Engineering Commons^™

Material And Physical Reservoir Computing For Beyond Cmos Electronics: Quo Vadis?, Christof Teuscher

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Traditional computing is based on an engineering approach that imposes logical states and a computational model upon a physical substrate. Physical or material computing, on the other hand, harnesses and exploits the inherent, naturally-occurring properties of a physical substrate to perform a computation. To do so, reservoir computing is often used as a computing paradigm. In this review and position paper, we take stock of where the field currently stands, delineate opportunities and challenges for future research, and outline steps on how to get material reservoir to the next level. The findings are relevant for beyond CMOS and beyond von …

Chemical Strategies To Mitigate Electrostatic Charging During Coffee Grinding, Joshua Méndez Harper, Christopher H. Hendon

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The process of grinding coffee generates particles with high levels of electrostatic charge, causing a number of detrimental effects including clumping, particle dispersal, and spark discharge. At the brewing level, electrostatic aggregation between particles affects liquid-solid accessibility, leading to variable extraction quality. In this study, we quantify the effectiveness of four charge mitigation strategies. Our data suggests that adding small amounts of water to whole beans pre-grinding, or bombarding the grounds with ions produced from a high-voltage ionizer, are capable of de-electrifying the granular flows. While these techniques helped reduce visible mess, only the static reduction through water inclusion was …

Human-Centric Smart Cities: A Digital Twin-Oriented Design Of Interactive Autonomous Vehicles, Oscar G. De Leon-Vazquez

Theses and Dissertations

Autonomous vehicle (AV) technology is introduced as a solution to improve transportation safety by eliminating traffic accidents caused by human error, which is the leading cause of 90% of accidents. One key feature of AVs is sensing and perceiving their surrounding environment through processing observations collected from the environment. The perception system is essential for an AV to make informed decisions and safely navigate the environment. This study presents an image semantic segmentation algorithm developed in the area of computer vision to improve AV perception. The U-Net-based algorithm is trained and validated using a synthetically generated dataset in a simulation …

Underwater Image Enhancement: A Pipeline For Underwater Computer Visions, Humberto Lebron Rivera

Theses and Dissertations

Ocean exploration has surged in popularity and significance in recent years, including diverse areas like maritime archeology, underwater resources, and submerged structure inspection. The activities mentioned above heavily depend on vision and imagery, a challenge in the unpredictable marine world. This thesis presents a conditional generative adversarial network model for image-to-image translation problems. We designed and trained the model with the end goal of enhancing underwater images. Five metrics were employed for validation to quantify our model’s resulting enhanced images. By doing so, we aim to establish a pipeline that can leverage aerial computer vision algorithms for marine applications.

Our …

An Integrated Neutrosophic Approach For The Urban Energy Internet Assessment Under Sustainability Dimensions, Walaa M. Sabry

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

The urgent issue of climate change has resulted in an increasing preoccupation with the transition to low-carbon energy. The urban energy internet (UEI) enables the efficient utilization of renewable energy via the integration of contemporary energy grids, smart energy services, and cyber-physical systems. Consequently, the assessment of urban energy is vital for the construction of low-carbon cities. This study intends to provide an integrated decision-making approach for addressing assessment challenges related to UEI, with a focus on sustainability. The introduced approach adopts the opinions of three experts to express their opinions through semantic terms in evaluating sustainability factors and evaluating …

Improving Multi-Crane Planning On Construction Sites, Ali Khodabandelu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Designing the configuration of tower cranes, managing their operations, and coordinating material logistics are intricate processes that wield significant influence over the time, cost, productivity, and safety of construction projects. This complexity stems from the multitude of layout configurations, diverse crane types, varied tasks, and material supply points, all interacting within a dynamic environment. Collisions pose a heightened risk due to overlapping crane areas, further adding complexity to the planning of crane layouts and operations. Optimizing crane layout and operational planning while ensuring safety requires establishing effective connections between tasks, cranes, and material supply locations. Traditionally, research and industry practices …

Performance Comparison Of Design-Bid-Build (Dbb), Design-Build (Db) And Construction Management-At-Risk (Cmar) Methods, And Identification Of Critical Success Factors For Db And Cmar In Water And Wastewater Projects, Shrijan Shrestha

