Engineering Commons^™

Mit Newsletter-June 2022, Anil Rana Dr.

Faculty work

No abstract provided.

Collage Art Therapy Bot, Roland Afaga, Dyllon Au, Jeremy Victor Reyes, Alayna Wong

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

Our Collage Art Therapy Bot is an application that utilizes collage therapy to help users navigate their feelings and give them a better understanding of themselves. Unlike other forms of art therapy, collage therapy is much more inclusive and does not require any artistics skill that may intimidate users from participating. The user interface is split into three sections: the photo library, the chat bot, and the photo collage. The user can scroll through the library and pick the photos that they feel connected to. Then, the chatbot prompts the user to tell it what made them choose the photo. …

Large Scale Database Audio Collection Of Tuberculosis Patients: : The Ekifuba Test, Jt Vinolus, Daniela De La Torre, Aimee Kerr, Jordan Randleman

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

One of the top 10 causes of death, 1.5 million people die from tuberculosis (TB) every year. And yet, in 2018, 1.7 billion people were infected with the disease (“Global Health - Newsroom - Tuberculosis.”). This 99.99% recovery rate demonstrates that, when treated with antibiotics, TB is an extremely curable condition, but an early diagnosis is critical to surviving the illness. Developing countries face the largest hurdles to accessing TB screening technologies, and they make up a disproportionately high fraction of worldwide TB deaths. A possible solution to this problem would be to use machine learning (ML) to detect TB …

On-Line Process Physics Tests Via Lyapunov-Based Economic Model Predictive Control And Simulation-Based Testing Of Image-Based Process Control, Henrique Oyama, Akkarakaran Francis Leonard, Minhazur Rahman, Govanni Gjonaj, Michael Williamson, Helen Durand

Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Faculty Research Publications

Next-generation manufacturing involves increas- ing use of automation and data to enhance process efficiency. An important question for the chemical process industries, as new process systems (e.g., intensified processes) and new data modalities (e.g., images) are integrated with traditional plant automation concepts, will be how to best evaluate alternative strategies for data-driven modeling and synthesizing process data. Two methods which could be used to aid in this are those which aid in testing data-based techniques on-line, and those which enable various data-based techniques to be assessed in simulation. In this work, we discuss two techniques in this domain which can …

Numerical Investigation Of Sediment Flushing And Morphological Changes In Tamsui River Estuary Through Monsoons And Typhoons, Tung Chou Hsieh, Yan Ding, Keh Chia Yeh, Ren Kai Jhong

Faculty and Student Publications

The removal of reservoir silt and the restoration of existing reservoir capacities through land excavation and hydraulic sediment flushing have become necessary. Hydraulic sediment flushing discharge changes flow and sediment conditions of the downstream river channel. In the Tamsui River estuary in Taiwan, sediment flushing from the Shihmen reservoir upstream has potential impacts on the morphology of the navigation channels and the adjacent coasts. This study employed a validated coastal and estuarine processes model to investigate: (1) the influence of sediment flushing and tidal levels on morphological changes during flood and flushing‐discharge operations of the reservoir, and (2) the differences …

Illuminator, Volume 5, Issue 2, Batten College Of Engineering & Technology, Old Dominion University

College of Engineering & Technology Newsletter

June 2022 issue of Illuminator, a monthly publication of ODU's Batten College of Engineering and Technology.

Discrepancies In Changes In Precipitation Characteristics Over The Contiguous United States Based On Six Daily Gridded Precipitation Datasets, Mojtaba Sadegh

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Variability and spatiotemporal changes in precipitation characteristics can have profound socioenvironmental impacts. Several studies have shown that the frequency and/or magnitude of precipitation events have changed over the contiguous United States (CONUS) in the past decades. Most previous studies used only one precipitation dataset and only investigated mean or extreme precipitation. Here, using 6 gridded daily precipitation datasets, we show that there are substantial discrepancies in the changes in characteristics of both extreme and non-extreme precipitation events from 1983 to 2017. Our results highlight that using a single record to study precipitation changes can potentially lead to biased results. Using …

Quantum Computing And Resilient Design Perspectives For Cybersecurity Of Feedback Systems, Keshav Kasturi Rangan, Jihan Abou Halloun, Henrique Oyama, Samantha Cherney, Ilham Azali Assoumani, Nazir Jairazbhoy, Helen Durand, Simon Ka Ng

Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Faculty Research Publications

