Engineering Commons^™

Engineering Decision Making Under Uncertainties, Snehamoy Chatterjee

TechTalks

Uncertainty is an inherent component of any engineering problem. Uncertainty comes at different stages of an engineering project with different level of complexities. Decision making by neglecting uncertainty may leads to an incorrect solution for a project. Our research focuses on identification and quantification of different sources of uncertainness, and bringing uncertainties within the decision making framework. We are developing algorithms for uncertainty evaluation of spatial and temporal data by integrating multiple source and multiple scale data types, and stochastic optimization models to take into account multiple objectives and constraints. We are applying our research on mining, geology, and geo-hydrology …

An Advanced Three-Level Active Neutral-Point-Clamped Converter With Improved Fault-Tolerant Capabilities, Ramin Katebi, Jiangbiao He, Nathan Weise

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

A resilient fault-tolerant silicon carbide (SiC) three-level power converter topology is introduced based on the traditional active neutral-point-clamped converter. This novel converter topology incorporates a redundant leg to provide fault tolerance during switch open-circuit faults and short-circuit faults. Additionally, the topology is capable of maintaining full output voltage and maximum modulation index in the presence of switch open and short-circuit faults. Moreover, the redundant leg can be employed to share load current with other phase legs to balance thermal stress among semiconductor switches during normal operation. A 25-kW prototype of the novel topology was designed and constructed utilizing 1.2-kV SiC …

Development Of An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle For The Measurement Of Turbulence In The Atmospheric Boundary Layer, Brandon M. Witte, Robert F. Singler, Sean C. C. Bailey

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper describes the components and usage of an unmanned aerial vehicle developed for measuring turbulence in the atmospheric boundary layer. A method of computing the time-dependent wind speed from a moving velocity sensor data is provided. The physical system built to implement this method using a five-hole probe velocity sensor is described along with the approach used to combine data from the different on-board sensors to allow for extraction of the wind speed as a function of time and position. The approach is demonstrated using data from three flights of two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) measuring the lower atmospheric …

Evaluating The Liquefaction And Reliquefaction Behavior Of A Carbonate Sand, Abouzar Sadrekarimi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Presentations

Despite extensive amount of research on liquefaction analysis of sands, reliquefaction behavior and cyclic liquefaction resistance of cohesionless soils under a repeated cyclic load have not received the same amount of consideration. This is important as most soil deposits in high seismic areas have been subjected to repeated number of earthquakes. This paper presents series of laboratory cyclic simple shear tests on specimens of a local carbonate sand from London, Ontario. Sand specimens are reconstituted at relative densities of 25%, 45%, and 65% and subjected to effective vertical stresses of 50, 100, 200, 400, and 600 kPa. Reconstituted samples are …

Pulling Gs-The Evolution Of High Performance Aerobatics, Matt Chapman

ERAU Prescott Aviation History Program

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is proud to sponsor one of the top airshow performers in the world, Matt Chapman. Matt is recognized as an extraordinary aerobatic pilot who thrills millions of airshow fans each summer. He began flying aerobatics in 1984 and quickly worked his way up to the highest level of competition aerobatics –the Unlimited category. Recognized for his skills, he won one of only five slots on the U.S. Unlimited Men’s Aerobatic Team in 1996 and 1998. At the 1998 World Aerobatic Championships (WAC), Matt was the highest-ranking American pilot, finishing third in the world with a bronze medal. …

Congratulations A-Pin Recipients! | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Interim College of Engineering Dean Dr. Jagath Kaluarachchi and department heads from across the College of Engineering on Tuesday recognized 28 students for receiving the prestigious A-Pin award.

Assessing The Benefits Of Performance-Based Navigation Procedures, Kabir O. Kasim

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

Performance-based Navigation (PBN) allows aviation operations to be conducted based on actual operational requirements rather than the requirements of ground-based equipment. Although the general operational benefits of PBN procedures have been recognized by various studies, there is a need to specify the actual benefits in terms of the frequency of event anomalies that could be expected from the use of PBN procedures. The study reviewed some of the available literature and identified some operational improvements as reported by previous authors. The study then proceeded to review archival data from the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) database with a view to …

Environmentally Friendly Processing Of Lead Free Sodium Potassium Niobate Thick Films By Electrophoretic Deposition, Paula Vilarinho, Amit Mahajan, Rui Pinho, M. Elisabete Costa, Morgane Dolhen

