Engineering Commons^™

Low Temperature Solution-Processed Sb:Sno2 Nanocrystals For Efficient Planar Perovskite Solar Cells, Yang Bai, Yanjun Fang, Yehao Deng, Qi Wang, Jingjing Zhao, Xiaopeng Zheng, Yang Zhang, Jinsong Huang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Inorganic metal oxide electron-transport layers (ETLs) have the potential to yield perovskite solar cells with improved stability, but generally need high temperature to form conductive and defect-less forms, which is not compatible with the fabrication of flexible and tandem solar cells. Here, we demonstrate a facile strategy for developing efficient inorganic ETLs by doping SnO₂ nanocrystals (NCs) with a small amount of Sb using a low-temperature solution-processed method. The electrical conductivity was remarkably enhanced by Sb-doping, which increased the carrier concentration in Sb:SnO₂ NCs. Moreover, the upward shift of the Fermi level owing to doping results in improved …

Propagation Of Extensional Waves In A Piezoelectric Semiconductor Rod, C.L. Zhang, X. Y. Wang, W. Q. Chen, J. S. Yang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

We studied the propagation of extensional waves in a thin piezoelectric semiconductor rod of ZnO whose c-axis is along the axis of the rod. The macroscopic theory of piezoelectric semiconductors was used which consists of the coupled equations of piezoelectricity and the conservation of charge. The problem is nonlinear because the drift current is the product of the unknown electric field and the unknown carrier density. A perturbation procedure was used which resulted in two one-way coupled linear problems of piezoelectricity and the conservation of charge, respectively. The acoustic wave and the accompanying electric field were obtained from the equations …

Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute Annual Technical Report Fy 2015, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

KWRRI Annual Technical Reports (USGS’s 104b Grant Program)

The 2015 Annual Technical Report for Kentucky consolidates reporting requirements for the Section 104(b) base grant award into a single document that includes: 1) a synopsis of each student research enhancement project that was conducted during the period, 2) citations for related publications, reports, and presentations, 3) a description of information transfer activities, 4) a summary of student support during the reporting period, and 5) notable awards and achievements during the year.

No funds were requested for general program administration activities. However, travel funds were provided to support the participation of the director and associate director in the annual meeting …

Functional Performance Differences Between The Genium And C-Leg Prosthetic Knees And Intact Knees, Michael J. Highsmith, Jason T. Kahle, Rebecca M. Miro, M. E. Cress, Derek J. Lura, William S. Quillen, Stephanie Carey, Rajiv V. Dubey, Larry J. Mengelkoch

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Microprocessor prosthetic knees (MPKs) have advanced technologically, offering new features to decrease impairment and activity limitations for persons with transfemoral amputation (TFA). The Genium knee is functionally untested, and functional differences between it and intact knees are unknown. This study sought to determine whether Genium use improves functional performance compared with the C-Leg. A randomized experimental crossover design was used, with a cross-section of five nonamputee controls for comparison to nor­mal. Twenty community-ambulating persons with TFA were trained and tested for accommodation with study components. All subjects (n = 25) were assessed using the Continuous-Scale Physical Functional Performance-10 (CS-PFP10) …

User Involvement In The Partner Program Of The Educational Social Network, Ilya V. Osipov, Alex A. Volinsky, Anna Y. Praskikova

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

The paper describes experiments to attract active online system users to the partner program. The objective is to grow the number of users by involving existing system users in viral mechanics. Several examples of user motivation are given, along with the specific interface implementations and viral mechanics. Viral K-factor was used as the metrics for the resulting system growth assessment. Specific examples show both positive and negative outcomes. Growth of the target system parameters is discussed.

A Tool For Beamforming And Real-Time Link Budget Analysis In Aeronautical Communications Using Kinematics, M. Cenk Erturk, Yasin Aksan

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications

Aeronautical Communication (AC) systems are likely to be a part of future tiered communication network structures. Therefore maintaining a robust AC link with a minimum power burden on the host platform has a critical importance. In this paper, we analyze the AC systems from a link budget analysis point of view and define the requirements for the parameters of link budget with an emphasize on antenna gains. First, we study the link budget analysis in an AC system. Then, we present a mathematical framework to provide an end-to-end link budget analysis utilizing the platform kinematics. Finally, we present the numerical …

Geometric Deformations Of Sodalite Frameworks, Ciprian Borcea, Ileana Streinu

Computer Science: Faculty Publications

In mathematical crystallography and computational materials science, it is important to infer flexibility properties of framework materials from their geometric representation. We study combinatorial, geometric and kinematic properties for frameworks modeled on sodalite.

