Engineering Commons^™

Siamese: Stealing Fine-Tuned Visual Foundation Models Via Diversified Prompting, Madhureeta Das, Gaurav Bagwe, Miao Pan, Kaichen Yang, Xiaoyong Yuan, Lan Zhang

Michigan Tech Publications

Visual foundation models, characterized by their robust generalization and adaptability, serve as the basis for a wide array of downstream tasks. When fine-tuned for specific tasks, these models encapsulate confidential and valuable task-specific knowledge, making them prime targets for model stealing (MS) attacks. While recent efforts have exposed MS threats in practical scenarios such as data-free and hard-label contexts, these attacks predominantly target traditional victim models trained from scratch. Fine-tuned visual foundation models, pre-trained on vast and diverse datasets and then fine-tuned on downstream tasks, present significant challenges for traditional MS attacks to extract task-specific knowledge. In this paper, we …

Artificial Intelligence In Higher Education: Opportunities And Challenges, Maytha Al-Ali, Adam Marks, Jasur Umirzokov, Noura Metawa

Iraqi Journal for Computer Science and Mathematics

While AI is often presented as a panacea for the challenges facing higher education, there is limited empirical evidence supporting its effectiveness in improving student learning and institutional performance. This gap between expectation and reality emphasizes the need for rigorous research, realistic goal-setting, and careful planning to ensure that AI technologies deliver on their promises in higher education. This study contrasts the potential utilization of AI technologies in Higher Education from the literature, against actual utilization in universities. The study also investigates the key barriers of AI implementation in higher education. This study uses a mixed-research methods approach, including case …

Retracted: Ai-Driven Flood Prediction, Monitoring, And Warning Systems: Design, Evaluation, And Simulation, Abdel Rahman A. Alkharabsheh, Lina M. Momani

Iraqi Journal for Computer Science and Mathematics

The Climate is becoming increasingly unpredictable, while the incidence of extreme weather is on the rise — both are contributing to surging global demand for advanced flood forecasting and monitoring services. This paper introduces an AI-powered Flood Monitoring and Warning System (FMWS) through an IoT sensor network, scalable real-time data analytics, and Machine Learning (ML) models to enhance the accuracy of prediction, risk analysis, and early warning dissemination in the notified areas. Hydrological and meteorological data would be collected by an ultrasonic sensor, a radar sensor, and a pressure sensor interfacing via GSM/GPRS, Wi-Fi, LoRa, or satellite network links. Machine …

Global-Local Method For Poroelasticity Problems With Localized Pressure Effects, Hemantha Kunwar

Math Department Colloquium Series

In many poroelasticity applications, pressure effects are confined to a small region, making it inefficient and possibly unnecessary to solve the full system across the entire domain. Instead, we propose to solve the poroelasticity problem locally, where pressure effects are significant, and use a simpler linear elasticity model elsewhere. This creates a coupled elasticity–poroelasticity problem with transmission conditions. To solve this coupled problem, we propose a new non-intrusive global–local algorithm that iteratively solves the elasticity problem in the entire (global) domain and the poroelasticity problem only in a local domain, ensuring proper transmission conditions across the interface. This approach, which …

Detection Of Breath, Phonation And Cough Sounds Using Sound Feature Vectors And Artificial Neural Networks By Calculating Lung Forced Vital Capacity With Mobile Infrastructures, Edmond Hajrizi

International Journal of Business and Technology

Objective: In this study, it is aimed to calculate the tidal volume capacity with mobile infrastructures and to determine the O2 and CO2 values from breath, phonation and cough sounds with the help of artificial neural networks using voice feature vectors. In addition, it is aimed to develop a method that will enable computation of forced expiratory volume via mobile devices.

Materials and Methods: Since sound disease diagnosis is basically a classification problem, tidal volume classification is considered as a pattern recognition problem. Our automatic O2 and CO2 classification study as a pattern recognition function includes three subcomponents; Identifying and …

Air Traffic Control Staffing Deficiencies And Their Relationship To Incidents And Accidents, Ashton Irons, Sunkyum Kim, Gianna Mendez, Vivek Sharma, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

Air Traffic Control (ATC) staffing deficiencies are a long-standing systemic crisis. This study revealed a statistically significant but weak positive relationship between ATC staffing deficiencies and incident and accident rates.

