Engineering Commons^™

Numerical Modeling Of Badminton Shuttlecock Trajectories, Lola G. Torres, Cassandra Pumphrey, Jadyn Peterson, Domenic Barsotti

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

The Trajectory of a badminton Shuttlecock can vary significantly when compared to a classic projectile motion, primarily due to aerodynamic drag. This project aims to model the flight of the shuttlecock using Newton's second law for gravitational and drag related forces, resulting in a nonlinear system of a first order differential equation. The given parameters include the shuttlecock mass, cross-sectional area, air density, as well as the drag coefficient, determining the overall magnitude of the drag force. The resulting initial value problem is solved numerically using a multitude of Runge_Kutta methods to compare the accuracy and stability across different computational …

The Electric Crackdown: Exploring The Human Factors Impacts Of Controls & Displays In Evs Across The Market, Rae Okada, Robin Hanen, Liam Brennan

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Title: The Electric Crackdown: Exploring the Human Factors Impacts of Controls & Displays in Electric Vehicles Across the Market   Despite a global adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) with partial driving automation (i.e., advanced driver assistance systems; ADAS), differences exist at societal (i.e., legislation, regulation), individual (i.e., use of), and system (i.e., vehicle-to-vehicle) levels surrounding these vehicles. While these former societal divergences can be considered based on the: (1) mechanisms promoting or limiting EV adoption, (2) number of EVs on the road, and (3) respective incident reports; system differences require investigation for each vehicle based on its make and model. In …

Motion With Air Resistance, Gauge Mccain, Jacob Bealefeld, Francesca Wise

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

The motion of objects moving through air is influenced not only by gravity but also by air resistance, which affects the speed and acceleration of the object over time. This project examines the motion of a falling object by modeling it with an ordinary differential equation that accounts for both gravitational force and a resistive drag force proportional to velocity. Using Newton’s Second Law, a first-order differential equation is derived to describe how the velocity of the object changes as it falls. The solution of this equation demonstrates how the velocity increases initially and gradually approaches a constant value known …

Interactive Effects Of Tissue Temperature And Hydration State On Tendon Mechanical Properties Using A Chicken Drumstick Model, Makayla Maso, Kiara Maso, Mikayla Hulvey

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

This study focused on the effects of temperature and hydration on tendon extensibility. Four experimental groups were tested using chicken leg tendons tested ex vivo: cold and dehydrated, cold and hydrated, warm and dehydrated, and warm and hydrated. Each treatment group was pulled with an increasing load and measured. It was hypothesized that the warm and hydrated test group would extend the furthest. This was based on studies citing increased bodily flexibility with increasing body temperature as well as stiffness at lower temperatures. Combining temperature and hydration state allowed for not only individual effects of variables to be tested but …

A Differential Equation Approach To Heat Flow In A Thin Rod, Alexandria Krol, David Cardona, Collin Petrie

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

A Differential Equation Approach to Heat Flow in a Thin Rod examines how differential equations can be used to model and understand heat conduction in a fundamental physical system. Heat transfer in solids is a key concept in physics and engineering, particularly in systems where temperature changes over time. A thin rod provides a useful one-dimensional model for studying how heat moves through a material and how temperature varies along the rod as time passes. The primary objective is to develop a mathematical description of this process using differential equations. The analysis begins with physical principles such as conservation of …

Mechanical Vibrations And Damping – Structural Analysis, Kelsey Hunsicker, Sarah Kraus, Sophia Muller Martinelli De Souza

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Mechanical Vibrations are crucial in understanding and structural analysis of engineering systems such as bridges and airplane wings. If not considered, these vibrations can lead to structural fatigue or failure. By using differential equations, structural vibrations will be examined. Researching the different kinds of vibrations and damping will help to find the vibration behavior of the system. For example, a mass-spring damper system will use second-order linear differential equations. The systems model can be shown to be underdamped, overdamped, or critically damped. These will compare the amplitudes and oscillation differences between the systems by using computational code. Analyzing these differences …