Follow Me Robot, Victoria M. Edwards

Honors Theses

The idea of a personal robotic assistant, while once made up the tales of science fiction, is now moving closer and closer to reality. It is easy for two humans to walk together where one person knows the directions and the other person follows along. However, it is not a trivial problem for a robot to recognize a human, and follow side by side along with them. There are three key parts to this problem: 1.) Detection of a human, 2.) Tracking the human, and 3.) the robot's Motion strategy. Using baseline assumptions, I can simplify the detection process allowing …

Antibody Targeting Facilitates Effective Intratumoral Sirna Nanoparticle Delivery To Her2-Overexpressing Cancer Cells, Maria C. Palanca-Wessels, Garrett Booth, Anthony J. Convertine, Brittany B. Lundy, Geoffrey Y. Berguig, Michael F. Press, Patrick S. Stayton, Oliver W. Press

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The therapeutic potential of RNA interference (RNAi) has been limited by inefficient delivery of short interfering RNA (siRNA). Tumor-specific recognition can be effectively achieved by antibodies directed against highly expressed cancer cell surface receptors. We investigated the utility of linking an internalizing streptavidinconjugated HER2 antibody to an endosome-disruptive biotinylated polymeric nanocarrier to improve the functional cytoplasmic delivery of siRNA in breast and ovarian cancer cells in vitro and in an intraperitoneal ovarian cancer xenograft model in vivo, yielding an 80% reduction of target mRNA and protein levels with sustained repression for at least 96 hours. RNAi-mediated site specific cleavage …

Computational Assessment Of Neural Probe And Brain Tissue Interface Under Transient Motion, Michael Polanco, Sebastian Bawab, Hangsoon Yoon

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

The functional longevity of a neural probe is dependent upon its ability to minimize injury risk during the insertion and recording period in vivo, which could be related to motion-related strain between the probe and surrounding tissue. A series of finite element analyses was conducted to study the extent of the strain induced within the brain in an area around a neural probe. This study focuses on the transient behavior of neural probe and brain tissue interface with a viscoelastic model. Different stages of the interface from initial insertion of neural probe to full bonding of the probe by astro-glial …

Electrokinetic Phenomena In Pencil Lead-Based Microfluidics, Yashar Bashirzadeh, Venkat Maruthamuthu, Shizhi Qian

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Fabrication of microchannels and associated electrodes to generate electrokinetic phenomena often involves costly materials and considerable effort. In this study, we used graphite pencil-leads as low cost, disposable 3D electrodes to investigate various electrokinetic phenomena in straight cylindrical microchannels, which were themselves fabricated by using a graphite rod as the microchannel mold. Individual pencil-leads were employed as the micro-electrodes arranged along the side walls of the microchannel. Efficient electrokinetic phenomena provided by the 3D electrodes, including alternating current electroosmosis (ACEO), induced-charge electroosmosis (ICEO), and dielectrophoresis (DEP), were demonstrated by the introduced pencil-lead based microfluidic devices. The electrokinetic phenomena were characterized …

การพัฒนาแนวทางในการปรับยกระดับระบบบริหารคุณภาพจาก Iso 9001:2008 สู่ Iso 9001:2015, อัครพันธ์ จันทร์เสงี่ยม

