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Inspire E-News 04 2018, College Of Engineering And Applied Sciences

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences News

• We are hosting and you're invited
• Top seniors honored as 2018 Presidential Scholars
• Congratulations to the college’s 2 new University Innovation Fellows
• Entrepreneurs head to pitch competition with Speed E-Box
• Engineering student inspires 300 young innovators
• Area students compete in Science Olympiad tournament at WMU
• College Snapshot: Floyd Hall

Simulation Of The Behavior Of Corrosion Damaged Reinforced Concrete Beams With/Without Cfrp Retrofit, Masoud Zabihi-Samani, Mohsenali Shayanfar, Amir Safiey, Amir Najari

Publications

Harsh environmental conditions along with aggressive chemical agents are known as one of the main reasons behind damages observed in reinforced concrete members. Corrosion of reinforcement worldwide is one of the leading causes of damages occurred in reinforced concrete over the lifespan. There are many critical energy and transportation infrastructures located on coastal regions exposed to high humidity and chloride content where they are highly prone to reinforcement corrosion. This calls for retrofit methods, which safeguard not only the strength but also the durability of corrosion deteriorated reinforced concrete structures. Carbon fiber polymers considering their mechanical and chemical properties are …

Engineering Synthetic Antibody For Prostate Cancer Detection, Kimberley Gonzalez, Tatum Prosswimmer, Cassandra Stawicki

Bioengineering Senior Theses

This Senior Design project seeks to manufacture an E. Coli based antibody for prostate cancer detection using unnatural amino acid incorporation. Current diagnostic techniques take advantage of the high binding specificity of monoclonal antibodies to detect the concentration of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in a blood sample. Production of this technology is lengthy and costly, while simultaneously incurring countless ethical problems related to animal welfare and accessibility. This project proposes a synthetic antibody that can be produced efficiently in single E. Coli cells and exhibits complementary binding to PSA. By incorporating an unnatural amino acid into a recombinant peptide sequence, …

Hands-Free Wearable Crutch, Cooper Schwabe, Marcus Kraus, Tk Wasserman

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Traditional crutches have long been the primary mobility aid for patients with a lower-leg injuries. However, forced to place most of their weight on their hands and underarms while balancing on only one leg, users find that such crutches present a physically demanding, uncomfortable, and inconvenient means of getting around. To combat these issues, we propose a hands-free crutch that will attach only to the injured leg, increasing maneuverability while preserving natural walking mechanics. Within the last decade, other hands-free crutch solutionshave proven to increase user satisfaction by reducing fatigue, increasing safety and efficiency by allowing users to perform additional …

Cyclic Testing Of Reinforced Earthbag Walls, David Aguilar Rodriguez, Jeff Stein, Taylor Darby

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

Earthen construction is the most popular building method around the world. One particular building method, using earthbags, has shown promise in performing well against seismic activity. This project undertook the goal of developing a preliminary seismic response modification factor, R, to be used in the design of homes in seismically active areas. Two 4’ wide x 6’ tall x 1’ deep walls were cyclically loaded using a Three-Degree-of-Freedom (TDOF) Test Frame provided by Santa Clara University to determine the in-plane shear capacity of each wall. Testing revealed an average yield force of 419 lbs, an average ultimate force 1058 lbs, …

Evaluation Of Pm Emissions Of A Diesel Engine Fueled With Waste Cooking Oil Biodiesel: A Systematic Review, Omobolanle H. Oshinusi, George M. Gray

GW Research Days 2016 - 2020

Background: The Navigation Guide developed by Johnson et al was used to conduct a robust systematic review of six experimental intervention studies looking at particulate matter (PM)emissions from conventional petroleum diesel and a biodiesel alternative utilizing waste cooking oil in heavy-duty petroleum diesel engines. Waste cooking oil biodiesel is thought to be a more sustainably sourced alternative to its fossil fuel counterpart.

