Engineering Commons^™

Investigating Simulated Natural Gas Combined Cycle Plants (Ngcc) Performance To Address The Intermittency Of Renewables, Patrick Washington

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The inherent intermittency of wind and solar energy challenges grid stability, requiring flexible support from natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plants. The objective of this study is to develop a method for evaluating the turn-down performance of the NGCC system and to identify effective strategies to operate multi-island NGCC plants to respond to intermittent power demand fluctuations driven by renewable energy integration. The simulation tool was validated against benchmark U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) subcritical Rankine cycle and NGCC cases. The methodology was then applied to evaluate part load operation, inlet fogging, hydrogen blending, and multi-island dispatch for a …

Genwriter 2.0: A Hybrid Case-Based And Llm Rewriting Approach For Mitigating Implicit Gender Cues In Text, Shweta Soundararajan, Sarah Jane Delany

Conference papers

Gendered language is the use of words or phrases that indicate an individual's gender. Although useful in some contexts, gendered language can reinforce gender stereotypes and introduce bias, particularly in machine learning models for tasks involving people such as recruitment or occupation classification. When textual content about individuals, such as biographies, contain gender cues, models can learn spurious associations between gender and other characteristics of individuals, such as profession, potentially resulting in unfair outcomes such as reduced hiring opportunities for women.

To address this challenge, we propose GenWriter 2.0, a hybrid approach that integrates Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) with Large …

Practical On-Device Intelligence For Resource-Constrained Embedded And Wearable Devices, Xiao Ma

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Embedded and wearable devices increasingly rely on deep neural networks to support intelligent sensing applications directly on the device. However, building practical on-device intelligence remains challenging throughout the deployment lifecycle. Before deployment, models must remain accurate despite severe memory, computation, and energy budgets, and a single device often needs to support multiple sensing applications without deploying a separate model for each application. After deployment, the device continues to operate in changing real-world environments, where shifts in data distribution can degrade the model’s performance over time, so the model must be able to adapt to such shifts efficiently.

The first challenge …

Water-Heated Maisotsenko Cycle Humidifiers: A Component-Level Study On Evaporation And Exit Brine Concentration, Omar Abdulfattah Farag Omar A. Farag

Renewable Mechanical Energy

Maisotsenko-cycle (M-cycle) Heat-and-Mass Exchangers (HMXs) are usually assessed as part of complete cooling or desalination systems, which makes the behaviour of the humidifier itself difficult to distinguish. Here, a validated model is used to examine a water-heated M-cycle humidifier as an independent component. Inlet saline-water temperature, ambient temperature, Relative Humidity (RH), and water-to-air Mass-flow Ratio (MR) were varied, and performance was described by Water Evaporation Rate (WER), outlet-air specific humidity, and outlet brine salinity. Water heating and a larger MR produced the strongest increase in moisture addition because they maintained a warmer water film and greater transfer potential. At fixed …

Macroscopic Classical And Quantum Models Of Inverse Compton Scattering, Emerson Penn Rogers

Physics Theses & Dissertations

Inverse Compton sources — in which a relativistic electron beam scatters a laser pulse to produce tunable, collimated, high-energy radiation—have emerged as among the most promising compact radiation sources, with applications ranging from nuclear photonics to medical and nanoscale imaging and metrology. The most viable current tabletop configuration couples laser-wakefield acceleration with inverse Compton scattering, producing GeV-scale electron beams over millimeter distances. As laser intensities increase and electron energies grow, the interaction enters the radiation reaction regime, where the energy radiated by the electron becomes a significant fraction of its kinetic energy. Predicting the scattered electron energy spectrum — the …

Laponite Nanosilicate As A Platform For Antigen–Adjuvant Co-Delivery In Vaccination, Haoyu Qi

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Nanosilicates are two-dimensional, charged nanomaterials with tunable surface chemistry that enable electrostatic interactions with proteins and nucleic acids. These properties make Laponite nanosilicate a promising platform for vaccine delivery, where coordinated antigen–adjuvant presentation and lymph node delivery are important for shaping immune responses. This thesis investigated nanosilicates as scaffolds for lysozyme-based antigen delivery and co-delivery with CpG.

