Engineering Commons^™

Restful Api Framework: Golang Proof Of Concept, Gerard Briones, David Igou, Aaron Throckmorton

Capstone Design Expo Posters

Capital One has embarked on a journey of exposing useful services as RESTful APIs that can be utilized seamlessly by applications and clients. The purpose of this project was to develop an API framework that can be easily molded and deployed to reinforce this endeavor, standardizing the access and use of these services for every developer. This framework was built with a modern programming language, Golang, and excels in performance, scalability, and efficiency. A working prototype and proof of concept serve as the deliverables for this project, with notable constraints in the type of architecture (REST) used for the framework …

Welcome To Willowtree: Come Take A Closer Look, Shahim-Abdul Satar, Kent White, Ayesha Zafar

Capstone Design Expo Posters

The demand for more workers in tech related fields has given students the opportunity of choosing between multiple job offers and students can now be more deliberate about the jobs that they accept. Because of this employers also need to set themselves apart from other companies. Many companies do this is by sending out brochures, PDFs, and other information that may be outdated by the time it goes out. Our solution to this problem was to make an application which would provide relevant data to the user as well as provide insight into the company. The end result is a …

Champions’ Summer Defense: Manufacturing All-Natural Equine Spray, Brooke Riggs, Peter Rinaldi, Zach Taylor

Capstone Design Expo Posters

Research was conducted in 2014 and 2015 for the development of Champions’ Summer Defense, an all-natural product to protect horses from irritating and potentially harmful summer elements. This formulation provides sunscreen to protect the horses from sunburn and reduces coat bleaching. In addition, this spray acts as a conditioner and leaves the horse’s coat shiny by fighting dry skin and moisturizing the coat. Champions’ Summer Defense’s unique formulation is naturally antimicrobial, eliminating the need for a preservative and allows the product to be 100% natural. The antimicrobial property will also help prevent skin irritations from insects and will keep the …

Polyether Product Recovery: Salt-Induced Water-Polymer Separation, Carolina Andrea Mercado Buelvas, Chance Parrish, Rohit Sharma

Capstone Design Expo Posters

Evonik Industries currently loses approximately 50 tons of polyether product to wastewater washes annually. Evonik has requested an industrially viable solution to maximize the recovery of the lost product in the current process. It was required that the solution have a one year payback period, and be in compliance with current regulatory policies. Literature sources showed that salt is a commonly used agent to force the separation of polyether-water mixtures. Using this information, a method was developed using a salt already present in the process to induce a phase separation and to recover the polyether. An empirical multilinear refractive index …

Smart Medication Disposal: Subcritical Water Oxidation Of Pharmaceutical Compounds, Sharon Veeravalli, Charles Fricke, F. William Ronnau

Capstone Design Expo Posters

Disposal of unused or expired pharmaceuticals is neither safe nor environmentally-friendly. Current regulations for pharmaceutical disposal do not prevent environmental contamination. Industrial methods of disposing of waste medications can generate toxic compounds through incineration, or generate large volumes of waste through use of physical adsorbents. Medium sized providers (pharmacies, small clinics) typically hire expensive hazardous waste removal or dispose of these medications improperly.

The project goal is to deliver a safe, sustainable process, suitable for retail pharmacies and the like, for rendering pharmaceuticals chemically inactive. This project encompasses the development of a degradation process via testing of 5 model pharmaceuticals …

Development Of A Tabletop Soft Gel Encapsulation Machine, Amanda Carter, Lara Hamid, Harini Muralikrishnan, Bethlehem Solomon

Capstone Design Expo Posters

This VCU Chemical and Life Science Engineering student team is designing a tabletop gel encapsulation machine to produce ~50 capsules per minute enabling rapid changeover for research and development purposes for Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. The preliminary design is based on reverse engineering of the large-scale encapsulation machine. Building from an initial prototype that included die rolls with variable rotation speed control and temperature control, the team identified and designed additional components to produce soft gel capsules: (1) producing gelatin ribbons from molten gelatin, (2) synchronizing the injection of medicine and capsule formation, and (3) ensuring that the capsules seal properly. …

Nanoparticles As Lubricant Additives, Jacob Miller, Rayyan Alsinan, Zainab Suwaiket, Samuel Wojcicki

Capstone Design Expo Posters

Nanoparticles have generated interest in the oil industry as potential additives. Many nanoparticles have been shown to improve fuel economy and engine efficiency. However, there are an infinite number of nanoparticle formulations, and to test all these would be impossible. The objective of this project was to develop a predictive model which demonstrates the impact of factors such as size, concentration, and hardness on the performance of nanoparticles as oil additives.