Objectives: Application of the Navigation Guide systematic review methodology to answer the question: Does the replacement of petroleum diesel with waste cooking oil biodiesel reduce hazardous PMemissions? Methods: The study question was specified, evidence was selected and the …

Reducing Damaged And Returned Inventory At Mds Logistics, Chris Montell, Darioush Moein, Amir Samadabadi

Senior Design Project For Engineers

MDS Logistics is a middle-man that delivers and installs appliances to multi-family complexes and neighborhoods in Georgia. One of the biggest issues that they face in day-to-day operation is damaged and returned appliances. MDS’s longest standing contract is with GE and GE has extensive records of damage that is incurred by using similar companies across the country. We will be consulting with MDS while using the data produced by GE to compare MDS with the similar companies to see where improvement can be made reasonably.

When an appliance is damaged it is brought back to MDS’s warehouse where they are …

Development Of Rule-Based Recognition Systems For Continuous Monitorization Of Pulse Oximetry, Brian Delehanty

Senior Theses

Pulse Oximeters provide a convenient, non-invasive method to quickly gather information about a patient's pulse rate (PR) and arterial blood oxygen saturation (SpO₂). Many pulse oximeters lack alert systems that notify caregivers if a patient's readings go outside the healthy range, and pulse oximeters that have these mechanisms are significantly more expensive. This project set out to write a program using LabVIEW that collects pulse oximeter data via Bluetooth and generates an alert when readings persist in the abnormal range for more than fifteen seconds. Due to privacy laws that allow pulse oximeter manufacturers to not disclose the …

Osteon Mimetic Scaffolding, Janay Clytus

Senior Theses

The purpose of this research is to provide an alternative to naturally derived bone grafts. There is a gap in the supply of donors and the demand of bone tissue. Artificial scaffold creation can work as an implant and decrease the shortage of bone grafts and increase the range of injuries that can be repaired. Current research focuses on optimizing mechanical properties such as porosity, improving vascularization using cells, and generating osteoconductivity. For osteodifferentiation, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can differentiate into mesodermal lineages such as chondrocytes, osteoblasts, adipocytes, and tenocytes by supplementing cultures with lineage-specific soluble factors (Marchetti). Co-culturing ECFCs …

Clutter Suppression For Bistatic Gmti Using Along-Track Interferometry, Ross Deming, Chad Knight

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

An adaptation of along-track interferometry (ATI) clutter suppression signal processing is described for bistatic geometries in which the radar transmitter and receivers fly independently on separate platforms. Despite the more complicated geometry, this approach retains the simplicity and computational efficiency of standard monostatic ATI. Bistatic and multi-static (bistatic plus monostatic) geometries can yield significant performance advantages compared with monostatic in terms of detecting and geo-locating moving ground targets. We present results from simulated multi-static data that validate the ATI technique and illustrate the advantages. If time allows, we will also present results from an experimental flight test in the final …

Impulse, Matt Schmidt, Emily Weber, Kate Heiberger, Dave Graves, Christine Delfanian, Heidi Kronaizl, Gerald Peden

Impulse (Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering Publication)

[Page] 2 Lew Brown Retires
[Page] 5 Phonathon
[Page] 6 Sgt Opens Office on Campus
[Page] 8 DGR - Employee-Funded Scholarships
[Page] 10 A Balloon-Launched Satellite
[Page] 12 Human Powered Vehicle
[Page] 14 Engineering Week
[Page] 16 Champion Geowall Builders
[Page] 18 Research Internship with NASA
[Page] 20 Jace Waybright - Living Up to His Name
[Page] 21 Computer Science Scholars
[Page] 24 Farewell Fereidoon
[Page] 26 Roe Says Time to Go
[Page] 28 New Faculty
[Page] 30 Faculty Awards
[Page] 32 Distinguished Engineer - Meink
[Page] 33 Distinguished Engineer - Stedronsky
[Page] 34 Remembering Harold Hohbach
[Page] 36 Alumni …

