Engineering Commons^™

Affinity Points In Variable Frequency Drive – Motor Systems, Christophe Hicks

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis work will quantify power flow characteristics of variable frequency drive (VFD) systems at utilization voltages (208V3 phase) under normal and abnormal operating conditions. Abnormal operating conditions are defined in this thesis work as over or under

voltages at or exceeding 10% of the nominal rated voltage for 1sec to 10sec durations. Motivation and direction towards efficient power use has produced new devices which can be implemented at utilization voltage levels. Those devices are designed to modernize use

through efficient energy consumption. Existing system planning methodologies incorporate larger VFD motor system (>4160V) dynamics and lump lower voltage levels …

Utah State University Names New Engineering Dean | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Longtime Utah State University professor and administrator Jagath Kaluarachchi has been selected as the new dean of USU’s College of Engineering.

Usu Researcher Receives Major Grant To Improve Aerial Imagery | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Our bird’s-eye view is about to get much sharper.

Rocky Mountain Power Comes To Usu To Celebrate A New Partnership | Utah State University Power Electronics Lab, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Monday, May 14th marked a new partnership with Rocky Mountain power to provide Electric Vehicle chargers for public access.

Poly- L -Lactic Acid- Co-Poly(Pentadecalactone) Electrospun Fibers Result In Greater Neurite Outgrowth Of Chick Dorsal Root Ganglia In Vitro Compared To Poly- L -Lactic Acid Fibers, Alexis M. Ziemba, Keith P. Lane, Ignacio M. San Segundo, Anthony R. D'Amato, Andrew K. Mason, Ryan J. Sexton, Hubert Casajus, Richard A. Gross, David T. Corr, Ryan J. Gilbert

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Electro spun poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA) fiber scaffolds are used to direct axonal extension in neural engineering models. We aimed to improve the efficacy of these fibers in promoting neurite outgrowth by altering surface topography and reducing fiber elastic modulus through the incorporation of a compatibilized blend, poly-l-lactic acid-poly(pentadecalactone) (PLLA-PPDL) into the solution prior to electrospinning. PLLA+PLLA-PPDL fibers had a larger diameter, increased surface nano topography, and lower glass transition temperature than PLLA fibers but had similar mechanical properties. Increases in neurite outgrowth on PLLA+PLLA-PPDL fibers were observed, potentially due to the significantly increased diameter and surface coverage with nano topography. …

State Acquisition In Computer Networks, Ruairí De Fréin

Conference papers

We establish that State Acquisition should be per- formed in networks at a rate which is consistent with the rate-of-change of the element or service being observed. We demonstrate that many existing monitoring and service-level prediction tools do not acquire network state in an appropriate manner. To address this challenge: (1) we define the rate-of- change of different applications; (2) we use methods for analysis of unevenly spaced time series, specifically, time series arising from video and voice applications, to estimate the rate-of-change of these services; and finally, (3) we demonstrate how to acquire network state accurately for a number …

Making Strides: State Of The Practice Of Pedestrian Forecasting In Regional Travel Models, Patrick A. Singleton, Joseph C. Totten, Jaime P. Orrego-Oñate, Robert J. Schneider, Kelly J. Clifton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Much has changed in the 30 years since non-motorized modes were first included in regional travel demand models. As interest in understanding behavioral influences on walking and policies requiring estimates of walking activity increase, it is important to consider how pedestrian travel is modeled at a regional level. This paper evaluates the state of the practice of modeling walk trips among the largest 48 metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and assesses changes made over the last 5 years. By reviewing model documentation and responses to a survey of MPO modelers, this paper summarizes current practices, describes six pedestrian modeling frameworks, and …