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้มีจุดมุ่งหมายเพื่อประยุกต์การบริหารการเปลี่ยนแปลงในการปรับเปลี่ยนระบบบริหารคุณภาพ ISO 9000 ซึ่งปัจจุบันได้มีการปรับเปลี่ยนจากระบบบริหารคุณภาพ ISO 9001:2008 มาเป็นระบบบริหารคุณภาพ ISO 9001:2015 การเปลี่ยนแปลงนี้เป็นการเปลี่ยนแปลงที่เกิดจากภายนอกองค์กร (External Change) โดยองค์กรที่ได้รับการรับรองระบบ ISO หรือองค์กรที่ต้องการต่อใบรับรองต้องดำเนินการให้เหมาะสม งานวิจัยนี้เป็นการประยุกต์ใช้ขั้นตอนเพื่อการบริหารการเปลี่ยนแปลงให้บรรลุเป้าหมาย 8 ประการ ดังนี้ 1) สร้างสำนึกความจำเป็นเร่งด่วนที่ต้องเปลี่ยนแปลง 2) สร้างขุมพลังในการนำการเปลี่ยนแปลง 3) กำหนดวิสัยทัศน์และแผนการเปลี่ยนแปลงเชิงกลยุทธ์ 4) สื่อสารวิสัยทัศน์เพื่อสร้างการสนับสนุน 5) การดำเนินการเพื่อขจัดอุปสรรคของการเปลี่ยนแปลง 6) กำหนดเป้าหมายระยะสั้น และวางแผนเพื่อให้บรรลุเป้าหมาย 7) เสริมแรงการเปลี่ยนแปลงเพื่อการพัฒนาอย่างยั่งยืน 8) ปลูกฝังสิ่งที่เปลี่ยนแปลงให้เป็นส่วนหนึ่งของวัฒนธรรมบริษัท โดยแต่ละขั้นตอนได้นำเอาแนวคิดและทฤษฎีที่เกี่ยวกับการบริหารการเปลี่ยนแปลง เช่น แนวคิดเกี่ยวกับการต้านทานการเปลี่ยนแปลง (Force Field Analysis) การทดสอบความพร้อมในการเปลี่ยนแปลง (TROPICS Test) การศึกษาสภาพแวดล้อมองค์กร การวางแผนกลยุทธ์องค์กร การประเมินความเสี่ยง เป็นต้น มาประยุกต์ใช้เพื่อให้เกิดการเปลี่ยนแปลงได้อย่างมีประสิทธิผล และในงานวิจัยนี้ยังได้นำกระบวนการบริหารการเปลี่ยนแปลงของระบบบริหารคุณภาพนี้ ไปประยุกต์ใช้กับบริษัทกรณีศึกษาบริษัทผลิตโคมไฟ ซึ่งเป็นบริษัทผลิตโคมไฟลำดับแรกๆของประเทศ โดยผลของการประยุกต์ใช้ในครั้งนี้ส่งผลให้สามารถพัฒนากรอบการบริหารการเปลี่ยนแปลงเพื่อปรับเปลี่ยนระบบบริหารคุณภาพได้อย่างมีประสิทธิภาพ

On The Role Of Adsorbate Position, Geometry, And Binding Characteristics On The Multi-Modal Response Of Cantilever-Based Resonators For Higher-Order Discrete-Mass Detection, Stephen M. Heinrich, Pierre-Henri Ducrot, C. Ayela, Hongjian Zhang, Isabelle Dufour

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Direct Experimental Evidence For Differing Reactivity Alterations Of Minerals Following Irradiation: The Case Of Calcite And Quartz, Isabella Pignatelli, Aditya Kumar, Kevin G. Field, Bu Wang, Yingtian Yu, Yann Le Pape, Mathieu Bauchy, Gaurav Sant

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Concrete, used in the construction of nuclear power plants (NPPs), may be exposed to radiation emanating from the reactor core. Until recently, concrete has been assumed immune to radiation exposure. Direct evidence acquired on Ar⁺-ion irradiated calcite and quartz indicates, on the contrary, that, such minerals, which constitute aggregates in concrete, may be significantly altered by irradiation. More specifically, while quartz undergoes disordering of its atomic structure resulting in a near complete lack of periodicity, calcite only experiences random rotations, and distortions of its carbonate groups. As a result, irradiated quartz shows a reduction in density of around …

Capturing The Big Picture: The 2015 Capstone Design Survey, Susannah Howe

Engineering: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Controlled Meteorological (Cmet) Free Balloon Profiling Of The Arctic Atmospheric Boundary Layer Around Spitsbergen Compared To Era-Interim And Arctic System Reanalyses, Tjarda J. Roberts, Marina Dütsch, Lars R. Hole, Paul Voss

Engineering: Faculty Publications

Observations from CMET (Controlled Meteo- rological) balloons are analysed to provide insights into tropospheric meteorological conditions (temperature, hu- midity, wind) around Svalbard, European High Arctic. Five Controlled Meteorological (CMET) balloons were launched from Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard (Spitsbergen) over 5–12 May 2011 and measured vertical atmospheric profiles over coastal areas to both the east and west. One notable CMET flight achieved a suite of 18 continuous soundings that probed the Arctic marine boundary layer (ABL) over a period of more than 10 h. Profiles from two CMET flights are compared to model output from ECMWF Era-Interim reanal- ysis (ERA-I) and to …

Phase I Inspection Of The Stay Cable System On The Us 231 William H. Natcher Bridge Over The Ohio River, Theodore Hopwood Ii, Sudhir Palle, Danny Wells, Bobby W. Meade, Jared Fairchild, Christopher Goff

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The US 231 Natcher Bridge was opened in 2002. By 2006 cracking was observed in the plastic piping that protected the stay cable strands from the environment at both the deck and tower anchorages. Over time the extent of cracking increased and an investigation was initiated to assess the types of deterioration impacting the cables, their causes and their impacts on the integrity of the stay cables.

