Engineering Commons^™

Biological Engineering Professor Presents Inaugural Lecture | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Biological Engineering faculty Dr. Anhong Zhou reflected on family and the future of bio-technologies at his inaugural lecture last month where he was honored for his promotion to professor.

Synthesis Of Novel, Highly Bio-Based Monomeric Materials Derived From Lignocellulosic Biomass And Their Respective Epoxy Resins, Polycarbonates, And Polyesters, Joseph Randall Mauck

Theses and Dissertations

The development of high performance polymers from renewable feedstocks is a crucial step toward a global economy that is less dependent on fossil resources and has been a field of increasing study. The development of novel and interesting bio-based monomers, resins, and functional building blocks is critical to the improvement of polymers produced across the field, as well as to increasing the resource base from which chemical and materials engineers can draw to meet specific polymer property requirements. To this end, interesting tri-functional (trisguaiacol) and 4-vinyl guaiacol based hetero-difunctional monomers were developed and screened for preliminary polymer properties. The applications …

Utah State University’S Cee Department Gets Attention From Industry Magazines | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Utah State University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering was mentioned several times recently in the United States Society on Dams (USSD) Newsletter and the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) Annual Report.

Characterization And Fracture Property Of Different Strontium-Containing Borate-Based Glass Coatings For Ti6al4v Substrates, Yiming Li, Ali Matinmanesh, Declan J. Curran, Emil H. Schemitsch, Paul Zalzal, Marcello Papini, Anthony W. Wren, Mark R. Towler

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This work considered the effect of increasing Strontium ion (Sr²⁺) content on the structure of a series of glasses based on the B₂O₃-P₂O₅-CaCO₃-Na₂CO₃-TiO₂-SrCO₃ series and their resultant fracture toughness when coated onto a surgical metal substrate. Six glasses with increasing Sr²⁺ content (0 to 25 mol%) were synthesized and subsequently characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA) and both Magic Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (MAS-NMR) and Raman Spectroscopy. These techniques confirmed that increased Sr²⁺ content induced …

Hydrodynamic And Water Quality Modeling Of The Chehalis River Using Ce-Qual-W2, Sarah Van Glubt

Dissertations and Theses

The Chehalis River Basin is located in the southwest region of Washington State, originating in the Olympic Mountains and flowing to Grays Harbor and the Pacific Ocean. The Chehalis River is over 125 miles, exists within five counties, and flows through agricultural, residential, industrial, and forest land areas. Four major rivers discharge to the Chehalis River, as well as many smaller creeks, five wastewater treatment plants, and groundwater flows.

Flooding is a major problem in the relatively flat areas surrounding the cities of Chehalis and Centralia, with severe consequences for property, safety and transportation. As a result, construction of a …

A Modification Of Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition Method, Chu-Kuan Lin, Wei-Po Huang, Grzegorz Różyński, Jaw-Guei Lin

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

An adjustment about the added white noise in Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) of Wu and Huang (2008) was presented in this paper. The EEMD establishes an ensemble by adding time series of finite but not infinitesimal amplitude white noise into a time series of the signal to solve the mode-mixing problem occurred in the conventional EMD method. The adding ensembles of noise are supposed to be exhausted from all possible solutions from the sifting process. However, in the Matlab script of the theory, it was found that the added noise could not be averaged out through the whole process. …

Intelligent Detection Of Serial Arc Fault On Low Voltage Power Lines, Chi-Jui Wu, Yu-Wei Liu, Chen-Shung Hung

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Some reports reveal that a number of home fires are caused by electric arc faults on low voltage electric power lines. The arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) is a device to detect arc faults. However, the accurate rate of detection by commercial AFCIs is still imperfect. In this paper, an intelligent method is intended to improve the detection ability. A wavelet based stationary non-stationary filter (WTST-NST) is employed to eliminate the impulse components of measurement data. Then, the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and the multi-resolution are used to obtain the signal energy in the corresponding frequency band. A back propagation …