Numerical Investigation Of The Nonlinear Simple Pendulum And The Dependence Of Oscillation Period On Initial Angle, Kelly Wold, Aidan Hart, Patrick Gilliam

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Numerical Investigation of the Nonlinear Simple Pendulum and the Dependence of Oscillation Period on Initial Angle examines how the oscillation period of a simple pendulum varies with initial angular displacement and evaluates the accuracy of numerical methods in capturing this behavior. In classical treatments, the small-angle approximation simplifies the governing differential equation and predicts a constant period independent of amplitude; however, this assumption breaks down for larger angles, where the system exhibits nonlinear dynamics. The objective of this project is to model the full nonlinear equation of motion and quantify how the period depends on initial conditions. To achieve this, …

Engineering Path Trajectories With Gravitational Fields, Eliane Dean, Aidan Hart, Isabel Noot, Nathan Browning, Valeria Villazon Fito

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

This project explores how vector calculus concepts play a role in aerospace engineering though spacecraft trajectory design. In particular, the notion of vector fields is used to model the gravitational force, whose work done is expressed through line integrals. By taking the curl of the gravitational field and showing it is zero, the field is recognised as conservative, implying that the work done by gravity is path independent. This property is conceptually linked to gravitational potential energy and the principle of energy conservation. The results are then applied to spacecraft motion, where engineers use energy-base methods to determine efficient trajectories …

Visualizing The Invisible: Simulating Electromagnetic Field In 3d Space With Matlab, Aashman Gupta, Eliane Dean, Riley Esperanca, Hailey Grabinski, Jacob Summerhays, Ameya Sute

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Electromagnetic field behaviours in free space are defined by Maxwell’s Equations, which couple the temporal and spatial variations of electric and magnetic fields through partial derivatives. These derivatives quantify the rate of change of each field’s vector component with respect to position and time in a 3D lattice, forming the basis for numerical field analysis. This research will develop a mathematical and computational framework using multivariable calculus to model, simulate, and visualize electromagnetic wave propagation in free space using MATLAB. Gradient, divergence, and curl operations are implemented to compute local field variations and energy transfer. The resulting data are used …

Simulating Pacemakers And Heartbeat Recovery Through Mathematical Modeling, Thomas Estrada, Jayla Edwards

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Title: Simulating Pacemakers and Heartbeat Recovery Through Mathematical Modeling   This study utilizes the Fitzhugh-Nagumo model to simulate cardiac electrical activity and the regulatory role of pacemakers through ordinary differential equations (ODEs). By defining the rate of change for membrane voltage, 𝑑𝑣/dt, and a recovery variable, 𝑑𝑤/dt, the model captures the heart's excitability and resting states. Central to the analysis is the stimulus current parameter, which represents the "kick" provided by a pacemaker to correct flatline conditions or weak heartbeats. Using Euler’s method for numerical integration, the research compares unstable cardiac rhythms against corrected periodic oscillations. Additionally, the project implements vector …

Modelling Quadcopter Thrust And Torque Using Lu-Decomposition, Diya Patil

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

3 & 4 motor systems have been in the world of aviation in many different forms as the field grows and evolves. To understand the complexities of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and its stability, assessing the amount of thrust put into each motor can help generate the torque produced despite factors such as multidirectional movement. While a UAV does this multiple times a second, producing a simplified version of this calculation can aid in simpler models simulating UAV movement. Due to the popularity of the quadcopter drone, a simple algorithm depicting thrust through each spinning motor can aid in …

Bridging The Gap: Cybersecurity And Occupational Safety Frameworks In Ai Data Centers, Athena Leader

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Bridging the Gap: Cybersecurity and Occupational Safety Frameworks in AI Data Centers   As artificial intelligence infrastructure expands, AI data centers represent a critical and underexamined convergence of cybersecurity and occupational safety risk. Existing frameworks such as NIST, OSHA, and ISO standards were largely developed in isolation, leaving significant gaps in how organizations manage risks that are simultaneously digital and physical in nature. This study investigates the gaps and overlaps between cybersecurity and occupational safety frameworks as they apply specifically to AI data center environments. Drawing on a targeted literature review of established regulatory and standards-based frameworks, this research identifies where …

