Engineering Commons^™

Data Quality Checking Guide, Wei Zakharov

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

A data quality checking guide has been developed to facilitate undergraduates on the critical aspects of data quality assessment. The goal is to become competent data consumers and data generators as well. This checking guide encompasses six fundamental dimensions: Data Credibility, Timeliness, Information Completeness, Data Accuracy, Data Consistency, and Data Deduplication. These dimensions are frequently cited in scholarly references on data quality. Each dimension plays a crucial role in ensuring the reliability and usability of data. Scenarios of students' work are also discussed.

Innovation In Quantum Pedagogy, Application, And Its Relation To Culture (Iqparc), Zeynep Gonca Akdemir, Dongyang Li, Muhsin Menekse, Mahdi Hosseini, Erica W. Carlson, Nicholas Dang

Indiana STEM Education Conference

Innovation in Quantum Pedagogy, Application, and its Relation to Culture (IQ-PARC) is a team of Purdue faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students who collaborate and work for the National Defense Education Program (NDEP) for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, outreach, and workforce initiative programs. We promote a STEM-literate workforce by providing learning opportunities for youth to understand basic principles and applications of quantum concepts through a variety of both face-to-face and online activities. This research brief describes accomplished tasks in the K-12 education space (e.g., quantum-infused middle school curriculum unit) and shares upcoming plans within the project timeline.

Wave-Powered Batch Reverse Osmosis Buoy, Austin Howse, Camden Frieling, Cooper Ford, Imaan Qazilbash, Joel Veihl, Mariya Savchenko, Ryan Vulich, Sultan Alnajdi, Abhimanyu Das, Antonio Esquivel-Puentes, Ali Naderi Beni, David M. Warsinger, José Garcia-Bravo

School of Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

As populations grow across the world, the availability of freshwater at a reasonable cost has become a growing concern to many nations. An estimated 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water [5]. Many of these areas also exist in coastal communities which get burdened by severe weather storms. During these occasions, access to clean drinking water drastically decreases. Combining this with the potential for ocean energy, access to clean drinking water can be derived with a potential solution. The ocean contains abundant resources that comprise of untapped wave-powered energy, unharvested salt water to be turned potable, …

Studies On Non-Transition Metal Substitution To Ab2 Metal Hydride Alloys For Battery Application, Shiuan Chang

Wayne State University Dissertations

Nowadays, multiphase transition metal-based AB2 metal hydride alloys and the rare-earth metal-based AB5 alloys (currently used in consumer NiMH batteries) are used as negative electrodes in NiMH batteries. It is of great interest to explore the possibility of significantly improving NiMH battery performance to compete with Li-ion batteries. In this area, the effect of dopant elements from Group-IA, -IIA, -IIIA non-transition metal family has not been thoroughly studied. In this study, lithium, magnesium, and boron (a metalloid considered metal in this study) were chosen as modifiers in the C14-phase predominant AB2 alloy by different dopant concentrations and synthesis methods, doping …

Data Driven Method To Assess Safety And Energy On Freeway And Intersection Performance Using Probe Vehicle, Rezwana Kabir

Wayne State University Dissertations

Traffic congestion in cities is becoming a more pressing issue as travel demand increases, leading to safety and mobility problems and wasteful use of vehicle energy. Both freeways and signalized corridors are important in creating an efficient transportation network, and congestion on these infrastructure types presents a significant mobility concern in the United States. With advances in sensing technologies for intelligent transportation systems, probe vehicles equipped with GPS-enabled devices such as cell phones and in-vehicle telematics or navigation systems are increasingly being used to gather more information about traffic conditions. While fixed point detectors can be limited by their geographical …

Optical Diagnostics Of Hydrocarbon Fuel Autoignition Using The Corrected Filtered Natural Emission Of Species Technique, Maysam Molana

Wayne State University Dissertations

The gas temperature and concentration of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide of a hydrocarbon fuel mixture were measured using a rapid compression machine by applying a modern optical diagnostics methodology called the corrected filtered natural emission of species (C-FNES) technique. This technique uses a correction factor that includes all of the experimental and simulation errors and uncertainties into the measurements. To ensure the robustness of the proposed technique, the effect of temperature and pressure on the measured data was investigated extensively. To this end, a pentane inert mixture was tested in a wide range of operation conditions: six compressed gas …

