Engineering Commons^™

Near-Earth Object (Neo) Surveyor Development: Challenges And Opportunities In Support Of Planetary Defense, G. Loftus, B. Carlsen, P. Scott, S. Backlund, L. Reinhart, T. Martin, T. Hoenes, R. Burgon, S. Ashby, J. Peterson, B. Lamborn, J. Bowman

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

The Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission is a key element in our future planetary defense portfolio, which will survey our solar system in the infrared to discover and characterize asteroids and comets.

The mission is designed to detect, track, and characterize small bodies throughout our solar system. By United States Congress mandate, NASA must discover more than 90% of all asteroids and comets that are larger than 140 meters in diameter and could potentially impact Earth. NEO Surveyor will provide critical decision support for stakeholders who must assess the risks of NEO impacts to Earth and identify potential mitigation strategies. …

Development Of Soil Water Characteristic Curves Through Control Of Relative Humidity, Lauren E. Johnson, Julia I. Loshelder, Richard A. Coffman

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The relationship between soil suction and soil water content in unsaturated soil mechanics is important but can be difficult to measure. The objective of the research described herein was to develop soil water characteristic curves (SWCC) from relative humidity values by incorporating the use of glycerin-water mixtures. Glycerin-water mixtures can be used to achieve different relative humidity levels by varying the concentration of glycerin within the mixture. The relative humidity created by each mixture was measured with a relative humidity sensor, and the relative humidity values and Kelvin’s equation were used to compute the total suction.

Soil water characteristic curves …

Relating Strength, Time, And Temperature For Bcsa Cement Concrete Using The Maturity Method, Daniel M. Passarelli

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Belite calcium sulfoaluminate (BCSA) cement is an extension of CSA cement technology designed to provide early setting times and rates of strength gain with reduced environmental impact compared with portland cement. However, its application in the field of structural concrete is widely unexplored. To that end, this paper details research conducted at the University of Arkansas Civil Engineering Research and Education Center (CEREC) exploring the rates of strength gain in concrete samples created using BCSA cement relative to various temperatures and ages. Following the practices outlined in ASTM C1074, the maturity method, compression strength tests were conducted on the aforementioned …

Remaining Life Analysis Of Pipeline Gas With Extreme Value Theory, Rony Prayitno Simeon, Eddy Sumarno Siradj, Tedi Kurniawan

Journal of Materials Exploration and Findings

Energy and chemical companies use pipelines to transfer oil, gas, and other materials from one place to another, within and between their plants. Pipeline integrity is an important concern because pipeline leakage could result in serious economic or environmental losses. Some research has applied to understand the effect of extrapolation value of the minimum thickness of pipeline by using the Extreme Value Theory. In this research, both statistical models and Extreme Value methods were applied and developed for the reliability of the pipeline by assuming the constant corrosion rate and deviation due to measuring devices were neglected. The research obtained …

Integrity Assessment Of Shipping Line Pipelines Using Risk-Based Analysis To Determine Risk And Maintenance Strategies, Ade Ratih Anggraini, Dwi Marta Nurjaya

Journal of Materials Exploration and Findings

Pipeline Shipping Lines X, Y & Z are classified as critical infrastructure, being the only transportation through the crude oil lifting from P and R location to the transfer station in NM Area. To maintain the workflow of the Shipping Line, integrity assessments and risk evaluation are required to ensure the operational and safety. Anomalies were found by analysing inspection, monitoring, and repair data, while the pipelines' future integrity was assessed by calculating the remaining life. Risk-Based Analysis (RBA), which is a modification of Kent Muhlbaeur's method, is employed to conduct the risk assessment using the Probability of Failure (POF) …

Characteristics Of Carbonaceous Materials Synthesized From Palm Oil Empty Fruit Bunch Waste Using Ferrocene Catalyst, Ahmad Nabil Shahab, Adinda Izzatul Islam, Afif Wardana, Ilham Nur Dimas Yahya, Ary Yanuar Tri Amalia, Nofrijon Sofyan, Donanta Dhaneswara