Simulations Of Phugoid Motion Of Jal 123, Dereth J J. Drake Scheuermann

Georgia Journal of Science

Airplanes rely on a balance between the four forces of flight: lift, weight, thrust, and drag. If these forces are balanced, the airplane will remain stable. However, if structurally or systematically compromised, the motion can rapidly become unstable. In the aviation industry, mistakes in repairs and aircraft design can lead to accidents causing the loss of life in some cases. In this article, we will be analyzing what happened 70 Japan Airlines flight 123 and how the flight’s motion deteriorated due to a defective repair. More specifically, we will discuss the aerodynamic effects of phugoid motion and how it developed …

Functionality Risk Assessment And Risk-Based Management For Critical Infrastructure Systems, Anteneh Zewdu Deriba

Dissertations and Theses

Critical infrastructure systems such as transportation networks serve as the lifelines of modern society, supporting economic activity and ensuring access to critical services. Their disruption under extreme events can produce consequences extending far beyond physical damage to individual assets. In transportation networks for instance, failures of critical assets such as bridges and tunnels can reduce accessibility of communities, limit freight capabilities for commerce, and increase travel distance and travel time of road users. These consequences associated with the system functionality loss are tied not only to the physical vulnerability and failure of individual assets, but also to the system configuration …

The Use Of Machine Learning Models For Predicting The Dielectric Strength Of Gases, Matthew Mileski, Paul W. Groth, Timothy S. Wolfe, Adib J. Samin

Faculty Publications

Technological advancements in high voltage systems have pushed sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) to its operational limits. Furthermore, this gas has other drawbacks including a high liquefaction temperature and a high global warming potential. Therefore, there has been an urgent need to find alternative gases with high dielectric strength (DS). In this work, density functional theory (DFT) is used to calculate molecular descriptors that are fed into an artificial neural network (ANN) and a random forest (RF). These machine learning (ML) models are then used to predict the DS for hundreds of molecules. A finite element model (FEM) is also used to …

The Business Next Door: Ev Construction: Back To The Future, Steve Vanderveen

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

The genesis of the company dates to 1945 when two young men, Peter Elzinga and John Volkers, formed a partnership to construct homes in Fremont, Michigan. But its story begins before that.

Mountain Development In Nepal: Settlements, Infrastructure, And Economic Transformation, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

As Nepal urbanizes, expands infrastructure, strengthens local governments, and explores deeper connectivity with India and China, climate change is increasing floods, landslides, heat, and water insecurity. Rapid internal migration, rising disaster risks, youth outmigration, and dependence on remittances are also revealing the limits of conventional urban development, especially in the mountainous region. The central challenge for Nepal is no longer just to accommodate growing towns and cities, but to build settlements that are safe, productive, environmentally resilient, and capable of sustaining long-term prosperity.

This paper argues that Nepal's urban future must be guided by a new development paradigm centered on …

Enhancing A Mid-Wave Infrared Fourier Transform Hyperspectral Imager For Explosions, James T. Stofel, Kody A. Wilson, Martin Larivière-Bastien, Anthony L. Franz, Michael L. Dexter

Faculty Publications

Capturing reliable hyperspectral imager data at a meaningful frame rate for explosions and other fast-changing scenes is not possible in the mid-wave infrared region under traditional sensor operating configurations and processing techniques, which typically have frame rates on the order of 0.5–2.0 Hz. To combat these shortcomings, the scene acquisition parameters were tailored for explosions and a new method for processing optical signatures of fast transient scenes with Fourier-transform infrared hyperspectral imagers was developed. For this technique, the instrument was first configured to collect asymmetric interferograms while optimizing the number of measurement points on the short side of the interferogram. …

