Engineering Commons^™

Exploring Relational Farming Futures For Responsible Innovation In Precision Agriculture Through Q-Method And Speculative Design, Bhavna Joshi, Maaz Gardezi, Edward Prutzer, Awais Hameed Khan, Asim Zia, Benjamin E. K. Ryan, Ali Dadkhah, Donna M. Rizzo, John T. Mcmaine, David Clay

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

This article draws on concepts of speculative design and responsible innovation to examine the possible impacts of data-driven precision agriculture on farmers and farm work. We use an innovative mixed-method approach to research design. Using artistic depiction of futures of precision agriculture in design workshop and in-depth semistructured interviews conducted with the farmers in Vermont and South Dakota, we explain how farmers perceive different futures of precision agriculture. Specifically, in our design workshop, we combined visual arts and social science methods, namely Q-method, to explore existing and new relationships between humans, technologies, and environment in the design, deployment, and use …

Charge‐Governed Mechanistic Evaluation Of Aav2 Clarification Via Functionalized Flat Sheet And Hollow Fiber Deconstructed Depth Filters, Mara Baughman‐Leach, Mattie Brock, Malgorzata Chwatko, Dibakar Bhattacharyya

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

The expansion of adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based therapeutics has increased the demand for efficient clarification. In this study, a functionalized deconstructed depth filtration platform was developed to dissect how membrane–virus charge, modulated by pH, influences separation. Three charge regimes, positive (pH 4), neutral (pH 6), and negative (pH 8) between the membranes and AAVs, were examined. The flat-sheet system, composed of sequential 1.2, 0.8, 0.45, and 0.1 µm membranes, enabled the first layer-by-layer analysis of depth filtration behavior. This revealed that Stage 1 and Stage 4 dominate clarification. Remarkably, substantial DNA capture (> 75%) was observed even in the largest-pore stage, …

Creep-Recovery Behavior Of Copper Springs At Low Stresses, Ming-Yen Tsai, Shou-Yi Chang, Yi-Chia Chou, Jyun-Lin Hu, Yulin Zhang, Fuqian Yang, Sanboh Lee

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Copper springs, unlike conventional wires, endure complex stress states such as torsion and bending under sustained thermal and mechanical loads. This study examines the time-dependent creep-recovery behavior of copper springs under low tensile forces at temperatures ranging from 523 K to 623 K, focusing on springs with spring indexes (ratio of mean spring diameter to wire diameter) of 6.4, 8.5, and 9.6. The non-linear Burgers model with a Kelvin solid effectively captures the deformation response and mirrors dislocation nucleation and annihilation kinetics. SEM and TEM imaging reveal that low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) act as both dislocation sources and sinks. The …

Dino-Lg: Enhancing Vision Transformers With Label Guidance For Coronary Artery Calcium Detection, Mahmut Selman Gokmen, Caner Ozcan, Moneera N. Haque, Steve W. Leung, Seth Parker, Brent Seales, Cody Bumgardner

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Coronary artery disease (CAD), one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide, necessitates effective risk assessment strategies, with coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring via computed tomography (CT) being a key method for prevention. Traditional methods, primarily based on UNET architectures implemented on pre-built models, face challenges like the scarcity of annotated CT scans containing CAC and imbalanced datasets, leading to reduced performance in segmentation and scoring tasks. In this study, we address these limitations by introducing DINO-LG, a novel label-guided extension of DINO (self-distillation with no labels) that incorporates targeted augmentation on annotated calcified regions during self-supervised pre-training. Our three-stage …

Validity And Reliability Of Force Insoles To Measure Center Of Pressure During Return-To-Sport Testing, Delaney Mcneese, Charles Eisner, Rachel Todd, Brian W. Noehren, Meredith K. Owen

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Center of pressure is a valuable biomechanical variable, predicting joint loading contributions during movement and giving insight into compensatory patterns. The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of force insoles in calculating vertical ground reaction force and center of pressure during return-to-sport jump testing. Ten healthy individuals performed double- and single-leg vertical and horizontal jumps on an instrumented treadmill while wearing instrumented force insoles. Vertical ground reaction force and anterior–posterior and medial–lateral center of pressure were collected at peak vertical ground reaction force from both devices. Repeat testing occurred 7 ± 5 days following the …

Non-Contact Optical Spectroscopy For Metabolic And Vascular Characterizations Of Orthotopic Tongue Cancer Models In Vivo, Md Zahid Hasan, Jing Yan, Sumit Sarker, Pranto Soumik Saha, Caigang Zhu

