Engineering Commons^™

Non-Linearity Modeling And Quantifications For Practical Rf Interference Control, Shengxuan Xia

Doctoral Dissertations

"Radio frequency (RF) interference can degrade the receiving sensitivity of antennas (desense problem). It is essential to model the nonlinearity as it is the root-cause of the unwanted frequency components. Understanding the electromagnetic (EM) coupling or radiated emissions is also important.

Nonlinearity causes modulation-involved desense problems, and it consists of two categories: upconvertion of the baseband noise by the transmitting (TX) signal, and the passive intermodulation (PIM) of the transmitting signal itself. The upconvertion caused desense can be modeled and analyzed with the dipole-moment based coupling framework. PIM has been identified as another nonlinear distortion mechanism, specifically in the metallic …

Applications Of Computational Intelligence And Data Fusion Techniques For Biomedical Images, Anand Krishnadas Nambisan

Doctoral Dissertations

"The realm of melanoma diagnosis has been significantly advanced by deep learning (DL) techniques, yet the current approaches are not without limitations, including missed diagnoses and the challenge of interpreting these "black box" models. The research is comprised of three studies, each contributing uniquely towards advancing melanoma detection accuracy and interpretability. The first study focuses on improving the detection of specific dermoscopic structures through a deep learning-based segmentation approach, while the second study builds upon this by employing a fusion technique that combines traditional image features with advanced deep learning models. This method significantly improves melanoma detection, particularly in recall …

Lithospheric Drip And Mantle Thermal Upwelling Beneath Central Asia And The Southern Great Plains Of North America: Evidence From Receiver Function Imaging, Yangyang Liao

Doctoral Dissertations

"Investigating the depth of mantle transition zone (MTZ) discontinuities provides insights into mantle dynamics, including regional-scale downwelling of mantle lithosphere (i.e., lithospheric drip) and upwelling of thermal materials (i.e., mantle plume). In our study, we employ receiver functions to image the 410 km (d410) and 660 km (d660) mantle discontinuities and to ascertain thickness of the MTZ beneath Central Asia and the Great Plains in United States. The findings unveil a significantly thickened transition zone, exhibiting an average thickness of 284 km beneath East Sayan. When considered alongside geochemical observations, our results indicate that the descent of the lithosphere is …

Processing-Microstructure-Properties Relationships In Additively Manufactured Zrb2-Sic Ceramics, Marharyta Lakusta

Doctoral Dissertations

"The study explores the pressure less sintering (PS) and chemical compatibility of ZrB₂-30 vol.%SiC produced by additive manufacturing (AM) with CO₂. The oxidation kinetics and scale microstructures were compared for ZrB₂-SiC made by hot pressing (HP) and by AM coupled with PS. All specimens exhibited parabolic oxidation kinetics. The difference in oxidation behavior becomes evident at temperatures of 1100-1400°C (200-900h). Oxidation rates increased as grain size increased. Similar oxide scale morphologies were observed in both CO₂ and air, with an outer borosilicate layer and an inner porous ZrO₂ layer containing partially oxidized …

High Viscosity Friction Reducer Evaluation At High Temperature And High Tds Environments, Ghith Ali Ahmed Biheri

Doctoral Dissertations

"In unconventional reservoirs, proppant transport during hydraulic fracturing treatments could be successful when the proppant is placed further within the reservoir's fracture networks. This could increase the reservoir formation conductivities and improve the productivity of the wells. This job of improving the reservoir conductivity by distributing and transporting proppant can be conducted by reliable fracture fluids with excellent fluid rheology (e.g., viscosity and elasticity). However, several challenges, including the high temperatures and the presence of high TDS in produced water, may limit the capability of fracture fluids to transport proppant. Additionally, the use of fracture fluid has raised fears regarding …

Engineering Mussel Foot Protein 5 (Mfp5) For Enhanced Adhesive Performance In Tendon And Bone Repair, Ziyue Zhu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