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The United States encounters numerous challenges within the water and wastewater sectors. The American Water Works Association mandates a capital investment of $1.3 trillion over the next 25 years for the restoration and renewal of water infrastructures throughout the United States. (AWWA). To design and construct cost-effective and time-efficient water and wastewater facilities without compromising the infrastructure quality, owners are adopting alternative approaches to project delivery like Construction Management-at-Risk (CMAR) and Design-Build (DB). These approaches introduce innovation and integration into project delivery, addressing specific limitations inherent in the traditional Design-Bid-Build (DBB) method. The rise in utilization of alternative delivery methodologies …

Comprehensive Analysis Of The Effects Of Superplasticizer Variation On The Workability And Strength Of Ready-Mix Concrete, Tahsin Tareque, Fahmid Tousif, Mirza Addaito Billah, Abdullah Al Masum Jabir, Seyedali Mirmotalebi

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

This experimental study aims to examine the influence of many crucial parameters on the workability and compressive strength of Ready-Mix Concrete (RMC). The study utilized two distinct varieties of superplasticizers obtained from the local market. The fine aggregates utilized in this study were sourced from Sylhet sand, whereas the coarse aggregates were comprised of boulder crushed stone chips. The experimental procedures adhered to the requirements outlined by ASTM. A comprehensive investigation was conducted on a range of concrete compositions that used diverse chemical admixtures. The slump test was performed at regular intervals of 15 minutes until the slump value reached …

Assessment Of The Mechanical And Durability Characteristics Of Bio-Mineralized Bacillus Subtilis Self-Healing Concrete Blended With Hydrated Lime And Brick Powder, Mohd Abu Bakr, Birendra Kumar Singh, Ahmed Farouk Deifalla, Shatrudhan Pandey, Ahmed Hussain, Sahir Sultan Alvi, S.M. Mozammil Hasnain

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Highlights

• The present paper studied the effect of biomineralization on the properties of HBr concrete.

• Strength and durability properties are improved by calcite precipitation produced by bacteria.

• CaCO3 Precipitation was confirmed in the microstructure analysis through FESEM and EDS.

Abstract

Cement is the main constituent of the concrete structure. Using rejected brick as pozzolana in replacement of cement reduced the utilization of natural resources, conserved the environment, and controlled waste disposal. Hydrated lime has been utilized as a chemical additive to improve the pozzolanic reaction of finely ground waste brick particles. This research investigates the process of biomineralization to enhance …

Performing Motorized-To-Non-Motorized Crash Analysis Using Multi-Model Lbs Traffic Data Calibrated Through Random Forest Models, Nicholas Aldridge

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Traditionally, traffic prediction has been an engineering challenge due to insufficient quantities of data. In this thesis, the use of a new type of data called location-based service (LBS) data from StreetLight (StL) and a large database of multi-modal traffic counts are used to infer vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle volumes on all road segments in Lincoln, Nebraska. Additional land use features are incorporated into the model from the EPA Smart Location Database (EPA-SLD). The use of random forest models provides strong measures of fit for all modes, with R² scores of 0.98 for both the bicycle and pedestrian modes …

Bridge Deck Overhang Design: Effective Vehicle Impact Loads, Ultimate Strength, And Implications On Bridge Rail Performance, Andrew Eric Loken

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

When an errant vehicle strikes a bridge railing on a typical girder bridge, impact loads are transmitted downward through the railing and inward through the deck overhang to the primary superstructure elements. In this research effort, design demands for deck overhangs supporting concrete railings were characterized using physical testing and complementary modeling in LS-DYNA. Physical test and modeling results were also used to better characterize the ultimate strength of overhangs supporting post-and-beam railings. Ultimately, a novel design methodology for deck overhangs was developed and proposed for adoption to the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications (BDS).

For overhangs with solid concrete …

An Icfd Fluid Model Used In A Mash Tl-6 Vehicle Model, Md Zunayed Habib

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The objective of this thesis was to develop an ICFD finite element model of a partially filled deformable container suitable for impact scenarios. This model will be later incorporated into the existing TL-6 vehicle model, which is a tractor-tank trailer vehicle model. Previous finite element fluid models for the TL-6 vehicle used an elastic fluid model, which could not predict the fluid behavior correctly.