The concentrations tested were 0.01% and 0.5% by mass in PAO4 base oil. The sizes tested were 5-15nm and 20-50nm. Using four compositions to approximate hardness, a 4 x …

Pulmonary Patency Stent, Kranthidhar Bathula, Suraj Kandalam, Akhil Kolluri, Roshni Malik

Capstone Design Expo Posters

Patients with malignancies in the central airways often experience significant breathing difficulties due to occlusion of the airways. One common palliative treatment option for this is a stent placement procedure. While patients often experience immediate symptom relief, long term use can result in the formation of granulation tissue, causing restenosis of the airway. The objective of this project is to design and prototype a modification to the Boston Scientific Ultraflex partially-covered stent in order to reduce granulation tissue and maintain airway patency. Deliverables include the detailed design, a working prototype, and supporting data. The main product specifications include effectiveness in …

Design Of A Drug Delivery System Through The Gastrointestinal Tract, Kaixin Chen, Adel Husayni, Kayvon Mobarakeh, Ankit Soni

Capstone Design Expo Posters

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) afflicts an estimated 5.3 million individuals and is the sixth leading cause of death in America. The drug delivery method of interest is an orally administered sustained-release delivery system that addresses the needs of the associated patient population. By augmenting drug delivery with a higher effective payload per dose compared to current methods, drug efficacy and bioavailability would improve. This will result in a decrease of the overall cost for medication as a greater percentage of the administered drug will be viable.

This design addresses the release of AD drug from the drug delivery system at the …

Suture Trainer: Improving Tissue Handling Technique, Albara Elshaer, Sindora Baddam, Veronica Peterkin, Millie Shah

Capstone Design Expo Posters

Tissue handling is fundamental to performing mechanical tasks of suturing and surgery on live humans and animals. While the mechanics of suturing can be taught, there is no available simulation product designed to specifically teach tissue handling skills. It is important as a future medical professional to gain better tissue handling skills in order to prevent unnecessary injury to the tissue via scarring. The suture trainer focuses on providing feedback in order to standardize tissue handling technique in order to prevent poor habits from developing. Our project deliverables included a model, working prototype, and test data collected from practicing physicians …

A Tilting System For Powered Wheelchairs, Liam Cornwall, Brandon Heath, Justin Mcdaniel, Alexander Stevenson

Capstone Design Expo Posters

The objective of our project is to create a wheelchair platform that can tilt a power wheelchair and its user back into a nearhorizontal position. The purpose of this is to allow a dentist to work on the patient in the manner and position with which they are most accustomed.

The device currently used by our sponsor, The Virginia Home, is the Versatilt platform. The Versatilt is capable of lifting a maximum weight of 750 lbs. and tilting patients back, up to 65 degrees. However, the platform is too small to accept the power wheelchairs used by the majority of …

Mri Hip Joint Traction Device, Rawan Alfadly, Carla Gomez, Sara Um

Capstone Design Expo Posters

Radiologists commonly use contrast agents to improve resolution and acuity when employing MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). Introducing MRI contrast agents to the tissue in the innermost part of the femoroacetabular joint is extremely difficult because the anatomy prevents the contrast agents from infiltrating those surfaces. Therefore, getting the ideal image resolution and making diagnosis of the hip is difficult. The objective was to design a product that would successfully distract one hip joint while also stabilizing the patient’s pelvis to improve visualization so that physicians are able to better diagnose the hip. The deliverables included a preliminary model that illustrates …

Marsupialization Catheter, Hamdi Abdeen, Ananya Mishra, Lucas Olson, Jacqueline Pinderski

