Engineering Commons^™

Coupled Thermally-Enhanced Bioremediation And Renewable Energy Storage System: Conceptual Framework And Modeling Investigation, Ali Moradi, Kathleen M. Smits, Jonathan O. Sharp

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications - Archive

This paper presents a novel method to couple an environmental bioremediation system with a subsurface renewable energy storage system. This method involves treating unsaturated contaminated soil using in-situ thermally enhanced bioremediation; the thermal system is powered by renewable energy. After remediation goals are achieved, the thermal system can then be used to store renewable energy in the form of heat in the subsurface for later use. This method can be used for enhanced treatment of environmental pollutants for which temperature is considered a limiting factor. For instance, this system can be used at a wide variety of petroleum-related sites that …

Nanoflower-Like Bi2moo6/Ag3po4 In Water Treatment, Xavier Morgan-Lange, Jaeyun Moon, Kaleab Ayalew

McNair Poster Presentations

• Environmental issues continue to intensify causing natural resources such as clean water to become increasingly scarce while demand only continues to grow. • Some of the most effective measures taken appear to be bioremediation tactics and their synthetic counterparts. • A critical area of interest are semi-conducting photocatalytic nanomaterials that take advantage of the photo-electric effect and use the introduction of ultra violet (UV) and visible light to induce oxidation and reduction reaction in p-type semiconductors. This results in the decomposition of certain pollutants and/or deactivates certain microbes in water. • These materials have the potential to operate using …

Removal Efficiencies, Uptake Mechanisms And Competitive Effects Of Copper And Zinc In Various Stormwater Filter Media, Emily Heleva-Ponaski

Dissertations and Theses

Polluted stormwater, if not treated, can compromise water quality throughout our hydrologic cycle, adversely affecting aquatic ecosystems. Common stormwater pollutants, copper and zinc, have been identified as primary toxicants in multiple freshwater and marine environments. For small-scale generators, stormwater management can be cumbersome and implementation of common BMPs impractical thus catch basins are popular though not the most environmentally conscious and sustainable option. This study aims to characterize the potential of a mobile media filter operation for the treatment and on-site recycling of catch basin stormwater. The removal capacities of various commercially available filter media (e.g. a common perlite; Earthlite™, …

Effects Of Different Retail Packaging Materials On The Shelflife Of Dehusked Foxtail Millet, Pooran Pragnya Joshi, Ravikumar Biradar, Prakash Mathad, Vikas Jha

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Millets are in the family of cereals grown globally with differential importance across continents and within regions of the world. Cereals are staple foods for a large proportion of the world population. The present investigation was carried out to find out the effect of different retail packaging material on the shelf-life of dehusked foxtail millet. The foxtail millet was procured at local Raichur market. Physical properties of dehusked foxtail millet viz., Particle density, Bulk density, Angle of repose, Coefficient of internal friction, Coefficient of external friction, Length, Breadth, Thickness, size and Spherecity were found to be 1.34 g/cc , 0.87 …

Toward Autonomous Wall-Climbing Robots For Inspection Of Concrete Bridges And Tunnels, Jizhong Xiao

INSPIRE Archived Webinars

In addition to visual inspection for surface flaws, inspectors are often required to detect subsurface defects (e.g., delamination and voids) using nondestructive evaluation (NDE) instruments, such as ground penetration radar (GPR) and impact sounding device, in order to determine the structural integrity of bridges and tunnels. In these cases, access to critical locations for reliable and safe inspections is a challenge.

Since 2002, Dr. Jizhong Xiao’s group has developed four generations of wall-climbing robots for NDE inspection of bridges and tunnels. These robots combine the advantages of aerodynamic attraction and suction to achieve a desirable balance of strong adhesion and …

Deep Rc: Enabling Remote Control Through Deep Learning, Jaron Ellingson, Gary Ellingson, Tim Mclain

Student Works

Human remote-control (RC) pilots have the ability to perceive the position and orientation of an aircraft using only third-person-perspective visual sensing. While novice pilots often struggle when learning to control RC aircraft, they can sense the orientation of the aircraft with relative ease. In this paper, we hypothesize and demonstrate that deep learning methods can be used to mimic the human ability to perceive the orientation of an aircraft from monocular imagery.