Application Of Morlet Wavelet In The Diagnosis Of Noise Signal Characteristics Of A Wind Turbine Blade In Abnormal Operation, Chao-Nan Wang, Yao-Chi Tang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study developed an estimation model for noise signal characteristic diagnosis based on the time-frequency analysis technique. The time-frequency analysis theory uses the relatively mature and extensively used wavelet method as the basis of signal analysis, but wavelet analysis generates wavelet theories different from other mother wavelet methods. This study used the Morlet Transform, which is a type of wavelet transform using a mother wavelet for wavelet analysis of signals. The time axis was integrated according to the result of time-frequency analysis in order to obtain the marginal spectrum value of the frequency domain. Finally, statistical regression analysis was used …

Multi-Resolution Codebook And Adaptive Beamforming Sequence Design For Millimeter Wave Beam Alignment, Song Noh, Michael D. Zoltowski, David J. Love

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technical Reports

Millimeter wave (mmWave) communication is expected to be widely deployed in fifth generation (5G) wireless networks due to the substantial bandwidth available at mmWave frequencies. To overcome the higher path loss observed at mmWave bands, most prior work focused on the design of directional beamforming using analog and/or hybrid beamforming techniques in largescale multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. Obtaining potential gains from highly directional beamforming in practical systems hinges on sufficient levels of channel estimation accuracy, where the problem of channel estimation becomes more challenging due to the substantial training overhead needed to sound all directions using a high-resolution narrow beam. …

Exploration Method Improvements Of Autonomous Robot For A 2-D Environment Navigation, Nien-Yu Chen, Jinsiang Shaw, Hsien-I Lin

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper presents a method for integrating different algorithms for building an autonomous robot. The developed robot has the ability to construct the 2-D map of an unknown environment, localize itself in the map, explore undiscovered area, and path finding. In order to efficiently explore a map, we propose an exploration method. Additionally, improvements of conventional A* algorithm are proposed. Experimental results show that the developed robot is capable of navigating an unknown indoor environment with random obstacles.

A Parametric Study Of An Implementing Adaptive Time Reversal Mirror As A Crosstalk Mechanism For Underwater Communication, Yi-Wei Lin, Gee-Pinn Too

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The time reversal mirror technique has been widely applied to mitigate the inter-symbol interference in underwater channels. Meanwhile, an adaptive time reversal mirror is introduced to improve the crosstalk quality between receivers in underwater acoustic communication (UAC). However, array configuration affects the performance of this mechanism. To explore the effectiveness of this method, this study extended the analysis of adaptive time reversal mirror as a crosstalk mechanism and explored the mechanism in an experiment using a towing tank as a testing platform. The advantage of this process is its simplicity in examining the effects of the array configuration of this …

A Study On The Integrated Design Of Engine Room Ventilation, Wen-Kong Horng, Heiu-Jou Shaw

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper presents a ventilation system design process that integrates the key plan and working plan design phases using evolving 3D models to reduce the required number of design manhours. The process is called the Routing-Expanding-Predicting Ventilation (REPV) process. First, the routes of a ventilation system are determined based on a 3D model of the ship engine room, and the dimensions of the rectangular ventilation ducts are expanded to maintain a range of air velocities using the Duct Route Arrangement program (DRAP) in the key design phase. Finally, after the routes of the ventilation models are revised in the working …

High-Frequency Excited Non-Premixed Jet Flame In Crossflow, Richard Kyalo Kimilu, Rong Fung Huang, Ching Min Hsu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

A non-premixed jet flame acoustically pulsed at the third resonant frequency of 645 Hz was studied experimentally in a wind tunnel. Flame behavior, characteristics, temperature distributions, and combustion-product distributions were investigated. The flame behavior was characterized by flame visualization. Flame dimensions were obtained from long-exposure flame images. A fine-wire, R-type thermocouple was used to probe temperature distributions while combustion product concentrations were measured using a gas analyzer. Three characteristic flame modes, I, II, and III were identified in the domain of jet pulsation intensity (Ipul). Mode I flames (0 ≦ Ipul ≦ 0.30) were not affected by pulsation, and remained …

