Engineering Commons^™

Irrigation Design In Montana: Accommodating Varying Water Accessibility Across The Continental Divide., John Garrett Lampson

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The design work performed in this project was conducted over two summers (2018, 2019) of internship experience with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) across the state of Montana. The first summer’s design work was based out of Glendive, MT, in Dawson County, approximately 50 kilometers from the North Dakota border. The second summer was in Missoula, MT, in Missoula County, near the Idaho border. The two areas differ significantly in topography, weather, and water availability with the main separating geographic influence being the Rocky Mountains.

This paper focuses on the design process and requirements for two farms located outside …

Reducing Dissolved Phosphorus In Stream Water May Not Influence Estimation Of Sediment Equilibrium Phosphorus Concentrations, Eleanor Henson

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The potential for stream sediments to adsorb or release phosphorus (P) depends on the equilibrium P concentration (EPC), which is the water column P concentration where P is neither (net) adsorbed nor released from the sediments. Current methods of measuring EPC in streams include adding known P concentrations to stream water, mixing with fresh sediments, and allowing the mixture to reach equilibrium through P sorption. Sediment EPC is usually calculated as the x-intercept of the linear relationship between initial P concentrations and P absorbed by the sediments. However, the x-intercept is often an extrapolation past the known data set (i.e. …

Providing Sustainable Power Through Renewable Energy For Developing Communities In Central America, Elizabeth Topping

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Rural electrification through an expansion of the power grid into remote villages in Central America is a development that is still years away. Using renewable energy technology, access to electricity is available even in the most remote areas of the world. These individual power grids are also called “microgrids.” Creating microgrids in rural areas provides the people living there with access to power they did not have before. With this newfound access to power, these communities can expand their access to education, using computers or mobile devices. They can power lights, refrigerators, and other devices to continue development.

The design …

Comparing Economics Of Traditional Carbonation Method And A Novel Carbonation Invention For Craft Beer, Kira Simonson

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The traditional method for the carbonation of beer includes bubbling CO₂ through a pressurized brite tank until the desired level of carbonation concentration is reached. The gas either dissolves in the liquid volume or passes through the beer into the gas headspace above the bulk volume of beer. The gas that passes through the liquid can strip the beer of flavors, and this undissolved gas is vented to the atmosphere. To reduce the gas lost to the atmosphere, the CO₂ is dissolved into the beer slowly over a long period of time, which increases gas-use efficiency but sacrifices …

Low-Cost Test And Characterization Platform For Memristors, Lyle Jones

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The electrical Testing and Characterization of the devices built under research conditions on silicon wafers, diced wafers, or package parts have hampered research since the beginning of integrated circuits. The challenges of performing electrical characterization on devices are to acquire useful and accurate data, the ease of use of the test platform, the portability of the test equipment, the ability to automate quickly, to allow modifications to the platform, the ability to change the configuration of the Device Under Test (DUT) or the Memristor Based Design (MBD), and to do this within budget. The devices that this research is focused …

Reinforcement Learning In Self Organizing Cellular Networks, Roohollah Amiri

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Self-organization is a key feature as cellular networks densify and become more heterogeneous, through the additional small cells such as pico and femtocells. Self- organizing networks (SONs) can perform self-configuration, self-optimization, and self-healing. These operations can cover basic tasks such as the configuration of a newly installed base station, resource management, and fault management in the network. In other words, SONs attempt to minimize human intervention where they use measurements from the network to minimize the cost of installation, configuration, and maintenance of the network. In fact, SONs aim to bring two main factors in play: intelligence and autonomous adaptability. …

A History And Status Of Wind Energy Potential In Arkansas, Pre And Post Covid-19, Will Blasingame

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Historically, wind-generated electricity has been the largest renewable energy sources in the United States. Wind-rich regions like Oklahoma and Texas have fueled growth and sold that electricity to electric utilities located in wind-poor states like Arkansas in the form of Power Purchase Agreements. Future technologies such as Vertical Axis Wind Turbines, small wind turbines, and Tesla turbines designed to generate electricity from wind show promise in unlocking more expensive wind resources in regions like Northwest Arkansas by mitigating concerns about low wind speeds and noise. However, more factors than just feasibility influence the growth of wind power. Governmental policies such …

