematical model will be used in subsequent control development work.

Reaction Engineering Routes To Waste Gasification For Sustainable Living Environments, Stephen A. Reeves, Mohammed S. Suleiman, Joshua M. Cmar, Jorge E. Gatica

Undergraduate Research Posters 2014

There is an increasing pressure to reduce waste generation and dependence upon fossil fuels in our society. The approach investigated in this project aims to address both concerns by formulating a low-temperature gasification process to process long-chain polymers typically found in municipal waste. Gasification routes which convert plastic and bio-waste into useful fuel syngas products has been extensively investigated. The novelty of the approach examined here consists on the use of a variety of catalysts, which can promote high conversion in gasification reactions at much lower temperature and pressure conditions. This route overcomes some of the financial and environmental shortcomings …

An Autonomous Robotic Indoor Environment Surveillance System, Andrew Gunnerson, Bogdan Olar, Haodong Wang

Undergraduate Research Posters 2014

We developed an autonomous mobile robot platform capable of following a path and gather environmental data, including temperature, humidity, light intensity, etc. The robot is capable of detecting the path using its camera and correct most navigational errors, while the sensors support a limited set of instructions regarding which sensor data to collect and how often. Our experiment consisted of having the robot follow a looped path we set up in BU004 Lab. The robot was able to complete the loop and gather sensor data for light intensity, humidity and temperature at a frequency of once per second, and also …

Analysis Of Smartphone Traffic, Nick Ruffing, Ye Zhu

Undergraduate Research Posters 2014

Smartphones have become the central communication and computing devices in our daily life because of their nearly ubiquitous Internet access through various communication capabilities such as WiFi, 3G, or even 4G networks, their user-friendly interfaces supporting touch and gesture based input, and their numerous applications and games. Operating system (OS) detection, the first step to launch security attacks on a target smartphone, enables an adversary to tailor attacks by exploiting the known vulnerabilities of the target system. We investigate OS identification against smartphones that use encrypted traffic. We evaluate the identification algorithms against collected smartphone traffic. The experiments results show …

Comparison Of Electronic And Mechanical Handgrip Devices In Lowering Blood Pressure, Katie Webb, Brandon Musarra, Megan O’Keefe, Shana Strunk, Courtney Perkins, Kenneth E. Sparks, Emily Kullman, Eddie T.C. Lam

Undergraduate Research Posters 2014

Hypertension causes billions of deaths per year (Millar et al., 2013). The Zona PlusTM is an expensive tool designed to lower blood pressure (BP) using isometric exercise. This exercise may be achieved using a less expensive Handgrip Dynamometer. PURPOSE: The purpose of this research is to determine if the Zona or Handgrip Dynamometer is more efficient at lowering BP and most cost effective for patients. METHODS: Twenty subjects used the Zona and twenty subjects used the dynamometer three times per week for six weeks. BP was taken once per week prior to the treatment. A maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) was …

Anatomy-Based Transmission Factors For Technique Optimization In Portable Chest X-Ray, Chris L. Liptak, W. Paul Segars, Ashraf G. Morgan, Frank F. Dong, Xiang Li

Undergraduate Research Posters 2014

Currently, portable x-ray examinations do not employ automatic exposure control (AEC). To aid in the design of a size-specific technique chart, acrylic slabs of various thicknesses are often used to estimate x-ray transmission factors for patients of various body thicknesses. This approach, while simple, does not account for patient anatomy, tissue heterogeneity, and the attenuation properties of the human body. To better account for these factors, in this work, we determined x-ray transmission factors using computational patient models that are anatomically realistic. A Monte Carlo program was developed to model a portable x-ray system. Detailed modeling was done of the …

3d Cultures Of Human Liver Cell Lines Encapsulated In Puramatrix On A Microarray Chip Platform, Pratap Lama, Alexander D. Roth, Pranav Joshi, Akshata Datar, Moo-Yeal Lee

Undergraduate Research Posters 2014

A high-throughput cell printing technology has developed to simulate the liver tissue environment using a hydrogel-based chip platform that has potential to shift in vivo drug toxicity models towards in vitro tests. However, the hydrophobic nature of polystyrene chips is not promoting direct adhesion of hydrogels, which created a problem with spot attachment. The main goal of this research is to create a surface chemistry that helps to attach a peptide-based hydrogel, including PuraMatrix, to a polystyrenebased micropillar chip. Seven analogs of maleic anhydride co-polymers were used to coat the micropillar chip to create a functional surface. Then, six ionic …

