Engineering Commons^™

Bolstering The Cell Membrane Of S. Cerevisiae For Efficient Bioethanol Production From Lignocellulosic Biomass, Conary Meyer, Matt Kubit

Bioengineering Senior Theses

With the need for alternatives to fossil fuels becoming more prevalent, biofuels has become an increasingly attractive alternative. Traditional biofuel production was quickly halted as a result of its ethical complications, leading to the development of secondgeneration biofuels. This system utilizes plant waste instead of food as its starting material, allowing for rapid recycling of this widely available and cheap carbon source. This switch was, however, coupled with complications. Of those, the most prominent is the inevitable release of acetic acid resulting from the breakdown of the lignocellulosic waste. This acetic acid is challenging to neutralize or extract in a …

Preclinical Study For Targeted Breast Cancer Therapy, Katie Bond, Lauren Mccormick, Jordan Karroll

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Cancer is a devastating disease which affects millions. For this reason, many scientists are working to develop drugs that can specifically target cancer cells within the body. Preclinical trials are an important phase in the drug development process, as they allow scientists to determine whether or not a drug candidate may be viable for human use. Targeted therapies can be achieved by using monoclonal antibodies as well as small molecule drugs. In this study we compared the effects of two control monoclonal antibody drugs, “mAb1” and “mAb2,” with one small molecule drug, “Drug S,” on the MDAMB231 human breast cancer …

Torque Auditing Test Fixture For Hansen Medical’S Remote Catheter Manipulator Robot, Matt Mckay, Charles Reins, Scott Schneider

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

Current manufacturing test systems for motor control of Hansen's line of surgical robots are labor intensive, have room for operator error and do not supply sufficient information. Based upon an expected increase in production, the objective of this project was to replace their test protocol with a modular test fixture that improves test time, is intuitive to use, and enhances the user experience. We developed a modular design that works for both the Sensei and Magellan robots, and can be reconfigured easily for use on future robots. Using a control system and GUI made in LabVIEW, a magnetic particle as …

Socio-Eco-Efficiency Analysis Of Highways: A Data Envelopment Analysis, Omer Tatari, Gokhan Egilmez, Dhruva Kurmapu

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

To ensure the large network of highways is performing sustainably, there is a dire need to quantify sustainability for highways. In this paper, data envelopment analysis (DEA) based mathematical model is developed to evaluate sustainability in an attempt to aid these efforts. Sustainability goals pertaining to the three dimensions of sustainability, social, economic and environmental, were utilized. Utilizing the developed model, sustainability scores of thirty highway sections were calculated and ranked accordingly. Percent improvement analysis was carried out to gain more insight. In addition, sensitivity analysis was carried out to understand how different values of input parameters impacted the socio-eco-efficiency …

Suture Passing Device For Hyoid Susupension In Sleep Apnea Surgery, Corbin Craven, Nicholas Leavengood, Solomon Mulugeta

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a condition which is characterized by momentary pauses in a person’s breathing while they are sleeping. Current treatment options for sleep apnea include CPAP, oral appliances, and surgery. Of these options, hyoid suspension surgery is one of the most effective, but is significantly underutilized. This is due to the fact that performing hyoid suspension surgery by current methods is complicated and can be painful for the patient. As our senior design project, we designed and prototyped a novel medical device that facilitates fast, easy, and consistent hyoid suspension surgery. Through functional testing of our device …

Navigation And Illumination For Skateboards, Nathan Depew

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

Skateboarding is not a hobby for the faint of heart. It is a treacherous mode of transportation. One small stone could lead to a face plant. These dangers are magnified at night, when previously visible objects become practical invisible. There is also the issue of distracted skating. Just like distracted driving leads to accidents, distracted skating can result in similar problems. When a skateboarder is distracted, the safety issues inherent in skateboarding are magnified and reaction time slows.