This study explores the development of Mussel Foot Protein 5 (MFP5) bioadhesives to improve tendon-to-tendon and tendon-to-bone adhesive outcomes. MFP5, known for its underwater adhesive properties, was synthesized using recombinant techniques and optimized through coacervation and cross-linking. Adhesion tests demonstrated the superior performance of the optimized MFP5 adhesive on the tendon and bone samples. Improved protein concentration testing and purification methods enhanced MFP5 yield and consistency. Future research will focus on further standardization, exploring alternative purification methods, and evaluating the adhesive's performance in animal models. This study lays a foundation for developing robust MFP5-based bioadhesives, potentially revolutionizing surgical repair techniques …

Grid Culture, Eliot Bates, Arseni Troitski

Publications and Research

In this essay, we provide our initial ethnographic research about lines, which at a superficial level can be considered a platform, but which is also synonymous with a community of 8800 users, and with 606k unique posts authored by these users that in aggregate constitute a discourse network (Aufschreibesysteme, see Kittler 1990). lines—as platform, community, and discourse network—is primarily designed to support the development, documentation and user-generated code efforts specific to a set of hardware synthesis-related objects (the two we will focus on are called Norns and Grid; we’ll discuss what they are and what they do through the subsequent …

A Design Team’S Perspective-Mixing For Shared Empathic Understandings, Eunhye Kim, Robin Adams, Senay Purzer

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Empathic design involves two social practices – collaboration with users and intra team collaboration forshared empathic understandings. This study is focused on the latter phenomenon, aiming to characterise a social mechanism underlying it. To achieve this objective, we used a framework of perspective-mixing in empathic design, including three distinct perspectives: first, second, and third-person perspectives. With this framework, we traced how team members share and integrate individuals’ user knowledge and insights to develop and apply their shared empathic understandings. We conducted conversation analysis to examine one design team’s conversations over a design journey from need-finding to initial ideation to prototyping …

Towards A Distributed Model Of Teaming: Instructor-Driven Lessons From I-Matter, Austin Morgan Kainoa Peters, Alice Pawley, Stephanie Masta, Darryl Dickerson, Matthew Ohland

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

This WIP research paper describes the development of a preliminary practical model to improve how instructors of large classes can address marginalization amongst teammates in small teams. We collected interviews with instructors of large first-year engineering classes at a large Midwestern, primarily white, research-intensive university, and analyzed them thematically drawing on Sue and colleagues’ microaggression theory, Cortina and colleagues’ articulation of selective incivility, and theory on coded language. Through iterative readings and coding, we offer an initial articulation of attributes demonstrated by instructors, and position those attributes in a preliminary contrasting model that prioritizes distributed responsibility over instructors being solely …

Board 398: Sustaining And Scaling The Impact Of The Midfield Project At The American Society For Engineering Education (Year 2), Susan M. Lord, Matthew Ohland, Marisa K. Orr, Richard A. Layton, Catherine E. Brawner, Russell Long, Haleh Barmaki Brotherton, Hayaam Osman, Joe Roy

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

The Multiple Institution Database for Investigating Engineering Longitudinal Development (MIDFIELD) has been developed over many years with substantial investment by the National Science Foundation through Engineering Education and Centers in the Engineering Directorate and the Division of Undergraduate Education in the Education and Human Resources Directorate. This project is focused on transitioning MIDFIELD to the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). The current team of MIDFIELD researchers continues to support this project including helping others learn to use the database. We have developed detailed tutorials in R that introduce MIDFIELD, key metrics, and example scenarios. We have also designed and …

Board 438: Year Two Of Developing A New Dataset For Analyzing Engineering Curricula, David Reeping, Kenneth Reid, Matthew Ohland, Nahal Rashedi

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

This paper discusses the developments during Year 2 for a project concerned with analyzing the curricula of engineering programs in the United States to understand the structural barriers embedded in degree requirements that could push out diverse groups of students. We are using an emerging method for quantifying the complexity of these programs called Curricular Analytics. This method involves treating the prerequisite relationships between courses as a network and applying graph theoretic measures to calculate a curriculum’s structure complexity. In Year 1, we collected 497 plans of study representing five engineering disciplines (i.e., Mechanical, Civil, Electrical, Chemical, and Industrial) across …

