Engineering Commons^™

Sports Innovations Track Jack, Kyle Kvasnicka

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Working with Adaptive Sports Ohio we set out to help individuals with handicaps the ability to play and compete in sports and other athletic activities. Our goal was to create a device that will lift a track wheel chair off the ground so that the athlete in the chair is able to practice without movement. Our design had to be economical, stable, transportable, and allow rotation of the rear tires without causing translational movement of the chair. To accomplish this our group modified a screw jack for a car to support the rear axle of the track wheelchair. We then …

Autonomous Robot Sphere, Robert Haver, Melissa Haver, Daniel Madden, Noah Robertson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Autonomous Robot Sphere is an interactive robot toy meant to entertain kids. The robot will locate its target and execute algorithms to autonomously evade or chase a child. The sphere will contain a platform equipped with four omni-wheels, which will allow the sphere to maneuver and change direction almost instantaneously. The robot will be configured to maintain a fixed distance from the transmitter, allowing it to chase or evade the child in response to their movement. The primary advantage of our design lies in its capability to quickly adapt to changes in direction.

Nasa Limited Inflight Lab Sensor, Gregory P. Howard, James C. Hanreck

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is currently developing the capabilities needed to send humans to Mars in 2030 for a three year mission. Astronaut health must be monitored monthly during such a lengthy mission. The UA Enterprise Senior Design Team worked to design a reusable, novel blood panel cartridge system to monitor astronaut health and to minimize waste production. Most current cartridges are composed of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). PDMS microchannels were fabricated to conduct simple proof of concept experiments for the design of a novel cartridge. To determine an ideal blood cleaning solution, bovine blood will be injected into …

Foley Catheter Priming Device, Melissa A. Boswell, Landon Davis, Renee Horn, Tyler Grubb, Jason Green

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A lack of a pressure gradient throughout the catheter prevents urine flow from the bladder and through catheter system in a condition referred to as “air-lock.” The purpose of this project was to design a device that could be utilized by person with a catheter faced with the problem of air-lock to restore urine flow and normal functioning of the catheter system. After a prototype was created, the device was put through a series of tests to insure proper functioning, absence of leakage, and durability. The device created can be added in-line with the catheter system, inconspicuously under the user’s …

Power Soccer Footguard Attachment System, Allison Hubbell, Vivian Kontoveros, Andrew Mcclain, Lauren Monsanty

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this research project was to develop a new method of attaching a footguard to the front of a power wheelchair to be used in the adaptive sport, power soccer. Completion of this project was requested by Adaptive Sports Program of Ohio (A.S.P.O.). It was requested that Limitless Sports Solutions, a team of Biomedical Engineering students, create a new design which would be more efficient, have less moving parts, and be easier to attach overall than the system currently being used by A.S.P.O. During the scope of this project, research was conducted on other existing systems and several …

New Design For Prefilled Syringe, Katherine R. Delozier, Sarah Snyder, Jennifer Drombetta, Douglas Cale Crowder

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Prefilled syringes are currently available as treatment options for individuals with diabetes, allergies, and other medical conditions mandating delivery of drugs by injection. However current prefilled syringes are often bulky, conspicuous, require specific storage conditions, and may prematurely deploy. Because of these factors, patients may be less compliant to treatment regimens and feel that their lifestyles and independence are inhibited. The newly designed prefilled syringe should be portable, practical, and easy-to-use. This project will be completed for Bionix Corporation located in Toledo, OH. Our contacts at this company are Mr. Ed Markewitz, Product Development Program Manager, and Mr. Cody Harder, …

Automatic Turning Movements Identification System: Intersection Error Analysis, Brandon Ross Orr, Joseph Thomas Lanni

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

To lessen congestion at intersections, traffic identification systems are placed at roadway intersections in order to collect vehicle data. These traffic identification systems include various types of detectors that can identify the presence of vehicles in real-time. However, these detectors can only detect their presence and not their turning movements. To fix this issue, The University of Akron has developed a program that can automatically identify vehicle turning movements and is called the Automatic Turning Movement Identification System, or ATMIS. ATMIS uses mathematical algorithms to compute the vehicle’s turning movements based on a sink and feed detector paring. During traffic …