A study was conducted on the ICFD modeling and an improved ICFD model has been developed using the LS-DYNA, a finite element analysis software. Different properties and parameters of the fluid and the container were adopted …

Characterization Of Interlayer Laser Shock Peening During Fused Filament Fabrication Of Polylactic Acid (Pla), Fabien Denise

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The field of additive manufacturing (AM) has gained a significant amount of popularity due to the increasing need for more sustainable manufacturing techniques and the adaptive development of complex product geometries. The problem is that AM parts routinely exhibit flaws or weaknesses that affect functionality or performance. Over the years, surface treatments have been developed to compensate certain flaws or weaknesses in manufactured products. Combining surface treatments with the modularity of additive manufacturing could lead to more adaptable and creative improvements of product functions in the future. The current work evaluates the feasibility of pursuing a new research axis in …

Experimental Analysis Of Nonlinear Wave Propagation In Bistable Mechanical Metamaterials With A Defect, Samuel R. Harre

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Mechanical metamaterials built up of compliant units can support the propagation of linear and nonlinear waves. A popular architecture consists of a one-dimensional chain of bistable elements connected by linear springs. This type of chain can support nonlinear transition waves that switch each element from one stable state to the other as they propagate along the chain. One way to manipulate the propagation of such waves is via introduction of a local inhomogeneity, i.e., a defect in the otherwise periodic chain. Recent analytical and numerical work has shown that based on its initial velocity, a transition wave may be reflected, …

Amorphous Boron Carbide-Amorphous Silicon Heterojunction Devices, Vojislav Medic

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation will show successful development and characterization of amorphous boron carbide-amorphous silicon heterojunction device with potential for neutron detection.

The amorphous hydrogenated boron carbide (a-BC:H) has been extensively researched as a semiconductor for neutron voltaic device fabrication. Naturally occurring boron contains 19.8% of boron isotope B¹⁰ that has a high absorption cross section of thermal neutrons at lower energies, and boron carbide contains 14.7% of that B¹⁰ isotope. Therefore, as a semiconductor compound of boron a-BC:H has the ability to absorb radiation, generate charge carriers, and collect those carriers.

Previous work on a-BC:H devices investigated the fabrication …

Development Of Lignin-Based Copolymers And Polymer Blends, David Chem

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increasing industrial interest in reducing fossil fuels in virgin polymer production and incorporating bio-based polymeric materials has led researchers to explore the potential of utilizing plant-based polymers such as lignin. Chapter 1 of this thesis presents a comprehensive overview of copolymerization and blending techniques for lignin and synthetic polymers, emphasizing different types of modifications and copolymerization techniques as well as key parameters such as temperature, reaction time, pH level, and solution compositions. These valorization methods are directed towards the development of high-value lignin-based materials with properties well-suited for various commercial applications. Chapter 2 offers a fundamental exploration into the amination …

Stability And Control Flight Testing Of A Modified Cessna 172, Tatiana Dirrigl Forbes

Theses and Dissertations

The Cessna 172N is a small, fixed-wing, single-engine aircraft. The modified Cessna 172N included a swapped engine to a Lycoming O-360-A4M, tuned exhaust, and variable timing ignition installed. Test flights on this aircraft were performed order to evaluate the stability and control characteristics of the Cessna 172N, and compare them with the regulations in the Title 14 CFR Part 23 Airworthiness Standards for Normal, Utility, Acrobatic, and Commuter Category Airplanes. The flight test consisted of four separate tests performed during a single flight, departing from and returning to Melbourne Orlando International airport (KMLB). The data was collected through static and …

Development Of A Physics-Informed Neural Network For Prediction Of Blood Flow, Marcello Vittorio Mattei Di Eugenio

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract—Objective: We propose a new neural network architecture that accepts point clouds and outputs 3D velocity profiles for aneurysm geometries. Methods: We generated a synthetic aneurysm 3D flow dataset using CFD and used it to train our model architecture and compare it with other popular architectures like U-net and PointNet. We incorporate tools for improving model performance such as incorporating a distance function, a physics-informed loss to enforce the law of mass conservation, and the Huber loss to learn patterns across heterogeneous velocity components of multiple dimensions. Results: The tools implemented together with our architecture achieved the best performance on …

