Engineering Commons^™

Logan Pass Improvement Project: Glacier National Park, Devan Peterson, Jordan Duncan, Kyle Horton, Luke Martineau, Jake Egley, Cooper Karras

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Glacier National Park has seen drastic increases in park visitation. The number of visitors has increased from 2.3 million to 3 million visitors in the past 5 years.

The Going to the Sun Road at Logan Pass exhibits an iconic overlook of the park. The parking lot is often full before 10:00 AM and remains full the remainder of the day during peak season (See Figure 1).

The purpose of the Logan Pass Improvement Project is to enhance visitor experience at Logan Pass. This will be accomplished by reducing traffic congestion and increasing safety and accessibility while maintaining the environmental …

Providence Ridge Subdivision, Karter Issacson, Seth Robertson, Skyler Allred, Brayden Chamberlain, Cody Zohner

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Cache Valley has a housing shortage. There is prime real estate in Providence to subdivide. The State of Utah is the first fastest growing State in the United States of America (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020)*

Temple Fork Dam, Riley Manwaring, Kendall Maedgen, Taylor Kesler, Logan Thackeray, John Sumsion, Adam Pack

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Constructing a dam in Temple Fork will provide additional water storage to meet the needs of a growing population in Cache County. A roller-compacted concrete (RCC) style dam is best suited for the current conditions at Temple Fork, which will provide a total of 10,000 acre-ft of water storage.

Timpanogos Wastewater Treatment Plant, Laura Christiansen, Silas Schneider, Marissa Croft, Melanie Sullivan, Brent Jacobson, Steven Wright

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The Timpanogos Special Service District (TSSD) wants to improve their Wastewater treatment facility. They requested that the new facility accounts for the following:

• Smell coming from the drying beds.

• Future population growth in the area.

• New phosphorus limitations in the effluent set by the state of Utah.

• Treat wastewater to meet Type 1 reuse standards.

In Figure 1, the image displays the current service area for TSSD. TSSD serves 10 different cities, and currently discharges the effluent wastewater into Utah Lake. Utah Lake has problems with algal blooms. Reducing the amount of nutrients discharged into Utah …

Vadose Zone Recharge Through Shallow Hydraulic Fracturing, Daniela Barrera-Zarco, Lucila Campos, Ryan Eberhard, Brackon Rawlinson

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Effective utilization of water is an ever-increasing concern throughout the world. Finding new ways to store and effectively utilize water received from rainfall events is crucial to mitigate flooding and to recharge the Earth’s subsurface aquifers. In a growing and changing world, the need for adaptive and cost-effective solutions to water storage and utilization is critical.

Solutions Centered Engineering (SCE) set out to find an economical and environmentally friendly solution to the collection and storage of water. We were specifically searching for ways to reduce runoff and recharge water in the vadose zone. The vadose zone is below the ground …

Utah State University Parking Garage, Reed Burr, Ty Koppenhafer, Nathan Lamoreaux, Taylor Shapiro, Kaehan Shour, Nathan Williams

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Utah State University (USU) is known for its excellent engineering and agricultural programs. USU’s main campus is in Logan, UT and is Utah’s largest public residential campus.

USU’s Logan campus currently has a parking deficiency that cannot accommodate increasing parking demand each year.

• USU had a total of 17,667 students and 2,585 faculty and staff during the Fall 2019.

• Only 8,924 parking spots available to accommodate this student and staff population.

• Office of enrollment is expecting a growth of 691- 1400 more students by 2025.

• USU’s 2017 Transportation Master Plan determines a need for 414 additional …

Comparison And Evaluation Of Two Sensors For Dynamic Measuring Of Foam Level In Single-Use Bioreactors, Alyssa Cisneros, Harley Cragun, Crystal Rain Fowler, Mikelle Kearnes, Annika Saunders

Biological Engineering

Single Use Bioreactors (SUBs) are used for microbial cell culture for many industries, such as cell cultures of pilot-studies, food, and cosmetics¹. Foaming in bioreactors is common and is responsible for the fouling of equipment.

