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Usu Engineering Professors Headline Electric Vehicle And Roadway Conference | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Originally posted Feb. 10, 2015 – PARK CITY, Utah – Top executives from the automotive industry and engineering experts from Utah State University and around the world came together this week to discuss the future of electric vehicles.

Bio-Based Polyurethane Dispersion Compositions And Methods, Vijaykumar M. Mannari

Patents

The disclosure relates to water-dispersible polyurethane polymers as well as related polyurethane dispersion (PUD) compositions including the same, methods of making the same, methods of using the same, and articles coated with the same. The water-dispersible polyurethane polymer includes hydrophobic oligomeric polyether soft segments that include 1,2-di-substituted oxyethylene repeating units. The 1,2-disubstituted oxyethylene repeating units are derived from unsaturated fatty acid esters, such as from a distribution of epoxidized vegetable oil fatty acid esters subjected to a ring-opening polymerization process for oligomeric polyether polyol formation. The water-dispersible polyurethane polymer further includes hard segments common to other PUD compositions.

Chemical Reaction Network Control Systems For Agent-Based Foraging Tasks, Joshua Stephen Moles

Dissertations and Theses

Chemical reaction networks are an unconventional computing medium that could benefit from the ability to form basic control systems. In this work, we demonstrate the functionality of a chemical control system by evaluating classic genetic algorithm problems: Koza's Santa Fe trail, Jefferson's John Muir trail, and three Santa Fe trail segments. Both Jefferson and Koza found that memory, such as a recurrent neural network or memories in a genetic program, are required to solve the task. Our approach presents the first instance of a chemical system acting as a control system. We propose a delay line connected with an artificial …

A Review Of Open Source Software Solutions For Developing Water Resources Web Applications, Nathan R. Swain, Kilisimasi Latu, Scott D. Christensen, Norman L. Jones, E. James Nelson, Daniel P. Ames, Gustavious P. Williams

Faculty Publications

Water resources web applications or “web apps” are growing in popularity as a means to overcome many of the challenges associated with hydrologic simulations in decision-making. Water resources web apps fall outside of the capabilities of standard web development software, because of their spatial data components. These spatial data needs can be addressed using a combination of existing free and open source software (FOSS) for geographic information systems (FOSS4G) and FOSS for web development. However, the abundance of FOSS projects that are available can be overwhelming to new developers. In an effort to understand the web of FOSS features and …

Near Real-Time Operation Of Public Image Database For Ground Vehicle Navigation, Ehsan A. Ali, Samuel Peter Kozaitis

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

An effective color night vision system for ground vehicle navigation should operate in near real-time to be practical. We described a system that uses a public database as a source of color information to colorize night vision imagery. Such an approach presents several problems due to differences between acquired and reference imagery. Our system performed registration, colorizing, and reference updating in near real-time in an effort to help drivers of ground vehicles during night to see a colored view of a scene.

Ring-Opening Polymerization Of Ε-Caprolactone Initiated By Ganciclovir (Gcv) For The Preparation Of Gcv-Tagged Polymeric Micelles, Alicia J. Sawdon, Ching-An Peng

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Ganciclovir (GCV) is a nucleoside analogue with antiviral activity against herpes viral infections, and the most widely used antiviral to treat cytomegalovirus infections. However, the low bioavailability and short half-life of GCV necessitate the development of a carrier for sustained delivery. In this study, guanosine-based GCV was used as the initiator directly in ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone (ε-CL) to form hydrophobic GCV-poly(caprolactone) (GCV-PCL) which was then grafted with hydrophilic chitosan to form amphiphilic copolymers for the preparation of stable micellar nanoparticles. Successful synthesis of GCV-PCL and GCV-PCL-chitosan were verified by ¹H-NMR analysis. Self-assembled micellar nanoparticles were characterized by dynamic …

Methods For Analyzing The Structure Of Creases In Heat Sealed Paperboard Packages, Ville Leminen, Petri Mäkelä, Panu Tanninen, Juha Varis