Controlling Micelle Formation Using Mixtures Of Linear And Foldon-Capped Polypeptides (Elp): Measurements With Uv-Vis Spectroscopy, John P. Gavin, Michael G. Price, Janna Mino, Nolan Holland, Kiril Streletzky

Undergraduate Research Posters 2014

Polymer surfactants developed in our lab have a protein headgroup (foldon) and three elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) tails. They can form micelles smaller than 30 nm, which may be useful in developing targeted drug delivery vehicles. Specifically, ELPs are capped with foldon, which is a 27 amino acid sequence that folds as a homotrimer, resulting in a three-armed star polypeptide. This structure has been shown to form micelles above the transition temperature (Tt) of the ELP. The salt concentration affects the interaction between the headgroups affecting how the micelles assemble. At low salt concentrations the ELP-foldon will form spherical micelles; whereas, …

Mitigating Design Fixation Effects In Engineering Design Through Product Dissection Activities, Christine Toh, Scarlett Miller, Gül Kremer

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Design fixation plays an important role in design idea generation, and has been found to be complex in its definition and implications. Iden-tifying the factors that influence fixation is crucial in understanding how to improve design pedagogy and mitigate fixation effects. One way to potentially mitigate fixation is through product dissection activ-ities as this activity has been shown to increase creativity and design exploration in engineering design. However, since product dissection has not been studied in terms of design fixation, it is unclear if, or how, this type of activity influences fixation. In addition, although prior work studied product dissection …

Developing Pavement Preservation And Mitigation Strategies Using Pavement Me Design Guide For Rhode Island Dot, Sean Coffey

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of the study is to develop pavement preservation strategies using Pavement ME. The International Roughness Index (IRI), Longitudinal Cracking, and Permanent Deformation (Rutting) in both the asphalt layer and the total structure were predicted using Pavement ME to determine the sensitivity of flexible pavement performance with varying pavement parameters, such as thickness of the surface and existing hot mix asphalt (HMA) layers, traffic volume, binder grade of the surface HMA layer and the base layer modulus. The surface HMA layer thickness and traffic volume were significant at 95% confidence level for both types of rutting and terminal IRI. …

An Analysis Of (Bad) Behavior In Online Video Games, Jeremy Blackburn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation studies bad behavior at large-scale using data traces from online video games. Video games provide a natural laboratory for exploring bad behavior due to their popularity, explicitly defined (programmed) rules, and a competitive nature that provides motivation for bad behavior. More specifically, we look at two forms of bad behavior: cheating and toxic behavior.

Cheating is most simply defined as breaking the rules of the game to give one player an edge over another. In video games, cheating is most often accomplished using programs, or "hacks," that circumvent the rules implemented by game code. Cheating is a threat …

Evaluation Of Natural Plant Powders With Potential Use In Antimicrobial Packaging Applications, Yujie Cheng, Changfeng Ge, Jeffrey Lodge, Ksv Santhanam, Lixing Lu

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

This study investigates the antimicrobial effects of vanillin, turmeric and curcumin in the forms of Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) solution as well as polymer packaging. Five types of common pathogens and food spoilage bacteria were used in this study: Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes representing gram-positive bacteria; Shigella sonnei, Salmonella typhimurium as well as E.coli O157:H7 representing gram- negative bacteria. Turmeric is chosen as the antimicrobial agent to be incorporated into packaging materials. In order to study the antimicrobial effect as packaging application, two types of the polymer based turmeric products were produced. They are LDPE based turmeric pellets produced by …

Variable Selection For Regression Problems Using Gaussian Mixture Models To Estimate Mutual Information, Emil Eirola, Amaury Lendasse, Juha Karhunen

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Variable Selection is a Crucial Part of Building Regression Models and is Preferably Done as a Filtering Method Independently from the Model Training. Mutual Information is a Popular Relevance Criterion for This, But It is Not Trivial to Estimate Accurately from a Limited Amount of Data. in This Paper, a Method is Presented Where a Gaussian Mixture Model is Used to Estimate the Joint Density of the Input and Output Variables, and Subsequently Used to Select the Most Relevant Variables by Maximizing the Mutual Information Which Can Be Estimated using the Model.

A Generalized Proportionate Adaptive Algorithm Based On Convex Optimization, Jianming Liu, Steven L. Grant

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A general framework is proposed to derive proportionate adaptive algorithms for sparse system identification. The proposed algorithmic framework employs the convex optimization and covers many traditional proportionate algorithms. Meanwhile, based on this framework, some novel proportionate algorithms could be derived too. In the simulations, we compare the new derived proportionate algorithm with the traditional ones and demonstrate that it could provide faster convergence rate and tracking performance for both white and colored input in sparse system identification.