Journal of Materials Exploration and Findings

The synthesis of carbonaceous materials for reduced graphene oxide (rGO) precursors using oil palm empty fruit bunches waste as a carbon source offers a sustainable solution for waste management in the palm oil industry while delivering high-performance materials. The oil palm empty fruit bunches were carbonized, followed by acid washing, pyrolysis with ferrocene (8%, 12%, and 16% variations), and ultrasonication to produce rGO. The structural, electronic, and morphological properties of the rGO were analyzed using various characterization techniques. The band gap values decreased with increasing ferrocene concentration, from 1.14 eV (8%) to 1.06 (16%), indicating enhanced electronic conductivity. XRD analysis …

Assessment Of H2s-Induced Cracking Susceptibility In Steam Line Pipes And Weld Zones During Geothermal Well Construction, Riene Kaelamanda Pragitta, Yudha Pratesa

Journal of Materials Exploration and Findings

The susceptibility of steam line pipes, especially in the HAZ (heat-affected zone) and weldment areas, to hydrogen sulfide in the geothermal industry is crucial to understand from the early stages, particularly during construction. The combination of tensile stress from residual stresses after welding and metallurgical phase transformation makes the joint areas vulnerable to sulfide stress cracking. This condition becomes even more extreme when the equipment operates during the well stimulation phase. This research assesses the severity of H₂S-induced cracking using NACE MR0175 and ISO 15156-1 standards, focusing on the effects of pH and partial pressure of H₂S (p_{H₂S …}

Air And Missile Defense Threat Scenario Variation To Reduce Pretest Sensitization, Video Games As A Case Study, Julie Renee Szekerczes

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study uses fixed and variable video game types to measure pretest sensitization as a proxy for repeated and varied threat test scenarios in system performance testing of air and missile defense systems. The pretest sensitization phenomenon exists when repeated exposure to a test condition influences the participant's response. Research shows air and missile defense development correlates with video games, resulting in similar interfaces and computer operating environments. Department of Defense acquisition test and evaluation results must reflect system performance without prior knowledge of the threat scenarios confounding the results. System performance results inform acquisition decisions, such as further funding …

Ddos Detection And Mitigation Using Multiple Programmable Switches For Industrial Network Security, Seth Howard

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Given the exponential growth in our infrastructure’s reliance on digital systems and large interconnected networks to operate, cybersecurity efforts have not been able to keep up with vulnerabilities attackers can exploit. Specifically, their reliance on industrial network protocols in Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. These protocols are great in terms of the functionality they provide, but are severely lacking in terms of security, leaving the networks vulnerable to cyberattacks. One of the more common protocols, Distributed Network Protocol 3 (DNP3), is particularly vulnerable to Denial-of-Service type attacks. In this work we explore the use of P4-based programmable networks …

Synthetic Dataset Generator To Assist In Training Of Multilayer Perceptron Based Neural Network, Megan Leach

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Synthetic dataset generation attempts to solve the issue of needing large datasets to train models and observe behaviors in both a cost and time effective way. This project aims to highlight the value of synthetic data creation and how it was useful when training a neural network model by creating a synthetic dataset generator for a specific model in order to evaluate its behavior in difference scenarios. The model that was used in this project was created to select high-quality papers while maximizing the diversity of authors based on race, gender, and country characteristics, essentially mimicking a review process. The …

Automation Programming For Uhv-Cvd Growth Of Group Iv Materials, William Hay

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

The automation programming of a UHV-CVD reactor for group IV materials was performed. The reactor was programmed to perform all the necessary functions for a Germanium (Ge) growth with little response from the user. The overall goal was to fix an Argon purge program to clean out the process chamber of gases and create an Excel output program to ease any work on the user. There were also general fixes and address name changes that occurred throughout the program. Then, a one step and two step growth of a Ge material was formed in a UHV-CVD reaction for analysis. Germanium …

Defect Characterization Of Sic Schottky Barrier Diode Using Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy, Zachary I. Mccoy

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

The aim of this project is to use deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) to energetically evaluate defects by using the carrier concentration dependence on temperature and where these carriers may experience deviation from standard predictions. These defects become apparent through multiple C-V measurements that are swept through a temperature range. By analyzing trends with respect to temperature, the defects can be energetically “located,” and thus identified. This identification can help streamline semiconductor material manufacturing/growth because DLTS identifies potential defect causes by providing data to characterize semiconductor mid-band defects. DLTS can assess nearly all parameters associated with traps/defects including density, thermal …