Effects Of Perforations On Internal Cathodic Protection And Recruitment Of Marine Organisms To Steel Pipes, Alexander John Paluzzi

Theses and Dissertations

Steel monopile support structures for offshore wind turbines require protection from corrosion on their external and internal surfaces. Cathodic protection (CP) works effectively to protect the external surfaces of monopiles, but internally, byproducts from aluminum sacrificial anode CP (SACP) and impressed current CP (ICCP) induce acidification that accelerates steel corrosion. This project investigated the effects of perforations on the performance of aluminum SACP and ICCP when used inside of steel pipes. Additionally, marine growth on the external and internal surfaces of the pipes was assessed to determine if CP byproducts affect marine organism development.

Two sealed and two perforated steel …

A Poisson-Based Distribution Learning Framework For Short-Term Prediction Of Food Delivery Demand Ranges, Jian Liang, Jintao Ke, Hai Wang, Hongbo Ye, Jinjun Tang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a dramatic change in the demand composition of restaurants and, at the same time, catalyzed on-demand food delivery (OFD) services—such as DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats—to a large extent. With massive amounts of data on customers, drivers, and merchants, OFD platforms can achieve higher efficiency with better strategic and operational decisions; these include dynamic pricing, order bundling and dispatching, and driver relocation. Some of these decisions, and especially proactive decisions in real time, rely on accurate and reliable short-term predictions of demand ranges or distributions. In this paper, we develop a Poisson-based distribution prediction (PDP) …

Maximising Captured Power And Battery Management For Heaving Wave Energy Converters, Omsalama Mubarak Mohamed

Dissertations

Sea waves are considered the most potent energy carriers among all sources of renewable energy. This research work is concerned with developingtechnologies to enhance performance and improve power capturing and conversion capabilities of a single heaving wave energy converter (WEC) actuated by a PMLG (Permanent Magnet Linear Generator). The objective of this dissertation is achieved by three techniques. The first one considers maximizing conversion between the mechanical and electrical powers. It is implemented by designing intrinsic resistance using a rapid procedure involving the mechanical and electrical models of the converter and considering its operating constraints. A robust PID (proportional – …

Thermal Atomization On Superhydrophobic Surfaces Of Varying Temperature Jump Length, Eric D. Lee, Daniel Maynes, Julie Crockett, Brian D. Iverson

Faculty Publications

This paper presents an experimental study of drop impingement and thermal atomization on hydrophobic and superhydrophobic (SH) surfaces. Superhydrophobic surfaces having both microscale and nanoscale geometry are considered. Microscale SH surfaces are coated with a hydrophobic coating and exhibit micropillars and cavities which are classified using the surface solid fraction and center to center pitch. The solid fraction and pitch values explored in this study range from 0.05-1.0 and 8-60 μm respectively. Nanoscale textured surfaces are created by applying a blanket layer of carbon nanotubes. Both types of surfaces are further classified by a temperature jump length (λ …

An Analysis On Wildfire Mitigations Employed By Utilities In California, Evan Luu

Master's Theses

As climate change continues to worsen, environmental effects are felt by many people around the world. In California, some of its most damaging wildfires have been found to be started by utilities. As the state continues to suffer from worsening wildfire conditions, the utilities need to implement a variety of wildfire mitigations to help reduce the risk of wildfires that can affect the state and its residents. This paper analyzes the effectiveness of four mitigations employed across three California utilities and suggests potential ways for the mitigations to be used together. The technologies evaluated are covered conductor, rapid earth fault …

Improvement Of Rotation Capacity Of Composite Beam-To-Hss Column Connections Using External Horizontal Stiffeners, Mahdi Afshar Arjmand

Master's Theses

Improvement of Rotation Capacity of Composite Beam-to-HSS Column Connections Using External Horizontal Stiffeners