Evaluation Of A Hybrid Reflectance-Based Crop Coefficient And Energy Balance Evapotranspiration Model For Irrigation Management, J. Burdette Barker, Christopher M. U. Neale, Derek M. Heeren, Andrew E. Suyker

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Accurate generation of spatial soil water maps is useful for many types of irrigation management. A hybrid remote sensing evapotranspiration (ET) model combining reflectance-based basal crop coefficients (K_cbrf) and a two-source energy balance (TSEB) model was modified and validated for use in real-time irrigation management. We modeled spatial ET for maize and soybean fields in eastern Nebraska for the 2011-2013 growing seasons. We used Landsat 5, 7, and 8 imagery as remote sensing inputs. In the TSEB, we used the Priestly-Taylor (PT) approximation for canopy latent heat flux, as in the original model formulations. We also used the …

A-Set Process Improvement, Gabriel Rubio, Davis Jackson, Christopher Olaya

Senior Design Project For Engineers

Siemens Energy offers world-class products and solutions for power generation. They help their clients worldwide to successfully operate conventional power plants by renting out their toolkits. Clients can work on anything from gas or steam turbines, generators, turbines, or even hybrid power and storage. One of Siemens’ more profitable toolkits would be the A-Set, or as the floor assemblers refer to as ‘the majors,’ which consists of two large conex containers filled with thousands of tools ready for any type of operation at power plants. By looking at how long it takes floor assemblers at the Siemens Facility in Suwanee, …

Fluids Demonstrations: Trailing Vortices, Plateau Border, Angle Of Repose, And Flow Instability, Said Shakerin

All Faculty Articles - School of Engineering and Computer Science

No abstract provided.

Origins Of Scale Invariance In Vocalization Sequences And Speech, Fatemeh Khatami, Markus Wöhr, Heather L. Read, Monty A. Escabí

All Faculty Articles - School of Engineering and Computer Science

To communicate effectively animals need to detect temporal vocalization cues that vary over several orders of magnitude in their amplitude and frequency content. This large range of temporal cues is evident in the power-law scale-invariant relationship between the power of temporal fluctuations in sounds and the sound modulation frequency (f). Though various forms of scale invariance have been described for natural sounds, the origins and implications of scale invariant phenomenon remain unknown. Using animal vocalization sequences, including continuous human speech, and a stochastic model of temporal amplitude fluctuations we demonstrate that temporal acoustic edges are the primary acoustic cue accounting …

Adaptive Control For Inflatable Soft Robotic Manipulators With Unknown Payloads, Jonathan Spencer Terry

Theses and Dissertations

Soft robotic platforms are becoming increasingly popular as they are generally safer, lighter, and easier to manufacture than their more rigid, heavy, traditional counterparts. These soft platforms, while inherently safer, come with significant drawbacks. Their compliant components are more difficult to model, and their underdamped nature makes them difficult to control. Additionally, they are so lightweight that a payload of just a few pounds has a significant impact on the manipulator dynamics. This thesis presents novel methods for addressing these issues. In previous research, Model Predictive Control has been demonstrably useful for joint angle control for these soft robots, using …

A Definition And Demonstration Of Developable Mechanisms, Trent Karl Zimmerman

Theses and Dissertations

There is an increasing need for compact mechanical systems that can accomplish sophisticated tasks. Technologies like ortho-planar and lamina emergent mechanisms (LEMs) have been developed to satisfy needs like these by stowing in planar sheets from which they emerge to perform their function. They can be compact, lightweight, monolithic, scalable, and can withstand harsh environments. They are limited, however, by their base element---planar surfaces. Applications requiring these advantages often include curved surfaces, like aircraft wings, needles, and automotive bodies. In this research, developable mechanisms are presented as a solution to satisfy the need for mechanisms that can conform to or …

Reliability, Laying The Groundwork In Theory And In Practice, Nicholas Smith

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Soils do not have specific properties like materials such as concrete and steel. The goal of this project is to measure these specific properties through field and laboratory tests-and to show how the information relates to engineering analysis and design.