Improving Direct Reduced Iron Briquette Properties, Abigail Clark

Honors Theses

Fines are generated during the reduction, handling, and transportation of iron oxide pellets and lump ore. These fines present significant safety concerns due to their tendency to oxidize rapidly and combust spontaneously. In addition, they contribute to material losses and reduced revenue. However, DRI fines can be recycled through briquetting and reused in downstream steelmaking processes. Briquettes are produced by agglomerating and compacting direct reduced iron (DRI) fines with binders such as molasses and lime, calcium stearate, and bentonite. Although many different binders have been developed and studied for iron oxide agglomeration and induration, far fewer studies have been conducted …

Terrain Characterization And Spot Traversability In Mining Environments, Gordon Oti

Honors Theses

Hazardous mining environments, including abandoned underground workings and disturbed surface areas, remain difficult to explore safely because of unstable ground conditions, limited accessibility, and unknown terrain characteristics. The Boston Dynamics SPOT quadruped platform supports remote exploration and data collection in these environments; however, effective operation requires a better understanding of how measurable terrain characteristics relate to SPOT traversability performance.

This study combined terrestrial laser scanning (TLS)-based terrain characterization with field-based SPOT testing to evaluate traversability performance in representative mining environments. High-resolution TLS data acquired using a Maptek laser scanner were processed to quantify terrain slope and rock fragmentation, while field …

Continuous Process Intensification For Rare Earth Element Adsorption, Kyle Madill

Honors Theses

A continuous flow resonant vibratory adsorption swing reactor was designed to facilitate adsorption interactions between biochar and rare earth elements in a slurry or aqueous solution. A continuous mixing vessel can allow operators to run a large quantity of material through the RVM in an automatic manner that requires little supervision. This will save the operators time and allow them to focus on other research tasks. The reactor that was built was designed to bolt into Resodyn Acoustic Mixers’ Lab Resonance Acoustic Mixer-II (LabRAM-II). A design with two stacked stages within the LabRAM-II’s acoustic enclosure was settled on. These stages …

Selective Oxidation And Reduction For Recycling Samarium-Cobalt Permanent Magnets, Mitchell Harvey

Honors Theses

Samarium cobalt (SmCo) based magnets are among the strongest permanent magnets second only to neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) based magnets. While SmCo-based magnets have lower remanence and coercivity than NdFeB-based magnets at room temperature, SmCo-based magnets retain these properties better at higher temperatures. As a result, SmCo-based magnets find use in a variety of devices operating at elevated temperatures including traveling wave tubes for satellite communications, electrical generators, and control surface actuators for aviation system. With increasing geopolitical tension over the sourcing of Sm and Co, there is a renewed interest in recycling end-of-life SmCo-based magnets. This work explores a …

Modeling And Simulation Of Solar Battery Charge Controller Using Adaptive Particle Swarm Optimization Mppt Algorithm, Mustafa Sacid Endiz, Göksel Gökkus

Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Simulation with Applications

Implementing an effective Maximum Power Point Tracking method is crucial for optimizing solar energy harvesting against environmental fluctuations like solar radiation and temperature. This paper introduces a novel approach for modeling and simulating a solar battery charge controller, using a modified Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm. The power stage of the system is based on a SEPIC converter, which is employed to manage the power conversion and improve the energy transfer to the battery. The developed circuit model is evaluated under various radiation levels at a constant temperature, as well as under different temperature levels at a constant radiation. Simulations are …

Wip: Developing A Generative Ai Autoethnography Assistant, Jyoti Suhag, Jennifer Drewyor, Kathryn Bugbee, Michelle Jarvie-Eggart, Lynn Albers, Leo Ureel

Michigan Tech Publications

Background: Generative AI (genAI) is transforming educational research, offering new possi-bilities for conducting interviews while local sandboxing minimizes data privacy risks and hallucinations. Purpose: This work-in-progress presents the AI Autoethnography Assistant, a project investigating how large language models (LLMs) can support autoethnographic interview design and execution. Approach: Using prompt engineering grounded in Interpretative Phenomenological Anal-ysis, paraphrasing techniques, and structured follow-up questions, we developed protocols that incorporate po-sitionality and prompt reflection on origin stories and pivotal life moments. Outcomes: Conversations conclude at the user’s discretion, with the AI generating a thematic summary. We tested refined prompts across four platforms (Gemini, Claude, …