Predicting Key Residues Relevant To Hiapp Fibril Stability Using Permuted Residue Minimal Distance Pairs Of Riapp And Hiapp Dimers, Zak Kohler

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In order to discover the most significant residues involved in hIAPP fibril formation, Replica Exchange Molecular Dynamics (REMD) trajectories of both fibril forming hIAPP dimers and non-fibril-forming rIAPP dimers were analyzed. An import heuristic for this is the minimum distance between the peptides. To gain a greater resolution than the standard center of mass distance or 1-1, 2-2, etc.\ residue distances, every permutation of residue distance between molecules of the dimer was measured ranked. It was found that while the rIAPP had a single favored contact, (26 10), hIAPP appeared to have a network of at least three significant contacts: …

First In The Family: A Comparison Of First-Generation And Non-First-Generation Engineering College Students, Dina Verdin, Allison F. Godwin

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

This study investigates first-generation and non-first-generation engineering undergraduates’ math/science identities, subject-related interests, and career plans. First-generation students are an understudied, but growing population. Understanding how these self-beliefs and background factors affect students’ engineering choice can help widen pathways into engineering which continues to be defined as “pale and male.” Additionally, identity has predictive value for practical outcomes like engineering choice in college. The data for this study comes from the nationally representative Sustainability and Gender in Engineering (SaGE) survey completed by 6,772 college students who enrolled in first-year English courses at 2- and 4-year colleges across the U.S. …

An Engineering Tale: Using Storybooks To Analyze Parent–Child Conversations About Engineering (Fundamental), Brianna L. Dorie, Monica Cardella

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

Envisioning a larger workforce of engineers, with broad participation from a diverse set of workers, is one of the central concerns of engineering education research. While many current K-12 programs focus on engineering thinking and design, there is still a need to promote aspiration and understanding of engineering as an occupation, especially in out-of-school environments where children spend a majority of their time. Career aspirations and expectations of children have already started to develop prior to entering formal schooling. Several studies has shown that parents play a significant role in the development of occupational awareness in their children, but the …

Qualitative Study Of First-Generation Latinas: Understanding Motivation For Choosing And Persisting In Engineering, Dina Verdin, Allison F. Godwin, Jennifer Morazes

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

Latina undergraduates pursuing an engineering degree continue to be an underrepresented group at four-year universities. Compared to their male counterparts, fewer women enter the field of engineering; however, of those Latino/as who do matriculate, they have the same likelihood of persisting as their White counterparts. Furthermore, a dearth of underrepresented students such as Latino/as and first-generation college students enter or remain in the field of engineering. The need for increased gender and racial/ethnic representation in engineering is a documented need allowing for the production of a wider range of innovative products that take into consideration different perspectives that represent the …

Effect Of Nanofiber Morphology On Pvdf Air Filter Performance, Andrew W. Marton

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) can be formed into small nanofibers by electrospinning that are useful for a variety of applications. Air filters produced with PVDF are known to capture ionic particles with high efficiency. Existing studies have focused on the effects of electrospinning conditions on nanofiber morphology. In this study fibers were generated with varying morphologies. Air filters were then made from each sample and then characterized by TSI. Air filters were found to have increased resistances relative to their capture efficiencies according to particle diameter. Capture efficiencies did not correlate strongly with particle diameter, and the presence of beads in …

Filtration Of Aerosolized Oils With Layered Filter Media And Drainage Channels, Corey A. Boldon

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this experiment is to compare the efficiency of four different filter media with two different drainage channel materials when filtering out aerosolized oil. The filter media include 2 micron stainless steel fibers, 6.5 micron stainless steel fibers, 2 micron woven glass fibers, and 6 micron woven glass fibers. The drainage channel materials are 500 micron Teflon (PTFE) and nylon mesh.