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Most tissue optical spectroscopy platforms use a fiber probe for light delivery and collection, while the inconsistent probe-sample contact could induce significant distortions in the measured optical signals, which consequently bring analysis errors. Moreover, it will be practically difficult to use a fiber probe for measurements in some cases such as oral cancer investigations using small animal models. To address the critical challenge, we report a portable, lens-based, optical spectroscopy device capable of quantifying key vascular and metabolic parameters in vivo without probe-sample contact. We combined lenses based diffuse reflectance and fluorescence spectroscopy into one portable platform to enable multi-parametric …

Combined Autofluorescence And Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy For Rapid Metabolic And Vascular Characterizations Of Orthotopic Tongue Tumors In Vivo, Pranto Soumik Saha, Jing Yan, Sumit Sarker, Zahid Hasan, Caigang Zhu

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Precise label-free quantification of tissue metabolic and vascular dynamics in vivo represents a critical challenge for cancer therapy prediction and longitudinal treatment assessment. In this study, we demonstrated a portable autofluorescence and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy device along with novel spectroscopic algorithms to quantify tissue vascular and metabolic parameters of orthotopic head and neck cancer models in vivo. Tissue-mimicking phantom studies were used to verify the dual-modal optical spectroscopy and easy-to-use spectroscopic algorithms for rapid and accurate estimation of tissue oxygen saturation, total hemoglobin contents, and intrinsic optical redox ratio. Animal studies were conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of our …

Noninvasive Diffuse Optical Monitoring Of Cerebral Blood Flow And Oxygenation Responses To Intermittent Hypoxia In Neonatal Rats, Pegah Safavi, Mehrana Mohtasebi, Chowdhury Azimul Haque, Faezeh Akbari, Xuhui Liu, Yiqi Yuan, Li Chen, Lei Chen, Guoqiang Yu

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Significance: Intermittent hypoxia (IH) is common in preterm neonates and can cause hypoxic–ischemic brain injury. Simultaneous monitoring of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and oxygenation is essential to detect oxygen delivery-extraction mismatches and guide intervention.

Aim: We aimed to adapt and test an innovative diffuse speckle contrast flow oximetry (DSCFO) system for continuous monitoring of cerebral hemodynamics during IH in neonatal rats, a model approximating human neonates.

Approach: Two compact laser diodes and a miniature CMOS camera were integrated into a fiber-free probe for continuous monitoring of changes in relative CBF (rCBF) and oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin concentrations (Δ[HbO₂] and …

Simulation And Characterization Of Fuel Cell System Incorporated Internet Of Things, Ahmad N. Alhjouj

Mechanical Engineering Theses

Small air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) systems are increasingly relevant for portable and distributed applications, yet practical modeling and monitoring methods remain limited: high-fidelity physics-based models are too costly for real-time use, while purely data-driven models discard physical interpretability. This thesis develops an experimentally grounded gray-box framework for the characterization, reduced-order modeling, and IoT-enabled monitoring of a small hydrogen PEMFC system. A low-order nonlinear state-space model couples an electrochemical voltage layer to a lumped thermal layer, with parameters identified in stages using self-adaptive differential evolution. Identifiability analysis shows that static loss parameters are well constrained, while dynamic parameters …

Computational Study Of Rotating Detonation Combustors, Aditya Balasubramaniam

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses

Rotating detonation combustors (RDCs) are pressure-gain combustion devices that sustain one or more continuously rotating detonation waves, offering potential thermodynamic and performance advantages over conventional deflagration-based systems. Their behavior depends strongly on combustor geometry and operating conditions. Understanding these effects is therefore essential for the design and optimization of practical RDCs. Accordingly, this thesis numerically investigates annular RDCs with two primary objectives: (1) to evaluate the effects of propellant mass flux and (2) to assess the influence of annular width on detonation-wave dynamics and combustor performance.