The preparation method reduced the apparent size of the NS–Lys–CpG complex at pH 10, although neutralization to pH 7 promoted larger aggregate formation. In vivo IVIS imaging after footpad injection showed persistent Cy7-associated fluorescence at the injection site for up to three weeks …

A Review Of The Safety Alert Systems In Commercial Vehicles: Implementation Challenges And Trends For Electronic Logic Devices And In-Cab Alerts, Md Sadman Islam, Deep Patel, Ahmed Sajid Hasan, Mohammad Jalayer, Abdul S. Ngereza, Emmanuel Kidando

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The trucking industry is crucial to the US economy, accounting for 73.1% of the value, 71.1% of the cargo, and 42.0% of the ton-miles of all commodities transported nationwide. Despite its pivotal role, the industry is affected by high crash rates, with truck crashes resulting in 5,472 fatalities in 2023 alone. These incidents not only exhibit a higher fatality rate per vehicle mile compared with passenger cars but also cause substantial economic disruptions. Predominantly, these crashes are attributed to the failure to stop or slow down because of insufficient sight distances. In recent years, trucking companies have implemented various technologies, …

Structure Meets Context: A Simulation Study Of Centralized And Decentralized Decision-Making In Complex Environments, Murat Balci

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The question of when to centralize or decentralize decision-making authority is a foundational problem in organizational theory and management science. Yet existing research often favors decentralized structures, frequently treating them as universally superior, and provides limited guidance on when centralization may be more effective. Leaning toward decentralization without thoroughly exploring options leaves organizational designers without clear direction under varying environmental conditions. This study addresses that gap by developing and applying a simulation-based framework to evaluate the context-dependent effectiveness of centralized and decentralized decision-making structures.

Drawing on contingency theory and decision science, the study conceptualizes environmental complexity along two dimensions: dynamism …

Understanding The Correlation Between Prediction Performance And Trust In Ai Through Scenario-Based Tasks, Likhitha Kammara

Theses and Dissertations

Trust in artificial intelligence is commonly assessed through self-reported scales or behavioral reliance, yet behavioral reliance is retrospective and can only be observed after a decision has already been made. This thesis examines whether prediction accuracy — a user's ability to predict what an AI system will recommend before its output is revealed — can serve as a prospective correlate of trust in the same empirical sense as behavioral reliance. The study was conducted in two phases using scenario-based AI decision tasks across disaster response, healthcare, and infrastructure restoration contexts, employing a between-group design in which participants either predicted AI …

Functionalized Loblolly Pine Derived Ultraporous Activated Hydrochars For Efficient Carbon Capture, Swarna Saha

Theses and Dissertations

The increasing concentration of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions has intensified the demand for efficient and sustainable carbon capture technologies. This dissertation investigates the development of functionalized ultraporous activated hydrochars derived from loblolly pine through hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) followed by chemical activation for enhanced CO₂ capture applications. Different functionalization strategies, including deep eutectic solvent (DES) modification, zeolite-assisted HTC, palladium-assisted HTC, and CO₂-assisted HTC, were systematically explored to evaluate the influence of pore structure, surface chemistry, and adsorption energetics on CO₂ capture performance. The synthesized materials were characterized using BET, FTIR, XRD, TGA, SEM, and adsorption isotherm modeling to establish the …

Modeling Power Distribution Architectures And Maintaining Constant Power With Misalignment In Dynamic Wireless Charging Systems For Electric Vehicles, Mayank Chawla

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

With increasing demand for wireless power transfer systems from phone charging and medical devices, in-motion wireless charging of electric vehicles offers a unique advantage of charging the vehicle while in motion on an electrified roadway. Compared to the stationary or wired charging, electric vehicle users can significantly save time and cost with a reduction in the battery size. However, with large-scale infrastructure required for a wireless charging roadway and the driver’s ability to align with the electrified roadway, come significant challenges for the practical implementation of in-motion wireless charging systems.This dissertation aims to solve some of the problems associated with …

City Farm Slo - Market Stand Modernization, Juan Diaz

Construction Management

This paper analyzes the design, planning, and buildout of a custom multi-level stand, farm signage, and supporting equipment for the non-profit organization City Farm SLO. The overall goal of the project was to provide the farm with a modernized and functional market space. The project first addressed any owner design requirements, the approval of materials lists, and the assessment of existing conditions. The pre-construction consisted of developed drawings, materials lists, cost estimates, and a project schedule. Aside from setting up requirements, the owner provided specific milestones to be achieved during the construction phase of the project. A major risk found …

