Engineering Commons^™

Aging Study Of Silver-Exchanged Mordenite And Silver-Functionalized Silica Aerogel In Dry Air, Humid Air, No And No2, Seungrag Choi

Dissertations - ALL

Iodine-129 (129I) is one of the volatile radioactive species in the off-gas streams generated from the spent nuclear fuel reprocessing system, and it is essential to remove 129I vapor because 129I has a long half-life (1.6 x 107 years) and can be fatal to the human body if released to the environment. Radioactive iodine vapor can be effectively captured by silver containing adsorbents such as silver exchanged mordenite (Ag0Z) and silver functionalized silica aerogel (Ag0-aerogel) used in this study. However, the aging impact of off-gas streams on the adsorbents is one of major issues in the removal of radioactive iodine …

Rational Design Of Supported Metal Catalysts For Carbonyl Reduction During Biomass Upgrading, Xin Gao

Dissertations - ALL

Ketone hydrogenation:A model system of carbonyl (ketone) hydrogenation, acetone hydrogenation over supported Pt catalysts in the gas-phase fixed bed reactor was investigated to understand both the mechanism and rate controlling steps in a fundamental level. The experiments and outcomes include the detailed macro- and micro-kinetic analysis of hydrogenation of acetone. The apparent reaction orders of hydrogen and acetone, apparent activation energies, and observed kinetic isotope effects over a large range of temperatures and concentrations (compound partial pressures) are reported in this document. Generally speaking, the ketone hydrogenation over metal surfaces in vapor phase comply with the mechanism that hydrogen atoms …

Control Flow Integrity For Real-Time Embedded Systems, Yuqian Huo

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Devices built on embedded systems are widely used in our daily lives. Nowadays, firmware typically uses C and C++ for efficiency and durability. However, those languages are unsafe which can lead to many software and system security issues. Attackers can easily corrupt a system by issuing various memory corruption attacks on a vulnerable program. Control-flow integrity is one of the most prevalent mechanisms used to protect against memory corruption. Most research papers and prototypes focus on using CFI on high-performance chips such as Intel and ARM Cortex-A. However, many embedded systems targeting time critical services are built on resource constrained …

The Integration Of Art: A Multiple Case Study Of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, And Math (Steam) Schools In Three Schools In Southern California, Reyna Esther Smith

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative multi-case study was to describe and analyze how schools that implement a STEAM program include the arts in their integrated program. The study focused on 3 K-12 schools in Southern California that are located in the Antelope Valley high desert region of the state. This multi-case study analyzed an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school that are in different districts in the area.

Methodology: This multi-case study used qualitative data to analyze the research questions regarding art infusion in STEAM programs and teacher and leader perspectives. Drawing from interviews of teachers …

Direct Foam Writing In Microgravity, Guy Jacob Cordonier, Cicely Sharafati, Spencer Mays, Lukas Thackery, Ellena Gemmen, Samuel Cyphert, Megan Brown, John Quinn Napolillo, Savannah Toney, Hunter Moore, John M. Kuhlman `, Konstantinos A. Sierros

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Herein we report 2D printing in microgravity of aqueous-based foams containing metal oxide nanoparticles. Such hierarchical foams have potential space applications, for example for in situ habitat repair work, or for UV shielding. Foam line patterns of a TiO2-containing foam have been printed onto glass substrates via Direct Foam Writing (DFW) under microgravity conditions through a parabolic aircraft flight. Initial characterization of the foam properties (printed foam line width, bubble size, etc.) are presented. It has been found that gravity plays a significant role in the process of direct foam writing. The foam spread less over the substrate when deposited …

Durable Nanocomposite Face Masks With High Particulate Filtration And Rapid Inactivation Of Coronaviruses, Andrew Gonzalez, Hamada A. Aboubakr, John Brockgreitens, Weixing Hao, Yang Wang, Sagar M. Goyal, Abdennour Abbas

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique challenge to the healthcare community due to the high infectivity rate and need for effective personal protective equipment. Zinc oxide nanoparticles have shown promising antimicrobial properties and are recognized as a safe additive in many food and cosmetic products. This work presents a novel nanocomposite synthesis approach, which allows zinc oxide nanoparticles to be grown within textile and face mask materials, including melt-blown polypropylene and nylon-cotton. The resulting nanocomposite achieves greater than 3 log₁₀ reduction (≥ 99.9%) in coronavirus titer within a contact time of 10 min, by disintegrating the viral envelope. The …

Nondestructive Detection Of Codling Moth Infestation In Apples Using Pixel-Based Nir Hyperspectral Imaging With Machine Learning And Feature Selection, Nader Ekramirad, Alfadhl Y. Khaled, Lauren E. Doyle, Julia R. Loeb, Kevin D. Donohue, Raul T. Villanueva, Akinbode A. Adedeji