The most perilous time this is when skateboarders are skating while distracted at night. Although the simple answer would be to put …

Reactive Power Compensation, Kimberly Meyers, Martin Prado

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

Reactive power compensation serves to increase the power factor of large industrial loads and increase the efficiency of power transmission. In doing so, reactive power compensation decreases overall energy consumption and has lasting economic and environmental impacts. This paper discusses a simulation to model power consumption in a multitude of different loads, which gives industrial consumers a solution to increase the power factor of their systems to a more desirable level. The MATLAB simulation that we built successfully calculates and displays how much energy can be saved and it shows how that energy can be saved. If physical implementations of …

Lucem: A Legal Research Tool, Jagjoth Bhullar, Nathan Lam, Kenneth Pham, Adithya Prabhakaran, Albert Joseph Santillano

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

The legal research industry is currently dominated by two main corporations: WestLaw and LexisNexis. These companies hold a monopoly on the majority of pertinent case law and as a result law firms and law schools are forced to use these systems. However, these systems are incredibly expensive and use antiquated forms of informational retrieval that have suppressed innovation in the field of legal research. Lucem is a web-based legal research tool that attempts to provide an innovative solution that is easily accessible and intuitive for those wishing to obtain legal information. In creating this product we have leveraged our technical …

Integrated Environmental Analysis Of Urban Waste Separate Collection In The Sorrento Peninsula, In Italy, Giovanni De Feo, Daria Milione, Anna Rita Polito, Alberto Grosso, Santa Maria Del Pianto, Luigi Cuomo

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

The main aim of this work was to study the kerbside collection system of two municipalities in the Sorrento peninsula (in Italy) with an integrated approach based on the three pillars of sustainability: society, environment and economy. The studied municipality are Sorrento (16,745 inhabitants, 1,681 inhabitants/km²) and Piano di Sorrento (13,159 inhabitants, 1,793 inhabitants/km²). Piano di Sorrento and especially Sorrento are tourist towns and this obviously has an impact on the quantity and quality of urban waste. In 2014, the percentage of separate collection was 63.3% in Piano di Sorrento with a per capita production of 465.7 kg/inhabitant/year, …

On The Flux Richardson Number In Stably Stratified Turbulence, Subhas K. Venayagamoorthy, Jeffrey R. Koseff

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The flux Richardson number Rf (often referred to as the mixing efficiency) is a widely used parameter in stably stratified turbulence which is intended to provide a measure of the amount of turbulent kinetic energy k that is irreversibly converted to background potential energy (which is by definition the minimum potential energy that a stratified fluid can attain that is not available for conversion back to kinetic energy) due to turbulent mixing. The flux Richardson number is traditionally defined as the ratio of the buoyancy flux B to the production rate of turbulent kinetic energy P. An alternative generalized definition …

Spatial Heterogeneity Analysis In Evaluation Of Cell Viability And Apoptosis For Colorectal Cancer Cells, Aydin Saribudak, Herman Kucharavy, Karen Hubbard, Muharrem Umit Uyar

Publications and Research

In evaluation of cell viability and apoptosis, spatial heterogeneity is quantified for cancerous cells cultured in 3-D in vitro cell-based assays under the impact of anti-cancer agents. In 48-h experiments using human colorectal cancer cell lines of HCT-116, SW-620, and SW-480, incubated cells are divided into control and drug administered groups, to be grown in matrigel and FOLFOX solution, respectively. Our 3-D cell tracking and data acquisition system guiding an inverted microscope with a digital camera is utilized to capture bright field and fluorescent images of colorectal cancer cells at multiple time points. Identifying the locations of live and dead …

Microphone Array, Aram Garibyan, Riley Stout

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

Sound Localization is very useful for many real world applications, ranging from the military, to the fall detection of the elderly, to field biology. However, the purpose of our design was mainly a proof of concept. In this paper, we show the methods and algorithm we used to find a direction of arrival of a basic 1khz continuous sine wave. Our results show how a direction of sound can be calculated to a difficult yet condensed algorithm that was originally designed to triangulate cellular devices using cell towers. We have concluded that our margins of error have come from the …