Low Power Magnetically Shielded Krypton Hall Thruster Design, Grace Klang

Honors Theses

This project investigates the design and modeling of a low-power Hall-Effect Thruster optimized for krypton propellant, serving as a continuation of Western Michigan University’s Hall thruster development series. Krypton is selected as an alternative to xenon due to its significantly lower cost and increased availability, though its higher ionization energy and reduced atomic mass introduce performance, ionization, and efficiency challenges that must be addressed through careful design. The goal of this study is to design two 300-W class thrusters capable of achieving high efficiency and long operational life on krypton propellant while maintaining full compatibility with existing laboratory facilities and …

Kinship Infrastructure Design: Evaluating Diversity And Resilience In Emergency Response Systems Through Agent-Based Modeling, Fayruz Maysha

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Traditional infrastructure systems are often designed for predictable scenarios, making them vulnerable to disruption when real-world conditions change unexpectedly. This research addresses that limitation by introducing Kinship Infrastructure Design (KID), a bioinspired framework based on the kinship coefficient (Φ). Adapted from studies of genetic relatedness in eusocial insects, the kinship coefficient (Φ) measures similarity and diversity among system components by calculating the degree to which their functional traits—encoded as a synthetic genome—match. This research investigates whether a system design can achieve a “Goldilocks Zone” of functional diversity where systems achieve optimal adaptability and coordination under uncertainty."

Rather than relying on …

Bridging Modalities: Enhancing Multimodal Sentiment Analysis For Social Media Networks, Misbah Ul Hoque

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) serve as rich sources of textual and visual information, making multimodal sentiment analysis essential for understanding complex human emotions. This dissertation aims to advance multimodal sentiment analysis by improving the semantic alignment and fusion of textual and visual features, thereby enabling more accurate and context-aware sentiment interpretation of social media content.

To address challenges in multimodal integration, this work proposes two complementary MSA approaches. The first approach introduces a similarity-based multi-layer attention neural network (SiMANN) that enhances modality integration through cosine-based similarity fusion and modality-specific attention to emphasize salient features in text and …

Iso-Detr: A Novel Detection Transformer For Industrial Small Object Detection, Faisal Saeed, Anand Paul

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

Effectively detecting and assessing real-time structural and ecological parameters in contemporary manufacturing environments poses significant challenges, particularly in identifying minute objects within product images. The swift evolution of the industrial sector underscores the necessity for intelligent manufacturing environments to uphold stringent product quality standards. However, accelerating production processes at high speeds heightens the risk of defective product outcomes. This research addresses the challenges inherent in small object detection within industrial contexts, proposing an innovative detection transformer model tailored to modern manufacturing environments. The proposed model integrates a feature-enhanced multi-head self-attention block (FEMSA), merging cross-channel communication network and multiple multi-head self-attention …

Confidential, Attestable, And Efficient Inter-Cvm Communication With Arm Cca, Sina Abdollahi, Amir Al Sadi, Marios Kogias, Hamed Haddadi, David Kotz

Other Faculty Materials

Confidential Virtual Machines (CVMs) are increasingly adopted to protect sensitive workloads from privileged adversaries such as the hypervisor. While they provide strong isolation guarantees, existing CVM architectures lack first-class mechanisms for inter-CVM data sharing due to their disjoint memory model, making inter-CVM data exchange a performance bottleneck in compartmentalized or collaborative multi-CVM systems. Under this model, a CVM's accessible memory is either shared with the hypervisor or protected from both the hypervisor and all other CVMs. This design simplifies reasoning about memory ownership; however, it fundamentally precludes plaintext data sharing between CVMs because all inter-CVM communication must pass through hypervisor-accessible …

The Impact Of Infrastructure Construction And Remodeling Of Cities On Its People' Quality Of Life Miraj District-(Madi-Cairo) As A Geological Heritage Area, Ahmed M.E. Hammad

Mansoura Engineering Journal

Rapid urbanization is increasing globally, the urbanization rate expected to rise to more than 66% by 2050. (According to UN estimates) the increasing rates of urbanization in the world means adding 2.5 billion people to the urban population within a short period. Which necessitates increasing the traffic axes and the rest of the networks in terms of lengths and widths within the existing cities, and with the presence of the population during these works - despite their inevitability - the quality of their urban life is affected socially, naturally and economically. the research monitors these effects and the extent of …

“Shaping Academic Teaching At The Crossroads Of Ethics And Artificial Intelligence”, Workshop At Warsaw University Of Technology, Warsaw, 25 September 2024, Julia Braniewska, Bartłomiej Skowron

Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies

This document is a report on the workshop, “Shaping Academic Teaching at the Crossroads of Ethics and Artificial Intelligence”, which formed a component of the “Ethics and AI” conference hosted by Warsaw University of Technology.