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Codling moth (CM) (Cydia pomonella L.), a devastating pest, creates a serious issue for apple production and marketing in apple-producing countries. Therefore, effective nondestructive early detection of external and internal defects in CM-infested apples could remarkably prevent postharvest losses and improve the quality of the final product. In this study, near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral reflectance imaging in the wavelength range of 900–1700 nm was applied to detect CM infestation at the pixel level for three organic apple cultivars, namely Gala, Fuji and Granny Smith. An effective region of interest (ROI) acquisition procedure along with different machine learning and data processing …

Temperature-Immune Self-Referencing Fabry–Pérot Cavity Sensors, Hengky Chandrahalim, Jonathan W. Smith

AFIT Patents

A passive microscopic Fabry-Pérot Interferometer (FPI) sensor an optical fiber a three-dimensional microscopic optical structure formed on a cleaved tip of an optical fighter that reflects a light signal back through the optical fiber. The reflected light is altered by refractive index changes in the three-dimensional structure that is subject to at least one of: (i) thermal radiation; and (ii) volatile organic compounds.

Machine-Learning Algorithms For Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operation (Firo) To Reduce Flood Damages, Manizhe Zarei, Omid Bozorg-Haddad, Sahar Baghban, Mohammad Delpasand, Erfan Goharian, Hugo A. Loaiciga

Faculty Publications

Water is stored in reservoirs for various purposes, including regular distribution, flood control, hydropower generation, and meeting the environmental demands of downstream habitats and ecosystems. However, these objectives are often in conflict with each other and make the operation of reservoirs a complex task, particularly during flood periods. An accurate forecast of reservoir inflows is required to evaluate water releases from a reservoir seeking to provide safe space for capturing high flows without having to resort to hazardous and damaging releases. This study aims to improve the informed decisions for reservoirs management and water prerelease before a flood occurs by …

Design And Analysis Of Flexible Insulated Pavement For Cold Region Applications, Zhuang Zhuo

Theses and Dissertations

Pavements in cold regions suffer from additional deterioration due to the influences of extreme climate on frost-susceptible subgrade layers. To address this problem, one efficient strategy is to add a thermal insulating layer above the frost-susceptible layer. This study aims to evaluate the insulating effects of four materials: XPS boards, tire chips, foamed glass aggregates, and foamed concrete. Large-scale insulated pavement boxes (1.2m×1.2m×0.8m) were constructed to compare the thermal performance of different materials. The thermal performance of each box was evaluated and graded based on indicators related to the short-term temperature decrease and long-term temperature variation.

Experimental results show that …

A Visually Realistic Simulator For Autonomous Evtol Aircraft, Seth M. Nielsen

Theses and Dissertations

Electrically powered vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft could provide a new mode of air transportation of people and cargo that is low-cost, on-demand, and able to reach more areas than is possible with current technology. They have the unique ability to takeoff and land in congested spaces yet efficiently travel long distances which makes them a promising technology for applications such as rapid medical assistance, automated package delivery, or human transportation. This type of aircraft has only recently become a possibility, owing to advancements in battery technology, computing power, and sensor technologies, and thus support for eVTOLs is lacking …

Substrate Delivery Of Embedded Liposomes, Srivatsan Kidambi, Stephen L. Hayward

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

This invention relates to compositions useful for localized and sustained release of therapeutic agents, and more particularly to functionalized liposomes embedded in a poly electrolyte multilayer. Methods of preparing the compositions, methods of treating diseases, devices, and pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compositions are also provided.

Comparative Analysis Of Rgb-Based Eye-Tracking For Large-Scale Human-Machine Applications, Brett Thaman, Trung Cao

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Gaze tracking has become an established technology that enables using an individual’s gaze as an input signal to support a variety of applications in the context of Human-Computer Interaction. Gaze tracking primarily relies on sensing devices such as infrared (IR) cameras. Nevertheless, in the recent years, several attempts have been realized at detecting gaze by acquiring and processing images acquired from standard RGB cameras. Nowadays, there are only a few publicly available open-source libraries and they have not been tested extensively. In this paper, we present the result of a comparative analysis that studied a commercial eye-tracking device using IR …

Assessing The Alignment Of Social Robots With Trustworthy Ai Design Guidelines: A Preliminary Research Study, Abdikadar Ali, Danielle Thaxton, Ankur Chattopadhyay

Posters-at-the-Capitol

The last couple of years have seen a strong movement supporting the need of having intelligent consumer products align with specific design guidelines for trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI). This global movement has led to multiple institutional recommendations for ethically aligned trustworthy design of the AI driven technologies, like consumer robots and autonomous vehicles. There has been prior research towards finding security and privacy related vulnerabilities within various types of social robots. However, none of these previous works has studied the implications of these vulnerabilities in terms of the robot design aligning with trustworthy AI. In an attempt to address this …