Electrophoretic Deposition VI: Fundamentals and Applications

When looking for industrial applications environmental compatible solutions are highly desired. When looking at microelectronics miniaturization, functionalization and performance are also highly required. When looking at technologies for deposition of thick films electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is attracting increasing interest for a wide range of technical applications due to its high flexibility, low cost and simplicity of management, facility to fabricate intricate shapes and to be scaled-up for large volume fabrication. Within this context in this work aqueous based electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of lead free sodium potassium niobate (KNN) is demonstrated. The goal of our work is to establish the range …

Phd Student Anna Doloman Wins Grco Grant | Sustainable Waste-To-Bioproducts Engineering Center, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Biological Engineering Doctoral candidate Anna Doloman has earned a Graduate Research and Creative Opportunity (GRCO) Grant for the 2017-2018 year.

Decreased Triple Network Connectivity In Patients With Recent Onset Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder After A Single Prolonged Trauma Exposure, Yang Liu, Liang Li, Baojuan Li, Na Feng, Lihong Li, Xi Zhang, Hongbing Lu, Hong Yin

Publications and Research

The triple network model provides a common framework for understanding affective and neurocognitive dysfunctions across multiple disorders, including central executive network (CEN), default mode network (DMN), and salience network (SN). Considering the effect of traumatic experience on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this study aims to explore the alteration of triple network connectivity in a specific PTSD induced by a single prolonged trauma exposure. With an arterial spin labeling sequence, three networks were first identified using independent component analysis among 10 PTSD patients and 10 healthy survivors, who experienced the same coal mining flood disaster. Then, the triple network connectivity was …

Dermal Uptake Of Benzophenone-3 From Clothing, Glenn C. Morrison, Gabriel Bekö, Charles J. Weschler, Tobias Schripp, Tunga Salthammer, Jonathan Hill, Anna Maria Andersson, Jørn Toftum, Geo Clausen, Hanne Frederiksen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Benzophenone-3 (also known as BP-3 or oxybenzone) is added to sunscreens, plastics, and some coatings to filter UV radiation. The suspected endocrine disruptor BP-3 has been detected in the air and settled dust of homes and is expected to redistribute from its original sources to other indoor compartments, including clothing. Given its physical and chemical properties, we hypothesized that dermal uptake from clothing could contribute to the body burden of this compound. First, cotton shirts were exposed to air at an elevated concentration of BP-3 for 32 days; the final air concentration was 4.4 μg/m3. Next, three participants wore the …

Green Vs. Gray Infrastructure Cost, Rosa A. Fernández Valasquez, Ryan Dupont

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Grey To Green Infrastructure Transition - An Historical Shift In The Modern Infrastructure Paradigm, Ryan Dupont

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Living In The Journey' | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Civil Engineering alumna Megan Montgomery never thought she’d be a valedictorian. She hadn’t even considered a degree in engineering.

The Motivation Behind Stem | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

It’s hard not to get excited about science and engineering after a weeklong, research-themed summer camp in the mountains.

Viticulture From Space: Usu-Nasa Study Analyzes Vineyard Water Use | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

In drought-prone Central California, grape producers are looking for new ways to improve crop production with less water.

I Make Their Dream A Reality' | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

During construction, the steelworks for USU’s Maverik Stadium renovation rose into the air and then branched off left and right, leaving whole sections of the shimmering new building floating in mid-air.

Shush! Aerospace Engineers Working To Hush Sonic Booms | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

If supersonic flight is to take hold in commercial air travel, aircraft designers will need to overcome a noisy problem: sonic booms.

Miniaturizing America's Tallest Dam | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

When heavy winter rains filled Northern California’s Lake Oroville earlier this year, the torrential outflow tore apart the dam’s spillway, sending public safety officials and engineers scrambling for answers.

Life At 12,800 Feet | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Engineering students spent part of their summer break in Southern Peru investigating contaminated water supplies and helping local alpaca farmers solve an ongoing problem.

Priming Plants To Tolerate Drought | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Food growers are facing a difficult reality: climate change is expected to intensify drought conditions, and expanding urban populations are competing for arable land and water supplies.

Between The Lines: Tree Rings Hold Clues About A River’S Past | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

USU hydrologists are looking centuries into the past to better understand an increasingly uncertain water future.

Payloads For Student Thinsat Satellites, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint Presentation created by Professor Bob Twiggs titled "Payloads for Student ThinSat Satellites" from October 2, 2017.

