Engineering Commons^™

Augmented Reality Helmet, Kevin Kapko

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Cyclists need a detection method for vehicles to help prevent accidents and a method to display exercise data in order to maximize their workout. An array of sensors paired with a display allows a cyclist to be notified of workout information and any surrounding traffic. A smartphone app calculates the information from the sensors and sends the calculations to the display. This will allow the user to be able to see their exercise information without disrupting their bike ride as well as give some measure of safety to the cyclist when sharing the street with cars.

Analysis And Sensitivity Study Of Zero-Dimensional Modeling Of Human Blood Circulation Network, Roussel Rahman

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The systemic circulation has a large number of vessels; therefore, 3-D simulation of pulse-wave propagation in the entire cardiovascular system is difficult and computationally expensive. Zero-Dimensional (Zero-D) and One-Dimensional (1-D) models are simplified representations of the cardiovascular network; they can be coupled as supplements to regional 3-D models for closed-loop multi-scale studies or be simulated as self-sufficient representations of the blood-flow network. Unlike Zero-D models, 1-D models can provide linear space-wise information for the vessels. However, Zero-D models can prove to be more useful in particular cases; as flexibility in adjusting parameters facilitate in tailoring the model to specific needs. …

Gnss Receiver Testing And Algorithm Development, Rachael E. Kolker

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Many current GNSS Software Defined Receivers (SDRs) are often limited in what they can do across a range of developmental applications. They cannot perform acquisition and tracking without several iterations of coding, which does not allow for fast processing. This work provides a Matlab SDR that is based on freely available and optimized components that can be applied to all GNSS signals. A previous basis has been expanded upon to perform tracking of QZSS signals. In addition to this, two separate hardware front ends were compared and their differences analyzed. These hardware systems collected data with different disciplining clocks, but …

An Investigation On The Stress Intensity Factor Of Surface Micro-Cracks, Sirisha Divya Arli

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The contact fatigue failure in the form of micro or macro-scale pitting is an important failure mode for rolling mechanical elements, such as bearings and gears that are widely used in the automotive, aerospace and wind turbine fields. The micro-pitting process in some cases, gradually removes the surface material through fatigue wear, altering the geometry of the contact surfaces to alleviate the contact pressure decelerating the continued pitting rate. The propagation of the micro-cracks in other cases, goes deep into the material along a shallow angle, turns parallel to the surface at a certain depth, where the maximum shear or …

Semantics-Based Summarization Of Entities In Knowledge Graphs, Kalpa Gunaratna

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The processing of structured and semi-structured content on the Web has been gaining attention with the rapid progress in the Linking Open Data project and the development of commercial knowledge graphs. Knowledge graphs capture domain-specific or encyclopedic knowledge in the form of a data layer and add rich and explicit semantics on top of the data layer to infer additional knowledge. The data layer of a knowledge graph represents entities and their descriptions. The semantic layer on top of the data layer is called the schema (ontology), where relationships of the entity descriptions, their classes, and the hierarchy of the …

One Dimensional Computer Modeling Of A Lithium-Ion Battery, Ashwin S. Borakhadikar

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Renewable energy storage is vitally important to many applications for which batteries are the finest choice. As energy storage technology may be applied to a number of areas that differ in power and energy requirements, modeling of battery performance is required. In recent years, a lot of research has been done in this area but, the earliest model was designed by Marc Doyle, T. F. Fuller, and J. Newman in 1993. This work involves the development of a one-dimensional computer model of a lithium-ion battery which consists of three domains: the negative electrode, the separator, and the positive electrode. The …

Analytical-Based Methodologies To Examine In Vitro Nanokinetics Of Silver Nanoparticles, Sesha Lakshmi Arathi Paluri

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Advancements in the nanotechnology have taken a huge leap in 21st century resulting in 1814 consumer products containing nanomaterials. About 47% of these products belong to the health and fitness sector and ~24% utilize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Despite the promising biomedical applications of AgNPs (e.g. bone cements, contrasting agents, and drug-carriers), lack of standardized methods for examining their nanokinetics (i.e., Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Elimination (ADMEs)) limit their clinical implementation. The current work addresses this knowledge gap by developing analytical-based approaches for studying in vitro ADMEs of AgNPs. To demonstrate the versatility of these methodologies, two in vitro kidney study …

Plasma Property Estimation From Dual-Wavelength Interferometry, Andrew J. Hamilton