Trip Based Modeling Of Fuel Consumption In Modern Heavy-Duty Vehicles Using Artificial Intelligence, Sasanka Katreddi, Arvind Thiruvengadam

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Heavy-duty trucks contribute approximately 20% of fuel consumption in the United States of America (USA). The fuel economy of heavy-duty vehicles (HDV) is affected by several real-world parameters like road parameters, driver behavior, weather conditions, and vehicle parameters, etc. Although modern vehicles comply with emissions regulations, potential malfunction of the engine, regular wear and tear, or other factors could affect vehicle performance. Predicting fuel consumption per trip based on dynamic on-road data can help the automotive industry to reduce the cost and time for on-road testing. Data modeling can easily help to diagnose the reason behind fuel consumption with a …

Laser Forming Of Compliant Mechanisms And Flat-Foldable Furniture, Daniel Calvin Ames

Theses and Dissertations

Compliant mechanisms are useful for improving existing machines and creating new ones that were not previously possible. They also help us to think of new methods and technologies needed to both improve existing systems as well as manufacture systems that have not been done before. The purpose of this thesis is to show novel implementations of compliant mechanisms into folding systems, and to show new methods for fabricating such mechanisms with nontraditional materials and on difficult scales. Folding systems are shown in furniture applications with chairs, stools, and childcare furniture applications as results of research into how such structures could …

Mckee, Ronald R., Collection, 1995-2000, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

The Ronald R. McKee Collection consists of textbooks, instructor guides, student guides, and lesson packages relating to industrial arts and technology.

Ronald R. McKee was born January 17, 1942 in Mason City, Washington, and grew up in Green Acres, Washington. He graduated from Central Valley High School in nearby Spokane Valley in 1960. Ronald married Patricia Taylor in 1962 and they had four children. In 1969, McKee earned a B.S. and an M.S. at Eastern Washington College (today Eastern Washington University). In 1970, he earned his Ed.D at Utah State University. He began work at Kansas State College of Pittsburg …

Editorial: Molecular Simulation On Cementitious Materials: From Computational Chemistry Method To Application, Hongyan Ma, Dongshuai Hou, Jinrui Zhang

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

On The Synthesis Of Optimal Control Laws, Meir Pachter, Isaac E. Weintraub

Faculty Publications

In this paper we advocate for Isaacs' method for the solution of differential games to be applied to the solution of optimal control problems. To make the argument, the vehicle employed is Pontryagin's canonical optimal control example, which entails a double integrator plant. However, rather than controlling the state to the origin, we correctly require the end state to reach a terminal set that contains the origin in its interior. Indeed, in practice, it is required to control to a prescribed tolerance rather than reach a desired end state; achieving tight tolerances is expensive, and from a theoretical point of …

Droplet-Based Fuel Property Measurements, Wanjun Dang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Ongoing work to find renewable biofuels to function as drop-in replacements or blending components with gasoline has identified a large number of fuel candidates. Given the vast number of potential biomass-derived fuel molecules and limited sample sizes, screening tools are required to down-select candidate fuels having desired physical properties to ensure good engine performance. This work investigates approaches for rapid screening of candidate fuels using micro-liter sample sizes targeting four properties -- surface tension, viscosity, heat of vaporization (HOV), and vapor pressure. Measurement techniques for fuel properties are developed based on unit phenomena for liquid fuel droplets including droplet oscillation …

2021 - The Second Annual Fall Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Fall 2021 Symposium of Student Scholars, held on November 18, 2021. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Truss Bridge Damage Localization And Severity Estimation Using Influence Lines, Hamoud Alshallaqi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations

The safety of bridges is one of the primary concerns of researchers, engineers, and bridge owners and managers, especially when bridges are approaching the end of their intended service lives. The estimation of bridge condition and remaining service life is critical to prioritize the allocation of available funding for repairs and rehabilitation. Various methods, including both dynamic and static approaches, have been developed to detect and localize bridge damage and estimate its severity. This research presents a methodology for detecting a single damaged member in a truss bridge and estimating the severity of the damage using static vertical deflection influence …

Developing Iot-Based Geophysical Micro-Observatories Utilizing Cloud Computing, Joshua Sylvester

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Instrumentation for collecting geophysical data, specifically heat flow, in lake and marine environments has been in existence for over fifty years. Despite this, the costs associated with data collection and the technological limitations of existing instrumentation can be preventative when conducting geophysical studies. Furthermore, the success rate of such studies is limited by the lack of real time data transmission capabilities when instruments are deployed for extended periods of time. As a solution to this problem we have created cost-effective and lightweight IoT-driven instrumentation and combined it with cloud computing technology facilitating real time data transmission to the cloud. Furthermore, …