Verification And Validation Of Pavement Models, Jaime Hernandez, Angeli Jayme, Hasan Ozer, Eyal Levenberg, Lev Khazanovich, Emin M. Kutay

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Model development activities are increasing in pavement research and engineering applications. At the same time, there is ambiguity and a lack of consistency with regard to checking and quantifying credibility and suitability for the intended application. Specifically, usage of the terms Verification and Validation (V&V) is seen to vary across contributions. In this context, this paper was motivated by the desire to provide a best-practice reference that underlines the significance of the V&V terms, clarifies their definition, and promotes a more unified usage. Accordingly, the objective was to offer examples that introduce the V&V jargon, demonstrate basic V&V concepts and …

Stormwater Alters The Resistome Of Urban Surface Water, An Impact That Can Be Mitigated By Green Stormwater Infrastructure, Kassidy N. O'Malley, Walter M. Mcdonald, Patrick J. Mcnamara

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Antibiotic resistance poses an escalating threat to global health, with environmental reservoirs being pivotal areas of concern, as well as opportunities for potential mitigation. Stormwater systems are an important type of environmental reservoir in the urban water cycle with a dearth of research related to impacts on antibiotic resistance. In particular, there has been limited research exploring the impact of diverse antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) carried by stormwater from various land uses on surface water, nor has there been an examination of the role played by green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) in mitigating this impact. Therefore, this study sought to elucidate …

Delta Airlines Rebrand, Tryphena Elliott

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

The class was tasked with redesigning an existing brand of choice and creating a series of deliverables reflecting the new change. The purpose of this assignment was to create a completely new look for an existing brand, while still keeping it recognizable as the original brand. Delta Airlines was the brand of choice for this project because they are one of, if not the most eco-friendly airline, but their current branding does nothing to reflect these values. This redesign's goal was to make Delta stand out amongst the other airlines, and bring their eco-friendliness to the forefront of their brand …

Wifi Exercise Machine, Mekhi Edwards, Corey Majerus, Anthony Acevedo, Christopher April, Taylor Blackmon

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

Produced by the 2024 Technical Solutions Design Project class, the objective of the TECX4190 design project was to develop, through collaborative effort, exercise equipment with workout management and health monitoring capabilities. In the 2024 academic spring semester, the Technical Solutions Design students decided to demonstrate their capability goals with a jump rope. These students were split into two teams to develop the same project through two distinctive design solutions. Both teams worked through the concept design and implementation process for each group project. The Technical Solutions Design project presented a unique problem due to space constraints affecting the design of …

Retro Gaming Classic Tetris, Taylor Blackmon, Corey Majerus, Anthony Acevedo, Christopher April, Bradley Smith

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

Originating from the BSEE Senior Capstone Design Project class, the objective of the 2023-2024 Senior Electronics Engineering design project was to implement an efficiently functioning and user-friendly Tetris program on a DE-10 Lite FPGA development board with a connected XBee Pro input shield to receive mechanical input from users. In the 2023- 2024 academic year, the capstone design students started the design after a successful unification, the two teams created the application for the Tetris game using the unified development platform. At the end of 2023, the Capstone Design teams developed the retro style classic game Tetris on the development …

Drunk Coquí | Brand Trends, Gabriella Nieves

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

The goal of this project was to create seven logos for a fictious brand that explored different brand style trends, along with some mockups of the logos in use. I came up with Drunk Coquí, a tavern that values community and festivities while connecting with Puerto Rican culture, as represented by the brand’s mascot, the coquí frog. While each logo variation represents these values, each of them still give off a different vibe. For instance, the Geometric & Overlapping logo has a more silly and playful approach, while the Texture & Detailing logo has a more classic and serious look.