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Diagnostics are necessary for measurement of plasma parameters such as electron, ion and atomic densities, electron temperature, plasma expansion velocity and spatial resolution of density gradients. These parameters play a critical role in defining how a plasma will interact with electromagnetic radiation. For example, the plasma black-out phenomenon occurs when electromagnetic waves are at frequencies below the plasma frequency, where plasma frequency is a function of electron density. Wave propagation diagnostics can improve understanding of a plasma when measurement supports parameter estimation. In this report, the dual-wavelength interferometry method provides a single diagnostic capability to measure plasma expansion velocity, atomic …

Incorporating Passive Compliance For Reduced Motor Loading During Legged Walking, Akhil Sai Pabbu

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For purposes of travelling on all-terrains surfaces that are both uneven and discontinuous, legged robots have upper-hand over wheeled and tracked vehicles. The robot used in this thesis is a simulated hexapod with 3 degrees of freedom per leg. The main aim is to reduce the energy consumption of the system during walking by attaching a passive linear spring to each leg which will aid the motors and reduce the torque required while walking. Firstly, the ideal stiffness and location or the coordinates for mounting the spring is found out using gradient based algorithm called `Simultaneous Perturbation and Stochastic Approximation …

Implicit Leadership And Followership Theories: Does Congruency Matter?, Daniel Bashore

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Leadership research largely has ignored the extent to which followers influence leaders and the leadership process. Even fewer studies have examined the effect of Implicit Leadership Theories (ILTs) and Implicit Followership Theories (IFTs) on performance and affective outcomes. In prior research, there is an implicit assumption that ILTs and IFTs are compatible, but little research has examined the presence of incongruent ILTs and IFTs and potential effects incongruence might have on organizational outcomes. The current study examined the effect of ILT/IFT congruence on organizational outcomes (performance, satisfaction, and perceived leader effectiveness) in two different samples: a student sample (N = …

Implementation And Evaluation Of Goal Selection In A Cognitive Architecture, Sravya Kondrakunta

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A cognitive system attempts to achieve its goals by utilizing the appropriate resources present to yield the best possible outcome within a short duration. To achieve the goals in such an efficient manner, it is important for the agent to manage its goals well. Goal management not only makes the agent efficient but also flexible, more durable to the sudden changes in the environment, and self-reliant. Goal Management consists of various goal operations including goal formulation, selection, change, delegation, achievement, and monitoring. Each operation is unique and has its own significance in aiding the performance of the agent. The thesis …

Estimating Channel Identification Quality In Passive Radar Using Lms Algorithms, Michael J. Callahan

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Passive bistatic radar can be an attractive choice relative to monostatic radar because it provides the ability to operate covertly; immunity to jamming and interference; the ability to operate outside of traditional radar bands; and reduced cost. The benefits of noise waveforms versus classic radar waveforms such as linear frequency modulation (LFM) are discussed in the literature. Noise waveforms, with their thumbtack ambiguity functions, are ideal for use in non-cooperative passive radar. Since many digital waveforms are randomized to make their spectra approximately white, noise-like waveforms may be readily available for opportunistic use by non-cooperative passive radar receivers. For instance, …

Dynamic Modeling Of Thermal Management System With Exergy Based Optimization, Marcus J. Bracey

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System optimization and design of aircraft is required to achieve many of the long term objectives for future aircraft platforms. To address the necessity for system optimization a vehicle-level aircraft model has been developed in a multidisciplinary modeling and simulation environment. Individual subsystem models developed exclusively in MATLAB-SimulinkTM, representing the vehicle dynamics, the propulsion, electrical power, and thermal systems, and their associated controllers, are combined to investigate the energy and thermal management issues of tactical air vehicle platforms. A thermal vehicle level tip-to-tail model allows conceptual design trade studies of various subsystems and can quantify performance gains across the aircraft. …

Ab Initio Study Of The Effects Of Humidity On Perovskite Based Hybrid Solar Cell Interfaces, Shantanu Rajendra Rachalwar

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Despite the impressive success of perovskite-based hybrid solar cells, their widespread usage has been limited partially owing to stability issues under working environmental conditions. Among these, the effects of humidity are some of the most significant. Water intercalation generally degrades the material, shortens its useful life, and reduces the efficiency of photovoltaic energy conversion. Understanding the reasons for these effects can be achieved through detailed and accurate atomic-scale analysis. Here, we study water intercalation at the interfaces of perovskite-based hybrid solar cell material and TiO2 electrode. Accurate ab initio computer simulations are used to obtain structural and electronic properties. We …

Development Of A Performance Assessment System For Language Learning, Imen Kasrani