Numerical Simulation Of Solitary Wave Propagation In A Vegetated Channel Using An Extended Boussinesq Model, Mingliang Zhang, Huiting Qiao, Yuanyuan Xu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

An explicit one-dimensional model based on the extended Boussinesq equations was established to calculate solitary wave propagation in vegetated and non-vegetated waters. This model adopts a hybrid solution combining the finite difference (FD) and the finite-volume (FV) methods. This hybrid model can also simulate wave propagation as the FV solution of a non-linear shallow water equations (NSWE) model by removing the higher order Boussinesq terms. The resistance force caused by vegetation is added into a source term in the momentum equation. The interface fluxes are evaluated using the Harten-Lax-van Leer (HLL) approximate Riemann solver with reconstruction technique, providing a robust …

Mechanical Engineering News, Georgia Southern University

Mechanical Engineering: News & Publications (2013-2023)

• Nanotechnology and Cancer Exploratory Collaborative Symposium

Implications Of Electric Vehicle Penetration On State And Federal Highway Revenues, Florida Solar Energy Center, Kevin Schleith

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This report summarizes the results of research conducted to determine if current and near future electric vehicle (EV) sales will have an impact on motor fuel tax revenues as part of the Federal Highway Trust Fund (HTF). Gasoline and diesel fuel taxes account for $31.1 billion or about 87% of the HTF. The project results were accomplished by conducting a review of existing industry and government reports that detail fuel tax revenues and an analysis of EV sales from 2010 through 2016. Results show, that as of January 2017, the lost fuel tax revenue from EV sales of 560,000 vehicles …

Electric Vehicle Life Cycle Cost Analysis, Florida Solar Energy Center, Richard Raustad

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This project compared total life cycle costs of battery electric vehicles (BEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), and vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE). The analysis considered capital and operating costs in order to present an equal comparison of differing vehicles. The analysis also included photovoltaic (PV) and workplace charging options. The overall goal was to define the total vehicle cost of ownership over 5, 10, 15, and 20 year life expectancies. The developed life cycle cost computer program will allow any individual to compare life cycle costs of any vehicle.

Method And Apparatus For Singularity Avoidance For Control Moment Gyroscope (Cmg) Systems Without Using Null Motion, Brij N. Agrawal, Jae Jun Kim, Timothy Andrew Sands

AFIT Patents

A method is described for avoiding gyroscopic singularities during attitude correction to a system, such as a spacecraft having a CMG array. The method receives a corrective torque vector μ and gimbal angle values δ for each of at least three gimbals within the CMG array. The method generates a Jacobian matrix A as a function of gimbal angle values δ. The method calculates a determinant D of Jacobian matrix A. If the determinant is not equal to zero, it is not singular, and the method calculates a gimbal rate {dot over (δ)} using a pseudo-inverse steering law equation. If …

Preparation Of Hydrogel Based On Acryl Amide And Investigation Of Different Factors Affecting Rate And Amount Of Absorbed Water, Hany A. Elazab Dr

Chemical Engineering

Hydrogel is considered as an important material in our world nowadays as it is used in many important and significant applications such as in tissue engineering and agriculture. There are hundreds of types of such materials, where most of them can be easily prepared. The main objective of this work is to prepare one of the hydrogel types which could be very useful in the agriculture of deserts where plants in dry places require water in order to grow up. There are many places around the world where raining occurs only once or twice a year. There are also places …

Women In It: Be The Change, Marcia L. Dority Baker

Information Technology Services: Publications

The influence of established women in IT — specifically Florence Hudson and Melissa Woo — encouraged a librarian to apply for a position in Information Technology Services at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

A hands-on approach to planning the IT Leadership conference developed a strong collaborative network that also helped grow attendance.

Paying attention to the pros and cons of the 2016 conference guided the planners in modifying their approach to the upcoming October 2017 conference and its focus on diversity and inclusion.