Initiating Change In Care: Socially Assistive Robots, Sooraj Sushama

Theses and Dissertations

Socially assistive robots (SAR) are autonomous machines equipped with sensors and software that allow them to interact socially with humans. SAR robots are commonly used in healthcare settings to provide patients with non-clinical support, such as conversation and emotional companionship. SARs can also deliver reminders, monitor vital signs, and provide educational information about health conditions or medications. Researchers have studied SAR applications in detail. Additionally, there has been prior research on SAR where users' sociodemographic factors and technology acceptance were studied. But even though the backbone of SAR is an advanced technology, no known research has been done on users' …

Experimental And Analytical Studies Of Size Effects On Compressive Ductility Response Of Ultra- High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete, Md. Habibur Rahman Sobuz, Arafat Alam, Deric John Oehlers, Phillip Visintin, Adbul Hamid Sheikh, Mohamed Ali Sadakkathulla, Michael Griffith

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) has gained a great deal of increasing interest in structural engineering applications, particularly where high ductility, strength, and high impact resistance are of prime concern. This study focuses primarily on the size effects ductility characteristics of UHPFRC with varying fiber concentrations subjected to uniaxial compressive load. It shows how to process the data from compression cylinder tests to extract the size-dependent strain at peak stress to provide a generic size-dependent stress-strain analytical model. Furthermore, a numerical flexural segmental moment-rotation approach is applied to incorporate an analytical model to quantify apparently disparate UHPFRC member strength and ductility. …

Experimental And Analytical Studies Of Size Effects On Compressive Ductility Response Of Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete, Habibur Rahman Sobuz, Arafat Alam, Deric John Oehlers, Phillip Visintin, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohamed Ali Sadakkathulla, Michael Griffith

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) has gained a great deal of increasing interest in structural engineering applications, particularly where high ductility, strength, and high impact resistance are of prime concern. This study focuses primarily on the size effects ductility characteristics of UHPFRC with varying fiber concentrations subjected to uniaxial compressive load. It shows how to process the data from compression cylinder tests to extract the size-dependent strain at peak stress to provide a generic size- dependent stress-strain analytical model. Furthermore, a numerical flexural segmental moment-rotation approach is applied to incorporate an analytical model to quantify apparently disparate UHPFRC member strength and …

Evaluating System Usability, Workload Suitability, And User Experience Of Game-Based Virtual Reality In Spaceflight Education And Training, Lana Laskey, Joseph R. Keebler

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

Game-based instruction and immersive virtual reality are enhanced pedagogical methods beneficial in training environments involving complex disciplines, ranging from medical applications to construction engineering technology. This study investigated the use of game-based virtual reality (GBVR) when applied to the complex field of spaceflight education and training. As modern society places increasing demand on space-based amenities, the need for proficient satellite operators will also increase, requiring more accessible and advanced training options. Satellite ground control training scenarios, immersed in the GBVR environment, were developed and deployed to university student participants. Multiple validated scales were employed to measure the GBVR system regarding …

Collegiate Aviation Students’ Perceptions Towards The Integration Of Diversity And Inclusion Training: A Qualitative Case Study, Jorge L. D. Albelo, Nicola M. O'Toole, Eugene Kim

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

Multiple industries have become more supportive and engaging places to work by embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion within their institutional processes. Institutions of higher education have seen the educational benefits of integrating diversity and inclusion principles within their program outcomes. Notably, the aviation industry has seen an increase in diversity, equity, and inclusion practices to attract more customers and increase the number of potential applicants. Yet, there is scant literature on how aviation students at collegiate flight institutions perceive the integration of diversity and inclusion training within the airline industry as part of their career development. This study aimed to …

Study Of Bounds For Effective Moduli Of Polycrystals And Composites Using Variational Principle For Probabilistic Measures, Md. Tofiqul Islam