This work uses a neural network to directly sense the aircraft attitude. The network is combined with more conventional image processing methods for visual tracking of the aircraft. …

Wireless Sensor Networks For Long-Term Monitoring Of Urban Noise, Courtney Peckens, Cédric Porter, Taylor Rink

Faculty Publications

Noise pollution in urban environments is becoming increasingly common and it has potential to negatively impact people’s health and decrease overall productivity. In order to alleviate these effects, it is important to better quantify noise patterns and levels through data collection and analysis. Wireless sensor networks offer a method for achieving this with a higher level of granularity than traditional handheld devices. In this study, a wireless sensing unit (WSU) was developed that possesses the same functionality as a handheld sound level meter. The WSU is comprised of a microcontroller unit that enables on-board computations, a wireless transceiver that uses …

Approaches To Open Source 3-D Printable Probe Positioners And Micromanipulators For Probe Stations, Iiro Hietanen, Ismo T. S. Heikkinen, Hele Savin, Joshua M. Pearce

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

Three types of highly-customizable open source probe positioning systems are evaluated: (a) mostly 3-D printed, (b) partially printed using OpenBeam kinematic constraints, and (c) a 3-level stack of low-cost commercial single axis micropositioners and some printed parts. All systems use digital distributed manufacturing to enable bespoke features, which can be fabricated with RepRap-class 3-D printer and easily accessible components. They are all flexible in material choice for custom components. The micropositioners can be set up for left-right use and flat or recessed configurations using either mechanical or magnetic mounting. All systems use a manual probe holder that can be customized …

Minutes & Seconds: The Scientists, Patrick Aievoli

Zea E-Books Collection

Minutes & Seconds, is a captivating intelligible read for those who strive to understand where the “what if” moment has gone. Succeeding his other captivating books, Aievoli’s deep introspective lens dials his readers in to awaken the proverbial sleeping giant inside of our consciousness. He designs an insightful exciting romp through the surreal landscape of our society and illustrates how various pioneers have lead us to a crossroads. I’m truly impressed with Aievoli’s perspicacious comprehension of where digital has taken us through the hands of these select individuals. --Sequoyah Wharton

In creating Minutes & Seconds, Aievoli has assembled an interesting …

Cubesat Active Thermal Management In Support Of Cooled Electro-Optical Instrumentation For Advanced Atmospheric Observing Missions, Lucas Anderson, Charles Swenson, Ryan Davidson, Arthur J. Mastropietro, Elham Maghsoudi, S. Luong, Stefano Cappucci, I. Mckinley

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The need for advanced cooled electro-optical instrumentation in remote observations of the atmosphere is well known and demonstrated by SABER on the TIMED mission. The relatively new use of small satellites in remote earth observing missions as, well as the challenges, are epitomized by the upcoming NOAA EON-IR 12U CubeSat missions. These advanced CubeSat missions, which hope to accomplish scientific objectives on the same scale as larger more traditional satellites, require advanced miniaturized cryocoolers and active methods for thermal management and power control. The active CryoCubeSat project (ACCS) is a demonstration of such a technology. Utilizing Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM) …

Nasa Awards Prestigious Fellowship To Usu Engineering Graduate Student | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Utah State University’s Jeff Taylor is one of five students nationwide to receive a fellowship from NASA’s top aeronautics research division.

Reducing Exposures Traffic-Related Air Pollution And Urban Building Design, Elliott T. Gall, Linda George

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Nonlocal Damage Mechanics For Quantification Of Health For Piezoelectric Sensor, Amit Shelke, Anowarul Habib, Umar Amjad, Ullrich Pietsch, Sourav Banerjee

Faculty Publications

In this paper, a novel method to quantify the incubation of damage on piezoelectric crystal is presented. An intrinsic length scale parameter obtained from nonlocal field theory is used as a novel measure for quantification of damage precursor. Features such as amplitude decay, attenuation, frequency shifts and higher harmonics of guided waves are commonly-used damage features. Quantification of the precursors to damage by considering the mentioned features in a single framework is a difficult proposition. Therefore, a nonlocal field theory is formulated and a nonlocal damage index is proposed. The underlying idea of the paper is that inception of the …

Domain-Specific Use Cases For Knowledge-Enabled Social Media Analysis, Soon Jye Kho, Swati Padhee, Goonmeet Bajaj, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan, Amit Sheth

Publications

No abstract provided.

Driver Distraction In Microsimulation Of A Mid-Block Pedestrian Crossing, Darryl Joseph Michaud

Dissertations and Theses

Traffic simulation has become an invaluable part of the traffic engineering toolbox. However, the majority of driver models are designed to recreate traffic performance based on interactions among vehicles. In keeping with this pursuit, most are fundamentally built to avoid collisions. This limits the applicability of using these models for addressing safety concerns, especially those regarding pedestrian safety performance. However, by explicitly including some of the sources of human error, these limitations can, in theory, be overcome. While much work has been done toward including these human factors in simulation platforms, one key aspect of human behavior has been largely …

16-06 Vehicle-To-Device (V2d) Communications: Readiness Of The Technology And Potential Applications For People With Disability, Ala Al-Fuqaha, Jun-Seok Oh, Valerian Kwigizile

Transportation Research Center Reports

IEEE 802.11p was developed as an amendment to IEEE 802.11 for wireless access in vehicular environments (WAVE). While WAVE is considered the de facto standard for V2V communications, in the past few years a number of communications technologies have emerged that enable direct device-to-device (D2D) communications. Technologies like Bluetooth Smart, WiFi-Direct and LTE-Direct allow devices to communicate directly without having to rely on existing communications infrastructure (e.g., base stations). More importantly, these technologies are quickly penetrating the smartphones market.