A main goal for future IT Leadership conferences focusing on women and diversity in IT is providing attendees …

National Media Turn To Usu Engineering Professor For Developing Oroville Spillway Situation | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Reporters around the world are covering the developing story in Northern California where massive water flows are threatening the integrity of the Oroville Dam’s main and auxiliary spillways.

A Novel Composite Hydrogen Sensor Based On Pd Nanoclusters/Tio2 Nanotube Arrays, X. B. Wei, X. H. Yang, T. Wu, H. Y. Pang, G. D. Lv, S. H. Wu, S. B. Li, Zhi Chen

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

A novel composite hydrogen sensor, consisting of Pd nanoclusters/TiO₂ nanotube arrays, was fabricated and evaluated at room temperature. The Pd nanoclusters layer was deposited on top surface of the nanotube arrays by using a direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering method. Resistive response of the composite sensors to 0.5% hydrogen was measured. Experimental results indicated that the Pd nanoclusters can quickly and continually form or break multiple passages by absorbing or desorbing hydrogen, so that the composite hydrogen sensors have promising hydrogen sensitivity at room temperature.

Nitrate Radicals And Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds: Oxidation, Mechanisms And Organic Aerosol, Nga Lee Ng, Steven S. Brown, Alexander T. Archibald, Elliot Atlas, Ronald C. Cohen, John N. Crowley, Douglas A. Day, Neil M. Donahue, Juliane L. Fry, Hendrik Fuchs, Robert J. Griffin, Marcelo I. Guzman, Hartmut Hermann, Alma Hodzic, Yoshiteru Iinuma, José L. Jimenez, Astrid Kiendler-Scharr, Ben H. Lee, Deborah J. Luecken, Jingqiu Mao, Robert Mclaren, Anke Mutzel, Hans D. Osthoff, Bin Ouyang, Benedicte Picquet-Varrault, Ulrich Platt, Havala O. T. Pye, Yinon Rudich, Rebecca H. Schwantes, Manabu Shiraiwa, Jochen Stutz, Joel A. Thornton, Andreas Tilgner, Brent J. Williams, Rahul A. Zaveri

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Oxidation of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) by the nitrate radical (NO₃) represents one of the important interactions between anthropogenic emissions related to combustion and natural emissions from the biosphere. This interaction has been recognized for more than 3 decades, during which time a large body of research has emerged from laboratory, field, and modeling studies. NO₃-BVOC reactions influence air quality, climate and visibility through regional and global budgets for reactive nitrogen (particularly organic nitrates), ozone, and organic aerosol. Despite its long history of research and the significance of this topic in atmospheric chemistry, a number …

Remote Handled Disposal Enhancement At The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Philip Theisen

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is a deep underground facility for the disposal of Transuranic Defense Waste located in Southeastern New Mexico. Transuranic (TRU) Waste is defined as any radionuclides with an atomic number greater than that of Uranium, has a half-life greater than 20 years, and activity greater than 100nanocuries. According to the ‘Land Withdrawal Act’ (LWA), WIPP is licensed to dispose of 6.2million cubic feet of waste. TRU waste is categorized into two types: Contact Handled (CH) and Remote Handled (RH). CH waste is any waste that does not have a surface dose rate that exceeds 200mrem …

Achieving Operational Seismic Performance Of Rc Bridge Bents Retrofitted With Buckling-Restrained Braces, Ramiro Andrés Gabriel Bazáez Gallardo

Dissertations and Theses

Typical reinforced concrete (RC) bridges built prior to 1970 were designed with minimum seismic consideration, leaving numerous bridges highly susceptible to damage following an earthquake. In order to improve the seismic behavior of substandard RC bridges, this study presents the seismic performance of reinforced concrete bridge bents retrofitted and repaired using Buckling-Restrained Braces (BRBs) while considering subduction zone earthquake demands. In order to reflect displacement demands from subduction ground motions, research studies were conducted to develop quasi-static loading protocols and then investigate their effect on structural bridge damage. Results suggested that subduction loading protocols may reduce the displacement ductility capacity …

Ideal Radial Permanent Magnet Coupling Torque Density Analysis, Kang Li, Jonathan Bird, Vedanadam M. Acharya

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper derives the closed form 3-D analytical torque equations for an ideal radial Halbach rotor magnetic coupling. The performance of the radial Halbach coupling is then compared with an ideal axial Halbach rotor coupling. The closed form equations and comparison gives insight into the upper torque density limits of Nd-Fe-B based magnetic devices.