Glows Co Automated Chemical Etching Machine For Fiber Optic Cable, Mishan Golshan, Peter Laird, Thomas Ostrander, Marty Winkler, Peter Savoy

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

This report summarizes the conceptualization and development of an automated machine designed for a fiber optic cable stripping process used by Lumentum LLC. This process is currently manually operated by Lumentum’s technicians and involves unavoidable handling of corrosive chemicals. To increase technician safety, the process will be automated to reduce chemical - operator interactions. Improving safety conditions for technicians is the primary motivation for automating this process. Automation will also decrease process variation and increase product quality. GLOWS CO was tasked with creating this automated solution, leading to the design of the Automatic Chemical Etching Machine (or A-CHEM) for the …

Gazelle: A Human Powered Vehicle, William Fluharty, Brian Rice, Amulya Rao, Werner Nistler

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

This thesis details the year-long Senior Design process in which our goal was to create a human powered vehicle that could be a short-distance replacement for cars. Our team designed our vehicle to be entered in the ASME Human Powered Vehicle Competition in April of 2016. Our vehicle featured a seat that could be adjusted for users of different heights, making it more comfortable to ride. This report will describe the process and design choices that were made throughout the year in order to create a vehicle. Our frame was welded using Chavez Welding, and the welding created some complications …

Gravity Charger, Luke Lindsay, Will Gonder, George Montgomery

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

According to a 2014 World Health Organization research initiative based on data collected from 14 global developing countries, “Only 28% of health facilities and 34% of hospitals had what could be called “reliable” access to electricity (without prolonged interruptions in one week)” [1]. Healthcare quality suffers because of this lack of reliable electricity. We propose that a gravity powered generator would stand as a reliable power source for small medical devices under any conditions at any location at any time of day. Our research examines how a gravity powered electric generator could best empower medical facilities in developing countries to …

Safer: Search And Find Emergency Rover, Zachary Agustin, Charles Lewis, Elizabeth Mcmahon, Cameron Pierce, Pranav Pradhan, Michael Tamshen

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

When disaster strikes and causes a structure to collapse, it poses a unique challenge to search and rescue teams as they assess the situation and search for survivors. Currently there are very few tools that can be used by these teams to aid them in gathering important information about the situation that allow members to stay at a safe distance. SAFER, Search and Find Emergency Rover, is an unmanned, remotely operated vehicle that can provide early reconnaissance to search and rescue teams so they may have more information to prepare themselves for the dangers that lay inside the wreckage. Over …

Project Space: Solar Panel Automated Cleaning Environment, Matt Burke, Ryan Greenough, Daniel Jensen, Elliot Voss

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

The goal of Project SPACE is to create an automated solar panel cleaner that will address the adverse impact of soiling on commercial photovoltaic cells. Specifically, we hoped to create a device that increases the maximum power output of a soiled panel by 10% (recovering the amount of power lost) while still costing under $500 and operating for up to 7.0 years. A successful design should operate without the use of water. This will help solar panel arrays achieve a production output closer to their maximum potential and save companies on costs associated energy generation.

The current apparatus utilizes a …

Marv: Marine Autonomous Research Vessel, Drew Azevedo, Sam Beltram, Gregorio Delvecchio, Ben Hopner

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

Conducting hydrologic research in remote areas is currently performed manually, making it a labor intensive and inaccurate solution. Due to the size, weight, and cost of automated solutions on the market today, a need has arisen for a low cost, highly portable, autonomous solution. Working closely with Santa Clara University’s Robotics Systems Lab (RSL), our team has developed a low cost, highly portable autonomous marine research vessel named MARV (Marine Autonomous Research Vessel). It is an autonomous surface platform where scientists outfit the vessel with their own data acquisition equipment. The mechanical chassis is collapsible for modes of remote transportation …