Cybersecurity of control systems is an important issue in next-generation manufac- turing that can impact both operational objectives (safety and performance) as well as process designs (via hazard analysis). Cyberattacks differ from faults in that they can be coordinated efforts to exploit system vulnerabilities to create otherwise unlikely hazard scenarios. Because coordination and targeted process manipulation can be characteristics of attacks, some of the tactics previously analyzed in our group from a control system cybersecurity perspective have incorporated randomness to attempt to thwart attacks. The underlying assumption for the generation of this randomness has been that it can be achieved …

Fracture Response Of Wollastonite Fiber-Reinforced Cementitious Composites: Evaluation Using Micro-Indentation And Finite Element Simulation, Sami Doner, Gideon A. Lyngdoh, Sumeru Nayak, Sumanta Das

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

The paper presents indentation studies on wollastonite fiber incorporated cementitious systems. The acicular nature of the fibers is poised to delay the coalescence of micro-cracks in such systems thus leading to tougher building materials. Towards that end, load-penetration depth results from the indentation studies are employed to ascertain elastic and fracture properties of wollastonite-incorporated cementitious composites. While up to 10% mass-based cement-replacement by wollastonite results in comparable elastic moduli as compared to conventional binders, the fracture toughness increases by as much as 33%. In order to gain insights into the toughening mechanisms brought about by the fine fibers, a microstructure-guided …

Designs Of Abrasion Resistant And Durable Concrete Pavements Made With Scms For Cold Climates, Diane Murph, Jun Liu, Jenny Liu

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Rutting from studded tire wear is a typical pavement distress in cold climates such as that of Alaska and other northern states. Current state-of-the-art advancements in material technology and concrete pavement design have allowed for implementation of improved materials and concrete pavement sections that are more resistant to rutting. The addition of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) has been identified as one effective way to produce concrete pavements with better abrasion resistance. The objective of this study was to identify and develop concrete pavement mix designs containing SCMs that can provide excellent abrasion resistance and durability to address rutting from studded …

A Novel Electroconductive Nanofibrous Scaffold For Bone Regeneration, Mitchell Kenter

Medical Engineering Theses

The goal of this study was to develop a biodegradable and conductive scaffold to mimic the piezoelectric properties of bone and the architecture of the extracellular matrix. Poly(3,4- ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) is a conductive polymer of great interest in tissue engineering due to excellent electrical stability and biocompatibility. To enhance its conductivity, dopants such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) can be added. Engineered graphene oxide (GO) can also be introduced as oxidant to enhance conductivity and mechanical properties. PEDOT nanocomposites were synthesized by oxidative polymerization of 3, 4-Etylenedioxythiophene monomer (EDOT) in the presence of GO, DMSO, ferric chloride and various solvents. The …

Coevolution Of Machine Learning And Process-Based Modelling To Revolutionize Earth And Environmental Sciences: A Perspective, Mojtaba Sadegh

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Machine learning (ML) applications in Earth and environmental sciences (EES) have gained incredible momentum in recent years. However, these ML applications have largely evolved in ‘isolation’ from the mechanistic, process-based modelling (PBM) paradigms, which have historically been the cornerstone of scientific discovery and policy support. In this perspective, we assert that the cultural barriers between the ML and PBM communities limit the potential of ML, and even its ‘hybridization’ with PBM, for EES applications. Fundamental, but often ignored, differences between ML and PBM are discussed as well as their strengths and weaknesses in light of three overarching modelling objectives in …

Comparing Oranges Versus Grapes As A Metaphor Of The Nurse+Engineer, Daniel B. Oerther, Sarah Oerther

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Process Support Building Savannah River Site, Victoria Zawacki

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

A report on the fire and life safety analysis of the Savannah River Site Process Support Building is required in order to receive a Master of Science in Fire Protection Engineering from the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The Process Support Building is a two-story office building that was first occupied in 2013, with a floor area of approximately 10,000 ft2. The building contains mainly personal offices, but also contains conference and turnover rooms, a Computer Simulation Room, an Observation Room, and a lunch area. The analysis includes both prescriptive and performance-based analysis.

The Process Support Building is …

Oliveai, Beckett Johnson, Alex Lewis, Ben Kummert

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

Generative adversarial networks are being used to make original, AI generated content in many contexts, whether they are generating new works of art from a text description, or a completely fake person. Currently this technology is not being implemented in a way such that a user can practically interact with it in a way where users can actually use what is generated to improve their lives. We introduce OliveAI to explore a possible implementation of generative AI technology that users can practically and usefully interact with. OliveAI is a web app where users can provide a desired type of food …

Data-Driven And Multiscale Modeling Of Dna-Templated Dye Aggregates, Austin Biaggne, Lawrence Spear, German Barcenas, Maia Ketteridge, William B. Knowlton, Bernard Yurke, Lan Li

