Engineering Commons^™

Impulse, Fall 2024, Jill Fier, Micayla Standish, Jerome J. Lohr College Of Engineering

Impulse (Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering Publication)

2 | Math Teacher Counts Her Blessings
3 | New Roles for Burckhard
4 | Three New Department Heads
6 | New Faculty and Staff
8 | Taking Engineering on The Road
10 | Dennis Helder Named Distinguished Alum
12 | Mccomish Endowment Making an Impact
14 | Innovate Sodak Supports Local Projects
16 | R1 the SDSU Way
18 | Nation’s Top Civil Engineering Student Chapter
22 | Hunter Wallster Setting Records
24 | Jenna Currier: When Passion Meets Talent
28 | Student Teams Compete
30 | RASC-AL Team Overcomes Setback
32 | Break the Ice Team Comes Home …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 65 Number 2, Fall 2024 [Print Issue 62:2], Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

12 - INCREASING ACCESS Discerning one’s dream requires a whole set of experiences based on community, opportunity, and, yes, cash. Leslie Griffy

16 - UNPACKING UTOPIA It seems like billionaire-backed utopias are popping up all over the map. What does it take to build a perfect city? Lauren Loftus

22 - A WEALTH OF WELL-BEING In his new book, Professor Meir Statman explores a holistic approach to financial and life well-being. Leslie Griffy

26 - A WOMAN'S PLACE Despite being denied access to the priesthood, Catholic women find new ways to lead. Leslie Griffy

Moving Beyond Photovoltaics: Advancing And Scaling Concentrated Solar Power For The Future Of Energy, Tucker Donahue

Portugal: Sustainability and Environmental Justice

This paper examines solar energy technologies, starting with photovoltaic (PV) systems, and then thoroughly evaluates Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), a newer technology that uses mirrors to focus sunlight onto a receiver. The paper includes a breakdown of the four types of CSP: Parabolic Trough Collectors (PTC), Solar Power Towers (SPT), Linear Fresnel Reflectors (LFR), and Solar Parabolic Dishes (SPD). Furthermore, the paper separates the CSP processes: collection, transfer, and storage of energy. Two case studies are included in this study: a small-scale CSP system in Portugal and a large-scale project in Italy. The paper discusses key recent improvements in parabolic …

Efficient Real-Time Droplet Tracking In Crop-Spraying Systems, Troung Nhut Huynh, Travis Burgers, Kim-Doang Nguyen

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Spray systems in agriculture serve essential roles in the precision application of pesticides, fertilizers, and water, contributing to effective pest control, nutrient management, and irrigation. These systems enhance efficiency, reduce labor, and promote environmentally friendly practices by minimizing chemical waste and runoff. The efficacy of a spray is largely determined by the characteristics of its droplets, including their size and velocity. These parameters are not only pivotal in assessing spray retention, i.e., how much of the spray adheres to crops versus becoming environmental runoff, but also in understanding spray drift dynamics. This study introduces a real-time deep learning-based approach for …

A Study On The Polarity Of Generalized Neutrosophic Ideals In Bck-Algebra, Bavanari Satyanarayana, Shake Baji

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

In this study, we apply k-polar generalized neutrosophic logic to the ideal of BCK-algebra and consequently introduce the notion of a k-polar generalized neutrosophic ideal in BCK-algebra with an example. We provide conditions for a k-polar generalized neutrosophic set to be a k-polar generalized neutrosophic ideal. We prove that every k-polar generalized neutrosophic ideal is a k-polar generalized neutrosophic subalgebra, but the converse is not true, which can be illustrated with an example. Furthermore, we prove that a k-polar generalized neutrosophic set is a k-polar generalized neutrosophic ideal if and only if its corresponding cut sets are ideals of the …

Unveiling Similarities In The Code Of Life: A Detailed Exploration Of Dna Sequence Matching Algorithm, Mahmoud Y. Shams, Romany M. Farag, Dalia A. Aldawody, Huda E. Khalid, Ahmed K. Essa, Hazem M. El-Bakry, A. A. Salama