Engineering Submission Portal, August Beyer, Jonathan Sofer, Joseph Villanueva

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

One of the requirements for all engineering students at Santa Clara University is to complete a senior design project. The senior design project is a year-long group project (with team sizes of typically 2-4 people) in which students work with faculty advisors to develop a product, idea, or applied research in the field of their study. This work is structured through the senior design class in which students receive information about the due dates and formats of their deliverables. Currently, senior design projects are submitted on printed paper. This method is unreliable as papers may become lost or unorganized resulting …

Vector Based Handwriting Analysis, Arman Elahi, Alex Mcafee, Kameron Tinsley

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

The purpose of this design project was to develop a system capable of analyzing vectors significantly faster and more accurately than other systems available. These vectors were exceedingly large in both size and dimension and were resolved efficiently through the use of parallel programming. We then be implemented our own system to create a vector-based handwriting analysis authentication system that can be used in lieu of a conventional password. This was developed using the highly flexible Android kernel in order to emphasize portability. The final system worked well in the context of normal user interactions but was not as successful …

Optimization Of Carbon Nanotube Ultracapacitor For Cell Design, Antonis Orphanou, Toshishige Yamada, Cary Y. Yang

Electrical and Computer Engineering

We report a methodology to optimize vertically grown carbon nanotube (CNT) ultracapacitor (CNU) geometrical features such as CNT length, electrode-to-electrode separation, and CNT packing density. The electric field and electrolyte ionic motion within the CNU are critical in determining the device performance. Using a particle-based model (PBM) based on the molecular dynamics techniques we developed and reported previously, we compute the electric field in the device, keep track of the electrolyte ionic motion in the device volume, and evaluate the CNU electrical performance as a function of the aforementioned geometrical features. We show that the PBM predicts an optimal CNT …

Assessing Carbon‐Based Materials Of Belo Horizonte Municipal Solid Waste Management, Maryegli Fuss, Witold-Roger Poganietz

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

Municipal solid waste are mainly composed by carbon-based materials which leaves the households with still in-use lifespans. Many plastic bottles, papers, textiles, cans with tens of lifespan years are commonly found on streets, landfills, lakes, and oceans. A better use of waste products is demanding in a world of increasing competition for (mineral, metallic, and so on) materials and in some cases expected decline of reserves. Recycling is a source of much confusion particularly when comparing its process with manufacturing of new products. Notwithstanding, primary raw materials are became scarce. For this reason the increase demand for secondary raw materials …

Life Cycle Assessment And Economic Evaluation Of The Recovery Of Materials In An Urban Waste Management System, Giovanni De Feo, Alessio Finelli, Alberto Grosso, Santa Maria Del Pianto

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

The main aim of this study was to perform a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as well as an economic evaluation of the recovery of recyclable materials in an urban waste management system. Urban waste is mainly composed of three fractions: 1) putrescible materials, 2) recyclables materials, and 3) residual waste. The putrescible materials have to be collected separately and sent to composting and/or anaerobic digestion plants. The recyclables materials have to be sorted and sent to the proper industrial facilities. Finally, the residual waste could be further selected to be sent to energy recovery plants. If citizens separate erroneously urban …

The Effects Of Changes In Consumption Composition And Growth In Recycling On Decoupling Household Consumption From Its Waste Footprint, Antoine Beylot, Baptiste Boitier, Nicolas Lancesseur, Jacques Villeneuve

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

Worldwide, household consumption has significantly increased in the last decades while its composition has significantly changed. In France, economic growth (and therefore consumption growth) is a political objective. On the contrary, waste policies rather target reduction, in particular as to waste generation and waste disposal. Accordingly, decoupling household consumption growth from its waste footprint is a requirement to simultaneously achieve economic and waste policy targets. In this context, this study aims at assessing the effects of both changes in the composition of consumption and growth in recycling rates on the waste footprint of French households. Three models are combined. Firstly, …