Capstone Design Expo Posters

A significant issue among oral and maxillofacial surgeons is the treatment of cysts within the jaw. Cysts develop at random and in most cases asymptomatically. Therefore, they may reach enormous sizes before being diagnosed. Large cysts can cause severe damage to teeth and the surrounding bone. Doctors treat small cysts by surgically removing them. However, this approach is not ideal for large cysts due to the risk of surgical complications, the high expenses incurred, and the fact that it is often undesired by the patient. Current treatments include surgically opening the cyst and either suturing the tissue open or placing …

Performance Evaluation Of Palm Oil-Based Biodiesel Combustion In An Oil Burner, Abdolsaeid Ganjehkaviri, Mohammad Nazri Mohd Jaafar, Seyed Ehsan Hosseini, Anas Basri Musthafa

Faculty Publications - Mechanical Engineering

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the combustion characteristics of palm methyl ester (PME), also known as palm oil-based biodiesel, in an oil burner system. The performance of conventional diesel fuel (CDF) and various percentages of diesel blended with palm oil-based biodiesel is also studied to evaluate their performance. The performance of the various fuels is evaluated based on the temperature profile of the combustor's wall and emissions, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO). The combustion experiments were conducted using three different oil burner nozzles (1.25, 1.50 and 1.75 USgal/h) under lean (equivalence ratio (φ) = …

Phase Change Materials-Assisted Heat Flux Reduction: Experiment And Numerical Analysis, Hussein J. Akeiber, Seyed Ehsan Hosseini, Mazlan A. Wahid, Hasanen M. Hussen, Abdulrahman Th Mohammad

Faculty Publications - Mechanical Engineering

Phase change materials (PCM) in the construction industry became attractive because of several interesting attributes, such as thermo-physical parameters, open air atmospheric condition usage, cost and the duty structure requirement. Thermal performance optimization of PCMs in terms of proficient storage of a large amount of heat or cold in a finite volume remains a challenging task. Implementation of PCMs in buildings to achieve thermal comfort for a specific climatic condition in Iraq is our main focus. From this standpoint, the present paper reports the experimental and numerical results on the lowering of heat flux inside a residential building using PCM, …

Torsional Behaviour And Finite Element Analysis Of The Hybrid Laminated Composite Shafts: Comparison Of Vartm With Vacuum Bagging Manufacturing Method, Mehmet Emin Taşdelen, Mehmet Halidun Keleştemur, Ercan Şevkat

Faculty Publications - Mechanical Engineering

Braided sleeve composite shafts are produced and their torsional behavior is investigated. The braided sleeves are slid over an Al tube to create very strong and rigid tubular form shafts and they are in the form of 2/2 twill biaxial fiber fabric that has been woven into a continuous sleeve. Carbon and glass fibers braided sleeves are used for the fabrication of the composite shafts. VARTM (vacuum assisted resin transfer molding) and Vacuum Bagging are the two different types of manufacturing methods used in the study. Torsional behaviors of the shafts are investigated experimentally in terms of fabrication methods and …

Recent Morphodynamic Evolution Of The Largest Uninhibited Island In The Yangtze (Changjiang) Estuary During 1998-2014: Influence Of The Anthropogenic Interference, Wen Wei, Xuefei Mei, Zhijun Dai, Zhenghong Tang

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Estuarine geomorphology worldwide has greatly changed in the Anthropocene due to intensive human inferences in river basin and within estuary, which has received increasing global concerns. Here, recent morphodynamic evolution of Jiuduan Shoal (JDS), the largest uninhabited island in the Yangtze (Changjiang) Estuary, and associated controlling factors were analyzed based on unique high-resolution seasonal-surveyed bathymetric data during 1998–2014. It can be indicated that JDS presents novel 12 and 48 months fluctuations though significant accretion was detected on high flats above −2 m. Meanwhile, morphodynamic evolution of JDS during 1998–2014 was divided into three stages: significant siltation on land-ward half of …

A Compact To Revitalise Large-Scale Irrigation Systems Using A Leadership-Partnership-Ownership 'Theory Of Change', Bruce Lankford, Ian Makin, Nathanial Matthews, Peter G. Mccornick, Andrew Noble, Tushaar Shah