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Dye aggregates are of interest for excitonic applications, including biomedical imaging, organic photovoltaics, and quantum information systems. Dyes with large transition dipole moments (μ) are necessary to optimize coupling within dye aggregates. Extinction coefficients (ε) can be used to determine the μ of dyes, and so dyes with a large ε (>150,000 M⁻¹) should be engineered or identified. However, dye properties leading to a large ε are not fully understood, and low-throughput methods of dye screening, such as experimental measurements or density functional theory (DFT) calculations, can be time-consuming. In order to screen large datasets of molecules …

Amber: Ai Music Based Emotion Regulation, Xavi Anderhub, Uma Bahl, Betty Hou, David Krakauer

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

Music recommendations from apps are traditionally based on attributes like popularity or trendiness. While this method of recommending music may work for finding music in general, it does not address the granularity with which human emotions can change day to day, or even hour to hour. AMBER provides an accessible way to discover and listen to new music that matches one’s emotions in real time using the Spotify music platform and AI. Preliminary test results indicate that users found the music AMBER recommended to be more in line with the emotions they were feeling or wanted to feel. Future developments …

Mechanisms Affecting Viscosity Of Cement Paste Made With Microfines Of Manufactured Sand, Jiang Zhu, Jiaping Liu, Kamal Khayat, Xin Shu, Qianping Ran, Zhen Li

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Viscosity of cement-based materials incorporating manufactured sand is affected by the content and physical properties of the microfines in the sand. However, some of the mechanisms affecting the viscosity remain unclear. This paper investigates the effect of microfine type and content on the apparent viscosity (ηapp) and residual viscosity in/near pseudo-Newtonian regime (ηrespse−New) of cement pastes. Limestone (LS), slate (ST), and tuff (TF) microfines with different specific surface areas were investigated. Test results showed that, by deducting the greater contribution of yield stress to ηapp when using finer microfines, the increase of ηrespse−New at a given PCE dosage was mainly …

Cross-Issue Correlation Based Opinion Prediction In Cyber Argumentation, Md Mahfuzer Rahman, Xiaoqing "Frank" Liu, Joseph W. Sirrianni, Douglas J. Adams

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

One of the challenging problems in large scale cyber-argumentation platforms is that users often engage and focus only on a few issues and leave other issues under-discussed and under-acknowledged. This kind of non-uniform participation obstructs the argumentation analysis models to retrieve collective intelligence from the underlying discussion. To resolve this problem, we developed an innovative opinion prediction model for a multi-issue cyber-argumentation environment. Our model predicts users’ opinions on the non-participated issues from similar users’ opinions on related issues using intelligent argumentation techniques and a collaborative filtering method. Based on our detailed experimental results on an empirical dataset collected using …

A Novel Numerical Model Of Gelant Inaccessible Pore Volume For In Situ Gel Treatment, Jianqiao Leng, Xindi Sun, Mingzhen Wei, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Inaccessible pore volume (IAPV) can have an important impact on the placement of gelant during in situ gel treatment for conformance control. Previously, IAPV was considered to be a constant factor in simulators, yet it lacked dynamic characterization. This paper proposes a numerical simulation model of IAPV. The model was derived based on the theoretical hydrodynamic model of gelant molecules. The model considers both static features, such as gelant and formation properties, and dynamic features, such as gelant rheology and retention. To validate our model, we collected IAPV from 64 experiments and the results showed that our model fit moderately …

Fire Protection And Life Safety Analysis Of A University Conference Center, Amanda Beck Larkin

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This project report analyzes various aspects of fire protection and life safety design for a University Conference Center, for both prescriptive and performance-based designs. The University Conference Center is a ten-story, high-rise building comprised of various gathering spaces, ranging from small conference rooms to large assembly spaces with auditorium-style seating. The building has a large two-story podium with basement below, with a smaller floor plate, ten-story tower offset to one side.

In the prescriptive analysis, no deficiencies were noted in the water-based suppression or fire resistance analysis. The building construction type, height, area, number of stories, wall and structural ratings, …

Fire Protection Analysis Project – 9220 Zanzibar Lane Maple Grove, Mn, Brian Vandal

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This report contains an analysis of the life safety and fire protection features of a four-story apartment building in Maple Grove, Minnesota. The report is a part of the final project intended to meet the requirements for the Culminating Experience of the California Polytechnic Master of Science Fire Protection Engineering Program.