Kindly Foods: Reimagining Organic Food Packaging, Camille Hart

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

In my Package Design class, we were tasked with creating packaging for the four basics: milk, bread, eggs, and butter. I created the fictitious brand Kindly Foods. Kindly Foods is an organic plant-based brand focused on clean ingredients right from the earth. The deliverables for this project included designed and prototyped packaging for the four products, and a website to go along with the brand. The packaging and branding are very colorful, standing out against other organic packaging on the shelves. Each product packaging is unique to its product, complete with hand-drawn elements. Kindly Foods is kind to the earth …

Love Bash Event Branding For Potter League, Shea Lambert, Julia Schiels

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

As part of a Directed Experiential Education course, we worked with Potter League for Animals to design new branding for their 2025 Love Bash event. The Love Bash event is a premier spring fundraiser that takes place at the Wyndham Newport Hotel in Middletown, Rhode Island. We were responsible for designing a logo and defining brand standards for this event that aligned with Potter League’s existing brand. We were given extensive creative freedom with limited constraints. These constraints consisted of incorporating the logo mark and brand colors so that the brand identity was recognizable. Our designs for the new Love …

M.A.R.T.I.A.N Construction Robot, Michael Dattolo

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

The Martian is a pioneering initiative in extraterrestrial construction focused on developing habitats on Mars. Central to this project is a highly sophisticated robot uniquely tailored for Mars' challenging environment. It integrates advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), Depth Cameras, and a specialized construction mechanism. The AI enables autonomous decision-making, optimizes resource allocation, and executes complex building strategies. LIDAR technology allows for precise 3D mapping of Martian terrain, vital for site assessment and construction integrity. The depth camera provides detailed spatial awareness which is crucial for meticulous construction tasks. This robot will make it …

Drive Clean - Vehicle Care Products, Christopher Hammond

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

Drive Clean is brand that specializes in selling higher-end vehicle care products. Drive Clean was created for my Fall 2023 Packaging Design class, where a project was assigned to create a brand from several different categories (dairy, cleaning products, food, etc.) and then create packaging for that brand's products. I created Drive Clean as part of the cleaning products category, with the twist of products being meant for vehicles. I designed packaging for: Tire Shine Foam, UV Protectant Spray, Interior Cleaning Wipes, and Glass Cleaning Wipes. Each package features original imagery that pertains to each product's purpose, with the Tire …

Large-Scale Wayfinding Design At Boston Convention, Abram Kempner

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

I took part in this design project during my summer internship with Willwork Global Event Services, a trusted partner in event solutions. The objective of this design project was to create large-scale, dynamic environmental and wayfinding graphics. The design was to be used on signage and booths that attendees would interact with throughout the 2023 American Speech Hearing Association Convention in Boston, in accordance with the theme and brand outlines provided by ASHA. The event consisted of 3 core elements: Igniting Innovation, Education and Boston Culture. For the membership services booth and speaker-ready room entrance, illustrations of iconic Boston landmarks …

Cyberjack, Logan Daubel

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

The objective of this handcrafted design project was to design and construct wearable storage, using that prompt a jacket with unlimited customization was idealized. Inspired by the ethos of Tech-wear, the jacket was built for those who always have everything they need on them, like tools, pencils, laptop, phones, snacks, books, headphones, etc. There were many key aspects that were learned in the Iteration studio that were able to be utilized in the making of the jacket, such as many iterative sketches to hone in a design, rapid prototyping to flush out any issues that arise during the building process …

Compact Cutlery, Mathew Hartung

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

A folding kitchen knife serves as a versatile and practical tool for both campers and culinary students alike. Its compact design makes it highly portable and easy to carry during outdoor expeditions or culinary classes. For campers, it offers a convenient solution for food preparation while minimizing bulk in their gear. Its foldable nature ensures safety during transport and storage, reducing the risk of accidents in outdoor environments. Similarly, culinary students can benefit from its functionality in various kitchen settings, allowing them to practice their culinary skills with a reliable and portable utensil. The folding feature also promotes safety in …