Design, Simulation, And Testing Of Planar Transformer For Smart Green Power Node (Sgpn) Isolation Using Ansys, Brooke Scott

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

The goal of this project was to design and simulate a small, high-frequency, planar, ferrite-core transformer which can be used in a variety of applications, the most relevant of which is photovoltaic (PV) converter systems, which often require bulky transformers to function properly. The current research involved several processes: (1) Understanding and designing a tutorial for the use of Ansys software to aid in the efficient development and modeling of transformers, (2) designing and simulating a planar transformer in Ansys to be used in a solar converter, specifically the Smart Green Power Node (SGPN), and (3) testing the planar transformer …

Investigation And Characterization Of Silicon Carbide Power Mosfets, Vincent Hassman

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

As engineers constantly seek to make solar power systems smaller, cheaper, and more efficient, technological enhancements in the electronics that run them are required. One of the most fundamental electronic components of any solar system is the inverter, which takes DC current from the solar cell and turns it into AC current that is supported by the grid. This is done with metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs). Through more advanced MOSFET technology, inverters can switch at a higher frequency, increasing efficiency and reducing size and cost.

MOSFET performance can be enhanced by swapping the traditional silicon substrate with …

Community Wastewater Treatment Resilience Assessment, Tristan Veal

All Theses

With the rising threat of climate change and cascading impacts from infrastructure failure there is a growing need to strengthen community resilience. Theoretical and practical resilience frameworks are available, but they vary in aim and scope; there is no standard tool to assess resilience. This research expands on the resilience matrix (RM) application methods of previous research completed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Clemson University. That work focused on drinking water treatment systems and developed a few dozen specific indicators, or metrics, to quantify resilience. This research adds wastewater infrastructure with the aim of identifying …

3d Bioprinting Of Hydrogel Scaffold Skin Equivalents For Cosmetic And Drug Testing, Allison Reno

All Dissertations

Tissue engineering scaffolds are a crucial element of generating larger 3D tissue equivalents for modeling and clinical grafting. Currently, much of scaffold technology has not been significantly updated since the introduction of manually pipetted hydrogels and electrospun fiber scaffolds. Both of these approaches have their advantages and disadvantages, but neither utilize emerging biofabrication techniques such as advanced 3D bioprinting and plotting. In addition to more precision in the outer geometries of the scaffold, the use of bioprinting also introduces the ability to shape hydrogels into very intricate porous inner patterns within the outer geometries. This allows for the design of …

Hickory Street Square Revitalization, Spencer Knight, Grace Dungan, Tim Kula, Evan Lauritsen, Lindsey Mennenga

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The Hickory Street Square Revitalization Project seeks to transform a central public space in Sidney, Nebraska into a dynamic, community-oriented area that supports local events, economic activity, and cultural heritage. The project addresses six core objectives: 1) convertible street design, 2) parking lot reconfiguration, 3) public amenities, 4) event flexibility, 5) lighting and signage, and 6) old electric plant renovation. A conceptual design was developed by the design team (S.T.E.E.L. Sentinel Solutions) by synthesizing the most effective features of three preliminary alternatives, shaped further through community feedback and evolving project constraints. The final project design minimizes disruption to existing activity …

Improvement Of Hanford Waste Vitrification Algorithms With Machine Learning, Uncertainty Quantification, And Gradient-Based Optimization, Lagrande L. Gunnell

Theses and Dissertations

Over 200 million liters of nuclear waste is stored in tank farms in Hanford, Washington, USA. An ongoing effort to immobilize non-solid nuclear waste is through waste vitrification, where waste is mixed and melted with glass-forming chemicals (GFCs) to form a waste glass. Algorithms to determine the ideal mixing recipes are formalized as constrained optimization problems to maximize waste loading in the glass product, with constraints on several properties of the glass melt and final product. These properties are on the glass melt, such as viscosity, electrical conductivity, and corrosion rates, as well as the final glass product, such as …

Development And Validation Of A Computational Fluid Dynamics Model Using Wind Tunnel Experiments, Savanah G. Godwin