Object Recognition In 3d Data Using Capsules, Ayesha Ahmad

Theses - ALL

The proliferation of 3D sensors induced 3D computer vision research for many application areas including virtual reality, autonomous navigation and surveillance. Recently, dierent methods have been proposed for 3D object classication. Many of the existing 2D and 3D classication methods rely on convolutional neural networks (CNNs), which are very successful in extracting features from the data. However, CNNs cannot address the spatial relationship between features due to the max-pooling layers, and they require vast amount of data for training. In this work, we propose a model architecture for 3D object classication, which is an extension of Capsule Networks (CapsNets) to …

Application Of Game Theory In Studying Subcontractors’ Cooperation In Construction Projects - Joint Resource Management, Reihaneh Samsami

Theses - ALL

Resource management is one of the most significant roles of every project manager in today’s highly competitive construction industry. One solution to reduce costs of resources is to manage them jointly. Joint resource management is based on cooperation between subcontractors who are seeking a win-win resolution. It is an attempt to schedule the project tasks, enabling subcontractors to optimally utilize resources and minimize their idle times.

Cooperative game theory, describing a series of moves leading to an integrative conclusion, is a powerful tool for studying cooperation between subcontractors. Construction projects are not too different from real games. By using game …

A Prioritization Model For Local Roadways: A Case Study Of Syracuse, Ny, Kirill Skorokhod

Theses - ALL

There are many cities like Syracuse that do not have a structured system of managing local roadways. Every city has its own unique way of managing roadways within their boundaries by utilizing different tools. This research focuses on developing a prioritization tool for roadways to help transportation experts prioritize local roads. This tool identifies what roadway segments need to be managed closely under conditions of failure (serviceability limit). For this research, serviceability limit was defined as a condition when it becomes not safe to drive on the road and the only way of improving the road’s condition is total reconstruction. …

Solid Polymer Electrolytes From Crosslinked Polytetrahydrofuran For Calcium Ion Conduction, Jiayue Wang

Theses - ALL

Polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF) and 3,4-epoxycyclohexylmethyl 3ʹ,4ʹ-epoxycyclohexane carboxylate (Epoxy) were crosslinked by photocuring via active monomer mechanism to make solid state networks. The networks were loaded with various amounts of calcium salt and calcium nitrate to create calcium ion solid state electrolytes. The loading range includes both salt-in-polymer and polymer-in-salt regimes. The O:Ca ratios range from 1.1 to 13.8. The ion-conductivity determined by electrochemical spectroscopy impedance and thermal properties (TGA, DSC) and Raman spectroscopy of PTHF-Epoxy/Ca(NO3)2 polymer electrolytes were measured. All samples were rubber-like and stable at temperatures from room temperature to 120 °C. With increase of salt loading, ion-conductivities of electrolytes …

Body Force Modeling For Engine Inlet Fan System, Yinbo Mao

Dissertations - ALL

This thesis summarizes a novel steady-state 3D throughflow method to analyze aircraft nacelle/fan systems. The method adopts the body force concept using source terms to model the effects of fan blades. The method is designed to capture interaction effects between bypass fan and nacelle at off-design conditions, especially for circumferential inlet distortions. The unique feature of this body force model compared to conventional throughflow methods is that it requires no information about the fan blade geometry. Instead, fan performance data is fed into the body force model, and the resulting body force model can predict both nacelle and fan performance …

Modeling And Resource Allocation In Mobile Wireless Networks, Jing Wang

Dissertations - ALL

We envision that in the near future, just as Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), radios and radio resources in a wireless network can also be provisioned as a service to Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), which we refer to as Radio-as-a-Service (RaaS). In this thesis, we present a novel auction-based model to enable fair pricing and fair resource allocation according to real-time needs of MVNOs for RaaS. Based on the proposed model, we study the auction mechanism design with the objective of maximizing social welfare. We present an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) and Vickrey-Clarke-Groves (VCG) based auction mechanism for obtaining optimal social welfare. …

Multi-Type Fair Resource Allocation For Distributed Multi-Robot Systems, Qinyun Zhu