A finite-volume framework is used to solve the compressible reactive Euler equations with hydrogen–air …

Scalable Quantum Network Routing Through Reinforcement Learning And Resource Optimization, Tasdiqul Islam

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations

Long-distance quantum communication depends on distributing high-delity entanglement across quantum repeaters. Entangled states are fragile: they decohere in memory, are consumed when used, and lose delity after each swap. Quantum routing therefore diers from classical routing: an algorithm must decide not only the path, but when to generate, store, swap, and consume entanglement before they lose their usefulness. This dissertation studies scalable resource allocation and routing for quantum networks under delity, memory, and concurrency constraints. It rst addresses re- peater deployment with heuristics that nd near-optimal locations while cutting com- putation from days to seconds versus integer linear programming (ILP). …

Early Detection And Objective Assessment Of Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy Severity, Soheila Norasteh

Bioengineering Dissertations

Hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a neonatal brain injury caused by reduced oxygen and blood flow to the brain around the time of birth. It remains a major cause of neonatal mortality and long-term neurodevelopmental impairment worldwide. Therapeutic hypothermia is the standard treatment for moderate-to severe HIE and improves outcomes when initiated within the first six hours of life. Therefore, accurate assessment of injury severity during this period is essential. Cur rently, HIE severity is determined primarily through neurological examination and classified as mild, moderate, or severe. However, these examinations are subjective, cannot provide continuous monitoring of brain function, and may …

Electron Beam Irradiation Effects On Bulk Metals: A Comparative Study Of Polycrystalline Versus Single-Crystalline Structures, A. A. Elmustafa, N. A. Sultana, A. H. Al-Allaq, M. Ojha, Y. S. Mohammed, J. Vennekate, H. Baumgart

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This study investigates the effects of electron beam (e-beam) irradiation on the mechanical and structural properties of eight bulk metallic samples, comprising both polycrystalline (PC) and single-crystalline (SC) forms of Ni, Cr, V, and Ti. These metals were evaluated as potential candidates for beam exit windows in high-power (MW-class) particle accelerators. The primary objective is to identify metals capable of withstanding the conditions of high-power/MW-class e-beam accelerators and serve effectively as exit windows. Selection criteria were based on each metal’s intrinsic properties, power dissipation capability, and irradiation-induced changes in mechanical behavior, including hardness, elastic modulus, and defect density. Comprehensive characterization …

From Comparison To Integration: Building Energy Simulation Tool Variability And The Case For Intelligent Retrofit Workflows, Amir Safari, Dalya Ismael, Mahsa Safari, James Freihaut

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

As the urgency to address climate change and modernize energy infrastructure grows, the building sector plays a key role in improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. This study evaluates five energy retrofit strategies for Building 101 at The Navy Yard in Philadelphia, comparing two real-world proposals from energy service companies with three simulation-based packages derived from Building Energy Simulation (BES) tools. The study examined whether advanced BES tools provide greater accuracy and decision-making value compared to simpler alternatives. Electricity savings ranged from 5 % to 40 %, gas savings from 29.7 % to 61 %, and annual cost reductions …

Sulfhydryl-Functionalized Diarylethenes: Synthesis, Photoswitching, And Fluorescent Properties, Pramod Aryal, Jonathan Bietsch, Gowri Sankar Grandhi, Josh Choi, Guijun Wang

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Sulfhydryl group (SH) plays important roles in reactions with various functional groups, especially in biologically active systems. Photoswitchable diarylethene (DAE) derivatives have demonstrated applications in many research fields. Among the many classes of diarylethene derivatives, thiol derivatives have not been extensively explored. In this study, we systematically synthesized and characterized a series of bis-thiol functionalized dithienylethene derivatives. The thiol groups in this series are attached directly to the thiophene, or through a phenyl or methylene linker. Each series incorporated both dithienyl cyclopentene and hexafluorocyclopentene bridges and total six thiol substituted diarylethenes were synthesized. Among the six sulfhydryl DAE derivatives, four …

Multidentate Surfactant-Dependent Synthesis Of Giant Iridium Superstructures, Ramjee Balasubramanian, Maeren E. Hill

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Giant superstructures of iridium, comprised of smaller spherical and slightly larger anisotropic nanoparticles, were synthesized by reducing iridium chloride in the presence of resorcinarene, a class of tetrameric macrocyclic polyphenols, with sodium borohydride in ethanol in 30 min under mild conditions. These superstructures were characterized by a range of techniques including TEM, HRTEM, EDS and other spectroscopic methods. The impact of the macrocyclic surfactant, its features and reaction conditions in dictating the formation of giant iridium superstructures was evaluated. The packing density of nanoparticles in these giant iridium superstructures could be altered qualitatively by varying the duration of the reaction, …

Peculiarities Of Phosphatidylserine Externalization By Nano- And Microsecond Electric Pulses, Mantas Silkunas, Alayna Enos, Iurii Semenov, Giedre Silkuniene, Eleni Zivla, Olga N. Pakhomova, Andrei G. Pakhomov