The apartment building chosen for the analysis is a mixed-use four-story wood-framed structure. The first floor of this structure includes office space for building management, a meeting space, and various electrical and mechanical spaces as well as apartments. There are exit stairways on each end of the structure extending …

Warren Baker Center For Science And Mathematics- Fire Protection And Life Safety Analysis, Logan Honeycutt

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This report covers an analysis of the fire protection features within the Warren Baker Center for Science and Mathematics Building. This document first discusses the prescriptive requirements for the building as determined by applicable code. The items to be discussed, as they relate to prescriptive requirements, include the means of egress and relatable components, fire resistive construction, fire alarm system, fire sprinkler system, and smoke control system. All components were analyzed and compared to each applicable code to assess whether these specific fire protection systems were designed correctly.

In addition to an analysis of the prescriptive measures in this facility, …

Smart Bike Rack, Santiago Hinojosa Andonegui, Max Luna, August Rosedale, Connor Mcgoldrick

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

With more and more people turning to bicycles as their main method of transportation every year, bike theft has become a pressing problem all around the world. Every year, millions of bicycles are stolen due to how ineffective current locking mechanisms are at protecting all the main components of a bike. Furthermore, the inefficiency of these locking mechanisms and the fear of bike theft continues to discourage potential users from buying a bike and using it to commute on a daily basis. Our team constructed a proof of concept for an automatic Smart Bike Rack which employs a three-point locking …

Cart Loader, Hayelom Fitsum, Dalveer Grewal, Ishan Kumar, Sean Mccauley, Nick O'Brien

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

For this senior design project, the team partnered with a startup, Dishcraft Robotics, to design and create a device that would decrease the time it takes to unload and load their products in and out of a truck. The team’s design, Cart Loader, consists of an aluminum structure that is able to hold their products. Outfitted with a rail system on the truck and the liftgate, the Cart Loader can move onto the liftgate and roll inside the truck, where the products can then be rolled off the Cart Loader. There was extensive finite element analysis done to ensure that …

Minimally Invasive 3d Printed Microneedles For Glucose Monitoring, Eduardo Quintero, Justin Wong

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) provides an instantaneous real-time display of glucose level, rate of change of glucose, alerts, and alarms for actual or impending hypo- and hyperglycemia. Continuous glucose monitors are able to stay implanted on the patient anywhere from 7-14 days, giving patients and doctors valuable information to help improve patient care for diabetics, and providing them with a way to continuously monitor their blood glucose level concentration throughout the day.

Conventional methods of glucose detection such as blood glucose meters require the patient to gather frequent blood samples to generate instantaneous results that are only accurate as of …

Ava: The Roving Vending Machine, Nicholas Elwell, Jordan Hibbs, Jagos Jovanovic, Alec Lindeman, Antonio Matusich

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

AVA is an undergraduate engineering senior project that focuses on the design and integration of a roving vending machine. Such a product looks to utilize passing period foot traffic on college campuses when students and faculty do not have time to walk to a dining hall. In an effort to showcase a proof of concept, the team built a working prototype that consists of multiple subsystems. The vehicle has the ability to move with the use of remote control, autonomously sense obstacles and stop on its own, quickly dispense chilled beverages at a convenient customer location, and power itself with …

La Universal, Jose Emilio Salgado Florencia

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

The purpose of this project was to analyze and compare the existing fire protection systems in “LA UNIVERSAL” building to current applicable codes and standards. Both prescriptive based analysis and performance-based analyses were performed.

The prescriptive based analyses included analyzing the structural fire protection, fire suppression, fire alarm, and egress systems. There are many fire protection features that do not meet the requirements established by the NFPA standards. The fire alarm panel does not provide enough address for the required number of devices required in the building. Emergency lights do not provide the minimum illumination established in NFPA 101. The …

Hardware And Software Infrastructure For An Agricultural Sensor Network, Bennett Dorsey, Mariela Zuniga

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

With the rise of low-power processing and the availability of cheap solar, our project aims to create a low-power sensor network that can gather and report data with little oversight. The project will use a bluetooth mesh network to create a generalized solution where the network can start up regardless of the environment or number of nodes. Our tasks include designing algorithms that tackle redundancy in the face of node failure, self test and diagnostics, and power on and off strategies. The project aims to solve the problem of timing and communication when power is inconsistent and not shared. Our …

Towards Targeted Delivery To Cns Neurons By Conquering The Bbb, David G.A. Bengford

Bioengineering Master's Theses

Brain cancer treatments have long been restricted by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Semi-permeable in the most selective way, this barrier may be crossed by one of three methods: membrane integrity disruption, passive transport, or active transport. The third option offers the opportunity for many medically relevant cargoes, such as proteins and nucleic acids, to be shuttled into the brain. The concept of a therapeutic “Trojan horse” builds on this capability by employing engineered nanovesicles—in this work, engineered exosomes—whose surfaces are studded with ligands functioning as the keys to crossing the BBB. Exosomes are a powerful methodology for this approach because …