From 2012-2015, a series of in-depth field inspections were performed using visual and nondestructive testing. Most of this work focused on the piping at the deck anchorages. The inspections disclosed voids in cable …

High-Temperature, High-Pressure Viscosities And Densities Of Toluene, Aaron J. Rowane

Theses and Dissertations

High-temperature, high-pressure (HTHP) conditions are exemplified in ultra-deep petroleum reservoirs and can be exhibited within diesel engines. Accurate pure component hydrocarbon data is essential in understanding the overall behavior of petroleum and diesel fuel at these conditions. The present study focuses on the HTHP properties of toluene since this hydrocarbon is frequently used to increase the octane rating of gasoline and toluene occurs naturally in crude oil. In this thesis experimental densities and viscosity are presented to 535 K and 300 MPa extending the database of toluene viscosity data to higher temperature than previous studies. The data is correlated to …

Drying Methods For The Fabrication Of Polymer Foam Material, Dalton Echard

Theses and Dissertations

This is a report on the study of the drying of nanoporous polymer foam material fabricated by photolithogtaphic methods. Three drying methods were employed, which were air drying, supercritical drying and freeze drying. After fabrication and drying, physical properties of the polymer foams were measured. These measurements included density of the material, Young’s modulus, surface area, and the shape of the skeletal particles. The measurements determined the effect of the polymer concentration and the effect of drying methods. It was determined that polymer concentration had a much larger effect on the properties of the materials than the drying method.

Improving Understandability And Uncertainty Modeling Of Data Using Fuzzy Logic Systems, Dumidu S. Wijayasekara

Theses and Dissertations

The need for automation, optimality and efficiency has made modern day control and monitoring systems extremely complex and data abundant. However, the complexity of the systems and the abundance of raw data has reduced the understandability and interpretability of data which results in a reduced state awareness of the system. Furthermore, different levels of uncertainty introduced by sensors and actuators make interpreting and accurately manipulating systems difficult. Classical mathematical methods lack the capability to capture human knowledge and increase understandability while modeling such uncertainty.

Fuzzy Logic has been shown to alleviate both these problems by introducing logic based on vague …

Design & Analysis Of A Computer Experiment For An Aerospace Conformance Simulation Study, Ryan W. Gryder

Theses and Dissertations

Within NASA's Air Traffic Management Technology Demonstration # 1 (ATD-1), Interval Management (IM) is a flight deck tool that enables pilots to achieve or maintain a precise in-trail spacing behind a target aircraft. Previous research has shown that violations of aircraft spacing requirements can occur between an IM aircraft and its surrounding non-IM aircraft when it is following a target on a separate route. This research focused on the experimental design and analysis of a deterministic computer simulation which models our airspace configuration of interest. Using an original space-filling design and Gaussian process modeling, we found that aircraft delay assignments …

Modeling Time-Dependent Performance Of Submerged Superhydrophobic Or Slippery Surfaces, Ahmed A. Hemeda

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to quantify the transient performance of microfabricated superhydrophobic surfaces when used in underwater applications. A mathematical framework is developed and used to predict the stability, longevity, and drag reduction benefits of submerged superhydrophobic surfaces with two- or three-dimensional micro-textures. In addition, a novel design is proposed to improve the drag-reduction benefits of lubricant-infused surfaces, by placing a layer of trapped air underneath the lubricant layer. The new design is referred to as lubricant–infused surfaces with trapped air, and it is designed to eliminate the long-lasting longevity problem of submerged superhydrophobic surfaces. The effectiveness of …

Magnetic Materials Characterization And Modeling For The Enhanced Design Of Magnetic Shielding Of Cryomodules In Particle Accelerators., Sanjay K. Sah