Bioelectrics Publications

Phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization is a hallmark of apoptosis but can also be triggered within seconds by pulsed electric fields (PEFs). Whether PS reaches the outer leaflet by lateral migration through electropores or indirectly through Ca²⁺-dependent signaling and scramblase activation remains debated. We used total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy with Annexin V-Alexa Fluor 568 and/or bovine lactadherin-FITC to resolve PS externalization in HEK293 cells placed on an indium tin oxide (ITO) transparent electrode. PEF exposures produced discrete PS-positive puncta ("freckles") within ~ 10 s after a 20-µs pulse (1.2-2.5 kV/cm) or with a ~ 1-min delay after a …

Array Signal Processing And Machine Learning In 5g/6g Networks, Roopesh Kumar Polaganga

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation investigates advanced methodologies in Array Signal Processing (ASP) and Machine Learning (ML) to enhance the performance, efficiency, and intelligence of next-generation wireless networks, with a primary focus on 5G and emerging 6G systems. As wireless networks face rapid traffic growth, increasingly heterogeneous service requirements, and more complex propagation environments, conventional design and optimization approaches become insufficient to meet evolving demands in reliability, capacity, spectral efficiency, and energy efficiency. On the network intelligence side, this work develops data-driven frameworks for causal discovery, scheduler enhancement, session-duration prediction, and Radio Resource Control (RRC) state optimization using real-world telecommunication network data. On …

The Effect Of Aluminum Substrate Surface Topography And Surface Energy On The Peel Strength Of Polyurethane Coatings, Christopher Ryan Grivers

Open Access Master's Theses

CUI information not included.

Peel Strength Of Polyurethane Coated Marine Metals In Air And In Underwater Environments, Maximillian Hill

Open Access Master's Theses

This study aims to characterize the hydrostatic peel strength of a hyperplastic material on three distinct and widely used marine-grade metals, using a primer. Aluminum 6061, HY-80 steel, and Nickel 400 (commonly known as Monel) are among the more popular metals used in the marine industry due to their unique material properties. To better understand the relationship of these materials and how we might quantify them, a peel test is performed at varying curing temperatures.

Following the investigation into varying curing temperatures, several specific marine environments will be considered. Submersible marine vehicles are designed to operate in a range of …

An Investigation Of Quiet Bunks For Improved Rest On Marine Vessels, Jacob Milman

Open Access Master's Theses

Those who spend an extended period of time living in a marine setting (e.g. living and working on a research/commercial vessel) are subject to a variety of annoying/disturbing noises during periods of sleep. Numerous past studies (Kim et al., 2024; Sunde et al., 2016; Li et al., 2024) have linked noise exposure levels and poor sleep to health and safety risks, both in personal and professional settings. Thus, it is necessary to take a closer look at the typical levels of noise exposure which mariners aboard a research vessel are subjected to, as well as any factors relating to personal …

Ensemble Dependence Of Mechanical Relaxation In Molecular Dynamics Simulation, Mason E. Hyde

Open Access Master's Theses

This thesis investigates whether the selection of thermodynamic ensemble introduces quantifiable differences in the stress relaxation modulus G(t), storage modulus G”(w), loss modulus G”(w), and phase angle d(w) computed from equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations of the AAA-1 asphalt model. A 72-molecule, 12-component representation of AAA-1 bitumen was simulated under three ensembles (NPT, NVT, and NVE) at three temperatures (400.15 K, 443.15 K, and 533.15 K) with three independent replications at each condition, yielding 27 total simulations. Stress autocorrelation functions were computed from each production trajectory and Fourier-transformed to obtain frequency-dependent rheological properties.

The computed properties …

Noninvasive Optical Assessment Of Tissue Hemodynamics In Preterm Infants And Mastectomy Skin Flaps, Samaneh Rabienia Haratbar

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

Adequate tissue blood flow and oxygenation are essential for maintaining cellular viability and normal organ function. Disruptions in microvascular perfusion and oxygen delivery contribute to ischemia- and hypoxia-related diseases, including stroke, cancer, retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), and mastectomy skin flap necrosis. Reliable, noninvasive approaches for assessing tissue hemodynamics are therefore critical for improving diagnosis and therapeutic decision-making, particularly in settings where conventional methods are limited. This dissertation investigates the clinical and physiological importance of measuring tissue blood flow and oxygenation across neonatal and surgical applications using both clinical monitoring and advanced optical imaging techniques. In the first study, high-speed pulse …

Evaluating Training Effectiveness And Learning Transfer In The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Safety Academy, Amanda L. Casolare

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Effective evaluation of safety training is crucial to ensure that learning translates into safe work practices, particularly in high-risk public sector environments. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is developing a Safety Academy to enhance hazard recognition, risk management, and safety leadership within the organization. However, the Safety Academy has not yet been implemented, and formal evaluation methods for training have not been established. This study aimed to examine evidence-based training evaluation techniques and develop recommendations for evaluating the KYTC Safety Academy prior to program implementation.