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

Identifying similar DNA sequences is crucial in various biological research endeavors. This paper delves into the intricate workings of a specific algorithm designed for this purpose. We provide a systematic explanation, exploring how the algorithm handles user input, reads stored DNA sequences, utilizes the Word2Vec model for vector representation, and calculates sequence similarity using diverse metrics like Cosine Similarity and Neutrosophic Distance. Additionally, the paper explores the incorporation of neutrosophic values to account for uncertainty in the comparisons. Finally, we discuss the extraction of results, including matched sequences, similarity scores, and accuracy measures. This in-depth exploration provides a clear understanding …

Evaluation Of Renewable Energy Sources For A Sustainable Future: A Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach, Mai Mohamed, Asmaa Elsayed

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

The urgent global challenges of climate change, energy security, and environmental degradation highlight the need for sustainable energy solutions. Renewable energy sources (RES) present a viable pathway towards sustainability by mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and fostering economic resilience. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose an advanced Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approach to evaluate various RES by integrating environmental, economic, technological, social acceptance, and resource availability criteria, to identify the most suitable RES for sustainable energy solutions. Methodology: The study employs a hybrid method combining Type-2 Neutrosophic Numbers (T2NN) with LOPCOW (Logarithmic Percentage Change …

Neutrosophic Approach To Water Quality Assessment: A Case Study Of Gomati River, The Largest River In Tripura, India, Ajoy Kanti Das, Nandini Gupta, Carlos Granados, Rakhal Das, Suman Das

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

This study addresses the complexity of assessing river water quality, a multifaceted process influenced by numerous water quality parameters (WQPs) characterized by inherent uncertainties and diverse judgment information from decision-makers. These uncertainties and diverse judgment information can be effectively represented and simulated using Neutrosophic sets. In this study, we propose an effective water pollution rating system, the Neutrosophic water quality index (NWQI), to derive a water pollution score (NWQI-score) for rating water pollution levels. We demonstrate the application of our methodology through an assessment of water quality indices for rating pollution in the Gomati River, the largest river in Tripura, …

An Approach To Multi-Attribute Decision-Making Based On Single-Valued Neutrosophic Hesitant Fuzzy Aczel-Alsina Aggregation Operator, Raiha Imran, Kifayat Ullah, Zeeshan Ali, Maria Akram

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

A single-valued Neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy set (SVNHFS) is a combination of a single-valued neutrosophic set (SVNS) and hesitant fuzzy set (HFS) that has been developed to address insufficient, unreliable, and vague environments in which each element has several possible options determined by the truthiness, indeterminacy and falsity value. By considering this, in this paper, we have proposed the Aczel-Alsina aggregation operator (AAAO) for SVNHFS, which is more flexible t-norm and t-conorm than the other and due to the flexible nature of parameters to solve Multi-Attribute decision making (MADM) problems. Further, the score function, accuracy function, and certainty function of SVNHFS …

Accurate Synthesis Of Dysarthric Speech For Asr Data Augmentation, Mohammad Soleymanpour, Michael T. Johnson, Rahim Soleymanpour, Jeffrey Berry

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder often characterized by reduced speech intelligibility through slow, uncoordinated control of speech production muscles. Automatic Speech recognition (ASR) systems can help dysarthric talkers communicate more effectively. However, robust dysarthria-specific ASR requires a significant amount of training speech, which is not readily available for dysarthric talkers. This paper presents a new dysarthric speech synthesis method for the purpose of ASR training data augmentation. Differences in prosodic and acoustic characteristics of dysarthric spontaneous speech at varying severity levels are important components for dysarthric speech modeling, synthesis, and augmentation. For dysarthric speech synthesis, a modified neural multi-talker …

Advances In Biomedical Research And Treatments: What Is Acceptable?, Michael L. Clancy, Khalid M. Iskandarani, Mitchell C. Mccrea

Journal of Health Ethics

This study investigated the technology acceptance (TA) of twenty-first century biomedical treatments by adults in the United States. A new TA instrument was created, using five distinct levels: (1) Healing and Prevention, (2) Replacement Organs, (3) Enhancements-Medical, (4) Enhancements-Discretionary, and (5) Transhumans. An on-line survey produced 353 usable responses, which showed distinct patterns for each of five biomedical treatment levels. There was clear support for Levels 1–3, but very strong opposition to Levels 4–5. The TA finding draws the line between which human interventions are acceptable versus others that should be prohibited through public policies and medical guidelines.