Wayne State University Dissertations

Tensors that are invariant with respect to subgroups of 3D group of rotations were constructed first by Lokhin and Sedov (J. Appl. Math. Mech. (PMM), 1963, 27, 597-629). In this paper we do one more step and derive formulas for the elastic modulus tensors for all symmetry groups from the Lokhin-Sedov results. The tensor basis obtained in this way has an advantage of being built upon the same tensors that are used in construction of nonlinear tensor functions. One consequence of the formulas derived is that the number of types of anisotropic elastic behaviors is ten. There is a long- …

Motion Sensors And Instrumentation Based On Electrochemical Redox Reaction, Xiaoce Feng

Wayne State University Dissertations

To detect human body vital physiological signals, an electrochemical wearable sensor and a single-mode artificial mechanoreceptor have been developed and their capabilities to detect cardiorespiratory signals, as well as to detect rapid adaptive and slow adaptive responses have been preliminarily demonstrated. The electrochemical method based on I-/I3- redox couple proves to be a sensitive transduction mechanism. Furthermore, a common gate transimpedance amplifier based on gallium nitride high electron mobility transistor for the mechano-acoustic sensor and the wearable mechanoreceptor was developed. The transistor’s performance at high temperatures has been investigated, and its failure mode at high temperature has been discussed.

Gas Sensor Development For Environmental And Soil Monitoring, Xiaoyu Chen

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation introduces the development of 3 type of gas sensors for different applications.Chapter 2 reports a simple but effective methane sensor based on off-the-shelf quartz tuning forks (QTFs). It has been experimentally demonstrated that the presence of methane increases the resonant frequency of a single QTF with a sensitivity of 0.0063 Hz/1% or 0.19 ppm/1% and a detection limit of 0.025% at 0.5 Hz sampling rate. For the differential device with 2 QTFs, the values reach to 0.0050 Hz/1% and <0.0386% at 0.25 Hz sampling rate. An excellent selectivity to carbon dioxide, which causes a decrease of the resonant frequency, has been illustrated. Temperature, pressure and humidity responses have been characterized. This new methane sensor is expected to meet the requirements of cost, power, size, reliability and explosion permissibility for coal mine safety applications. Chapter 3 illustrates an in-situ soil probe prototype development for Arctic area underground greenhouse monitoring utilizing commercially available CO2 sensors. Several single and double measurement site prototypes indoor and outdoor test results show the reliability and robustness. These prototypes are ready for real field test to provide long-term Arctic soil information in harsh environments. Chapter 4 uses a simple, surfactant-free solvothermal method to synthesize spherical Pt−Ni NPs which was coated onto a planar electrochemical sensor device as the electrode material. With BmpyNTf2 as the electrolyte, O2 and H2 sensing reaction were investigated. The sensor exhibited a high sensitivity to O2 ((3.04 ± 0.18) × 10−5 mA cm−2 ppm−1) compared to commercial Pt/C-based sensor ((2.57 ± 0.22) × 10−5 mA cm−2 ppm−1), and H2 sensitivity for (0.331 ± 0.014) × 10−4 mA cm−2 ppm−1. Other feature such as rapid gas response, high selectivity and superior reproducibility were also demonstrated.

High-Power, High-Efficiency, High-Power-Density, Non-Isolated Dc-Dc Converter For Fuel Cell Vehicles, Nima Abdolmaleki

Wayne State University Dissertations

This work proposes various solutions for performance, efficiency, and power density improvements of high-power interleaved boost converters (IBCs) in electrified powertrains, namely, use of SiC, LCIs, improved controller, and soft-switching. A relationship was developed for the output current calculation of an n-phase interleaved boost converter (IBC) and output DC link capacitance sizing. The semiconductor losses and efficiency in an n-phase SiC-based IBC were calculated and analyzed. The trade-off in design of an n-phase SIBC with regards to passive components requirements and sizing, passive components volume, losses, and efficiency were analytically investigated from different aspects. An n-phase SIBC was simulated at …

Why Representation Matters: Using Stem Education To Promote Opportunity, Sheramie Velazquez