The goal of this research is to conduct extensive simulation and experimental studies to assess the efficacies of utilizing D2D communications …

Unplugged: Engineers Develop Wireless Charging System For Electric Wheelchairs, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Researchers at Utah State University are rethinking a 30-year-old technology and giving new meaning to the words limited mobility.

Evaluation Of Model Concepts To Describe Water Transport In Shallow Subsurface Soil And Across The Soil–Air Interface, Zhen Li, Jan Vanderborght, Kathleen M. Smits

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications - Archive

Soil water evaporation plays a critical role in mass and energy exchanges across the land– atmosphere interface. Although much is known about this process, there is no agreement on the best modeling approaches to determine soil water evaporation due to the complexity of the numerical modeling scenarios and lack of experimental data available to validate such models. Existing studies show numerical and experimental discrepancies in the evaporation behavior and soil water distribution in soils at various scales, driving us to revisit the key process representation in subsurface soil. Therefore, the goal of this work is to test different mathematical formulations …

The Flow Reactor Technology As A Modern Synthetic Tool For Preparation Of Pd/Fe3o4 Nanoparticles As A High Efficient Magnetic Catalyst For Co Oxidation, Hany A. Elazab

Chemical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Rsaf Airworthiness And Applicability, Majed M. Altowairqi

Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on evaluation of Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) airworthiness processes and their applicability. The current RSAF airworthiness process is in accordance with internationally recognized best practice in the area of military aviation, this is achieved by benchmarking against European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards. Airworthiness policy for the RSAF is developed on the basis that it will be as civil as possible and as military as necessary. For the purpose of this research, the current RSAF airworthiness process will be benchmarked against the United States Air Force (USAF) airworthiness process. That …

Tourism Review Sentiment Classification Using A Bidirectional Recurrent Neural Network With An Attention Mechanism And Topic-Enriched Word Vectors, Qin Li, Shaobo Li, Jie Hu, Sen Zhang, Jianjun Hu

Faculty Publications

Sentiment analysis of online tourist reviews is playing an increasingly important role in tourism. Accurately capturing the attitudes of tourists regarding different aspects of the scenic sites or the overall polarity of their online reviews is key to tourism analysis and application. However, the performances of current document sentiment analysis methods are not satisfactory as they either neglect the topics of the document or do not consider that not all words contribute equally to the meaning of the text. In this work, we propose a bidirectional gated recurrent unit neural network model (BiGRULA) for sentiment analysis by combining a topic …

Tesselations And Percolations In Topologically Interlocked Stereotomic Material Systems, Andrew Williams, Thomas Siegmund

IUTAM Symposium Architectured Materials Mechanics

No abstract provided.

Emergent Wave Phenomena In Coupled Elastic Bars: From Extreme Attenuation To Realization Of Elastodynamic Switches, Qianli Chen, Ahmed Elbanna

IUTAM Symposium Architectured Materials Mechanics

No abstract provided.

Fiber Reorientation Behavior Of Bioinspired Bouligand Architectures With Functional Graded Fiber Orientation, Di Wang, Alireza Zaheri, Benjamin Russell, Pablo Zavattieri

IUTAM Symposium Architectured Materials Mechanics

No abstract provided.

Topologically Interlocked Material Systems: From A Material Design Concept To Properties, Thomas Siegmund

IUTAM Symposium Architectured Materials Mechanics

No abstract provided.

Extremal Material And Structure Design By Topology Optimization, Ole Sigmund, Jeroen Groen

IUTAM Symposium Architectured Materials Mechanics

No abstract provided.

Energy Harvesting In Phase Transforming Materials, Aman Thakkar, Nilesh Mankame, Pablo Zavattieri, Andres F.

IUTAM Symposium Architectured Materials Mechanics

No abstract provided.

Design And Performance Of Periodic Trusses, Frank Zok, Matthew Begley, Ryan Latture

IUTAM Symposium Architectured Materials Mechanics

No abstract provided.

Lattice Structures And Strength Optimization, Vince Vernacchio, Thomas Siegmund

IUTAM Symposium Architectured Materials Mechanics

No abstract provided.

Intermittent Interfaces: Bioinspired Strategies Towards Material Resilience, H.Daniel Wagner, Israel Greenfeld, Wenyong Zhang, Xiaomeng Sui

IUTAM Symposium Architectured Materials Mechanics

No abstract provided.