Fabrication And Evaluation Of Large Alumina Crucibles By Vat Photopolymerization Additive Manufacturing For High-Temperature Actinide Chemistry, R. Joey Griffiths, Christy Santoyo, Jean-Baptise Forien, Bradley Childs, Andrew J. Swift, Andrew Cho, Alexander Wilson-Heid, George Ankrah, Devin Rappleye, Aiden A. Martin, Jason Jeffries, Kiel Holliday

Faculty Publications

Additive manufacturing (AM) offers opportunities to advance the design and function of ceramic tooling in high temperature actinide pyrochemistry. In technical ceramics such as alumina, conventional forming techniques often restrict design flexibility and can limit experimental progress. In this study, we investigate the use of vat photopolymerization (VP) with commercial resins to fabricate large-scale alumina crucibles, reaching dimensions up to 125 mm, which is significantly larger than typically reported for dense VP ceramics. Notably, these additively manufactured components are produced using consumer-grade hardware, which limits process control, but offers significant upside in scalability and accessibility. Using microscopy and X-ray computed …

Evaluating Kansai Airport's Ppp: Grounded Ambitions, Concession Of Financial, Geotechnical, And Climate Risk, Edmund Cho, Dimitrios V. Siskos

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This study critically examines the Kansai Airports Group’s 44-year Public-Private Partnership (PPP) monopoly-type concession encompassing Kansai International (KIX), Osaka Itami (ITM), and Kobe (UKB) airports. The research uses financial analysis, Monte Carlo simulation, and NPV-at-risk modeling to evaluate how Japan’s fixed-term private monopoly model allocates financial, operational, and environmental risks. In 2015, there were significant developments in the promotion of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) Act. It was revised in 2015; as a result, it finds that the underestimated long-term maintenance liabilities, especially Kansai airport (KIX) foundation subsidence, and lacked flexibility to manage exogenous shocks like COVID-19 and Typhoon Jebi. …

A Transition Framework For Hybrid Tls In Enterprise-Level Systems, William Hadd

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

Enterprises face an immediate need to protect long-lived data against harvest-now, decrypt-later threats while maintaining interoperability across layered systems. With NIST’s first post-quantum standards finalized (ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSA) and TLS hybridization drafts defining concrete ECDHE + ML-KEM groups, adoption can begin at the TLS termination layer even before full ecosystem support for post-quantum signatures arrives (NIST, 2024; IETF, 2025). In this paper, we propose an enterprise-oriented transition framework and maturity model for hybrid TLS across email, internal API gateways, and object storage. We specify where to enforce, which hybrid groups to select, and how to prevent silent downgrade with policy …

Production Of Recombinant Β-Galactosidase Protein In Bombyx Mori (Bmn1) Baculovirus Insect Cells, Shuhrat Sh. Khasanov, Jumanazar Ch Mengturayev, Jaloliddin M. Abdurakhmanov, Dilmurodjon B. Turdaliyev, Shakhnoz S. Azimova

CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

In this study we aimed to obtain a novel recombinant β-galactosidase baculovirus using the Bombyx mori baculovirus – insect cell expression system. A new recombinant plasmid was constructed on the basis of the pBacPAK8 transfer vector and cloned in E. coli cells. Subsequently, a recombinant baculovirus was generated in Bombyx mori cells, and efficient expression of the β-galactosidase gene was observed. The enzymatic activity of the protein was confirmed by the ONPG assay. The results demonstrated that the baculovirus – insect cell system expands the possibilities for producing proteins of industrial significance.

Photocatalytic Activity Of The Mixed Of Ti/Fe/Mo Oxide Composites For Degradation Of Nitrofurazone, Dilshoda R. Tursunova, Zuhra Ch. Kadirova, Shahlo Sh. Daminova, Kadriya Kh. Gabidullina

CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

The aim of study is synthesize mixed oxide composites based on titanium dioxide, iron and molybdenum oxides from industrial waste materials and evaluated for their photocatalytic degradation performance of nitrofurazone—a persistent and toxic antibiotic frequently detected in aquatic environments. Various Ti/Mo ratios (T95M5, T87.5M12.5, T75M25, and T50M50) were prepared through thermal treatment at 600 °C and characterized using XRD, UV–Vis and Raman spectroscopy to assess structural and optical properties.XRD and Raman analyses confirmed the presence of anatase-phase TiO₂ and Mo/Fe oxides, with optimal crystallinity and heterojunction formation observed in the T87.5M12.5 composite. UV–Vis spectroscopic studies demonstrated that this composite exhibited …

Gas Chromatographic Analysis Of Fractions Separated By Atmospheric Distillation Of Pyrolysis Distillate, Gulnora K. Komolova, Lola A. Yusupova

CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

The primary objective of this study is to optimize the process of isolating the C9 hydrocarbon fraction from pyrolysis distillate and to evaluate the impact of various temperature regimes on the product composition. To achieve this goal, the dry distillation process was conducted at three different temperatures: 152 °C, 159 °C, and 170 °C. Condensate samples obtained from each test were analyzed using gas chromatography (GC). The analysis results revealed that the fraction obtained at 152 °C yielded the most favorable outcome: the C9 fraction yield was 11.11%, which is higher than the values obtained at 159 °C (4.59%) and …

Lightweight Thermal Insulation Brick Based On Jerdanak Clay Shale, Obtained With The Addition Of Sawdust, Mastura Kh. Aripova, Sarvar T. Bozorov

CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

The aim of this study was to produce lightweight thermal insulation bricks based on Djerdanak clay shale with the addition of wood sawdust. The starting materials were clay shale from the Djerdanak deposit, fireclay made from it, and wood chips—a waste product from the wood processing industry. The optimal brick composition was determined to include 60% clay shale, 40% fireclay made from clay shale, and 14% wood chips (over 100%). The apparent density of the optimal brick composition corresponds to an apparent product density of 1 g/cm³ and a compressive strength of 3.6 N/mm². The microstructure of the material demonstrates …

Waste Utilization Considering Volatiles Circulation Behavior In Cement Kilns, Geun-Seong Lee, Farrukh B. Erkinov, Zebo A. Babakhanova, Mukhammadamin Sh. Jololdinov, Mastura Kh. Aripova

CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Since the cement kiln process has various advantages for waste incineration, the waste utilization as alternative fuel has been widely applied in the cement process. For waste utilization in kiln process, it is necessary to operate within the range of not-affecting the clinker quality and the operation stability, and not-causing pollution problems, with ensuring the smooth clinker production. In order to quantitatively analyze the volatiles circulation phenomena during waste utilization as alternative fuel in the kiln process, the simplified volatiles circulation model is derived based on material balances of volatiles, from which the permissible waste utilization % as alternative fuel …

Physico-Chemical Study Of Interaction In The “Urea – Glycine – Water” System, Suvonkul E. Nurmonov, Saydullo Kh. Azimov

CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

A comprehensive physicochemical study of the aqueous “urea – glycine” system was conducted to establish the mechanisms of intermolecular interaction and stability parameters for the development of modified liquid nitrogen fertilizers (LNF). Isomolar series, visual-polythermal analysis, X-ray phase analysis (XRD), single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD), IR spectroscopy, and thermal analysis (DTA/TGA) methods were applied. It was found that the interaction of components in solution leads to the formation of molecular associates stabilized by hydrogen bonds. The XRD and SC-XRD methods confirmed that no new individual chemical compounds are formed in the solid phase. It was proven that the addition of glycine …

Unlocking The Industrial Potential Of Khojaykon Sylvinite Through Mineralogical And Chemical Investigations, Elyor D. Eminov, Kholtura Ch. Mirzakulov, Gavkhar E. Melikulova, Ruslan Ch. Yorbobaev, Kamola S. Arifdjanova

CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

The purpose of this study is to analyze the chemical, mineralogical, and fractional composition of sylvinite from the Khodjaikan deposit in Uzbekistan in order to assess its potential for potassium fertilizer production. Using chemical analysis, XRD, and IR spectroscopy, the ore was found to contain KCl (19.5–30.1%), NaCl (62.08–71.85%), CaCl₂ (1.12–1.32%), and MgCl₂ (0.18–0.32%). The water-insoluble residue, mainly sulfates, carbonates, and silicates, was also identified. These findings are important for improving beneficiation processes and reducing waste. Comparison with the Verkhnekamsk deposit highlights the quality and potential of Khodjaikan sylvinite. The research supports sustainable resource management.

Changes In The Structure And Properties Of Titanium In The Process Of Pressure Treatment, Sardor S. Abriev, Nasiba U. Abduraimova, Zokir R. Akramov, Yulbarskhon N. Mansurov

CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Titanium is classified as a critical metal. It serves as a raw material for a wide range of industries owing to its unique properties – high strength at low density, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility makes it indispensable. Uzbekistan and China possess primary resources for titanium production. However, the complexity of extraction and particularly processing, combined with high production costs, limits its large-scale use and increases the risk of shortages in industrial manufacturing. In this study, the structural and property evolution of titanium during pressure-based processing was investigated. Technology for producing powder titanium by metal forming methods is proposed. The results …