Development Of A Technology Transfer Score For Evaluating Research Proposals: Case Study Of Demand Response Technologies In The Pacific Northwest, Judith Estep

Dissertations and Theses

Investment in Research and Development (R&D) is necessary for innovation, allowing an organization to maintain a competitive edge. The U.S. Federal Government invests billions of dollars, primarily in basic research technologies to help fill the pipeline for other organizations to take the technology into commercialization. However, it is not about just investing in innovation, it is about converting that research into application. A cursory review of the research proposal evaluation criteria suggests that there is little to no emphasis placed on the transfer of research results. This effort is motivated by a need to move research into application.

One segment …

Academic Problem-Solving And Students’ Identities As Engineers, Mirka Koro-Ljungberg, Elliot P. Douglas, Nathan J. Mcneill, David J. Therriault, Christine S. Lee, Zaria Malcolm

The Qualitative Report

Socially constructed identities and language practices influence the ways students perceive themselves as learners, problem solvers, and future professionals. While research has been conducted on individuals’ identity as engineers, less has been written about how the language used during engineering problem solving influences students’ perceptions and their construction of identities as learners and future engineers. This study investigated engineering students’ identities as reflected in their use of language and discourses while engaged in an engineering problem solving activity. We conducted interviews with eight engineering students at a large southeastern university about their approaches to open and closed-ended materials engineering problems. …

The Mechanisms And Biomedical Applications Of An Nir Bodipy-Based Switchable Fluorescent Probe, Bingbing Cheng, Venugopal Bandi, Shuai Yu, Francis D’Souza, Kytai T. Nguyen, Yi Hong, Liping Tang, Baohong Yuan, Sundaresan Gobalakrishnan, William Chi-Shing Cho, Jamal Zweit

Bioengineering Faculty Publications - Archive

Highly environment-sensitive fluorophores have been desired for many biomedical applications. Because of the noninvasive operation, high sensitivity, and high specificity to the microenvironment change, they can be used as excellent probes for fluorescence sensing/imaging, cell tracking/imaging, molecular imaging for cancer, and so on (i.e., polarity, viscosity, temperature, or pH measurement). In this work, investigations of the switching mechanism of a recently reported near-infrared environment-sensitive fluorophore, ADP(CA)2, were conducted. Besides, multiple potential biomedical applications of this switchable fluorescent probe have been demonstrated, including wash-free live-cell fluorescence imaging, in vivo tissue fluorescence imaging, temperature sensing, and ultrasound-switchable fluorescence (USF) imaging. The fluorescence …

In Vivo Pharmacological Evaluations Of Pilocarpine-Loaded Antioxidant-Functionalized Biodegradable Thermogels In Glaucomatous Rabbits, Shih-Feng Chou, Li-Jyuan Luo, Jui-Yang Lai

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

To alleviate oxidative stress-induced ocular hypertension, grafting of antioxidant molecules to drug carriers enables a dual-function mechanism to effectively treat glaucomatous intraocular pressure (IOP) dysregulation. Providing potential application for intracameral administration of antiglaucoma medications, this study, for the first time, aims to examine in vivo pharmacological efficacy of pilocarpine-loaded antioxidant-functionalized biodegradable thermogels in glaucomatous rabbits. A series of gallic acid (GA)-grafted gelatin-g-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (GN) polymers were synthesized via redox reactions at 20-50 °C. Our results showed that raising redox radical initiation reaction temperature maximizes GA grafting level, antioxidant activity, and water content at 40 °C. Meanwhile, increase in overall hydrophilicity of …