Engineering Ceramic Ductility Into Aluminum Oxide, Krish Bhuva

Holster Scholar Projects

This project explores the enhancement of ductility in Aluminum Oxide (Al₂O₃) ceramics through microstructural engineering. The goal is to combine the hardness and stability of Al₂O₃ with enhanced ductility for diverse industrial applications. Inspired by the naturally occurring Itacolumite rock, known for its complex microstructure, this research aims to replicate similar microstructural features in engineering ceramics. By doping Al₂O₃ with Titanium Dioxide (TiO₂), Boron Nitride (BN), and a pore former, while employing innovative sintering techniques, we hypothesize that these modifications will lead to a measurable increase in ductility. Despite early challenges in achieving homogeneity in sintering, promising results were observed …

H2d: Hierarchical Heterogeneous Graph Learning Framework For Drug-Drug Interaction Prediction, Ran Zhang, Xuezhi Wang, Sheng Wang, Kunpeng Liu, Yuanchun Zhou, Pengfei Wang

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Accurately predicting Drug-Drug Interactions (DDIs) is critical to designing effective drug combination therapies. Recently, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered DDI prediction approaches have emerged as a new paradigm. However, most existing methods oversimplify the complex hierarchical structure within molecules and overlook the multi-source heterogeneous information external to molecules, limiting their modeling and predictive capabilities. To address this, we propose a Hierarchical Heterogeneous graph learning framework for DDI prediction, namely H2D. H2D employs an internal-toexternal, local-to-global hierarchical perspective, exploiting intramolecular multi-granularity structures and inter-molecular biomedical interactions to mutually enhance across hierarchical levels. Extensive experimental results demonstrate H2D’s effectiveness on three …

Engineering Student Learning And Identity: Development Using Sociotechnical Analysis, Alex Yannelli, Fredy Herrarte

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This project examines the effect of sociotechnical thinking in the context of engineering core classes. Sociotechnical analysis is a problem-solving method that integrates social economic factors into a technical problem to mimic a “real world problem”. Our team analyzed 51 responses to a sociotechnical module from two Statics classes at Cal Poly. Responses were coded and themes identified using qualitative research methods and an online qualitative research software. Our team identified a relationship between engagement with the module and discussions of self, personal engineering identity, and thinking skills. Future goals will be focused on continued data collection and analysis, application …

Spacecraft Attitude Control Simulator, Bricen S. Rigby

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

The Spacecraft Attitude Control Simulator is a single-axis attitude control platform which is intended to recreate the frictionless space environment in order to test cold-gas thruster control schemes. The overall goal of this research project was to observe settling data from the platform and compare it to simulated data. In practice, the predicted settling time was only 7% larger than observed settling time.

Analyzing Daytime/Nighttime Pedestrian Crash Patterns In Michigan Using Unsupervised Machine Learning Techniques And Their Potential As A Decision Support Tool, Baraah Qawasmeh, Jun-Seok Oh, Valerian Kwigizile

Waldo Library Student Exhibits

No abstract provided.

Eco-Friendly Packaging: Changing The Norm, Victoria C. Hoffmann, Mujde Erten-Unal

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

Packaging is an essential aspect of our daily life routines and is integral in preserving, protecting, informing, and selling the products we rely on. The advent of plastic packaging has allowed us to meet the rising consumer demand for efficient and economical packaging solutions. However, plastic packaging has also emerged as a significant contributor to environmental degradation. This review highlights the growing need for eco-friendly packaging alternatives, given the harmful impact of current packaging practices. It delves into several proposed sustainable packaging solutions and their limitations, and outlines strategic initiatives for safer packaging. As a society, it is critical to …

2024 (Fall) Ensi Informer Magazine, Morehead State University. Engineering Sciences Department

ENSI Informer Magazine Archive

The ENSI Informer Magazine published in the fall of 2024.