One major application that this research is targeted towards is air compressors. Air compressors use lubricating oil to minimize wear and corrosion. During operation some of this lubricating oil is aerosolized into the outgoing air stream. Inhalation …

Electrospinning Of S-B-S Triblock And S-I-S Triblock Copolymers For Use In Fuel Filtration, Kevin Houser

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The following research project looked into the potential of using nanofibers of syrene-isoprene-styrene triblock copolymer produced through the electrospinning process for the filtration of water out of fuel as well as a comparison of styrene-isoprene-styrene triblock to the styrene-butadiene-styrene triblock nanofibers produced at equivalent operating parameters. Based on the work completed, it is concluded that the styrene-isoprene-styrene triblock is not suitable for use in filtration with the current electrospinning conditions. On average, the styrene-isoprene-styrene triblock produced nanofibers of lower average diameter and lower standard deviation in diameter when compared to styene-butadiene-styrene triblock.

Free-Range Pre-Programmed Rc Car, Alexander L. Aubihl, Andrew S. Hopwood, Benjamin J. Riggs, Tyler P. Vance

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

There is a growing interest in the capabilities and utilization of autonomous vehicles. The objective of this project is to design a small scale illustration of an autonomous vehicle driven by user input. An application will be designed that will allow a user to create a track that an RC car will accurately follow. As the car follows the track, a microcontroller on the vehicle will send movement information back to the application. This information is used by the application to process where the vehicle is currently at and where it needs to go. While in motion, on-board sensors will …

Iso: Understanding Elective International Certification, Lauren R. Kukwa

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this paper is to investigate elective certification specifically as it pertains to the Process Engineering II capstone project assigned at the University of Akron in the Spring Semester of 2015. The standards for certification are those needed to obtain certification in International Organization for Standardization’s 9000:2005 Quality Management standard. The ethics of a Chemical Engineering position as it pertains to the project will also be presented and similarities between elective certification and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Code of Ethics will be noted.

Oil Filter Wrench Attachment, Steven J. Greenbank

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose for this report is to outline the design process for an oil filter remover/installer intended to be used with a ratcheting socket wrench. The goal of this project was to design an attachment for a socket wrench that could be used to remove or install oil filters in a vehicle. This report will discuss design criteria for the new design, a few current designs for similar tools and their problem areas, initial design ideas, the design process of the chosen design, and the prototype building and testing for the project.

Swagelok Probing Station Tester Improvement Project, Ross Crocker

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A step in the inspection process for the Swagelok ends is performed using Probing Station testing. This testing process involves fitting a cylindrical probe into the open end of the fittings. Contact between the probe and the fitting causes the probe to wear. Spare probes are kept at each inspection machine to replace a probe that becomes too worn to function. These spare probes occasionally fall out of their storage location and break without ever being used in inspection. This project seeks to reduce the wear on the probes in service and reduce the number of dropped spare probes that …

The University Of Akron 2015 Sae Zips Baja Off-Road Racing Team 2015 Suspension System Design, Ryan W. Timura

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Baja SAE has been an important part of the University of Akron for the last 20 years. In the early stages, Zips Baja won many races and was one of the best Baja teams around. In more recent years, the teams have not been able to keep up the high place finishes. The 2015 Baja team aims to start a new trend of high place finishes for the years to come. With many design leaders returning from the previous year, passed down knowledge, and experience from last year, it should be an attainable goal.

Prosthetic Thermal Management Device, Garrett Dowd

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

High temperatures in lower-limb prosthetics can lead to poor user skin conditions and mechanical slippage between the user’s limb and the prosthetic. This report presents an air-cooling device for a lower-limb prosthesis. This device’s purpose is to maintain a constant skin-prosthesis interface temperature. A compact heat sink and small fan were used to transfer the bio-heat to the ambient surroundings. By changing the power of the fan, the thermal resistance of the whole system can be adjusted to match various thermal loads and environmental temperatures. Heat pads were used to mimic the heat generation of a residual limb, and cooling …

Implementing Is-Is Routing And Dhcp Services In An Ipv4 Network, Laura Thompson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research project explores the operation of the IS-IS routing protocol, as well as DHCP and DNS services provided by a Raspberry Pi computer. IS-IS is a routing protocol that is commonly ignored in most training and certification programs, because it is most frequently used by service providers. However, IS-IS solutions are also deployed in some large enterprise networks, making experience with the protocol a valuable skill.