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

A gas release computational fluid dynamics model was developed and validated using a previous wind tunnel experiment conducted by Daniel Williams. This simulation was modeled using CHEM software, and based on experimental conditions used in the University of Arkansas’ Chemical Hazard Research Center’s wind tunnel. These include ultra-low wind speeds, working in the atmospheric boundary layer, and using finite release durations with a neutrally buoyant gas. The simulation was developed in two phases: inflow and release. The inflow phase consisted of the development of the atmospheric boundary layer. The data from the simulation aligned well with the wind tunnel data. …

Emerging Applications On Reconfigurable Computing Platforms, Zhenyu Xu

All Dissertations

Security and high-performance computing have become two of the most critical demands in modern technology. The increasing complexity of digital systems, the need for real-time processing, and the emergence of sophisticated cyber threats require computing solutions that balance computational power with adaptability and security. Reconfigurable computing platforms, particularly Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), offer a promising solution to these challenges by combining flexibility with hardware acceleration. Many new applications have emerged with the developing of reconfigurable platforms.

FPGAs can be utilized in two primary directions: as control and high-precision measurement units for security-sensitive applications, and as accelerators capable of outperforming GPUs …

Stop Design: Rethinking The Approach To Public Transit's Architecture, Elizabeth M. Nielsen

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Public spaces are the foundation of our social health and wellbeing, but are often designed without considering the needs of the public, creating spaces that people do not feel encouraged to use. Just as public space design as a whole often falls short of serving the public, the same can be said for a subset of public space design, public transit stops. While they are public spaces created for the purpose of waiting, their design rarely reflects this.

Well-designed public transit stops are capable of both maintaining existing ridership and drawing in new riders. Most commonly, this design occurs at …

Cloud-Native Mucad For Design Reviews, Emily C. Petty

All Theses

This research explores the potential of a cloud-native multi-user computer-aided design (MUCAD) system to improve communication and efficiency during engineering design reviews and shorten the design timeline for military tools. First, a literature review is used to generate a list of thirty-five collaboration-oriented requirements that aim to ensure concurrency, annotations, heterogeneity, security, IP protection, version control, and viewing within a MUCAD system. A comparative evaluation of existing collaborative CAD system architectures, including cloud-native, cloud-enabled, and a single-user system with external file sharing, is conducted to determine how well each system architecture fulfills the generated collaboration-oriented requirements. Following this, a survey …

Experimental Study Of Novel Bcsa Scc Repair Materials And Implications On Corrosion In Bcsa Concrete Structures, Elizabeth S.M. Poblete

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Some current building codes for structural concrete allow the use of alternative cement concrete if their structural, durability, and fire performance can be shown to be comparable to portland cement (PC) concrete. One such alternative cement, belitic calcium sulfoaluminate (BCSA) cement, is a promising standalone replacement for portland cement given its lower global warming potential (GWP), fast setting time, and high early age compressive strength. These properties also make it an ideal repair material. But repair materials often need to be highly flowable and easy to consolidate and their performance when used to repair PC concrete structures must be understood. …

Effects Of Thermal Interface Materials On Thermal Conductivity Measurement Using A Modified Astm D5470 Thermal Resistance Tester, Chinmaya Joshi

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this paper, we have investigated the effect of thermal interface materials (TIMs) on the accuracy and uncertainty of thermal conductivity measurements. A modified ASTM D5470 thermal resistance tester (TRT) is developed to measure the out-of-plane thermal conductivity of pyrolytic graphite (PG) and grade 2 titanium (TiG2) with and without TIMs. Compared to the ASTM D5470 standard, this modified design uses three thermocouples per side to support regressive analysis and explores the use of TIMs.s Nine PG samples and four TiG2 samples of varying thickness have been tested to obtain thermal resistance as a function of sample thickness. The steady-state …

Identifying Novel Molecular Targets To Induce Ferroptosis In Drug-Tolerant Cancer Cells Through Computational Modeling, Haris J. Rana