Numerical Modelling Of Carrier Transport In Organic Field Effect Transistors, Sameh O. Abdellatif, Salma Ahmed

Electrical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Performance Of Project Delivery Methods For Us Airport Projects: A Holistic Quantitative Risk-Based Assessment Through Perceptions Of Associated Industry Experts, Ramy Khalef, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The aviation sector received an underperforming D+ score, indicating its deteriorating qualities in comparison with the overall US infrastructure. In response, US governmental bodies issued investment bills that target the improvement of the nation's airport system. Airport projects are still being implemented through design-bid-build (DBB), which is notorious for its ineffective risk shift, low contractor input, and poor cost and schedule performance. Studies show that design-build (DB) possesses prospective cost and schedule benefits. Despite this, there is still reluctance toward DB's usage in airport projects. Moreover, current studies lack in offering frameworks that assist airport practitioners in guiding stakeholders toward …

Experimental Study Of Coal Fines Migration Characteristics In Reservoirs With Diverse Coal Structures: Influence On Reservoir Behavior, Yingchun Wei, Ziliang Liu, Xianyue Xiong, Tiancheng Xie, Biao Li, Anmin Wang, Daiyong Cao, Zhenjiang You

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The challenge of coal fines production within tectonic coal reservoirs during coalbed methane (CBM) development in China presents a significant concern. In this study, coal samples with distinct coal structures from Hancheng mining area were selected for experiments on coal fines migration. Our analysis focused on the distinctive characteristics of coal fines generated by various coal structures, the subsequent alterations in sample permeability, and the changes in pore and fracture structures before and after the experiments. By examining the reservoir properties across different structures, we aimed to uncover the migration characteristics of coal fines in these diverse coal reservoirs and …

Operational And Design Factors In Air Staging And Their Effects On Fouling From Biomass Combustion, Akram Elsebaie, Mingming Zhu, Yasir M. Al-Abdeli

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The global transition towards a carbon-neutral economy highlights the potential of biomass as a renewable fuel source. However, the sustainability of biomass energy systems is challenged by its complex fouling behaviours during combustion. This study investigates the impact of air staging on mitigating fouling in biomass combustion. By optimising the secondary-to-total air flowrate ratio (Qs/Qt) and the positioning of secondary air, this research investigates the impact of operational and design parameters on fouling deposits in biomass combustion. A fixed-bed combustor was used for the experiments, with hardwood pellets as fuel. This study employed TGA and SEM to analyse the fouling …

Production Of Lioh·H2o From Lithium Chloride By Electrodialysis And Crystallisation, Kwang Loon Ang, Maryam Barmi, Yasaman Boroumand, Amir Razmjou, Aleksandar N. Nikoloski

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Laboratory bench scale experiments were performed to develop a process for electrodialysis (ED) of LiCl liquor from spodumene leaching and purification to produce LiOH solution, for subsequent conversion by evaporative crystallisation to LiOH·H2O crystals as the end-product. Nafion® 117 cation-selective membranes were used in all experiments. The small electrolytic test cell achieved an average LiOH production rate of 7.5 g/h with 83 % coulombic efficiency and specific electrical consumption of 6.5 kWh/kg LiOH. In the large electrolytic test cell, a higher average LiOH production rate of 11.2 g/h was attained but at lower coulombic efficiency (62 %) and greater specific …

Harnessing The Power Of Hollow Zein Nanoparticles For Enhanced Antifouling And Heavy Metal Removal Of Polyethersulfone Membranes, Farzan Esmali, Mohadeseh Najafi Arani, Elsie Betmoushoul, Masoumeh Zargar, Khalil Farhadi, Vahid Javan Kouzegaran, Rahim Molaei, Yaghoub Mansourpanah

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study explores the physicochemical characteristics of an innovative mixed matrix membrane made from polyethersulfone (PES) and hollow Zein nanoparticles (HZNs), which are derived from the corn storage protein, Zein. HZNs, with a mean diameter of 40 nm, were applied to address the challenges associated with metal and inorganic nanoparticles, such as their tendency to accumulate unevenly on the membrane surface. The membranes were fabricated by incorporating varying concentrations of HZNs into the PES casting solution through the nonsolvent phase separation method. The addition of HZNs enhanced the hydrophilicity and pure water flux of the membranes. It also modified the …

Stability Of Two-Class Armour Berm Breakwaters: An Experimental Study, Mohammed Al-Ogaili, Amir Etemad-Shahidi, Nick Cartwright, Sigurdur Sigurdarson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The recession of a berm breakwater is a key parameter in ensuring its stability, and functionality, to protect coastal areas against wave impacts. Consequently, consideration of the expected recession in structural design is required to ensure the required objectives of the structure. In this study, physical model laboratory experiments were conducted to measure the recession of two-class armour berm breakwaters in response to varying sea state conditions (wave height, wave period, storm duration, and water depth at the structure's toe) and geometrical parameters (berm elevation from still water level, berm width, and rock size). A total of 110 tests were …