Secondary Water Saturation Of The Rock Mass And Quality Of Rocks In Active Mine Areas Bordering The Flooded Workings Of Closed Mines, Mirosława Bukowska

Journal of Sustainable Mining

The goal of this paper was to inspect the influence of capillary water saturation on the specific strain energy of sedimentary rocks. The relationships between the determined specific strain energies in an air-dried state and in a state of capillary water saturation for detrital rock were exponential, with a strong correlation among the variables. For silt, the relationships were described by a second-degree polynomial function, and the correlation was medium or weak. The relationships for kinetic and dissipated energy were described with a linear function. Pearson correlation coefficients indicated a strong correlation among the variables for detrital rock and a …

C.S.A. Assessment - Tamp Family Health Center Portal, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

This C.A.S. assessment evaluates how the Tampa Family Health Centers website influences userattention, cognitive processing, information accessibility, navigation efficiency, and digital user experience.The assessment examines whether the platform supports intentional engagement and informed decision-making while minimizing cognitive overload, distraction, confusion, and unnecessary attentional demands.

TFHC serves as a healthcare access portal providing appointment scheduling, patient resources, providerinformation, healthcare services, MyChart access, payment services, and community health resources.These functions make attention management and information clarity critical to successful user outcomes.

Comparative Analysis Of Artificial Intelligence (Ai) Implications For Active Learning And Assessment At Various Curricular Levels Of Stem And Health Sciences In Developed Versus Underprivileged Countries, Vinay Munlapudi, Santanu De

FDLA Journal

Today’s all-pervasive emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) necessitates a comprehensive evaluation of its role in education, especially for occupational disciplines in health sciences and STEM. AI has reshaped student learning and instructors’ navigation of the evolving, post coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19) global academic landscape. This study aimed at encapsulating evidence-based AI implications for student-centered, active learning and assessment at various curricular levels of science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and health sciences education in developed versus underprivileged or less developed countries. An extensive, scoping review of 65 recent, scholarly publications was conducted over six months through diverse search engines (PubMed, Google …

Rockin’ Rover On The Rainbow Road, Michael Kolta, Lawrence Burgee, Ying Yuan

Transformations

This paper presents a progressive series of age-appropriate lesson plans for grades K-12 that all use the same interdisciplinary activity to educate students about Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) simultaneously. Technology from Texas Instruments (TI) was employed including a TI Nspire graphing calculator that can run Python programs, a TI Innovator Hub, and a TI Rover. The TI Rover is a small, robotic car that has sensors and is controlled by the calculator via the Hub hardware interface. A Python program was developed that uses the color sensor in the Rover to detect the color on colored paper …

65th Annual Rocky Mountain Conference On Magnetic Resonance

Rocky Mountain Conference on Magnetic Resonance

Conference program, abstracts, and information about the 65th annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Conference on Magnetic Resonance. Held in the Snowbird Resort and Conference Center, Snowbird, Utah, August 2-6, 2026.

Feasibility And Performance Of Aerogravity Assists For Ceres Missions, Divinaa E. Burder

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This work investigates the feasibility and performance of aerogravity assist (AGA) maneuvers for missions to Ceres, with emphasis on both interplanetary trajectory design and atmospheric flight dynamics. AGAs provide substantially greater turning capability than pure gravity assists by exploiting aerodynamic lift during atmospheric passes, thereby enabling greater heliocentric energy changes than pure gravity assists. To quantify these benefits, this study integrates a broad interplanetary trajectory search with high-fidelity atmospheric performance modeling. Candidate trajectories for launch years 2030–2050 are generated for multiple inner-planet encounter sequences using vehicles with lift-to-drag ratios (L/D) between 1 and 7. Atmospheric flight segments are simulated using …