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Recent advances in computer-assisted, language-speaking, learning/training technology have demonstrated its promising potential to improve the outcome of language learning in early education, special education, English as a Second Language (ESL), and foreign language. The growing number of readily available mobile app-based solutions help encourage interest in learning to speak a foreign language, but their effectiveness is limited due to their lack of objective assessment and performance feedback resembling expert judgment. For example, it has been recognized that, in early education, students learn best with one-on-one instructions. Unfortunately, teachers do not have the time, and it is challenging to extend the …

Development Of An Android Based Performance Assessment System For Motivational Interviewing Training, Sowmya Pappu

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Motivational Interviewing (MI) has been proved to be an effective Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) technique. It is an evidence-based practice used to identify, reduce, and prevent problematic use, abuse, and dependence on alcohol and illicit drugs. It emphasizes on patient-centered counseling approach that can help resolve their ambivalence through a non-confrontational, goal-oriented style for eliciting behavior change from the patient, almost like patients talk themselves into change. This approach provokes less resistance and stimulates the progress of patients at their own pace towards deciding about planning, making and sustaining positive behavioral change. Thus, training medical professionals …

Dysregulation Of Phospholipase D (Pld) Isoforms Increases Breast Cancer Cell Invasion, Kristen Fite

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Breast cancer remains the second most prevalent cancer among women in the U.S. with metastatic breast cancer having the worst prognosis. A rapidly proliferating tumor under various stressors will promote phenotypic cellular changes, known as epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which allows cells to begin to invade surrounding tissue, enter the circulatory system, and eventually seed a distant metastatic site. The phospholipase D (PLD) enzymes are critical regulators of cell signaling pathways necessary for cell migration. While the importance of PLD enzymes in cancer cell invasion is well known, clinically applicable methods of PLD inhibition are not yet available. The best-studied isoforms …

Nfpa Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge, Ean H. Dickerhoof

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Every year the National Fluid Power Association hosts a Fluid Powered Vehicle Challenge, this exposes students from universities all around the United States to the power and possibilities of hydraulics. This year the University of Akron’s team of engineers set out to design a bicycle that would be competitive and innovative in all aspects of the competition. In order to accomplish this, the designed bicycle must excel in three categories of competition; a sprint race, an endurance race, and an efficiency challenge.

To accomplish this task the University of Akron’s team of engineers used a lightweight bicycle frame with many …

The Analysis Of Pediatric Sleep Lab Inefficiencies, Jessica Buehler, Autumn Barkley, Caitlin Dickerson, Andrew Fosnight, Omar Saad

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of this project is to develop a children’s sleep apnea test for home use. This design is to be of cost and quality improvement to what is currently on the market. It is important to fully understand the background of this sleep disorder in order to create this improvement. Knowing what sleep apnea is, as well as the different types, is what is used to create the methods such as S.C.O.P.E.R. Each letter is used to observe one portion or aspect of the human body and how it functions with regards to sleep apnea. The data taken from …

Abi And Beyond: Exploration Of The Precursors To Trust In The Human-Automation Domain, Christopher Stephen Calhoun

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This study investigated the extent to which the well-known precursors of interpersonal trust (ability, benevolence, integrity, or ABI) could be exploited, redefined, or added to when considering and developing models of trust between humans and technology. The ABI model explains only about half of the variation in interpersonal trust (Colquitt, Scott, & LePine, 2007), so two additional precursors to trust from the interpersonal and automation trust domains - transparency and humanness - were identified and studied. The experimental task involved users interacting with an automated aid (image processing and recommender system) through a simulated unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) interface to …

Engineering Technology Vs. Engineering Students: Differences In Perception And Understanding, Anne M. Lucietto, Jennifer D. Moss, Eddy Efendy, R. Mark French

IMPACT Publications

Engineering technology students either are studied under the auspices of research focused on engineering students, or are excluded from engineering research in its entirety. Even when they are included in research, our understanding of engineering technology students is either missing or obscured. The lack of available research focused on engineering technology students in particular has prompted an effort to contribute to the greater body of knowledge of engineering technology education. The lack of research, as compared to other STEM fields, presents a challenge to practitioners in engineering technology programs when making discipline-specific decisions regarding these particular students.