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Press-forming of paperboard has been previously studied by several authors. A point of interest regarding gas tight heat sealing of the packages are the creases in the package. The objective of this article was to study and compare different microscopic imaging methods to research an optimal imaging method for the formation of creases in the press-forming process of polymer coated paperboard trays. The studied methods were: Scanning electrode microscopy (SEM), X-ray Microtomography, Optical light microscopy and Polarized light microscopy. All four tested methods delivered clear images. Casting of the samples in an acrylic resin and light microscope imaging was found …

Identifying Locations Of Active Corrosion Growth From Successive In-Line Inspections, Tom Bubenik, William V. Harper, Pam Moreno, Steven Polasik

Mathematics Faculty Scholarship

The integrated approach covered by this paper identifies corrosion activity using a combination of statistics, inspection-signal comparisons, and engineering analyses. The approach relies on an understanding of ILI and the mechanisms that cause corrosion and its growth. Pipeline operators can use the approach to calculate remaining lives, prioritize repairs and mitigation, and extend reassessment intervals. This process is collectively known as statistically-active corrosion.

Graphene Plasmonics For Tuning Photon Decay Rate Near Metallic Split-Ring Resonator In A Multilayered Substrate, Yongpin P. Chen, Wei E.I. Sha, Lijun Jiang, Jun Hu

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Study of photon decay rate is essential to various optical devices, where graphene is an emerging building block due to its electrical tunability. In this paper, we study photon decay rate of a quantum emitter near a metallic split-ring resonator, which is embedded in a multilayered substrate incorporating a graphene layer. Analyzing photon decay rate in such a complex multilayered system is not only computationally challenging but also highly important to experimentally realizable devices. First, the dispersion relation of graphene plasmonics supported at a dieletric/graphene/dielectric structure is investigated systematically. Meanwhile, the dispersion relation of metallic plasmonics supported at a dielectric/metal …

The Bifunctional Alcohol And Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Gene, Adhe, Is Necessary For Ethanol Production In Clostridium Thermocellum And Thermoanaerobacterium Saccharolyticum, Jonathan Lo, Tianyong Zheng, Shuen Hon, Daniel G. Olson, Lee Lynd

Dartmouth Scholarship

Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum and Clostridium thermocellum are anaerobic thermophilic bacteria being investigated for their ability to produce biofuels from plant biomass. The bifunctional alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenase gene, adhE, is present in these bacteria and has been known to be important for ethanol formation in other anaerobic alcohol producers. This study explores the inactivation of the adhE gene in C. thermocellum and T. saccharolyticum. Deletion of adhE reduced ethanol production by >95% in both T. saccharolyticum and C. thermocellum, confirming that adhE is necessary for ethanol formation in both organisms. In both adhE deletion strains, fermentation products shifted from ethanol …

Safety At Half-Signal Intersections In Portland, Oregon, Todd Robert Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

The safety at half-signalized intersections in Portland, Oregon is analyzed in this thesis using 10 years of crash history and analysis of video that was collected at a subset of intersections. A half-signalized intersection has a standard red-yellow-green traffic signal for automobiles on the major road, a stop sign for motorists on the minor road, and a pedestrian signal with actuation for pedestrians and/or bicyclists on the minor road. Although prevalent in Canada, this type of intersection control is not typically found in the United States because the MUTCD explicitly prohibits its use. Half-signal use is limited mostly to two …

Wavelet-Multivariate Relevance Vector Machine Hybrid Model For Forecasting Daily Evapotranspiration, Roula Bachour, I. Maslova, Andres M. Ticlavilca, Wynn R. Walker, Mac Mckee

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Evapotranspiration (ET) is one of the main components of the hydrological cycle. It is a complex process driven mainly by weather parameters, and as such, is characterized by high non-linearity and non-stationarity. This paper introduces a methodology combining wavelet multiresolution analysis with a machine learning algorithm, the multivariate relevance vector machine (MVRVM), in order to predict 16 days of future daily reference evapotranspiration (ETo). This methodology lays the ground for forecasting the spatial distribution of ET using Landsat satellite imagery, hence the choice of 16 days, which corresponds with the Landsat overpass cycle. An accurate prediction of daily ETo is …