• The goal of the project is to test and develop two possible dynamic foam level sensors for the 30 and 300L SUBs

Objectives:

1. Manufacture a scalable foam sensor housing unit

2. Create a program that allows for ease of sensor use when implemented into controller

3. Safe for biological cultures

4. Test the system to ensure accurate and simple sensor output …

Computational Model Of Angiogenesis In Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Kelsey Bradshaw, Michael Cotner, Jacilyn Fielding, Andrew Kjar, Teren Teeples

Biological Engineering

Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)

• Leads to vision loss and blindness

• Localized to subretinal layers (Figure 1.)

Electrocoagulation For Removal Of Nitrates From Fgd Wastewater, Jacob Watkins, Julissa Van Renselaar, Amanda Moravek, Tallon Beckstrom, Shaylynn Cannon

Biological Engineering

Flue gas desulfurization (FGD) processes are often utilized to mitigate pollution from coal-based plants by removing sulfur oxides¹. However, FGD wastewater streams still contain pollutants such as nitrates that must undergo further treatment². The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG) that dictate the allowable concentrations of the contaminants in FGD wastewater effluent. While common treatment approaches can meet these requirements, efficiency drops with chemical concentration flux, which is a common situation with FGD wastewater. A novel method that could both meet ELG requirements and handle chemical concentration flux is electrocoagulation (EC). EC is able to target a …

Optically Transparent Microwave Absorber Based On Water-Based Moth-Eye Structures, H Kwon, G D’Aguanno, Andrea Alù

Advanced Science Research Center

We propose an approach to realize an optically transparent microwave absorber based on water-based moth-eye metamaterial structures. The absorber is made of a periodic array of properly shaped glass caps infiltrated with distilled water. Analytical calculations and numerical simulations show that the water-based metamaterial absorbs electromagnetic waves over a wide spectral band ranging from 4GHz to well above 120GHz, showing absorption levels close to 100% for incident radiation that ranges from normal to grazing angles, for both TE and TM polarizations. Yet, the structure is optically transparent, offering exciting opportunities in a variety of civil and military applications, such as …

Doping Graphene With Substitutional Mn, Pin-Cheng Lin, Renan Villarreal, Simona Achilli, Harsh Bana, Maya N. Nair, Antonio Tejeda, Ken Verguts, Stefan De Gendt, Manuel Auge, Hans Hofsäss, Steven De Feyter, Giovanni Di Santo, Luca Petaccia, Steven Brems, Guido Fratesi, Lino M. C. Pereira

Advanced Science Research Center

We report the incorporation of substitutional Mn atoms in high-quality, epitaxial graphene on Cu(111), using ultralow-energy ion implantation. We characterize in detail the atomic structure of substitutional Mn in a single carbon vacancy and quantify its concentration. In particular, we are able to determine the position of substitutional Mn atoms with respect to the Moiré superstructure (i.e., local graphene-Cu stacking symmetry) and to the carbon sublattice; in the out-of-plane direction, substitutional Mn atoms are found to be slightly displaced toward the Cu surface, that is, effectively underneath the graphene layer. Regarding electronic properties, we show that graphene doped with substitutional …

Smart Parking Systems: Reviewing The Literature, Architecture And Ways Forward, Can Biyik, Zaheer Allam, Gabriele Pieri, Davide Moroni, Muftah O' Fraifer, Eoin O' Connell, Stephan Olariu, Muhammad Khalid

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The Internet of Things (IoT) has come of age, and complex solutions can now be implemented seamlessly within urban governance and management frameworks and processes. For cities, growing rates of car ownership are rendering parking availability a challenge and lowering the quality of life through increased carbon emissions. The development of smart parking solutions is thus necessary to reduce the time spent looking for parking and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The principal role of this research paper is to analyze smart parking solutions from a technical perspective, underlining the systems and sensors that are available, as documented in the …

Nlp Is Not Enough - Contextualization Of User Input In Chatbots, Nathan Dolbir, Triyasha Dastidar, Kaushik Roy