Characterization Of Process Induced Defects In Laser Powder Bed Fusion Processed Alsi10mg Alloy, Edward Stugelmayer

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Additive manufacturing using laser powder bed fusion (AM-LPBF) methods have recently experienced rapid growth and development, having the potential to replace manufacturing by plastic deformation, precision machining, or casting. AM offers advantages such as the freedom to design highly complex geometries, time and cost savings through material usage efficiency and shortened production cycles, and the potential for improved mechanical properties. Process induced defects, however, result in degradation and scattering of mechanical properties and hinder the widespread adoption of AM-LPBF in industry. This investigation focuses on the effects of varying energy density and build orientation on the evolution of process induced …

Topology Optimization For Additive Manufacturing Using Simp Method, Seth Grinde

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The increasing effectiveness of additive manufacturing has contributed to increased fabrication of complex parts with less material waste. With this process, complex shapes that can reduce the weight of the component can be explored. Topology optimization of a component uses computer software to remove and add material in locations throughout the design volume. The optimized design output results in a reduced weight component that meets the performance requirements of the original design. There are many optimization methods, one of which is the solid isotropic material with penalization (SIMP) method. An objective function is defined to give the optimization method an …

Integrated Stratigraphic Controls For Flow Simulation Of The Wall Creek Member Of Frontier Formation: Western Powder River Basin, Wyoming, Tuan Le

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The Frontier Formation in the Powder River Basin has been re-discovered for oil and gas potential with the development of long horizontal wells and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing. Over the last decade, the Upper Cretaceous Wall Creek Member (WCM) of the Frontier Formation has proven to be a successful hydrocarbon-producing target, yet a full understanding of the flow behavior in this complex stratigraphic unit has not been fully achieved.

The fluid and rock properties have uncertainty and are not well defined due to the low permeability rocks. This study aims to describe the fluid flow behaviors of these features and create …

Mountain Front Recharge In A Semi-Arid Climate, Southwest Montana, Charles Shama

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Groundwater recharge to regional valley benches originates largely from adjacent Mountain Front Recharge (MFR). The Madison Valley in Southwest Montana is a semi-arid cold climate that receives 31.75cm annual valley precipitation. In this study, two drainages are characterized and compared, looking at the hydrological processes between the stream and groundwater. North Meadow Creek is a high elevation stream dominated by snowmelt and contains reaches of gaining and losing surface water to groundwater. Daylight Creek is a spring fed disconnected stream. Methods used a surface water balance, temperature as an environmental tracer and two and three component mixing models to investigate …

Developing Trees Tolerant To Degraded Mine Soils In An Underground Greenhouse, Cosmas Opoku-Ware

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

This project explored the potential for developing trees tolerable to degraded un-reclaimed mine site soils and tailings as a solution to re-establishing long-term tree growth on those sites. The project incorporates growing tree seedlings in an underground greenhouse grown from seeds planted in the degraded mine soils in which they will eventually be planted. The outcome of the project is expected to lead to a successful solution for re-establishing tree growth in soils and tailings containing high metal concentrations with minimal post-planting human intervention at a relatively low cost.

The research is being conducted in an underground greenhouse located 100 …

Characterization Of Peak Shear Strength Of Rough Rock Joints Using The Limited Displacement Multi-Stage Direct Shear (Ldmsd) Test Method, Michael Petro

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Current standardized direct shear test methods for rock joints do not account for damage caused to the individually unique asperity profiles of each sample. Current test methods require either a single sample to be sheared to large displacements under successive normal stresses, or the use of similar samples in multiple tests. Successive shearing of a single sample damages surface asperities and causes the overall roughness profile of the sample to change, reducing peak shear stress and consequently resulting in underestimation of friction angle and overestimation of joint shear intercept (cohesion). Obtaining joint surface specimens with identical roughness and geometry is …

Fluid Inclusion And Stable Isotope Investigation Of Hydrothermal Talc And Chlorite Deposits In Southwest Montana, Garrett Hill