Self-Study Review Florida Solar Energy Center (Fsec) University Of Central Florida (Ucf), Florida Solar Energy Center, James Fenton

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This document has been prepared for the use of the Florida Solar Energy Center's (FSEC's) External Review Team, 7-Yr. Review. The document follows an outline provided by the University of Central Florida. With added sections addressing FSEC's strengths, weaknesses and opportunities

A Versatile Microparticle-Based Immunoaggregation Assay For Macromolecular Biomarker Detection And Quantification, Haiyan Wu, Yu Han, Xi Yang, George G. Chase, Qiong Tang, Chen-Jung Lee, Bin Cao, Jiang Zhe, Gang Cheng

Chemical, Biomolecular, and Corrosion Engineering Faculty Research

The rapid, sensitive and low-cost detection of macromolecular biomarkers is critical in clinical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, research, etc. Conventional assay methods usually require bulky, expensive and designated instruments and relative long assay time. For hospitals and laboratories that lack immediate access to analytical instruments, fast and low-cost assay methods for the detection of macromolecular biomarkers are urgently needed. In this work, we developed a versatile microparticle (MP)-based immunoaggregation method for the detection and quantification of macromolecular biomarkers. Antibodies (Abs) were firstly conjugated to MP through streptavidin-biotin interaction; the addition of macromolecular biomarkers caused the aggregation of Ab-MPs, which were subsequently …

A Versatile Microparticle-Based Immunoaggregation Assay For Macromolecular Biomarker Detection And Quantification, Haiyan Wu, Yu Han, George G. Chase, Qiong Tang, Chen-Jung Lee, Bin Cao, Jiang Zhe, Gang Cheng

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

The rapid, sensitive and low-cost detection of macromolecular biomarkers is critical in clinical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, research, etc. Conventional assay methods usually require bulky, expensive and designated instruments and relative long assay time. For hospitals and laboratories that lack immediate access to analytical instruments, fast and low-cost assay methods for the detection of macromolecular biomarkers are urgently needed. In this work, we developed a versatile microparticle (MP)-based immunoaggregation method for the detection and quantification of macromolecular biomarkers. Antibodies (Abs) were firstly conjugated to MP through streptavidin-biotin interaction; the addition of macromolecular biomarkers caused the aggregation of Ab-MPs, which were subsequently …

Uncertainty Analysis Of A Spatially Explicit Annual Water-Balance Model: Case Study Of The Cape Fear Basin, North Carolina, Perrine Hamel, Andrew John Guswa

Engineering: Faculty Publications

There is an increasing demand for assessment of water provisioning ecosystem services. While simple mod- els with low data and expertise requirements are attractive, their use as decision-aid tools should be supported by un- certainty characterization. We assessed the performance of the InVEST annual water yield model, a popular tool for ecosystem service assessment based on the Budyko hydro- logical framework. Our study involved the comparison of 10 subcatchments ranging in size and land-use configuration, in the Cape Fear basin, North Carolina. We analyzed the model sensitivity to climate variables and input parameters, and the structural error associated with the …

Systems, Methods And Devices For Vector Control Of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machines Using Artificial Neural Networks, Shuhui Li, Michael Fairbank, Xingang Fu, Donald C. Wunsch, Eduardo Alonso

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An example method for controlling an AC electrical machine can include providing a PWM converter operably connected between an electrical power source and the AC electrical machine and providing a neural network vector control system operably connected to the PWM converter. The control system can include a current-loop neural network configured to receive a plurality of inputs. The current-loop neural network can be configured to optimize the compensating dq-control voltage. The inputs can be d- and q-axis currents, d- and q-axis error signals, predicted d- and q-axis current signals, and a feedback compensating dq-control voltage. The d- and q-axis error …

Highly Efficient And Magnetically Recyclable Graphene-Supportedpd/Fe3o4 Nanoparticle Catalysts For Suzuki And Heck Cross-Coupling Reactions, Hany A. Elazab