High Mechanical Performance Of Lattice Structures Fabricated By Additive Manufacturing, Yuhua Li, Deyu Jiang, Rong Zhao, Xin Wang, Liqiang Wang, Lai Chang Zhang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Lattice structures show advantages in mechanical properties and energy absorption efficiency owing to their lightweight, high strength and adjustable geometry. This article reviews lattice structure classification, design and applications, especially those based on additive manufacturing (AM) technology. This article first introduces the basic concepts and classification of lattice structures, including the classification based on topological shapes, such as strut, surface, shell, hollow-strut, and so on, and the classification based on the deformation mechanism. Then, the design methods of lattice structure are analyzed in detail, including the design based on basic unit, mathematical algorithm and gradient structure. Next, the effects of …

Impact Of Tib2 Source On The Microstructure And Properties Of Tib2–Sic–B4c Ceramics, Steven M. Smith, Suzana Filipovic, William G. Fahrenholtz, Gregory E. Hilmas, Carlo Baldisserri, Laura Silvestroni

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

To date, the thermal and electrical properties of three-phase ceramics containing a boride phase, silicon carbide, and boron carbide have not been studied in detail. Further, the effect of the source of the boride powder has also not been investigated. This study produced three-phase ceramics containing titanium diboride, silicon carbide, and boron carbide using three different TiB₂ sources: commercial powder, TiB₂ synthesized by boro/carbothermal reduction, or (Ti,Cr)B₂ synthesized by boro/carbothermal reduction to address the effect of the TiB₂ source. Ceramics containing synthesized TiB₂ or (Ti,Cr)B₂ reached >99% relative density, while the ceramic produced from …

Kinetic Modeling Of Dust Grain Dynamics In Electrostatic Sieving, Aaron Berkhoff, Easton Ingram, Fateme Rezaei, Jeffrey Smith, David Bayless, William Schonberg, Daoru Han

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A new kinetic particle modeling framework was developed to investigate electrostatic transport of lunar regolith dust particles with applications to the concept of electrostatic sieving. the new approach is based on kinetic particle dynamics and includes major modules of sampling the particle size distribution, solving electric fields, and tracking motion of charged dust grains. a case study for a concept of electrostatic sieving was chosen to validate the new model. the simulation achieved similar performance of particle size classification as reported in the literature. the new model is computationally efficient (takes a few minutes on a PC-type laptop computer) so …

Delivery Of Tgfβ3 From Magnetically Responsive Coaxial Fibers Reduces Spinal Cord Astrocyte Reactivity In Vitro, Jessica L. Funnell, Jasper Fougere, Diana Zahn, Silvio Dutz, Ryan J. Gilbert

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A spinal cord injury (SCI) compresses the spinal cord, killing neurons and glia at the injury site and resulting in prolonged inflammation and scarring that prevents regeneration. Astrocytes, the main glia in the spinal cord, become reactive following SCI and contribute to adverse outcomes. The anti-inflammatory cytokine transforming growth factor beta 3 (TGFβ3) has been shown to mitigate astrocyte reactivity; however, the effects of prolonged TGFβ3 exposure on reactive astrocyte phenotype have not yet been explored. This study investigates whether magnetic core-shell electro spun fibers can be used to alter the release rate of TGFβ3 using externally applied magnetic fields, …

Substrate Interference And Strain In The Second-Harmonic Generation From Mose2 Monolayers, Sudeep Puri, Sneha Patel, Jose Luis Cabellos, Luis Enrique Rosas-Hernandez, Kaitlin Reynolds, Hugh O.H. Churchill, Salvador Barraza-Lopez, Bernardo S. Mendoza, Hiroyuki Nakamura

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nonlinear optical materials of atomic thickness, such as non-centrosymmetric 2H transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers, have a second-order nonlinear susceptibility (χ⁽²⁾) whose intensity can be tuned by strain. However, whether χ⁽²⁾ is enhanced or reduced by tensile strain is a subject of conflicting reports. Here, we grow high-quality MoSe₂ monolayers under controlled biaxial strain created by two different substrates and study their linear and nonlinear optical responses with a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches. Up to a 15-fold overall enhancement in second-harmonic generation (SHG) intensity is observed from MoSe₂ monolayers grown on SiO₂ when …