Publications

AI chatbots have made vast strides in technology improvement in recent years and are already operational in many industries. Advanced Natural Language Processing techniques, based on deep networks, efficiently process user requests to carry out their functions. As chatbots gain traction, their applicability in healthcare is an attractive proposition due to the reduced economic and people costs of an overburdened system. However, healthcare bots require safe and medically accurate information capture, which deep networks aren’t yet capable of due to user text and speech variations. Knowledge in symbolic structures is more suited for accurate reasoning but cannot handle natural language …

Enabling Machine Learning On The Edge Using Sram Conserving Efficient Neural Networks Execution Approach, Bharath Sudharsan, Pankesh Patel, John G. Breslin, Muhammad Intizar Ali

Publications

Edge analytics refers to the application of data analytics and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms on IoT devices. The concept of edge analytics is gaining popularity due to its ability to perform AI-based analytics at the device level, enabling autonomous decision-making, without depending on the cloud. However, the majority of Internet of Things (IoT) devices are embedded systems with a low-cost microcontroller unit (MCU) or a small CPU as its brain, which often are incapable of handling complex ML algorithms.

In this paper, we propose an approach for the ecient execution of already deeply compressed, large neural networks (NNs) on tiny …

Semantics Of The Black-Box: Can Knowledge Graphs Help Make Deep Learning Systems More Interpretable And Explainable?, Manas Gaur, Keyur Faldu, Amit Sheth

Publications

The recent series of innovations in deep learning (DL) have shown enormous potential to impact individuals and society, both positively and negatively. The DL models utilizing massive computing power and enormous datasets have significantly outperformed prior historical benchmarks on increasingly difficult, well-defined research tasks across technology domains such as computer vision, natural language processing, signal processing, and human-computer interactions. However, the Black-Box nature of DL models and their over-reliance on massive amounts of data condensed into labels and dense representations poses challenges for interpretability and explainability of the system. Furthermore, DLs have not yet been proven in their ability to …

Identifying Alternate Resources And Adjusting Expectations For Senior Design Projects During The Covid-19 Pandemic Of 2020, Jay R. Goldberg

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic required capstone design course instructors to transition to online learning. Student project teams were denied access to resources needed to construct and test prototypes scheduled to be delivered to project sponsors and clients at the end of the semester. Face-to-face collaboration was replaced with virtual team meetings. At Marquette University, efforts to identify (1) barriers to completing projects, (2) potential alternate prototyping resources, (3) adjustments to expectations of teams, and (4) changes to course deliverable requirements were completed. The results of these activities, the thought process used to guide students through the search for …

From Bench To Worktop: Rapid Evaluation Of Nutritional Parameters In Liquid Foodstuffs By Ir Spectroscopy, David Perezguaita

Articles

We evaluated the use of attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy for simultaneous in situ quantification of the nutritional composition of liquid food stuffs in the industrial kitchen context. Different methodologies were compared, including dry and wet acquisition along with instrument parameters and measurement times of 4 and 60 s. The most effective technique was 1-minute measurement, with prediction errors of 2.6, 0.7, 1.0, 2.2, 0.8, 2.4 g/100 mL and 150 Kcal, for carbohydrates, proteins, fat, sugars, saturated fat, water and energy values, respectively.The 4-second method resulted in larger errors but was more applicable for inline measurements. Dry measurements successfully predicted …

Folding Methodology For Flexible Aircraft Interiors, Aditya Venkatesh, Fengfeng (Jeff) Xi, Joon Chung

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This paper establishes a general furniture folding methodology that is aimed at flexible aircraft cabin interiors. This methodology will allow users to modify existing furniture pieces to their liking and thereby customizing their overall travel experience. The folding methodology also includes a process to quantify the transformation of the furniture pieces. This paper also introduces two design concepts called Open-on-Demand and Reconfiguration to allow passengers to modify an otherwise rigid cabin. The advantages of the multi-functional space saving furniture pieces are also illustrated in this paper. While the general folding methodology was developed for aircraft interiors, it can be adapted …