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

In countries with transitional economies such as those found in South Asia, large-scale irrigation systems (LSIS) with a history of public ownership account for about 115 million ha (Mha) or approximately 45% of their total area under irrigation. In terms of the global area of irrigation (320 Mha) for all countries, LSIS are estimated at 130 Mha or 40% of irrigated land. These systems can potentially deliver significant local, regional, and global benefits in terms of food, water and energy security, employment, economic growth, and ecosystem services. For example, primary crop production is conservatively valued at about US$355 billion. However, …

Controlling Groundwater Exploitation Through Economic Instruments: Current Practices, Challenges And Innovative Approaches, Marielle Montginoul, Jean-Daniel Rinaudo, N. Brozovic, G. Donoso

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Groundwater can be considered as a common-pool resource, is often overexploited and, as a result, there are growing management pressures. This chapter starts with a broad presentation of the range of economic instruments that can be used for groundwater management, considering current practices and innovative approaches inspired from the literature on Common Pool Resources management. It then goes on with a detailed presentation of groundwater allocation policies implemented in France, the High Plains aquifer in the USA, and Chile. The chapter concludes with a discussion of social and political difficulties associated with implementing economic instruments for groundwater management.

Hydrothermal Monitoring In Yellowstone National Park Using Airborne Thermal Infrared Remote Sensing, C. M. U. Neale, C. Jaworowski, H. Heasler, S. Sivarajan, A. Masih

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

This paper describes the image acquisition and processing methodology, including surface emissivity and atmospheric corrections, for generating surface temperatures of two active hydrothermal systems in Yellowstone National Park. Airborne thermal infrared (8–12 μm) images were obtained annually from 2007 to 2012 using a FLIR SC640 thermal infrared camera system. Thermal infrared image acquisitions occurred under clear-sky conditions after sunset to meet the objective of providing high-spatial resolution, georectified imagery for hydrothermal monitoring. Comparisons of corrected radiative temperature maps with measured ground and water kinetic temperatures at flight times provided an assessment of temperature accuracy. A repeatable, time-sequence of images for …

Demonstration And Evaluation Of Dual Purpose Chicken “Potchefstroom Koekoek” Packages At Areka Areas, Snnpr, Ethiopia, Aman Getiso, Melese Yilma, Mesfin Mekonnen, Addisu Jimma, Mebratu Asrat, Asrat Tera, Endrias Dako

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

The demonstration was conducted in Wolaita zone, Boloso Sore district at Areka and around Areka areas. Participants (farmers) were selected purposively on the basis of willingness to construct poultry house; to cover all the associated package costs and record the required was selected. Survival of chicks during the first 8 weeks of brooding using hay-box at the farmers management condition was 79.8% (359 were survived out 450). On average about 93.1% of the chicken were survived to the laying age while mortality reduced from 20.2% to 6.9%. The average age at first egg-laying recorded at each farmers was 142 days …

Anthropogenic Nitrogen And Phosphorus Emissions And Related Grey Water Footprints Caused By Eu-271s Crop Production And Consumption, Mesfin Mekonnen, Stephan Lutter, Aldo Martinez

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Water is a prerequisite for life on our planet. Due to climate change and pollution, water availability for agricultural production, industry and households is increasingly put at risk. With agriculture being the largest water user as well as polluter worldwide, we estimate anthropogenic nitrogen and phosphorus emissions to fresh water related to global crop production at a spatial resolution level of 5 by 5 arc min and calculate the grey water footprints (GWF) related to EU-271s crop production. A multiregional input-output model is used to trace the the GWF embodied in the final consumption of crop products by the EU-27. …

02. Animal Science, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

No abstract provided.

The Synthesis And Characterization Of Multifunctional Nanoparticles Of Elastin-Like Polypeptides For Theranostic Applications, James T. Cole

ETD Archive

Theranostics is a promising field that aims to combine therapeutics and diagnostics into single multifunctional formulations. This field is driven by advancements in nanotechnology and specifically in the creation of multifunctional nanoparticles capable of providing the necessary functionalities. Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are a class of environmentally responsive biopolymers that are known to undergo a transition in response to various stimuli. The organic nature of ELPs along with the ability to control their design at the gene level and the aforementioned responsive behavior make them a promising candidate for use in theranostic systems. The system presented here is one of the …