The Structure And Properties Of Er2o3 And Yb2o3 Based Ceramic Materials, Sintered Under High Pressure, Vladimir S. Urbanovich, Vadim D. Zhivulko, Eygeniy N. Poddenezhny, Ekaterina E. Trusova, Vladimir S. Niss

CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

The aim of the work was to obtain high-density optically transparent ceramic samples by sintering cubic modification Er₂O₃ and Yb₂O₃ oxides micropowders at the pressure of 7 GPa and the heating current power of 0.6–1.0 kW, which was demonstrated. Non-monotonic dependence of the density on the heating current power has been established. The maximum density values of 9.2 g/cm³ (Er₂O₃) and 9.8 g/cm³ (Yb₂O₃) were achieved at the power of 0.8 and 0.9 kW, respectively. During sintering, the cubic phase partially transforms into the …

Fully Integrated Slippage Detection System For Lower Limb Amputees, Christopher E. Miglio

Master's Theses

Lower limb amputees face significant challenges in maintaining a proper prosthetic fit, as improper fit can lead to slippage at the limb-socket interface, resulting in discomfort, pressure sores, and long-term musculoskeletal complications. To address this issue, a fully integrated slippage detection system was developed to monitor an amputee’s daily activities and slippage occurrences to understand their prosthetic fit over time. The system consists of a prosthetic sock embedded with Interlink 406 flexible piezoresistive force-sensing resistors (FSRs). The sock, worn directly on the residual limb, continuously measures pressure at the limb-socket interface. Sensor data from six FSRs is sampled at approximately …

Applicability Of Syntropic Agriculture To A Semi-Arid Continental Climate: Alentejo To New Mexico, Arielle Nathan, Joana Dionisio Msc, João Serra, Joseph Lanning, Cátia Magro Dr.

Journal of Critical Global Issues

Conventional industrial agriculture has detrimental effects on the environment including pollution and overconsumption of water, soil degradation, and biodiversity reduction. An environmentally sustainable future of food production requires alternative methods that limit negative environmental consequences. Syntropic Agriculture (SA) is a promising farming alternative especially for arid systems at risk of desertification. New Mexico, USA, is a semi-arid continental climate in a prolonged period of drought and predicted to experience worsening agricultural conditions including desertification, wildfire intensification, and exacerbated water scarcity. The Alentejo region of Portugal has a Mediterranean climate with similar agricultural challenges. The agroecological transition project, Terra Sintrópica, located …

Bond Behavior Of Full-Scale Beams Using Sustainable Self-Compacting Concrete, Hayder H. Alghazali, Atheer H.M. Algburi, John J. Myers

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Sustainable concrete is a step towards greener and more eco-friendly concrete construction practices, helping to solve global environmental problems. The present study focuses on the bond behavior between steel reinforcement and greener self-compacting concrete, specifically sustainable self-compacting concrete (SUS-SCC). Three SUS-SCC mixtures with different fly ash (FA) to cement replacement levels of [50, 60, and 70% (by mass)] were developed. Twelve full-scale SUS-SCC beams with a cross-section of (305 x 57) mm and a total length of 3048 mm were cast and tested using a four-point load test setup. The effect of longitudinal and lateral steel reinforcement ratios in the …

A Novel Microfluidic Device For Preclinical Testing Of Chemotherapeutics, Kaija Saleh Ogan

Master's Theses

This work demonstrates the feasibility of a novel microfluidic tumor model that reproduces physiologically relevant nutrient gradients and endothelium–tumor interactions, validating its potential as a preclinical test platform. Finite element simulations of glutamine diffusion and fluid dynamics aligned with experimental tracer studies, and co-cultures supported directed endothelial migration toward tumor spheroids, confirming the device’s ability to mimic in vivo–like behavior.

Current preclinical models often fail to capture the complexity of the tumor microenvironment (TME), limiting their predictive value for therapeutic testing. Nutrient availability and angiogenic signaling are critical drivers of tumor progression, yet they are poorly represented in traditional …

Water Rights Accounting And Distribution In Utah, Sarah Null, Bethany Neilson, Eileen Lukens, Eryn Turney, Utah Division Of Water Rights

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

This white paper summarizes how the Utah Division of Water Rights (WRi) administers water rights through the coordinated processes of water distribution and accounting. Water distribution involves apportioning divertible flow in river systems by adjusting diversions and reservoir storage. To account for and distribute water effectively, WRi must first determine the amount of water available for diversion each day, then prioritize water rights when water supply is insufficient to satisfy all demands. WRi has developed specialized tools and models to support this process.

This paper was developed through a collaboration between WRi and Utah State University to produce a report …