Five-State Seismic Damage Classification Of Steel-Girder Bridges On Soft Soil Using Directional Intensity Measures And Multi-Parameter Damage Indices, Ibrahim Alomari, Woubishet Zewdu Taffese, Mohammad Hossein Afsharmovahed, Genda Chen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Rapid yet accurate post-earthquake damage assessment of highway bridges is essential to ensure transportation network resilience. Traditional inspection, fragility analysis, and finite element modeling are time-consuming or inaccurate for real-time decision-making. This study compares ten machine-learning classifiers for the seismic damage states of highway steel-girder bridges that incorporate directional intensity measures to represent the variance of ground motions. Based on the nonlinear time-history analyses of two Missouri bridges, one Michigan bridge, and one Wisconsin bridge, multi-parameter structural damage indices were proposed and mapped to five damage states from none to collapse. Among ten supervised algorithms studied, the artificial neural network …

Field Calibration Of Flow Over Tilting Weirs In Canals, Joseph E. Pugh, Timothy K. Gates, S. Karan Venayagamoorthy, Caner Kutlu

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Tilting weirs are widely used to regulate water levels in open channel irrigation systems and can also provide flow measurement capability that helps optimize irrigation efficiency and ensure equitable water distribution. This case study demonstrates adaptation of lab-based tilting weir ratings to field settings, where flow behavior is more complex. We compile and analyze an extensive data set derived from independent studies of five structures within three canal systems, featuring both lined and unlined channels with discharge ranging from 0.35 to 15 m3/s (12 to 530 ft3/s). Results indicate that lab-based rating equations can be calibrated to account for site-specific …

Barrier-Drainage Performance Of A Wicking Geotextile In Controlling Capillary Rise In Silt: Experimental Evaluation, Dahao Zou, Yipeng Guo, Jiejin Chen, Yafeng Li, Xiong Zhang, Yongjie Zhang, Luqiang Ding

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Capillary rise in silt significantly degrades its strength and durability, yet the hydraulic mechanisms governing moisture control using wicking geotextile in silt remain insufficiently understood. This study investigates the barrier-drainage performance of a wicking geotextile in silt through one-dimensional column experiments, supported by preliminary trials. Three configurations were examined: a control specimen without geotextile (CS), an embedded configuration (ES), and a surface-exposed configuration (SES). Volumetric moisture content and matric suction were monitored, capillary responses at the soil-geotextile interface and water storage behavior were evaluated. The results show that the wicking geotextile initially acts as a temporary capillary barrier due to …

Impact Of Climate Change On Extreme Windstorms And Implications For Structural Design In The United States, Teng Wu, Reda Snaiki, Frank Lombardo, Sihan Li, Michele Barbato, Guirong Yan, Robert J. Trapp

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Climate change impacts various extreme windstorms associated with specific meteorological phenomena in different ways. Because various windstorms contribute to the design wind speeds, this study systematically reviewed the state-of-the-art understanding of climate change effects on wind events that collectively contribute to structural wind design in North America, particularly the US, including extratropical cyclones (as well as nor'easters), tropical cyclones, thunderstorms, and tornadoes. For each windstorm type, the general evidence of climate change impacts on storm activities (e.g., occurrence frequency and intensity) are summarized, followed by the introduction of existing simulation frameworks for yearly (or subyearly) maximum storm winds under changing …

A Transfer-Learning And Continuous Optimization-Based Framework For Predicting Heat Treatment-Dependent Mechanical Properties Of Ded-Processed Low-Alloy Steels, Atiqur Rahman, Sung Heng Wu, Ranjit Joy, Frank Liou

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Directed energy deposition (DED) of low-alloy steels involves strongly coupled effects among alloy composition, solidification behavior, and post-deposition heat treatment, making mechanical property prediction difficult when target-domain data are limited. This study develops a transfer-learning and continuous optimization framework for predicting heat treatment-dependent yield strength (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS), hardness (HV), and as-solidified phase fractions of martensite, ferrite, and austenite in DED-processed low-alloy steels. A CALPHAD-based dataset was generated for 125 low-alloy steel compositions. A multilayer perceptron (MLP) surrogate was first trained as a baseline model, then fine-tuned through transfer learning and progressively updated as staged continuous optimization; the …

Evaluation Of Kentucky’S Work Zone Speed Camera Pilot Program: Speed And Crash Analyses, Xu Zhang, William Staats, Eric Green

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Kentucky introduced automated speed enforcement in work zones to mitigate hazards and improve the safety of motorists and workers. This study describes the impacts of automated speed enforcement at five pilot sites. Researchers analyzed speed data and crash data from pilot sites and paired control sites. The control sites and pilot sites had similar traffic volumes, lane configurations, and functional classifications. Analysis drew on over 15 million individual speed records captured using automated enforcement cameras as well as segment-level speed data from HERE.  Active enforcement at pilot sites was associated with lower mean, 85th-percentile, and 99th-percentile vehicle speeds. Average vehicle …