Dissertations - ALL

Fair resource allocation is essential to ensure that all resource requesters acquire adequate resources and accomplish tasks. We propose solutions to the fairness problem in multi-type resource allocation for multi-robot systems that have multiple resource requesters. We apply the dominant resource fairness (DRF) principle in our solutions to two different systems: single-tasking robots with multi-robot tasks (STR-MRT) and multi-tasking robots with single-robot tasks (MTR-SRT). In STR-MRT, each robot can perform only one task at a time, tasks are divisible, and accomplishing each task requires one or more robots. In MTR-SRT, each robot can perform multiple tasks at a time, tasks …

Efficient Online Scheduling In Distributed Stream Data Processing Systems, Teng Li

Dissertations - ALL

General-purpose Distributed Stream Data Processing Systems (DSDPSs) have attracted extensive attention from industry and academia in recent years. They are capable of processing unbounded big streams of continuous data in a distributed and real (or near-real) time manner. A fundamental problem in a DSDPS is the scheduling problem, i.e., assigning threads (carrying workload) to workers/machines with the objective of minimizing average end-to-end tuple processing time (or simply tuple processing time). A widely-used solution is to distribute workload over machines in the cluster in a round-robin manner, which is obviously not efficient due to the lack of consideration for communication delay …

Micropillar Arrays Fabricated By Light Induced Self-Writing: An Opportunity For Rapid, Scalable Formation Of Hydrophobic Surfaces, Hansheng Li

Theses - ALL

Superhydrophobic surfaces naturally exist in plants and animals, which have inspired the development of artificial hydrophobic surfaces. The hydrophobic surfaces have drawn attention in multiple areas in recent years. Multiple approaches were carried out and achieved different levels of hydrophobicity. In this thesis, a series of hydrophobic surface structures have been prepared with a photo-inducted self-writing method and then coated with fluorocarbon compounds. Various fiber heights and different coating methods have been tested for differences and influences in hydrophobicity. Section views using optical microscope showed uniform cone structures fabricated with photo-curing; contact angle measurements that exhibited static contact angles greater …

Model-Based Testing And Evaluation Of Sorption Media For Removing Volatile Organic Compounds In Indoor Air, Chuan He

Dissertations - ALL

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), which may cause short and long term adverse health effects, constitute a significant class of indoor gaseous pollutants. To reduce the VOC concentration of indoor environment, an in-depth understanding of the performance of the air cleaning technologies that address VOCs is important. Although many studies have been conducted to evaluate the performance of air cleaning devices, most of them were performed at elevated concentration level (~ppmv). The performance of the sorbent media at realistic VOC concentration (ppbv) is still not clear due to lack of experiment data and theoretical study. The test conducted under the low …

A Project-Level Infrastructure Management Framework For Sustainable Roadways, Song He

Dissertations - ALL

Over the past two decades, roadway infrastructure in the United States has experienced severe deterioration, costing road users billions of dollars in wasted fuels, lost time, and higher numbers of accidents. Transportation infrastructure asset management initiatives, which aim at providing and maintaining physical infrastructure assets at an acceptable level, need to address various economic, social, and environmental issues. Therefore, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has encouraged public agencies to incorporate sustainable development principles into their decision-making and organizational operations at a program level.

Meanwhile, at a project level, maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation (MRR) projects for …

Baseline Effects Of Lysophosphatidylcholine And Nerve Growth Factor In A Rat Model Of Sciatic Nerve Regeneration After Crush Injury, Ryan L. Wood, Keaton S. Karlinsey, Austin D. Thompson, Mark N. Rigby, Greggory D. Boatright, William G. Pitt, Beverly L. Roeder, Scott C. Steffersen, Alonzo D. Cook

Faculty Publications

Schwann cells play a major role in helping heal injured nerves. They help clear debris, produce neurotrophins, upregulate neurotrophin receptors, and form bands of Büngner to guide the healing nerve. But nerves do not always produce enough neurotrophins and neurotrophin receptors to repair themselves. Nerve growth factor (NGF) is an important neurotrophin for promoting nerve healing and lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) has been shown to stimulate NGF receptors (NGFR). This study tested the administration of a single intraneural injection of LPC (1 mg/mL for single LPC injection and 10 mg/mL for multiple LPC injections) at day 0 and one (day 7), two …