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Talc and chlorite deposits of southwest Montana formed as hydrothermal replacements of Archean and/or early Proterozoic dolomitic marble and quartzo-feldspathic gneiss. Although the hydrothermal replacement model is generally accepted, less is known about the temperature, composition, and origin of the fluids involved in talc and chlorite formation. The present study examines fluid inclusions in quartz associated with both talc and chlorite, stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of talc, chlorite, and quartz, and stable carbon and oxygen isotopes of carbonate minerals. The deposits being examined include the Yellowstone, Beaverhead and Willow Creek talc mines, and the Antler chlorite mine.

Fluid inclusion …

Mineralogy And Sulfur Isotope Geochemistry Of The Apex And Bonanza Prospects At The Golden Sunlight Mine, Montana, Hamadou Gnanou

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The Golden Sunlight mine, located 50 km to the east of the famous Butte porphyry/lode deposits, is the largest gold mine in Montana, and has produced over 3 million ounces of gold in its 35+ year history. Most of this gold has come from the Mineral Hill breccia pipe (MHBP), a west dipping, cylindrical body of brecciated latite and country rock fragments of the Precambrian LaHood and Greyson Formations. The breccia pipe is late Cretaceous in age (84±18 Ma, DeWitt et al., 1986), is silicified, pyrite-rich, and is mineralized with gold, silver, and minor base metals. Because the MHBP has …

Optimization Of Drilling And Blasting Practices At A Western Us Open Pit Copper Mine, Joel Gadikor

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The mining process begins with drilling and blasting activities. The efficiency of blasting affects all downstream operations such as loading, hauling, crushing and milling. Therefore drilling and blasting activities should be designed to ensure that designed parameters produce the desired fragmentation. The Kuz-Ram model is a fragmentation prediction model and is widely used for predicting the fragmentation distribution from blasting in the mining industry. This research evaluates the performance of the Kuz-Ram and Modified Kuz-Ram models to determine the most accurate models applicable to a Western US open pit copper mine’s fragmentation data. The performance assessment was done using the …

The Effects Of Underground Blasting On Nearby Pre-Existing Structures, Logan Connolly

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Butte, Montana holds a prestigious place in the history of mining, deemed “The Richest Hill on Earth,” containing a plethora of underground mines. The Orphan Boy/Orphan Girl underground mines, on the western side of Butte, operated from 1895-1956 producing zinc, lead, silver, and manganese. Today, the Orphan Boy mine is part of Montana Tech’s Underground Mine Education Center (UMEC) and the Orphan Girl mine houses the World Museum of Mining. Underground development in the Orphan Boy mine continues to progress as students from Montana Tech receive hands-on underground training; in addition, the UMEC is a multi-disciplinary research facility. Repeated underground …

Evaluating Open Pit Highwall Dig Compliance, Judith Buaba

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The mine planning process comprises three major stages: collection of relevant data, application of design methods and measurement of performance. Relevant information about the geology, structure, rock mass and hydrogeology are collected to create a geotechnical model. This information, collected by the geotechnical engineer, is used to design the pit slopes which are incorporated into the pit design by the mine planner based on mining regulations, safety and economics. Drilling, blasting, excavation and dewatering activities mainly constitute the implementation stage of the mine design. Mining to achieve design has proven to be difficult practically. Factors such as geology, blasting and …

Novel Hybrid Perovskite Composites And Microstructures: Synthesis And Characterization, John P. Murphy

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The water-energy nexus has been described as one of the great problems of our time. In an ever-growing society the demand for resources such as water and electricity often dictate the magnitude and direction of growth of society. Efficient generation of electricity, with minimal socioeconomic pushback, is paramount in the stable growth of our society. Solar energy harvesting is a strong candidate for the efficient generation of electrical energy with increasingly minimal resource use in fabrication. As manufacturing processes improve and novel materials are discovered/optimized, solar energy harvesting becomes a more economically viable means of energy generation. Hybrid perovskites (HPs) …