Enhanced Security Utilizing Side Channel Data Analysis, Michael Taylor

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

The physical state of a system is affected by the activities and processes in which it is tasked with carrying out. In the past there have been many instances where such physical changes have been exploited by bad actors in order to gain insight into the operational state and even the data being held on a system. This method of side channel exploitation is very often effective due to the relative difficulty of obfuscating activity on a physical level. However, in order to take advantage of side channel data streams one must have a detailed working knowledge of how a …

Sampling-Based Algorithms For Two-Stage Stochastic Programs And Applications, Siavash Tabrizian

Operations Research and Engineering Management Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we present novel sampling-based algorithms for solving two-stage stochastic programming problems. Sampling-based methods provide an efficient approach to solving large-scale stochastic programs where uncertainty is possibly defined on continuous support. When sampling-based methods are employed, the process is usually viewed in two steps - sampling and optimization. When these two steps are performed in sequence, the overall process can be computationally very expensive. In this dissertation, we utilize the framework of internal-sampling where sampling and optimization steps are performed concurrently. The dissertation comprises of two parts. In the first part, we design a new sampling technique for …

The Effect Of Ph On Organic Carbon Uptake And Biological Phosphorus Removal By Tetrasphaera Polyphosphate Accumulating Organisms, Derek Belka

Civil Engineering ETDs

Tetrasphaera polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) have been found in greater abundance and may remove more P in full-scale enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) water resource recovery facilities (WRRF) worldwide than the more extensively studied Accumulibacter PAO. Understanding the effect that environmental conditions, such as pH, have on Tetrasphaera metabolisms is critical to understanding EBPR WRRF process upsets, achieving consistent low effluent P concentrations, and formulating optimization strategies. The objective of this study was to determine pH effects over the range from 5.5 to 8.5 on anaerobic amino acid uptake, P release, and cation release in a Tetrasphaera-enriched culture from …

Soil Moisture Dependent Runoff In A Dryland Region: An Investigation Of The Role Of Antecedent Conditions, Monitoring, And Modeling Strategies, Gerhard Schoener

Civil Engineering ETDs

Approximately 30% of the Earth’s land surface is characterized as arid or semiarid, including much of the western United States. Accurate runoff predictions are important for informed watershed management, particularly in rapidly urbanizing areas. Infiltration excess overland flow is the dominant mechanism for runoff generation in many dryland basins, and event-based infiltration or loss models are commonly used to estimate runoff. However, predictions are associated with considerable uncertainty due to the role antecedent soil moisture, an initial condition that must be set by the modeler. The objectives of my research were to (1) evaluate the impact of antecedent soil moisture …

Convergence Properties Of Solutions Of A Length-Structured Density-Dependent Model For Fish, Geigh Zollicoffer

Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Journal

We numerically study solutions to a length-structured matrix model for fish populations in which the probability that a fish grows into the next length class is a decreasing nonlinear function of the total biomass of the population. We make conjectures about the convergence properties of solutions to this equation, and give numerical simulations which support these conjectures. We also study the distribution of biomass in the different age classes as a function of the total biomass.

The Development Of A Novel Blood-Brain Barrier, Organ-On-A-Chip System And The Identification Of Erythrocytes As A Key Contributor To Age-Associated Neurological Decline, Payam Amiri

KGI Theses and Dissertations

Advancements in modern medicine have greatly extended human life expectancy. However, with the onset of age-associated conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, autoimmune disorders, and certain cancers, healthy aging is becoming an increasingly pressing issue. Blood exchanges between young and old partners demonstrate old blood can cause detrimental effect to the young animal, notably on the brain tissue. However, the complexity of blood makes it difficult to identify what role the individual factors play in the aggregate observed effect. This dissertation seeks to explore the potential effects of erythrocytes on the brain as we age. Erythrocyte morphology and rigidity changes as …

Investigation Of An Optimized Occupancy-Driven Hvac Control Strategy And Development Of A Scalable House/Grid Simulation, Kaleb Pattawi

Mechanical Engineering Master's Theses

Energy consumption in buildings is projected to increase more than 50% by 2050. Renewable energy sources are expected to increase and will help alleviate some of the energy demand; however, the intermittent nature of renewables makes it tough to effectively use energy in buildings. Various pricing schemes, including time of use electricity pricing, are used to encourage users to shift loads. Buildings need to be able to proactively react to changing energy sources and electricity prices in order to reduce over-generation of electricity and save money. This work demonstrates an optimized Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) control strategy that …