On Improved Accuracy Chirp Parameter Estimation Using The Dfrft With Application To Sar-Based Vibrometry, Satish Mandal

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The Discrete Fractional Fourier Transform (DFRFT) has in recent years, become a useful tool for multicomponent chirp signal analysis. Chirp signals are transformed into spectral peaks in the chirp rate versus center frequency representation, whose coordinates are related to the underlying chirp parameters via a computed empirical peak to parameter mapping incorporated into the Santhanam-Peacock algorithm.

In this thesis, we attempt to quantify the accuracy of the DFRFT approach by first studying the discretization error sources that arise from the transitioning of the continuous FRFT to DFRFT. Then, we refine prior work by Ishwor Bhatta to develop analytical expressions for …

Automated Development Of Semantic Data Models Using Scientific Publications, Martha O. Perez-Arriaga

Computer Science ETDs

The traditional methods for analyzing information in digital documents have evolved with the ever-increasing volume of data. Some challenges in analyzing scientific publications include the lack of a unified vocabulary and a defined context, different standards and formats in presenting information, various types of data, and diverse areas of knowledge. These challenges hinder detecting, understanding, comparing, sharing, and querying information rapidly.

I design a dynamic conceptual data model with common elements in publications from any domain, such as context, metadata, and tables. To enhance the models, I use related definitions contained in ontologies and the Internet. Therefore, this dissertation generates …

Designing Smart-Grid Telecommunications Systems Via Interval Flow Network Optimization, Anthony J. Klinkert

Operations Research and Engineering Management Theses and Dissertations

One of the first major, widespread deployments of an Internet of Things (IoT) system is an electric utility’s smart-grid communications network. Communication networks support utility smart-grids for an electrical power provider by linking industrial IoT devices on the grid, such as residential and commercial customers’ electric meters to the utility’s data center. A new solution methodology and software tool is applied to the optimization of an electric utility smart-grid communications network. This research provides utilities with a technique to reduce cost of new and current communications networks for smart-grid programs. This research introduces the use of a new advanced optimization …

Us Regional Airline Pay Scale Changes, Alex Nikle, Elizabeth Bjerke

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The United States regional air carrier industry has recently undergone a substantial transformation in pilot salaries and hiring practices. Regional airlines are employing professional aviators at unprecedented rates in response to economic growth, regulatory reform, and legacy air carrier retirements. The combination of these factors has spurred demand for qualified air carrier pilots. As the hiring continues to increase, regional airlines are finding new ways to attract certified pilots to include: salary increases, bonuses incentives, and legacy airline employment flow agreements. The following report analyzes the salary changes that have occurred at US regional airlines from 2007-2017. From this data, …

Study Of Building Vibrations Caused By Machinery, Bipesh Shrestha

Civil Engineering ETDs

ABSTRACT

This thesis studies the vibration of structures caused by machinery. Machines exhibit unique vibrational characteristics. This thesis focuses on detection of these unique vibrational characteristics through the study of structural vibration caused by machines. The study extends from simple laboratory structures to a real existing building called the Ford Utility Building. The vibrational readings on the roof of the Ford Utility Building are studied to capture signals that can be attributed to machines running inside the building. This thesis supports the research in remote detection and identification of concealed machinery through SAR vibrometry.

A study of human perception of …

Achieving Public Health And Climate Change Goals: What Do We Need To Know About The Transportation System?, Mohammad Tayarani

Civil Engineering ETDs

The overall aim of this dissertation is evaluating what new knowledge can be gained about the environmental and public health outcomes of regional transportation planning strategies by implementing a suite of more spatially and temporally detailed transportation and air quality models. This new knowledge can be used to better understand the potential health effects of emissions exposure while also guiding the development of new transportation and land-use plans, and related policies that have the potential to achieve large reductions in pollution exposure and green house gas emissions at local and regional level.