In order to gain a deeper understanding of the routing domains, route propagation, and general operation of IS-IS, additional services were implemented in this project. A Raspberry Pi computer was used as an …

Generalized Mapping And Object Removal, Duncan Campbell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is a problem that has been explored for the past few decades. SLAM deals with the concept of a robot being introduced into an environment in which it has no prior knowledge. Then, through the use of sensors, the robot is able to map its environment while simultaneously determining its position within the given area. While there has been extensive research into the development of methods by which this problem can be solved, not much has been done on what to do with the resulting maps once they are produced. The research conducted deals with …

Roundabout Maintenance Flipbook, Indiana Ltap

Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Publications

This flipbook is a summary of the work pub­lished in the Roundabout Maintenance Manual by Indiana LTAP. This information was collected through a series of interviews with city engi­neers, public works directors, and street commis­sioners experienced in roundabout maintenance. It serves as a model to guide work crews in correct maintenance procedures.

Roundabout Maintenance Manual, Indiana Ltap

Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Publications

This maintenance manual serves as an additional resource for communities who have imple­mented roundabouts or are considering them. There are a few other published guides, such as the NCHRP Report 672, Roundabouts: An Informational Guide, and the Wisconsin DOT Facilities Develop­ment Manual. However, the information covered in these guides is very broad. This manual provides specific information regarding roundabout maintenance.

Design Of A Horizontal Creep Testing Machine, Michael Presby

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The design process for a horizontal creep testing machine is presented along with the material selection of grips for high temperature tensile tests. The design process consisted of creating multiple sketches of the testing machine in order to determine the best design to satisfy the given design parameters. The critical points of the frame were determined and derivations were performed in order to determine the maximum stress at the critical points and the maximum deflection due to the applied load. The information gathered from these derivations will be useful in comparing the two material choices for the frame which are …

Mangled Extremity Simulator, Abigail Miller, Jonathan Clevenger, Nadia Gaskins

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Modified Cervical Collar To Eliminate Overheating And Dysphagia Side Effects, Elizabeth M. Rondinelli, Katharine J. Hodgson, Samantha L. Ballash, Jessica C. Augustynovich

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Currently, thousands of people each year require the use of a rigid cervical collar. The collars are used in situations of emergency, as well as in situations of precaution, when spinal injury is or may be present. There are many different styles and sizes of cervical collars available on the market today; however, common side effects are noticed when wearing the collars that may reduce the effectiveness to the patient. Often patients complain of general discomfort issues or may suffer from more serious side effects such as pressure sores, increased intracranial pressure, dysphagia, and abnormal distraction within the upper spine. …

Optimization Of Polydopamine Coatings, Helen C. Terrill Ms.

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Polydopamine coatings were fabricated onto the surfaces of glass slides, silicon wafers, and Teflon pieces. A method to change surface properties was optimized, providing a new way of using substrates by means of make-over surface properties. The technology has a wide range of potential approaches including high performance coatings and biomedical surfaces. The experiments can be conducted with various types of surface modifications to make surfaces hydrophilic, hydrophobic, conductive, or magnetic. The changes of film thickness and surface energy as functions of incubation time were quantified by means of ellipsometry, profilometry, and contact angle measurements. The use of primer polydopamine …

Shotblocker® - Bionix® Senior Design, Samuel Dockery

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

No abstract provided.

Disc Golf Locator, Noah M. Sanor

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Noah Sanor

Major: Computer Engineering

Project Sponsor: The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Number of Credits: 6

Disc Golf Locator

The purpose of this project was to develop a device that could help a player locate a disc used in disc golf. The device could attach to the disc and track the location and movement of the disc. In addition, the device could transfer this data to a smartphone application and emit a loud noise to aid in locating the disc. On this project, I developed the smartphone application to communicate with the device. The application transferred the saved …