Indiana STEM Education Conference

Research has highlighted how Black and Brown professionals continue to be underrepresented in the various science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. The lack of exposure to diverse STEM professionals, a challenging and relevant STEM curriculum, and belief in the brilliance of Black and Brown scholars’ abilities to succeed in STEM are vast contributors to the continual diversity underrepresentation in STEM-based classes and careers. Girls STEM Institute (GSI) was founded to create a space where girls of color-who are traditionally underrepresented in STEM-can become exposed to challenging and relevant STEM curricula, which is taught by diverse educators who share similar …

Proceedings Of The Eighth Annual Indiana Stem Education Conference: “Advancing Stem With Students”, William S. Walker Iii, Lynn A. Bryan Ph. D., S. Selcen Guzey, Elizabeth Suazo-Flores

Indiana STEM Education Conference

No abstract provided.

Centering F.A.M.I.L.Y. In Black Girls Stem Learning, Crystal Morton, Lawren Nelson, Idaila Wilmoth

Indiana STEM Education Conference

The Fostering and Maximizing Interdisciplinary Learning Year-round (F.a.M.I.L.Y) was a one-year pilot study that provided Black girls and their caregivers with an opportunity to complete collaborative, life-enriching, multidisciplinary, and socially transformative STEM experiences to explore how these learning experiences impact Black girls and their caregivers' enjoyment of STEM, interest in STEM content and careers, and understanding of STEM as a tool for personal and social change. Seven families for a total of 11 scholars and seven caregivers participated in the study. We hosted 10 online learning sessions and one end-of-year face-to-face session. …

Girls Excelling In Math And Science (Gems): Stories Of The Original Gems Girls, Meredith Chasse, Grace Gochnauer, Bima Sapkota, Jill Newton, Laura Jones

Indiana STEM Education Conference

Girls Excelling in Math and Science (GEMS) is an afterschool club started in 1994 by a parent, Laura Reasoner Jones, who was dismayed to hear her 10-year old daughter Julie opt herself out of attending a magnet school because “Math is hard.” Julie’s math performance had been good in school, therefore Laura wondered what else might be causing her self doubt. Laura decided to address the issue. Collaborating with Julie’s teacher, she started the first GEMS club for Julie and her friends in fifth and sixth grade. During the following 25 years, GEMS clubs have operated globally to provide resources …

Goals And Proceedings Information, William S. Walker Iii, Lynn A. Bryan Ph. D., S. Selcen Guzey, Elizabeth Suazo-Flores

Indiana STEM Education Conference

No abstract provided.

Verification Of Proton Range Predictions In Proton Treatment Planning Using X-Ray Ct Or Proton Ct Imaging, Nicholas S. Yee

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this paper is to compare the range errors for two treatment plans; one using x-ray CT and the other using proton CT for calculating dose distributions in an animal tissue phantom. We shot 150 MeV proton beam through a meat phantom to a film stack to measure the exponential drop of dose at the Bragg peak until zero dose remained. Plotting the depth dose curves and performing gamma analyses are two ways to quantify the proton range errors when comparing them to depth dose curves from film measurements in the phantom. The depth dose curves give us …

Detection And Localization Of Data Forgery Attacks In Automatic Generation Control, Fengli Zhang, Yatish R. Dubasi, Wei Bao, Qinghua Li

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Automatic Generation Control (AGC) is a key control system to maintain the power system’s balance between load and supply by maintaining its frequency in a specific range. It collects the tie-line power flow and frequency measurements of each control area to calculate the Area Control Error (ACE) and then adjusts power generation based on the calculated ACE. However, malicious frequency or tie-line power flow measurements can be injected and then AGC is misled to make false power generation adjustments which will harm power system operations. Such attacks can be carefully designed to pass the power system’s existing bad data detection …

Nidec Automated Winder, Michael Pugh, Ben A. Swartz, Andrew Leonard, Garrett Dostal

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Nidec Drive Systems is a leading electric motor manufacturing company with several facilities in the US and around the world. However, as of recent, Nidec has started to see some signs of old and outdated production machines affecting their production numbers even though the demand for electric is ever increasing. In an attempt to repair some of these issues, Nidec reached out to the University of Akron to look for senior design groups to help design and standardize better production machines. We were tasked with redesigning a new winder, which is a machine that winds the copper coils to the …