Development Of Robust Control Techniques Towards Damage Identification, Ryan J. Madden

ETD Archive

Robust control techniques have enabled engineers to create uncertain models which are able to describe any differences between the model and experimental system with uncertainties defined as a combination of exogenous inputs and plant perturbations. Subsequently, robust model validation techniques arose to provide a guarantee that the uncertain model is able to recreate all observed experimental data. As a result, the complete model set is robust to any model inaccuracies or external noise. At the same time, the technique of model-based identification was developed in the robust control framework to identify the dynamics resulting from unmodeled or under-modeled components in …

Computing Human Arm Stiffness For The Purpose Of Robotic Simulation, Nicholas Gehler, Philip Sesco

Undergraduate Research Posters 2016

To replace a human during experiments, we've calculated the endpoint stiffness of a human arm to be simulated on a robot. The model used to calculate arm stiffness includes gravitational, short-range muscle, and muscle force-moment arm stiffnesses. The parameters of this model were estimated using data from the open source musculoskeletal MATLAB model, Dynamic Arm Simulator. The model will be used by a Barrett Proficio robot to simulate the stiffness of a human arm. The purpose of this human arm simulation is for experimentation during the development of a force sensing feedback system for functional electrical stimulation (FES). A robot …

Bent Knee Adaptor For Experimental Testing Of Prostheses, Santino Bianco

Undergraduate Research Posters 2016

Novel prosthetic devices must undergo testing as part of their development. Testing with amputees is problematic at the development stage due to safety and administrative burdens. A bent-knee adaptor allows able-bodied individuals to wear a prosthesis and facilitate prototype testing. An existing bent-knee adaptor was used as a basis to design an improved device. The existing adaptor did not preserve alignment between thigh and prosthesis, resulting in unnatural walking. 3D scanning and printing technologies were used to design the new adaptor. Solid modeling was used to verify that the new design would withstand the loads associated with walking. The device …

Integration Of Attributes From Non-Linear Characterization Of Cardiovascular Time-Series For Prediction Of Defibrillation Outcomes, Sharad Shandilya, Michael C. Kurz, Kevin R. Ward, Kayvan Najarian

Computer Science Publications

Objective

The timing of defibrillation is mostly at arbitrary intervals during cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), rather than during intervals when the out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OOH-CA) patient is physiologically primed for successful countershock. Interruptions to CPR may negatively impact defibrillation success. Multiple defibrillations can be associated with decreased post-resuscitation myocardial function. We hypothesize that a more complete picture of the cardiovascular system can be gained through non-linear dynamics and integration of multiple physiologic measures from biomedical signals.

Materials and Methods

Retrospective analysis of 153 anonymized OOH-CA patients who received at least one defibrillation for ventricular fibrillation (VF) was undertaken. A machine learning …

Microstructured Thin Film Nitinol For A Neurovascular Flow-Diverter, Yanfei Chen, Connor Howe, Yongkuk Lee, Seongsik Cheon, Woon-Hong Yeo, Youngjae Chun

Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Publications

A cerebral aneurysm occurs as a result of a weakened blood vessel, which allows blood to flow into a sac or a ballooned section. Recent advancement shows that a new device, ‘flow-diverter’, can divert blood flow away from the aneurysm sac. People found that a flow-diverter based on thin film nitinol (TFN), works very effectively, however there are no studies proving the mechanical safety in irregular, curved blood vessels. Here, we study the mechanical behaviors and structural safety of a novel microstructured TFN membrane through the computational and experimental studies, which establish the fundamental aspects of stretching and bending mechanics …

Sensing Movement In Endotracheal Tubes, Mary Anisa Kannan, Krista Powell, Navami Ravindra, Tiffany Wong

Capstone Design Expo Posters

The objective of this project was to develop a device that would better secure endotracheal tubes (ETT), measure unwanted displacement, and notify caretakers when a dangerous amount of displacement has occurred. The project deliverables were as follows: a detailed design, a prototype, and a final demonstration of the prototype which shows successful ability to carry out the objectives stated above. The device needs to be small in size, expensive, flexible to allow for regular cleaning, yet strong enough to withstand stress. The final design consists of a small bite block holder and head straps to secure the device. The device …