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent, reactive oxygen species (ROS)-driven form of regulated cell death in which the cell membrane is degraded by lipid peroxidation. It is regulated by multiple enzymes, such as glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), which prevents membrane degradation by reducing lipid peroxides and protecting cells from oxidative damage. When inhibitors like RSL3 target GPX4, lipid peroxides build up, and toxic ROS compromises membrane integrity. Traditional anticancer treatments, such as most chemotherapies, aim to eliminate tumor cells by damaging DNA and triggering apoptosis. However, resistance to apoptosis is a “hallmark of cancer,” often resulting in treatment failure. As a distinct …

Minimizing Uncovered Triples: An Integer Programming Approach To College Football Conference Scheduling, Caleb Mallett

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Collegiate football teams often compete in groups of 8-20 teams known as conferences. One such conference, the Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC), added three new schools for the 2024-25 season, bringing their total to 17 teams. Currently, each ACC team plays eight games against others within the ACC. At the season’s conclusion, the two ACC teams with the best intraconference record compete in a conference championship game. With 17 total teams each playing eight games, the ACC could have a three-way tie for the best record where none of top the three teams play one another. To avoid this situation, we …

Developing 3d-Printed Packaging To Protect Biodegradable Sensors Used For Large-Scale, Efficient Water Quality Monitoring, Han L. Siew

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Freshwater degradation due to human activities costs the United States over $2.2 billion annually, highlighting the urgent need for improved water quality monitoring methods. Traditional water sampling techniques are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and reliant on single-use plastics that contribute to environmental pollution. This research aims to address these issues by developing 3D-printed biodegradable sensor packaging for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-assisted water sampling. By utilizing biodegradable materials, the research seeks to create an eco-friendly solution that ensures sensor durability while reducing negative environmental impact. The study will involve adjusting the packaging design to withstand UAV deployment by testing and improving the resistance …

Performance Of Inline Compression With Software Caching For Reducing The Memory Footprint In Pysdc, Emily Lattanzio

All Theses

The volume of data required for High Performance Computing (HPC) applications is growing faster than the memory storage available to store the required data, leading to performance bottlenecks in transferring data. Whether sending data from main memory to computation nodes or between parallel processes during runtime, the more data there is to send, the longer it will take to for that data to be sent from one location to the next. Hence the need for inline data compression, which reduces the amount of allocated memory needed by storing the largest data structures in a compressed format and decompressing/recompressing single variables …

Intermediate Stage Densification Kinetics Of High-Entropy Ceramics During Spark Plasma Sintering, Steven M. Smith, William G. Fahrenholtz, Greg E. Hilmas, Stefano Curtarolo

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The intermediate stage densification kinetics of (Hf, Nb, Ta, Ti, Zr) B2 and (Hf, Nb, Ta, Ti, Zr) C were studied using a Coble creep rate model. (Hf, Nb, Ta, Ti, Zr) B2 was synthesized by boro/carbothermal reduction and (Hf, Nb, Ta, Ti, Zr) C was synthesized by carbothermal reduction. Both ceramics were densified by spark plasma sintering at 1700–1850°C. The activation energies for densification were 575 ± 53 kJ/mol for the high-entropy boride and 646 ± 4 kJ/mol for the high-entropy carbide. The densification mechanisms were grain boundary diffusion for the high-entropy boride and lattice diffusion for the high-entropy …

Tumor-Specific Surface Marker–Independent Targeting Of Tumors Through Nanotechnology And Bioorthogonal Glycochemistry, Hyesun Hyun, Bo Sun, Mostafa Yazdimamaghani, Albert Wielgus, Yue Wang, Stephanie Ann Montgomery, Tian Zhang, Jianjun Cheng, Jonathan S. Serody, Andrew Z. Wang

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Biological targeting is crucial for effective cancer treatment with reduced toxicity but is limited by the availability of tumor surface markers. To overcome this, we developed a nanoparticle-based (NP-based), tumor-specific surface marker–independent (TRACER) targeting approach. Utilizing the unique biodistribution properties of NPs, we encapsulated Ac4ManNAz (Maz) to selectively label tumors with azide-reactive groups. Surprisingly, while NP-delivered Maz was cleared by the liver, it did not label macrophages, potentially reducing off-target effects. To exploit this tumor-specific labeling, we functionalized anti–4-1BB Abs with dibenzo cyclooctyne to target azide-labeled tumor cells and activate the immune response. In syngeneic B16F10 melanoma and orthotopic 4T1 …