A Model For Inhalation Of Infectious Aerosol Contaminants In An Aircraft Passenger Cabin, Bert A. Silich

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Aerosol contamination of an aircraft cabin by infectious passengers is a concern of passengers, aircrew and the aviation industry. This may be especially important during a pandemic, such as COVID-19, where the full extent of aerosol transmission is not well understood. A statistical method to determine the number of infectious passengers on board along with a mathematical model estimating the contaminant concentration of aerosols in the cabin and the number of inhaled infectious particles by passengers is presented. An example is used to demonstrated how the results can be estimated during normal operations and emergency conditions with malfunctions of the …

Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Acoustic Analysis For Noninvasive Marine Mammal Response: An Exploratory Field Study, David Thirtyacre, Gennifer Brookshire, Sarah Callan, Brittany Arvizu, Patrick Sherman

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

As in countless other fields of human endeavor, small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) have the potential to benefit pinniped (Pinnipedia; e.g., Phocidae [seals], Otariidae [sea lions], and Odobenidae [walruses]) response efforts. The employment of sUAS could give responders a close-up look at animals in distress in order to determine their condition as well as develop a response strategy. However, unlike other subjects that are regularly inspected by sUAS (e.g., croplands and civil infrastructure) pinnipeds may respond to the distinctive sound generated by small, multirotor sUAS. This reaction may include retreating into the water en masse, which could put …

Numerical Analysis Of Aerospike Engine Nozzle Performance At Various Truncation Lengths, Sam Dakka Dr, Oliver Dennison

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The aerospike engine was first devised in the early 1960s where it provided new means of reaching orbit in a single stage. The paper aimes to demonstrate the viability of the technology by showcasing the increased nozzle thrust efficiency over the conventional bell nozzle. Various truncations were applied to the nozzle and each was subjected to two conditions, an over-expansion and near optimum condition. The nozzle contour was developed using the simple approximation method and was chosen to replicate that of the XRS-2200. This anchored the data, thereby validating the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. Simulations were completed for at …

Predictability Improvement Of Scheduled Flights Departure Time Variation Using Supervised Machine Learning, Deepudev Sahadevan, Palanisamy Ponnusamy Dr, Manjunath K. Nelli Mr, Varun P. Gopi Dr

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The departure time uncertainty exacerbates the inaccuracy of arrival time estimation and demand for arrival slots, particularly for movements to capacity constrained airports. The Estimated Take-Off Time (ETOT) or Estimated Departure Time(ETD) for each individual flight is currently derived from Air Traffic Flow Management System (ATFMS), which are solely determined based on individual flight plan Estimated Off Block Time(EOBT) or subsequent delays updated by Airline. Even if normal weather conditions prevail, aircraft departure times will differ from ETOTs determined by the ATFMS due to a number of factors such as congestion, early/delayed inbound flight (linked flights), reactionary delays and air …

Aerodynamic Performance Analysis Of Co-Flow Jet Airfoil, C M Vigneswaran, Vishnu Kumar G C

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The work in this paper aims to increase the maximum lift coefficient of the airfoil by implementing the co-flow jet concept on NACA 0018 airfoil and also to investigate the performance of co-flow jet (CFJ) airfoil. To conduct numerical solution, RANS equations have been solved for 2D incompressible and unsteady flow using the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model. The suction surface of the airfoil is modified by placing the injection slot near the leading edge and the suction slot near the trailing edge. A small mass of air is withdrawn into the airfoil suction slot, pressurized by a pumping system located inside …

Notes On Rules Of Thumb For Pilots, Yuzo Inokuchi

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The rules of thumb can be found in several flight instructions or pilot's handbooks. Thus far, available rules have been presented without proof or a valid range, such as altitude or velocity ranges wherein these rules can be applied. This paper presents the background theory for a few selected rules; then, the rule is compared with a first-order approximation of the background theory. A valid range is presented by analyzing the prediction accuracy of the rule, which is defined as the relative error of the rule to the background theory. These rules of thumb provide a good approximation of the …