Analysis Of Double-Wall And Twisted-Tube Heat Exchanger Concepts For Use In Fluoride Salt-Cooled High-Temperature Reactors, Bryan M. Wallace

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

Fluoride Salt-cooled High-temperature Reactors (FHRs) are an attractive fourth generation reactor concept. Like other fourth generation concept designs, FHRs offer characteristics such as a high-temperature low-pressure molten salt coolant allowing the reactor to be combined with a high-temperature high-efficiency power generation cycle such as an air-Brayton or supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO2). \par

Like most Gen IV reactor concepts, there are a few problems which need to be addressed with the design before it can be licensed. One particular design is the Mark 1 pebble bed FHR, a design put out by the University of California Berkeley. Two problems that need …

Characterization Of Wideband U-Slot Patch Antennas Through Characteristic Modal Analysis And Coupled Mode Theory, Tyler Lapointe

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Microstrip patch antennas (MPAs) are utilized in many applications as they are easy to produce and are thin, versatile, light weight, cheap, and reliable. One of the drawbacks of MPAs, however, is their narrow bandwidth, typically three to ten percent. Fortunately, a perturbation exists capable of resolving this issue known as the U-slot which can increase the operational bandwidth of a single layer MPA to around 30 percent. Often it is reported that the wideband performance of this structure results from the existence of two resonators, the patch and the U-shaped slot. While this is true, the very nature of …

Ascertaining The Impact Of P–12 Engineering Education Initiatives: Student Impact Through Teacher Impact, Marissa H. Forbes, Jacquelyn F. Sullivan, Denise W. Carlson

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

The widespread need to address both science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and STEM workforce development is persistent. Underscored by the Next Generation Science Standards, demand is high for P–12 engineering-centered curricula. TeachEngineering is a free, standards-aligned NSF-funded digital library of more than 1,500 hands-on, design-rich K–12 engineering lessons and activities. Beyond anonymous site-user counts, the impact of the TeachEngineering collection and outreach initiatives on the education of children and their teachers was previously unknown. Thus, the project team wrestled with the question of how to meaningfully ascertain classroom impacts of the digital engineering education library and—more broadly—how to …

How To Shape Attitudes Toward Stem Careers: The Search For The Most Impactful Extracurricular Clubs, Fethiye Ozis, Ali Osman Pektas, Mustafa Akca, Daniel’Le April Devoss

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

It is well known that strong extracurricular STEM programs provide multiple arenas for students to expand on classroom curriculum, complementing STEM skills with creative thinking and open-ended problem solving. It has been shown that there is a relationship between the number of STEM clubs students participated in and their choice of STEM major (Sahin, 2013). Considering financial problems, including budget cuts, it gets really challenging for schools to provide a plethora of clubs. For this reason, it would be very beneficial for K–12 schools to know if certain clubs are more effective in changing attitudes toward STEM majors, and therefore …

‘‘Lend A Hand’’ Project Helps Students: Improved Spatial Visualization Skills Through Engaging In Hands-On 3-D Printed Prosthetics Project During A 9th Grade Engineering Course, Shaunna Smith, Kimberly Talley

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

Research shows that high spatial ability is linked to success and persistence in STEM. Empirical investigations often report a gender gap in favor of male students. The purpose of this research study was to assess changes to 9th grade engineering students’ spatial visualization skills through engagement in a nine-week collaborative 3-D printed prosthetics project embedded within their existing ‘‘Beginning Concepts of Engineering’’ course curriculum. Using concurrent mixed methods, this study examined pre-/post-test scores on the Revised Purdue Spatial Visualization Test: Rotations (Revised PSVT:R) in connection with gender, course grades, and level of involvement in the project. Both male and female …