The need to …

Local Probability Based Transformations And Diagonal Projection: A New Support Vector Machine-Like Method For Classification Of Feature Vectors, Charles F. Babbs

Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Faculty Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Physics Identity Promotes Alternative Careers For First-Generation College Students In Engineering, Dina Verdín, Allison Godwin

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

This research study explored first-generation college students’ in engineering post-graduation career intentions based on responses to a quantitative survey. In this paper, we answer the following research questions: 1) How do first-generation college students’ measures of physics, mathematics, and engineering identity constructs differ compared to non-first-generation college students? and 2) How does a physics identity influence first-generation college student’s choice of an engineering major and career aspirations? The data came from the Intersectionality of Non- normative Identities in the Cultures of Engineering (InIce) survey. InIce was completed by 2,916 first-year engineering college students enrolled in four institutions across the United …

The Influence Of Light On The Electrochemical Characteristics Of Pure Aluminum, Hongbo M. Cong

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of this work was to study the influence of light (wave length ~ 460 nm) on the electrochemical characteristics of pure aluminum. The open circuit potential (OCP) measurements, potentiostatic polarization, cyclic potentiodynamic polarization and Zero Resistance Ammetry (ZRA) were performed in 0.1 M NaCl solution. It was observed that the incident light shifted the OCP in the noble direction by 100 mV. Furthermore, ZRA was performed to measure the galvanic current between illuminated and non-illuminated aluminum electrodes. Cyclic potentiodynamic polarization tests revealed the influence of light on the pitting potential, passive current density, corrosion current density, and repassivation …

Design Of Rubber Extraction Process From Tks Dandelion, Trevor A. Cody

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A design was developed for a controlled environment agriculture 3D greenhouse to grow and harvest TKS dandelions, as well as a processing plant to extract natural rubber and inulin from the roots. The design capacity was scaled for both pilot- and full-scale production: 100 and 100,000 tonnes of natural rubber per year, respectively. The byproducts of the process were dandelion greens, inulin, cellulose, and glucose; all of these except for cellulose were able to be valorized. The greenhouse was designed based on existing 3D hydroponic growing environments, and the extraction process was designed based on the original TKS dandelion extraction …

Chocolate Bar Wrapping Machine, Austin M. Hoff, Daniel R. Trepke, Caleb B. Krichbuam

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Gilbert Chocolates has proposed to manufacture a machine to wrap chocolate bars. This machine is intended to replace two people wrapping the chocolate bars by hand, which is a time consuming method. This is especially apparent between October and January when the workers are working long hours in preparation for the Christmas rush of customers. Currently wrapping a bar takes about a minute and Gilbert Chocolates wants this time reduced down to 20-30 seconds. The budget for this project is set at $1000, and is being funded by the company. This machine needs to fit in a cubic foot of …

Effect Of Sintering Temperature On Microstructure, Corrosion Behavior, And Hardness Of Nanocrystalline Al-5at.%Ni And Al-5at.%V Alloys, Matthew G. Wachowiak

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this project was to investigate thermal stability of high energy ball milled Al-5at.%Ni and Al-5at.%V alloys. Characterization was done by analyzing grain size and solid solubility. Samples were created using high energy ball milling, cold compaction to 3 GPa, and sintering from 100 °C to 500 °C at 100 °C increments, as well 450 °C and 614 °C. Microstructure, mechanical properties, and corrosion properties were determined using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, hardness testing, and cyclic potentiodynamic polarization. Vickers hardness of Al-5at.%Ni decreased with increasing temperature. For Al-at.%V, hardness increased with sintering temperature …

Design Of Natural Rubber Extraction From Tks Dandelion, Jehad S. Alrawajfeh, Trevor Cody, Jason Pogozelski

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A design was developed for a controlled environment agriculture 3D greenhouse to grow and harvest TKS dandelions, as well as a processing plant to extract natural rubber and inulin from the roots. The design capacity was scaled for both pilot- and full-scale production: 100 and 100,000 tonnes of natural rubber per year, respectively. The byproducts of the process were dandelion greens, inulin, cellulose, and glucose; all of these except for cellulose were able to be valorized. The greenhouse was designed based on existing 3D hydroponic growing environments, and the extraction process was designed based on the original TKS dandelion extraction …

Hovercam, Kevin Rauh, Ross Palenik

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Quadcopters are widely used in recreational areas and often have video cameras mounted to them. The Hovercam increases the range of usefulness of quadcopters and allow the user to record him or herself while performing any task. The Hovercam will use GPS to track and follow a target. A smartphone application will be used to control the Hovercam in its basic functions of taking off, hovering, and landing.

Role Of Salt On Coating Failure, Kyle Krause

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

It is important to understand the role of salt in the coating failure because it may influence the coating degradation mechanism that is related to coating performance. This project will study the role of salt on two types of organic coatings under two different immersion environment. The environment selected was 3.5% by weight sodium chloride solution and deionized (DI) water. The two coatings were Neorez 1080 (a waterborne polyurethane) and Joncryl 587-AC (a solvent borne polyurethane). Each coating was tested in each environment using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurement which presented a total of four data sets. The equivalent circuit …