Theses and Dissertations

Particle accelerators produce beams of high-energy particles, which are used for both fundamental and applied scientific research and are critical to the development of accelerator driven sub-critical reactor systems. An effective magnetic shield is very important to achieve higher quality factor (Qo) of the cryomodule of a particle accelerator. The allowed value of field inside the cavity due to all external fields (particularly the Earth’s magnetic field) is ~15 mG or less. The goal of this PhD dissertation is to comprehensively study the magnetic properties of commonly used magnetic shielding materials at both cryogenic and room temperatures. This knowledge can …

Hpc Enabled Data Analytics For High-Throughput High-Content Cellular Analysis, Ross A. Smith, Rhonda J. Vickery, Jack Harris, Sara Gharabaghi, Thomas Wischgoll, David Short, Robert Trevino, Steven A. Kawamoto, Thomas J. Lamkin, Kevin Schoen, Eric E. Bardes, Scott C. Tabar, Bruce J. Aronow

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

Biologists doing high-throughput high-content cellular analysis are generally not computer scientists or high performance computing (HPC) experts, and they want their workflow to support their science without having to be. We describe a new HPC enabled data analytics workflow with a web interface, HPC pipeline for analysis, and both traditional and new analytics tools to help them transition from a single workstation mode of operation to power HPC users. This allows the processing of multiple plates over a short period of time to ensure timely query and analysis to match potential countermeasures to individual responses.

Structural Design Issues Of "Hexapod" Foundations For Wind Turbine Towers, Chad A. Norvell

Civil and Environmental Engineering Master's Project Reports

The current practice for wind turbine foundations is to use massive cast-in-place concrete spread footings or complex pile-supported foundations. Wind turbine generator components and the towers that support them are pre-fabricated and assembled on site, leaving the foundation as the only component of the wind turbine system requiring major in situ construction. The new "hexapod" foundation concept is fully pre-fabricated, uses a fraction of the quantity of concrete used in conventional foundations, and may be dismantled and re-used elsewhere. The wind turbine tower is attached to a steel or concrete hub which is attached to six radial, precast, post-tensioned concrete …

An Efficient Hybrid Eye Detection Method, Mingxin Yu, Yingzi Lin, Xiangzhou Wang

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Eye detection is the most important and critical task of diverse applications such as face detection and recognition. However, most eye detection methods do not fully consider detection robustness to people with glasses, illumination variation, head pose change, and eye occlusions. This paper proposes an efficient hybrid eye detection method based on a gray intensity variance filter (VF) and support vector machines (SVMs). Firstly, the VF is used for eliminating most of noneye region images to keep less candidate eye regions. Then accurate two eye regions are determined easily through the trained SVM classifier. Moreover, this paper provides an assessment …

The Journal Of Undergraduate Research

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

This is the complete issue of the South Dakota State University Journal of Undergraduate Research, Volume 14.

A Comparison Of Rule-Based Analysis With Regression Methods In Understanding The Risk Factors For Study Withdrawal In A Pediatric Study, Mona Haghighi, Suzanne B. Johnson, Xiaoning Qian, Kristian F. Lynch, Kendra Vehik, Shuai Huang, The Teddy Study Group

Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Regression models are extensively used in many epidemiological studies to understand the linkage between specific outcomes of interest and their risk factors. However, regression models in general examine the average effects of the risk factors and ignore subgroups with different risk profiles. As a result, interventions are often geared towards the average member of the population, without consideration of the special health needs of different subgroups within the population. This paper demonstrates the value of using rule-based analysis methods that can identify subgroups with heterogeneous risk profiles in a population without imposing assumptions on the subgroups or method. The rules …

Reaction Parameters And Energy Optimisation For Biodiesel Production Using A Supercritical Process, Nessren Farrag, Mamdouh Gadalla, Mai Fouad

Chemical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Team Training In Safety And Security Via Simulation : A Practical Dimension Of Maritime Education And Training, Michael Baldauf, Dimitrios Dalaklis, Aditi Kataria

Conference Papers

In the rather extended maritime domain, a term that should be the epicentre of any successful careerbuilding path is tailor-made training via cutting-edge simulators. To cut a long story short, the breadth of operations on the various types of ships has expanded to such a large extent that extensive practical training drills are becoming a compelling need to contribute to competent seafarers. This type of training can guarantee the positive outcome in their decision-making process and help the seafarers often being under continuous pressure, to suitably respond to the various safety and security threats on-board a vessel. The several conventions …