Chemical Engineering

tHerein, we report a facile and efficient one-step method for the synthesis of highly active, Pd/Fe3O4nanoparticles supported on graphene nanosheets (Pd/Fe3O4/G) that exhibit excellent catalytic activityfor Suzuki and Heck coupling reactions and that can be magnetically separated from the reaction mix-ture and recycled multiple times without loss of catalytic activity. The synthesis approach is based on theMicrowave (MW)-assisted reduction of palladium and ferric nitrates in the presence of graphene oxide(GO) nanosheets using hydrazine hydrate as the reducing agent. The results provide a fundamental under-standing of the system variables by comparing the catalytic activity and recyclability of four differentcatalysts with different …

Macroscopic Optical Imaging Technique For Wide-Field Estimation Of Fluorescence Depth In Optically Turbid Media For Application In Brain Tumor Surgical Guidance, Kolbein K. Kolste, Stephen C. Kanick, Pablo A. Valdés, Michael Jermyn, Brian C. Wilson, David W. Roberts, Keith D. Paulsen, Frederic Leblond

Dartmouth Scholarship

A diffuse imaging method is presented that enables wide-field estimation of the depth of fluorescent molecular markers in turbid media by quantifying the deformation of the detected fluorescence spectra due to the wavelength-dependent light attenuation by overlying tissue. This is achieved by measuring the ratio of the fluorescence at two wavelengths in combination with normalization techniques based on diffuse reflectance measurements to evaluate tissue attenuation variations for different depths. It is demonstrated that fluorescence topography can be achieved up to a 5 mm depth using a near-infrared dye with millimeter depth accuracy in turbid media having optical properties representative of …

Impact Of Internals Size And Configuration On Bubble Dynamics In Bubble Columns For Alternative Clean Fuels Production, Moses Kagumba, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Bubble Columns Have Been Used in a Wide Range of Applications in Industry Including the Production of Alternative Clean Fuels Via Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis and Liquid Phase Methanol Synthesis, among Others. the Effects of Dense Internals Encountered in Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis with Different Diameters and Covering the Same Cross-Sectional Area and Hence Configuration on Bubble Properties Are Lacking in the Open Literature. Therefore, the Focus of This Study is to Investigate the Effects of Dense Internals with Different Diameters and Covering the Same Cross-Sectional Area and Hence Configuration on the Bubble Dynamics Such as Local and overall Gas Holdup, Specific Interfacial Area, …

Low Clutter Method For Bistatic Rcs Measurements, Peter J. Collins

AFIT Patents

A bistatic radar measurement system is provided having a radar source configured to produce a radio frequency signal. A transmitting antenna is configured to transmit the radio frequency signal toward a target. A receiving antenna is configured to receive a reflected radio frequency signal from the target. A support system is configured to support the receiving antenna. The support system includes a plurality of low scattering dielectric strings configured to orient the receiving antenna.

Process For The Preparation Of Sufentanil Base And Related Components, Brian Orr, Joseph P. Haar Jr., George H. Klemm, Keith Tomazi

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The present disclosure generally related to an improved process for the preparation of various piperidine derivatives. More particularly, the present disclosure related to an improved process for preparing sufentanil base (1) and related compounds, which advantageously utilizes more cost effective and/or less hazardous reagents, including a dispersion comprising between about 50% and about 70% by weight (based on the total weight of the dispersion) of an alkali metal hydride, such as sodium hydride, as well as eliminates the need for expensive and/or time consuming purification techniques.

Fort Williams - Glasgow, Kentucky (Mss 531), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 531. Correspondence, research, historical and archaeological reports, contracts, budgets and other documents relating to the 1970s excavation and restoration of Fort Williams, a Civil War fortification at Glasgow, Kentucky.