Identification Of Wind-Induced Hazard Zones Impacting Uas Bridge Inspection, Jack J. Green, John Mott

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) continue to grow in both popularity and utility within the national airspace system. The use of commercial UAS for civil inspection, specifically that of bridge structures, is becoming commonplace among practitioners and academics alike. The development of an integrated bridge-inspection hazard model provides a way for UAS operators to prepare for and respond to changing environmental conditions that could otherwise prevent a successful UAS flight. The interaction of wind-induced airflow with bridge surfaces creates an aerodynamic wake that can result in hazardous conditions for a UAS platform operating in close proximity. An analysis of this airflow …

Aviation Culture: A ‘Glass Sky’ For Women Pilots - Literature Review, Ivana Gorlin, Donna Bridges

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This paper reports on a review of literature covering gender issues in aviation. It considers the impacts of aviation culture on women pilots. The focus of the review was on empirical studies over a 25-year period (1996-2020). Two research questions underpin the review; firstly, we investigated how aviation culture impacts women pilots’ experiences, secondly, we considered its effect on women as pilots. Using a hermeneutic methodological framework, we found that cultural attitudes towards women pilots in the aviation industry are biased and discriminatory. The studies in the review overwhelming concur that the hegemonic masculine culture that dominates aviation significantly diminishes …

Albatross And Falcon Inspired Bionic Uav: An Aerodynamic Analysis, Bilji C. Mathew, Sagar K. Sahu, Prantik Dutta, Rushi Savale, Muruga Lal Jeyan Jv Dr.

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The drone industry yearns for enhanced aerodynamic performance. In order to achieve this feat, researchers and engineers are trying to mimic the natural flyers due to their aerodynamic optimality. One such flyer, the Albatross is an inspiration for many marine drones due to its planform and aerodynamic efficiency. The wing of the plan form is designed and simulated to study its properties. The Bell-Shaped Lift Distribution is incorporated for higher efficiency and elimination of the total downwash produced in case of an Elliptical Lift Distribution. A blended wing body inspired by the Falcon is used for smoother airflow interactions. Furthermore, …

Digitalization Of Educational And Methodological Support For The Training Of Aviation Dispatchers, Zair Ziyaevich Shamsiev

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The tasks of improving the educational process of training civil aviation dispatchers on the basis of the development and implementation of digital teaching aids are considered. Legislative and regulatory documents are accepted as an object of digitalization. The end result of the research is expressed in the provision of the educational process with a special electronic educational complex, which has the functions of providing the necessary information and conducting practical exercises to deepen, consolidate and control knowledge in the field of aviation documents.

Comparative Study On Performance Accuracy Of Three Probe And Five Probe Flow Analysers For Wind Tunnel Testing, Akhila Rupesh Ms, J V Muruga Lal Jeyan Dr

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

In the field of inviscid fluid flow studies, the theoretical concept has to be developed even more. In order to make it possible, it is very important to supplement the concepts with strong experimental results. While performing experimentation, various accepts of design can be determined with factors influencing the and also required modification can be recommended in a more systematic and economic manner. Also, the aim objective of the experiment is to extend the underlying theory and to produce new designs with improvements that can be great support to the advancement in technology. In experimental analysis, wind tunnels are used …

Pilot Visual Detection Of Small Unmanned Aircraft On Final Approach During Nighttime Conditions, Jon M. Loffi, Ryan J. Wallace, Samuel M. Vance, Jamey Jacob, Jared C. Dunlap, Taylor A. Mitchell, Dane C. Johnson

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

In December 2020, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced the release of a new final rule, permitting operators of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) to perform routine night operations. Public comments to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking indicated potential safety concerns regarding a pilot’s ability to spot a low-altitude sUAS during nighttime conditions. Leveraging data from the FAA’s UAS Sighting Report Database, the research team evaluated the significance of aircraft encounters with UAS at night. Researchers conducted an inflight experiment in which 10 pilots performed an instrument approach to airport during nighttime conditions in which a multi-rotor sUAS presented a …