Phobos - A Visual Dictionary Of Fears, J Roan

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

Phobos, a handcrafted accordion book and package, focuses on common fears, with an expressive quality that elicits a sense of unease. Each panel features an illustration representing a specific phobia and incorporates multiple design elements and principles. Emphasis was placed on prototyping and refinement in all phases of the design. The mixed-media illustrations showcase a variety of techniques, including improvisation. The black, white, and red color palette was inspired by classic horror. The brown paper provides contrast and gives the impression of age. While unified by color, each panel is unique and meticulously detailed. Three-dimensional collaged elements, contrasting ultra-matte and …

Achieveing Success, But At What Cost?, Alexis Shylanski

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

The purpose of this project was to emphasize the struggles of having an unhealthy addiction to success. In order to spread awareness of this topic, I created a photo essay with a total of 8 photos. A photo essay is a form of visual storytelling that can present a narrative through images. Within the photo essay, I touch upon what can become of someone’s emotions when they are tunnel-focused on achieving a goal. Although photography doesn’t use the use of words, the emotions portrayed through the images tell a story in hopes of expressing an overarching theme. Moreover, I wanted …

Les Pratiques Professionnelles Des Pomiculteurs Exposés Aux Pesticides : Des Savoir-Faire De Métier Aux Pratiques Stratégiques, Caroline Jolly, Alain Garrigou, Elise Ledoux

Études primaires

Dans les très petites entreprises pomicoles, le propriétaire assume majoritairement seul la préparation et la pulvérisation des pesticides. Le respect des mesures de prévention prescrites n’élimine pas l’exposition, pouvant occasionner des effets à la santé. L’objectif est de décrire les pratiques professionnelles développées par les pomiculteurs. Elles visent à limiter l’exposition aux pesticides tout en produisant des fruits de qualité, contribuant ainsi à l'essor de leur entreprise. La recherche-intervention mobilisant l’ergotoxicologie a été réalisée auprès de pomiculteurs au Québec. La diversité des pratiques professionnelles présentées s’inscrit dans les domaines d’activités de la gestion stratégique (p. ex. : développement de l’entreprise) …

Responses To A Century Of Housing Crisis: Problem, Politics And Policy, Paul Umfreville

Doctoral

The Irish housing system is reportedly in crisis. Homelessness, a lack of affordable housing to rent or buy, and limited security of tenure mean that the housing opportunity available to previous generations is not available to many of the current one. Problems with housing in Ireland are not, however, purely recent phenomena. Reports of inquiry and Census data have catalogued recurring housing crises and failings in housing policy over the last century, but whilst systemic shocks provided the impetus for historic housing policy transformation, inertia in the political system now appears to dampen momentum for effective change. Significant events seemingly …

Modelling The Operational Energy Demands And Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Non-Domestic Building Stocks Applied To A German Case Study, Julian H. Bischof

Doctoral

This work is centred around the global shift towards a post-fossil-fuel era, driven by climate change. The research is motivated by the urgent need to facilitate this transition, specifically focusing on the non-domestic building sector, which contributes in the order of 10 % [233] of global greenhouse gas emissions. The study aims to bridge the research gap in openly available, commonly accepted, simple-to-understand, validated and/or verified models and representative data sets of non-domestic building stocks that can be used to guide policymakers towards achieving climate neutrality. The main research objective is to create a life-cycle methodology and tool for modelling …

Assessing The Condition Of Pavements (Road Surfaces) Using Computer Vision & Machine Learning, Syed Ibrahim Hassam

Doctoral

Regular inspections of pavements are conducted by civil infrastructure departments to evaluate the surface condition. Pavement surfaces are subject to deterioration caused by several factors such as traffic, weather, and sunlight. This deterioration becomes evident through various distresses, including potholes, rutting, cracking, bleeding, patching, and ravelling, which gradually affects the surface layer over time. It is essential to assess the condition of pavements as it not only ensures their usability but also maximises public safety. Effective pavement maintenance requires substantial resources and capital investment to carry out the most suitable maintenance treatments at the optimal time. Furthermore, the outcomes of …