Kytc’S Digital Project Delivery Phase 2 Summary, Catherine Keathley

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Begun in 2020, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s (KYTC) Digital Project Delivery (DPD) Initiative is working to expand the use of digitally formatted plan and project information throughout transportation asset life cycles. A primary goal of the initiative is to provide users with access to accurate data on design intent, as-built records, and maintenance operations in a connected data environment. This report reviews work completed during Phase 2 of the initiative. Thirteen pilot projects are ongoing or have been completed. In response to the initiative’s growth, the Division of Professional Services no longer issues formal requests for proposals to solicit pilot …

Addressing Essential Questions For Achieving Nationwide Deployment Of Unique Electronic Identifiers On Commercial Vehicles, Joseph D. Crabtree, Andrew Martin, Jeeyen Koo, Matt Miles, Brian Beaven

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The purpose of this project was to demonstrate and evaluate two candidate technologies that could be used to achieve Universal ID, i.e., having an electronic identifier on every commercial motor vehicle in the United States. Connected Vehicle (CV) technology is a long-term option, with the expectation that every vehicle (not just trucks) will be equipped with this technology within the next 10-15 years. A more immediate solution is simple, low-cost RFID technology, which is already in widespread use for multiple purposes, including toll collection.

For this project, both technologies were installed at three existing enforcement sites in Kentucky. Two of …

A Laboratory Investigation Of Energy Dissipators At Embankment Dams, Nathan L. Young

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Dams play a critical role in protecting communities from flooding and providing reliable water supplies. When large amounts of water pass through a dam’s spillway during floods, the discharge can travel at high speeds and carry potentially destructive kinetic energy that can damage the dam or erode downstream channels if that energy is not properly controlled. To reduce this risk, engineers commonly use hydraulic structures called energy dissipators that slow spillway discharge and safely release it downstream.

Commonly used energy dissipators at embankment dams include stilling basins that rely on a hydraulic jump – a sudden rise in water depth …

Nanostructured Negative Electron Affinity Gallium Arsenide Photocathodes With Enhanced Quantum Efficiency And Extended Charge Lifetime For Advanced Photoinjectors, Md Aziz Ar Rahman

Physics Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation presents a comprehensive experimental and computational investigation of nanostructured negative electron affinity (NEA) gallium arsenide (GaAs) photocathodes. This work was undertaken to achieve higher quantum efficiency (QE) and longer charge lifetime than conventional flat NEA GaAs electron sources commonly used in photoinjectors. Finite-Difference Time-Domain and charge-transport simulations of three types of nanostructure geometries reveal substantial QE enhancement over flat GaAs via Mie resonance mode excitation. Consequently, the truncated nanocone array (TNCA) photocathodes with heights of 400, 700, and 1000 nm were fabricated and NEA activated via Cs-NF₃ deposition. In a low-voltage ultra-high vacuum chamber with a base pressure …

Experimental Investigation Of The Discharge Modes Of Nanosecond Pulsed Plasmas At Atmospheric Pressure, Md Ziaur Rahman

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The generation of repeatable and stable nanosecond pulsed atmospheric pressure plasmas is important to non-thermal plasma applications in various fields including medicine, material processing, food processing, and plasma ignition for combustion. This dissertation investigates the atmospheric pressure plasma initiation and formation under 10 – 200 ns pulsed power for electrode configurations applicable for transient plasma ignition (TPI) for combustion. The impacts of pulsed power parameters, gas condition, and electrode geometry on the discharge initiation and modes (i.e., streamer, transient spark and spark) are systematically evaluated for applying TPI for combustion. We evaluated the discharge modes driven by both longer and …

Decarbonizing The C3 Splitter: Performance Optimization And Environmental Impact Of Mvr Integration, Dalia A. Ali Associate Prof.