Construction Of A Hyperspectral Imager Using 3d-Printed And Off-The-Shelf Components, Joshua Moorhouse

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences is working in collaboration with the Mechanical Engineering department to create a relatively cheap and modifiable hyperspectral imager. It is constructed using 3D-printed and off-the-shelf components from Edmund Optics and Amazon. The iteration created in this paper delivers spectrograms in the visible spectrum. The long-term goals of the camera are to create hyperspectral images from these spectrograms and to advance the imager into the infrared and near-infrared spectra. This imager is being developed to be used in the Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences environmental test chambers to further the scientific …

Sub-/Surface Evaluation Of Industry-Grade Endodontic File Micro-/Nanoscale Structures And Low-Cost, Low-Energy Methods Of Rapidly Annealing And Nitriding Titanium, Nicholas Broadbent

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Because of their unique mechanical properties, shape memory capabilities and biocompatibility, Nickel-titanium alloys are frequently used in the medical industry for a variety of applications including endodontic files. Until now, the performance of industry-standard endodontic files has been characterized by this alloying property and a limited set of macroscale surface structures and features. In this work, High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), Low Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (LRTEM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDX) analyses are conducted at both the surface and sub-surface levels of a wide selection of industry-grade endodontic files currently offered on the …

Machine Learning Modeling Of Horizontal Photovoltaics Using Weather And Location Data, Christil Pasion, Torrey Wagner, Clay Koschnick, Steven Schuldt, Jada Williams, Kevin Hallinan

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Solar energy is a key renewable energy source; however, its intermittent nature and potential for use in distributed systems make power prediction an important aspect of grid integration. This research analyzed a variety of machine learning techniques to predict power output for horizontal solar panels using 14 months of data collected from 12 northern-hemisphere locations. We performed our data collection and analysis in the absence of irradiation data-an approach not commonly found in prior literature. Using latitude, month, hour, ambient temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed, and cloud ceiling as independent variables, a distributed random forest regression algorithm modeled the combined …

Gjendja Aktuale E Sistemit Energjetik Dhe Potenciali I Energjisë Së Ripërtëritshme Në Kosovë, Nezir Spanca

Theses and Dissertations

Kërkesa ditore për energji nga popullata në të gjithë botën është duke u rritur ndërsa toka në formën e saj nuk mund të ndryshojë ose të paktën i duhen miliona vite për të recikluar burimet e veta konvencionale. Nevoja për energji dhe shërbime të lidhura me të për të kënaqur zhvillimin shoqëror dhe ekonomik të njeriut, mirëqenien dhe shëndetin po rritet. Fokusimi në burime të ripërtëritshme për të ndihmuar në zbutjen e ndryshimit të klimës është një qasje e shkëlqyeshme që duhet të jetë e qëndrueshme në mënyrë që të plotësojë kërkesën për energji të brezave të ardhshëm. Përkundër këtyre …

Removal Of Fluoride From Mine Water Via Adsorption For Land-Applied Soil Amendment, Kevin Le, Adrian Damian, Mary Johnson, Ethan Phan, Courtney Golman, Michelle Dopp, Jacqueline Payne

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The team researched, designed, and economically analyzed a full-scale adsorption column system to be applied in mining processes that leave high amounts of fluoride in their effluent. This system was designed to remove fluoride from water saturated with calcium sulfate, as calcium sulfate is present in high amounts in certain mining processes. Currently, high density sludge (HDS) is commonly employed to reduce fluoride concentrations, but due to solubility limits the sludge treatment cannot lower fluoride below 10 mg/L (ppm). The current enforceable EPA standard for discharged water is at 4 mg/L (ppm), although mining companies anticipate that this standard will …