Mahdi Afshar Arjmand

This thesis focuses on the analysis of out-of-plane deformation (OOP) in column flange located in the panel zone of composite beam-to-column steel connection, as a critical aspect of steel structural engineering. This type of connection is an integral component of steel structures, and understanding their behavior is essential for ensuring safety and performance. The investigation involves examining the causes, factors influencing, and potential mitigation strategies for out-of-plane deformation of HSS flange column in these connections. Beam-to-column connections play a vital role in transferring loads …

Development Of Load Measurement Technique For Arbitrary Shapes, Quintin J. Cockrell

Master's Theses

Obtaining aerodynamic forces and moments about all three orthogonal axes for arbitrary shapes at arbitrary orientations in a fast manner via a measurement technique specific to Cal Poly’s low-speed wind tunnel to continually obtain the forces and moments under quasi-steady conditions is explored. A Continuous Rotation Technique (CR) uses a 6-DOF load cell and stepper motor to rotate an object about an axis for a complete rotation. The forces and moments acting upon the object pass through the stepper motor and interface plates and recorded by the load cell as the object is rotated continuously a finite number of rotations. …

Parametric Optimization Of A Wing-Fuselage System Using A Vorticity-Based Panel Solver, Chino Cruz

Master's Theses

Aerodynamic topology optimization is a useful tool in the aerodynamic design pro-
cess, especially when looking for marginal gains within a design. One example is
a turboprop racer concept aircraft that is designed with the goal of breaking world
speed records. An optimization framework was developed with the intention of later
being applied to this design. In the early design stages, the optimization framework
must focus on quicker methods of drag estimation, such as a panel codes. The large
number of design variables in topology optimization can exponentially increase func-
tion evaluations and thus computational cost. A vorticity-based panel solver …

The Tidal Prism, Viable Eelgrass Habitat, And The Effects Of Sea Level Rise In Morro Bay, Kaden A. Caliendo

Master's Theses

The tidal prism, or the volume of water exchanged from the sea to an estuary from mean low to mean high tide, influences system hydrodynamics and ecological functioning. Since 1884, the tidal prism in Morro Bay, California has been estimated to be decreasing over time due to sedimentation from upstream practices. What is the current tidal prism in Morro Bay and how will that change with sea level rise? How will eelgrass respond to rising sea levels?

For this study, inexpensive tidal gauges were deployed at four locations in Morro Bay from March to August 2023 to measure spatially varying …

Hypothyroid Disease Analysis By Using Machine Learning, Sanjana Seelam

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Thyroid illness frequently manifests as hypothyroidism. It is evident that people with hypothyroidism are primarily female. Because the majority of people are unaware of the illness, it is quickly becoming more serious. It is crucial to catch it early on so that medical professionals can treat it more effectively and prevent it from getting worse. Machine learning illness prediction is a challenging task. Disease prediction is aided greatly by machine learning. Once more, unique feature selection strategies have made the process of disease assumption and prediction easier. To properly monitor and cure this illness, accurate detection is essential. In order …

Classification Of Large Scale Fish Dataset By Deep Neural Networks, Priyanka Adapa

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The development of robust and efficient fish classification systems has become essential to preventing the rapid depletion of aquatic resources and building conservation strategies. A deep learning approach is proposed here for the automated classification of fish species from underwater images. The proposed methodology leverages state-of-the-art deep neural networks by applying the compact convolutional transformer (CCT) architecture, which is famous for faster training and lower computational cost. In CCT, data augmentation techniques are employed to enhance the variability of the training data, reducing overfitting and improving generalization. The preliminary outcomes of our proposed method demonstrate a promising accuracy level of …

Early-Warning Prediction For Machine Failures In Automated Industries Using Advanced Machine Learning Techniques, Satnam Singh

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This Culminating Experience Project explores the use of machine learning algorithms to detect machine failure. The research questions are: Q1) How does the quality of input data, including issues such as outliers, and noise, impact the accuracy and reliability of machine failure prediction models in industrial settings? Q2) How does the integration of SMOTE with feature engineering techniques influence the overall performance of machine learning models in detecting and preventing machine failures? Q3) What is the performance of different machine learning algorithms in predicting machine failures, and which algorithm is the most effective? The research findings are: Q1) Effective outlier …