Landing Gear Sealing Solution, Andrew Milligan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

XYZ Landing Gear Solutions has been tasked with redesigning two internal components of the landing gears for the ABC-123 aircraft program. The customer, ABC Aeronautics, informed XYZ Landing Gear Solutions that a particular system of the landing gear does not meet the necessary performance requirements of the program. As a result, the entire system will have to be removed, facilitating the need for a redesign of the two components that the system interfaced with. The focus of this project will be completing the redesign process for both of these components. “Redesign” and “design” will be used interchangeably in this report. …

Media Streaming In A High-Rate Delay Tolerant Network, Kyle Vernyi

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Audio and video streaming across delay tolerant networks are relatively new phenomena. During the Apollo 11 mission, video and audio were streamed directly back to Earth using fully analog radios. This streaming capability atrophied over time. The gradual conversion to digital electronics contributed greatly to this. Additionally, 21st century space systems face the new requirement of interconnectedness. Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) attempts to solve this requirement by uniting traditional point to point links into a robust and dynamic network. However, DTN implementations present bottlenecks due to low performance. High-Rate Delay Tolerant Networking (HDTN) is a performance-optimized DTN implementation. This work …

Safe Kids Car, Nathan Keenan, Jackson Piper, Kyle Law, Anthony Meniru

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The main goal of this project is to retrofit toy vehicles, such as Powerwheels cars, with safety systems that can protect the driver and those around the driver. Such systems will include lights, including headlights and taillights, and an automatic braking system, which will activate in the face of an inevitable collision. The system will also work with the driver to prevent collisions, providing warnings of impending danger.

Keywords: toy vehicles, collision detection, collision avoidance, automatic braking system, DC motors, automatic headlights.

Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge, Bryce Towne, Ethan Andrews, Carter Moore, Andrew Sobel

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge is a competition held by the National Fluid Power Association (NFPA) that challenges students to create a hydraulically powered vehicle to compete in four different races over two days. The vehicle has to be fully powered by hydraulics, with human power (such as pedaling) being used to move the hydraulic fluid. Electronics and pneumatics can be used to control the flow of the hydraulic oil. Vehicles also must have an energy storage device to take advantage of regenerative braking. The final competition was at the Norgren facility in Colorado from April 12th to April 14th. …

Smart Power Outlet, Kyrolos Melek, Joseph M. Garro, Ethan G. Frese, Madison Britton

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

With an ever-increasing demand on the electrical grid and an increase in electrical consumer goods per household, effective power management and monitoring for home users is a must. The objective of this project is to create a consumer outlet and companion phone application. The power outlet will measure power draw on each socket and report these measurements via an embedded system, wirelessly, to the application. The application will then allow for setting custom power draws at which an individual socket will switch off if exceeded and will display how much a given outlet or individual socket is costing per unit …

4wd Baja Upright And Wheel Hub, Nathan Thompson, Jonathan P. Larson, Spencer D. Compan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The University of Akron Zips Baja Team has switched to a 4-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicle as per the 2023 Baja Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) rules. The 2022 Baja Vehicle was 2WD, thus the upright and wheel hub were designed exclusively for a 2-wheel-drive (2WD) Baja vehicle. This report entails the design process and methods of verification for the design of the 4WD upright and wheel hub.

Induced Drag Laboratory Curriculum With Variable Aspect Ratio Wing, Alexander Milligan, Elizabeth Plyler

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A laboratory curriculum for undergraduate students at The University of Akron enrolled in 4600:413 Introduction to Aerodynamics was created to allow students a hands-on opportunity to study the basic fundamentals of aerodynamically induced drag. To accomplish this, a 3D printed wing was created with variable aspect ratio. This wing is to be utilized in the laboratory experiment in The University of Akron subsonic wind tunnel to generate data on lift on drag at different airspeeds, angles of attack, and aspect ratios. The laboratory curriculum provides basic theory applicable to the wind tunnel experiments as well as question prompts and data …