Electronic Desalting For Controlling The Ionic Environment In Droplet-Based Biosensing Platforms, Vikhram Vilasur Swaminathan, Piyush Dak, Bobby Reddy Jr, Eric Salm, Carlos Duarte-Guevara, Yu Zhong, Andrew Fischer, Yi-Shao Liu, Rashid Bashir

Birck and NCN Publications

The ability to control the ionic environment in saline waters and aqueous electrolytes is useful for desalination as well as electronic biosensing. We demonstrate a method of electronic desalting at micro-scale through on-chip micro electrodes. We show that, while desalting is limited in bulk solutions with unlimited availability of salts, significant desalting of ≥1 mM solutions can be achieved in sub-nanoliter volume droplets with diameters of ∼250 μm. Within these droplets, by using platinum-black microelectrodes and electrochemical surface treatments, we can enhance the electrode surface area to achieve >99% and 41% salt removal in 1 mM and 10 mM salt …

Integration Of Antenna Array With Multicrystalline Silicon Solar Cell, Oisin O'Conchubhair, Patrick Mcevoy, Max Ammann

Articles

The integration of a low-profile antenna array with a multicrystalline silicon solar cell capable of powering a low-power wireless sensor at 2.45 GHz is reported. Lattice bus bars on the cell are exploited to minimize antenna shadows from low-profile antennas and transmission lines for a higher output power. The dual inverted-F array improves gain, and beam switching enables the array to sweep a wider coverage angle with larger beamwidths compared to other solar integrated antennas.

A Natural Simple Model Of Scientists' Strength Leads To Skew-Normal Distribution, Komsan Suriya, Tatcha Sudtasan, Tonghui Wang, Octavio Lerma, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In many practical situations, we have probability distributions which are close to normal but skewed. Several families of distributions were proposed to describe such phenomena. The most widely used is skew-normal distribution, whose probability density (pdf) is equal to the product of the pdf of a normal distribution and a cumulative distribution function (cdf) of another normal distribution. Out of other possible generalizations of normal distributions, the skew-normal ones were selected because of their computational efficiency, and not because they represent any real-life phenomena. Interestingly, it turns out that these distributions do represent a real-life phenomena: namely, in a natural …

Our Reasoning Is Clearly Fuzzy, So Why Is Crisp Logic So Often Adequate?, Hung T. Nguyen, Berlin Wu, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Our reasoning is clearly fuzzy, so why is crisp logic so often adequate? We explain this phenomenon by showing that in the presence of noise, an arbitrary continuous (e.g., fuzzy) system can be well described by its discrete analog. However, as the description gets more accurate, the continuous description becomes necessary.

What A Ride: Mining Industry To University, Scott Rosenthal

Mining Engineering

This paper will share my ‘shift in career direction’ journey from corporate mine engineer, with 31 years of mining various commodities with a wide range of responsibilities in a variety of countries, to the world of academia. There are times in one’s career that a change is required, albeit perhaps not as drastic of a change as moving to teaching. This paper will share how the transition arose, the decision to make the change, the challenges of the first year in academia, and the journey within academia going into the second year.

Person Identification From Streaming Surveillance Video Using Mid-Level Features From Joint Action-Pose Distribution, Binu M. Nair, Vijayan K. Asari

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We propose a real time person identification algorithm for surveillance based scenarios from low-resolution streaming video, based on mid-level features extracted from the joint distribution of various types of human actions and human poses.

The proposed algorithm uses the combination of an auto-encoder based action association framework which produces per-frame probability estimates of the action being performed, and a pose recognition framework which gives per-frame body part locations.

The main focus in this manuscript is to effectively combine these per-frame action probability estimates and pose trajectories from a short temporal window to obtain mid-level features. We demonstrate that these mid-level …

Tunable Narrow Band Difference Frequency Thz Wave Generation In Dast Via Dual Seed Ppln Opg, Brian Dolasinski, Peter E. Powers, Joseph W. Haus, Adam Cooney

Electro-Optics and Photonics Faculty Publications

We report a widely tunable narrowband terahertz (THz) source via difference frequency generation (DFG). A narrowband THz source uses the output of dual seeded periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) optical parametric generators (OPG) combined in the nonlinear crystal 4-dimthylamino-N-methyl-4-stilbazolium-tosylate (DAST). We demonstrate a seamlessly tunable THZ output that tunes from 1.5 THz to 27 THz with a minimum bandwidth of 3.1 GHz. The effects of dispersive phase matching, two-photon absorption, and polarization were examined and compared to a power emission model that consisted of the current accepted parameters of DAST.