Chemical Engineering

Due to the relatively low volatility (α) of propane and propene components, their separation is one of the most energy-intensive processes in the petrochemical industry. This study evaluates the technical, environmental and thermodynamic performance of a mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) heat pump integrated into a C3 splitter, compared to a conventional steam-heated distillation column. A sensitivity study was conducted using Aspen Plus software at different pressures, reflux ratios (RR) and at turndown operations. According to the results, the MVR system uses a compressor to raise the overhead vapor pressure to 38.7 bar to operate the heater without the need for …

A Verification And Validation Framework For Model-Based Systems Engineering Using Executable Architecture Models And Integrated Simulation, Michael O. Cruz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) reaches its full value when architecture does more than describe a system. It should help engineers carry stakeholder need and system intent into executable analysis, preserve the configuration and criteria used, and return evidence that can be reviewed in the same architecture context. This dissertation develops and evaluates a seven phase, architecture-driven verification and validation framework for that purpose. The framework defines the responsibilities that connect SysML architecture, controlled execution, domain simulation, configuration management, persistent data, analytics, and accountable engineering review. A reusable Cameo/SysML digital test environment plugin provides the reference implementation for orchestration and model …

Prevention Vs Detection: A Discrete-Event Simulation Assessment Of Inspection Staffing, Pick-To-Light, And Ai-Based Inspection In Aerospace Wire Harness Kitting, Jorge Mares

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Aerospace wire harness manufacturing operates under conditions that standard industrial engineering methods were not designed to address. Volumes are low, configurations change between orders, assembly is performed manually by certified labor that cannot be expanded quickly, and IPC/WHMA-A-620 Class 3 acceptance requires that every unit be verified rather than sampled. Kit assembly concentrates the resulting risk, because each item retrieved from the rack is an independent selection decision, and the attributes distinguishing a correct item from an incorrect one are frequently not visible to the operator. Errors introduced there are discovered downstream, after substantial certified labor has been invested. A …

Electrical Characterization Of Wide-Bandgap Devices Via Laboratory Measurements, Tcad Simulation, And Analytical Modeling, Sebastian Alessandro Mimbela

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Gallium nitride (GaN) devices are important for high-power, high-frequency, and harsh-environment applications because of their wide bandgap, high breakdown capability, and electrical performance. This thesis focuses on the electrical characterization of GaN-based devices using laboratory measurements, analytical modeling, and TCAD simulation. Current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements were performed on a GaN Schottky diode. The measured data were analyzed to extract key parameters such as ideality factor, Schottky barrier height, series resistance, donor concentration, built-in potential, depletion width, and maximum electric field. A TCAD process was also developed in Synopsys Sentaurus to recreate the main geometry, layer structure, contacts, and …

Unsupervised Learning For Minimum Error Adaptive Sampling Of Atmospheric Vertical Temperature Profiles, Alejandro Medina

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) collect atmospheric data on fixed schedules, and endurance limits make blind searching costly. This thesis develops an unsupervised representation that summarizes a multi-decade radiosonde archive into a compact library of atmospheric states, giving a UAS an expectation of the column before it flies. The method standardizes both axes of a profile against the sounding's own surface conditions, which makes the representation independent of season and of station elevation. Applied to 27,270 soundings from Norman, Oklahoma, over the lowest 1.5 km of the atmosphere, 12 representative profiles reconstruct the record to within 1.0 °C of mean absolute …

From Screening To Risk: Assessment Of Potentially Toxic Elements In Children's Toys Along The El Paso, Tx, U.S.A.-Ciudad Juarez, Chih, Mex Border Region, Jesus Rodriguez-Loya

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Children are uniquely vulnerable to potentially toxic elements (PTEs), absorbing them more readily than adults and encountering them through the hand-to-mouth behaviors of early childhood. Exposure carries element-specific consequences: lead (Pb) impairs cognitive development with no established safe threshold; cadmium (Cd) damages the kidneys and reduces bone mineralization; arsenic (As) is a recognized carcinogen and developmental neurotoxicant; hexavalent chromium (Cr) is carcinogenic and induces allergic dermatitis; nickel (Ni) is the leading cause of allergic contact dermatitis in children; and excess zinc (Zn) disrupts copper absorption and causes gastrointestinal distress. Toys are a distinctive source of such exposure, yet none had …

Integrated Framework For Tsn-Enabled Ot Networks And Scalable Edge Computing To Enable Real-Time Feedback Loop, Taposh Kumer Sarker

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The advent of Industry 5.0 envisions smart manufacturing characterized by human centricity, sustainability, and systemic resilience. Realizing this vision requires the seamless convergence of Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) networks. However, integrating massive, stochastic IT edge computing workloads with deterministic physical control loops introduces severe architectural friction, inherently threatening the safety guarantees required by industrial machinery. To resolve this fundamental incompatibility, this dissertation proposes the Edge-Augmented Real-Time Industrial Control System (EA-RICS).

EA-RICS is a comprehensive, multi-layered architecture designed to dismantle systemic bottlenecks across the physical data plane, the centralized control plane, and the edge operating system. First, the …