Review Of Project Development Practices And Project Management Resources At State Transportation Agencies, Christopher Van Dyke, Bryan Gibson, Jeff Jasper, Doug Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Technical Assistance Report

At the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s (KYTC) Department of Highways, project development encompasses all the work activities needed to move a transportation project from concept and project initiation to construction letting. Developing projects efficiently requires the adoption of sound project management practices. And having recourse to validated project development practices is critical for helping KYTC project managers negotiate the variety of tasks and processes leading up to project implementation and delivery. For a project manager to be successful, they must possess a holistic understanding of how the complex interplay of engineering, environmental, and economic issues affect different stages and facets of …

Formal Performance Guarantees For An Approach To Human In The Loop Robot Missions, Damian Lyons, Ron Arkin, Shu Jiang, Matt O'Brien, Feng Tang, Peng Tang

Faculty Publications

Abstract— A key challenge in the automatic verification of robot mission software, especially critical mission software, is to be able to effectively model the performance of a human operator and factor that into the formal performance guarantees for the mission. We present a novel approach to modelling the skill level of the operator and integrating it into automatic verification using a linear Gaussians model parameterized by experimental calibration. Our approach allows us to model different skill levels directly in terms of the behavior of the lumped, robot plus operator, system.

Using MissionLab and VIPARS (a behavior-based robot mission verification …

A Novel E-Voting System With Diverse Security Features, Haijun Pan

Dissertations

Internet-based E-voting systems can offer great benefits over traditional voting machines in areas, such as protecting voter and candidate privacy, providing accurate vote counting, preventing voter fraud, and shortening the time of vote counting. This dissertation introduces, establishes and improves Internet-based E-voting systems on various aspects of the voting procedure. In addition, our designs also enable voters to track their votes which is a very important element in any elections.

Our novel Internet-based E-voting system is based on the following realistic assumptions: (1) The election authorities are not 100% trustworthy; (2) The E-voting system itself is not 100% trustworthy; (3) …

Appointment Planning And Scheduling In Primary Care, Babak Hoseini

Dissertations

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) puts greater emphasis on disease prevention and better quality of care; as a result, primary care is becoming a vital component in the health care system. However, long waits for the next available appointments and delays in doctors offices combined with no-shows and late cancellations have resulted in low efficiency and high costs.

This dissertation develops an innovative stochastic model for patient planning and scheduling in order to reduce patients’ waiting time and optimize primary care providers’ utility. In order to facilitate access to patients who request a same-day appointment, a new appointment system is …

Machine Learning Based Digital Image Forensics And Steganalysis, Guanshuo Xu

Dissertations

The security and trustworthiness of digital images have become crucial issues due to the simplicity of malicious processing. Therefore, the research on image steganalysis (determining if a given image has secret information hidden inside) and image forensics (determining the origin and authenticity of a given image and revealing the processing history the image has gone through) has become crucial to the digital society.

In this dissertation, the steganalysis and forensics of digital images are treated as pattern classification problems so as to make advanced machine learning (ML) methods applicable. Three topics are covered: (1) architectural design of convolutional neural networks …

Aerosol Transport By Coughing In A Depressurized And Air-Conditioned Chamber, Bo Zhang

Dissertations

Expiratory droplets from human coughing in an air-conditioned environment have always been considered to be potential carriers of pathogens, responsible for respiratory disease transmission. The air movement/circulation and ambient conditions such as pressure and temperature are all key factors of aerosol transport. To study the transmission of disease by human coughing in a depressurized air-conditioned chamber, there are many technical challenges, including the following: 1) the study of simulating human coughing; 2) the collection of aerosol generated by coughing; 3) the CFD simulation of coughing-induced aerosol transport in an air-conditioned chamber; 4) the validation of such a CFD simulation by …

An Artificial Neural Network Model For Predicting Freeway Work Zone Delays With Big Data, Bo Du

Dissertations

Lane closures due to road reconstruction and maintenance have resulted in a major source of non-recurring congestion on freeways. It is extremely important to accurately quantify the associated mobility impact so that a cost-effective work zone schedule and an efficient traffic management plan can be developed. Therefore, the development of a sound model for predicting delays or road users is desirable.

A comprehensive literature review on existing work zone delay prediction models (i.e., deterministic queuing model and shock wave model) is conducted in this study, which explores the advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of different modeling approaches. The performance of those …