The Application Of Life‐Cycle Assessment To Solid Waste Management: Applications, Challenges And Modeling Techniques, Morton Barlaz, James W. Levis

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

Researchers have been working on the application of life-cycle assessment (LCA) to solid waste management systems for over two decades. Over this time, the state-of-the-art of LCA has advanced considerably, yet major challenges remain in the use of LCA to evaluate actual solid waste systems. The objective of this presentation is to present some perspective on the major accomplishments to date, applicable modeling techniques and the challenges that remain. This presentation is intended to serve as a catalyst for informal discussion in small groups throughout the conference.

There are many potential uses for LCA models with a considerable range in …

Choice Of Sewage Sludge Thermochemical Disposal Methods From Multi‐ Perspective Analysis, Dezhen Chen, Min Yang, Yuyan Hu

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

Thermochemical conversion disposal methods for sewage sludge usually include incineration, gasification and pyrolysis. Incineration technology is relatively mature and the incineration ash can be potentially used for phosphorus (P) recovery. Gasification can be used to recover syngas which is convenient to be used for power & heat generation. While through pyrolysis, syngas of high quality, tar and char can be recovered. To make a proper choice from them, these techniques are compared from perspective of technology maturity, investment, operation cost, environmental impact and acceptability of the public. Technology maturity is evaluated by comparing industrial applications. Investment and operation cost are …

Enqueue, Michael Brikov, Phillip Nguyen

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

The vast majority of engineering programs at any university contain courses with laboratory components. With the ever-increasing number of incoming college students joining the School of Engineering at Santa Clara University, classes and labs are becoming more and more crowded. This is a growing concern, especially in Computer Science and Engineering labs where there is often only one teaching assistant to provide instructions and help to an entire laboratory of programmers.

Combining Mfa, Lca And Optimization Techniques To Improve Msw Management In Switzerland, Melanie Haupt, Carl Vadenbo, Stefanie Hellweg

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

The waste streams of society contain a substantial potential of material and energetic resources. The benefits of its utilization, however, depend on the waste management strategy applied. The present study aims at environmentally optimizing the Swiss municipal solid waste (MSW) management system by using the combination of material flow analysis (MFA), life cycle assessment (LCA), and mathematical optimization techniques. MFA supports decisions in resource management providing an understanding of the waste management system, providing information about capacities of treatment options, and assists in priority setting (Brunner and Rechberger 2004). MFA does, however, not provide information on the environmental impacts associated …

Lca Of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration In France: From Comprehensive Site‐ Specific Data To Life Cycle Inventory Modeling, Antoine Beylot, Antoine Hochar, Pascale Michel, Marie Descat, Yannick Ménard, Jacques Villeneuve

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

In France, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), including non-hazardous waste from economic activities collected together with post-consumer waste, are primarily incinerated (approximately 30% in 2010; ADEME, 2012). Yet, current Life Cycle Inventory databases do not precisely account for the characteristics of waste incineration in the specific French context, in particular with respect to air emissions, use of reactants, energy recovery rates and treatment of bottom ashes. This study accordingly aims at collecting environmental and energy data specific to French incinerators for their further integration into a dedicated Life Cycle Inventory model. The results of data collection and analysis are focused at …

Smart Control For Home Water Heater Saving, Joe Singer, Michael Simmons, Scott Jansen

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

Existing gas or electric water heaters can become inefficient through the overheating of water and through parasitic heat loss. These inefficiencies are able to be solved by monitoring when a home uses hot water. AquAdapt is a smart sensor which is capable of attaching to any existing residential gas or electric water heater. By constantly monitoring the temperature change of a home water heater, the first law of thermodynamics can be used to relate temperature change to the amount of hot water leaving the water heater. Utilizing this information, a schedule can be generated to optimize the heating of home …