This study employed an applied pre-implementation research design grounded in a comprehensive review of safety …

Mental Health And Help-Seeking In Engineering Education: Beliefs, Norms, And Intervention Pathways For Undergraduate Students, Matthew D. Whitwer

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Engineering education is at a critical juncture where supporting student mental health is essential for fostering persistence, equity, and the development of a resilient and innovative workforce. While engineering students experience high levels of distress and low rates of mental health treatment seeking (known as a mental health treatment gap), there is a gap in knowledge around how this compares to that of students in other fields of study. Further, while efforts have been made to improve the mental health treatment gap in engineering, they are limited by a lack of actionable, theory-based targets. Therefore, this dissertation aims to characterize …

A Specification-Driven Framework For Self-Supervised Learning In Specialized Vision Domains, Mahmut S. Gokmen

Theses and Dissertations--Computer Science

Self-supervised learning (SSL) has emerged as a principled approach to visual representation learning that derives supervisory signal directly from unlabeled data, enabling foundation models to be trained at scale without manual annotation. Deployments in medical imaging and biometric recognition have demonstrated the potential of this paradigm, yet the assumptions that make SSL effective on natural image benchmarks fail systematically in specialized domains. Generic SSL pipelines encode a tacit assumption that the most informative correspondence is spatial proximity within a single acquisition. In specialized domains this assumption breaks at the level of the data-generating process: the signal that carries domain-specific information …

Linking S‑Pillar Empirical Criteria With Boundary And Finite Element Models For Underground Stone Pillar Analysis, Benjamin Diddle

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

The objective of this thesis is to strengthen the relationship between empirically based stone pillar design methods and two numerical modeling techniques by calibrating boundary element and finite element models to the S‑Pillar empirical criteria and observed pillar behavior in underground stone mines. The first component of the research investigates the displacement‑discontinuity boundary element method implemented in LaModel, quantifying the influence of the lamination thickness and element size on stone pillar safety factor predictions. Results showed that optimal thickness depends on overburden modulus, while larger element sizes introduce significant SF differences from S-Pillar values once the grid size exceeds 5 …

Validation Of Final And Dynamic Subsidence Prediction Models Using The Influence Function Method, Carlos M. Hernandez Garcia

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

This study evaluates the Surface Deformation Prediction System (SDPS Version 7) for predicting final and dynamic subsidence in longwall mining. Using the influence function method, SDPS 7 was calibrated using data from the Quarto 7 Mine (Ohio, USA) and two panels in Anhui Province, China, to test the reliability of the method under varying geological and operational conditions, particularly low advance rates.

For the Quarto 7 Mine, monument line C provided the optimal set of subsidence parameters: SSF of 78%, tanβ of 2.97, edge‑effect offset of 160 ft, with an RMSE of 0.108 ft. These values aligned with estimates obtained …

Evaluation Of The Proclivity For Recovering Rare Earth Elements Via Heap Leaching Of Coal And Coal Byproducts, Dylan Connell

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

Rare earth elements (REEs) - 17 elements classified as light (LREE) or heavy (HREE) - underpin modern technology. This thesis presents the development, design, and testing of a heap leach pad (HLP) to extract REEs from Western KY No.13 seam coal refuse. Testing included resource estimation, column and heap leaching, and an economic feasibility study. Drillhole analyses identified average REE concentrations in two refuse piles of 286 ppm and 290 ppm. The resource base totaled approximately 7,085 metric tons of REOs. The HLP, constructed with 2,000 metric tons of coal refuse material, was tested continuously over 308 days. Fresh lixiviant …

Field-Assisted Post-Processing Of Cold-Sprayed Pure Copper, Alan Hensley

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The properties of materials processed through cold spray, and many other AM processes, are non-uniform and unpredictable. In most cases, post-processing is required to achieve desired properties and better uniformity. In cold spray, the typical method is an annealing heat treatment (AHT), which can improve bond strength, reduce porosity, and restore ductility, among other effects. AHT alone, however, is unable to completely remedy any of the unfavorable properties. In addition, long treatments at high temperatures are often needed for satisfactory results. This increases energy consumption and extends production times for products made by the process. For these reasons, numerous investigations …