Removal Of Fluoride From Mine Water Via Adsorption For Land-Applied Soil Amendment, Michelle Dopp, Kevin Le, Ethan Phan, Mary Johnson, Jacqueline Payne, Adrian Damian, Courtney Golman

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Moo Pig Sooie’s researched, designed, and economically analyzed a full-scale adsorption column system to be applied in mining processes that leave high amounts of fluoride in their effluent. This system was designed to remove fluoride from water saturated with calcium sulfate, as calcium sulfate is present in high amounts in certain mining processes. Currently, high density sludge (HDS) is commonly employed to reduce fluoride concentrations, but due to solubility limits the sludge treatment cannot lower fluoride below 10 mg/L (ppm). The current enforceable EPA standard for discharged water is at 4 mg/L (ppm), although mining companies anticipate that this …

Synthesis Of Nickel-Titanium Intermetallic Surface Coatings Via Electrolytic Plasma Processing, Brody Allen Moore

Material Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

Electrolytic plasma processing (EPP) is an environmentally friendly surface cleaning and deposition technique. Dependant on circuit polarity, anionic or cationic species can be deposited from an aqueous electrolyte bridge, resulting in characteristic nanograin surface morphology and very high deposition rates. This work was conducted to study the EPP process, develop optimal parameters for the synthesis of very hard surface coatings, and study the resultant physical and electrochemical properties of produced titanium-nickel intermetallic surfaces. This study focuses on Ni deposited onto pure Ti surfaces for improvement of surface wear, hardness, and corrosion properties while retaining uncompromised Ti bulk characteristics. The surface …

Earth/Space Science - Earth's Place In Space: Seasonal Change, Elizabeth Martinez, Peg Steffen

Model NGSS Lessons: 4th - 5th Grade

A key Disciplinary Core Idea for understanding our place in space is that the orbits of Earth and the sun and of the moon around Earth cause observable patterns. These include day and night; daily changes in the length of shadows; and different positions of the sun, moon, and stars at different times. There are many misconceptions about earth’s orbit but it is important to remember and to convey to students that Earth is moving around the Sun and the Moon is moving around us. What we see each day with the motion of the Sun moving across the sky …

Cascaded Linear Regulator With Negative Voltage Tracking Switching Regulator, Ernest Lei

Master's Theses

DC-DC converters can be separated into two main groups: switching converters and linear regulators. Linear regulators such as Low Dropout Regulators (LDOs) are straightforward to implement and have a very stable output with low voltage ripple. However, the efficiency of an LDO can fluctuate greatly, as the power dissipation is a function of the device’s input and output. On the other hand, a switching regulator uses a switch to regulate energy levels. These types of regulators are more versatile when a larger change of voltage is needed, as efficiency is relatively stable across larger steps of voltages. However, switching regulators …

Quantification Of Nocturnal Blood Pressure Oscillations In Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients, Yao Shun Chuang

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

An approach to quantifying and analysis of nocturnal blood pressure (BP) variations that are elicited by sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is presented. A sample-by-sample aggregation of the dynamic BP variations during normal breathing and BP oscillations prompted by apnea episodes is performed. This approach facilitates the visualization and analysis of BP oscillations. Nocturnal BP oscillations reflect the cardiovascular stresses that SDB mediates and may be of clinical significance. Preliminary results from an analysis of full night study of 10 SDB subjects (8 Male 2 Female, 53±5.7 yrs., Body Mass Index 34.5±7.8 kg/m2, Apnea-Hypopnea Index 63.5±28.7) are presented. Aggregate trajectory and quantitative …

Remediation Of Crude Petroleum Oil-Water Emulsions Using Microalgae, Mohamed Shafi

Civil and Environmental Theses

Crude petroleum oil spills are among the most important organic contaminations, which result from uncontrolled releases and spillages during transportation or storage. The separated oils on that accumulate on top of the water can be removed by various conventional skimming methods. However, the emulsified portions that remain within the water phase are more difficult to remove and pose significant threats to the environment and could tamper the tertiary treatment in a wastewater treatment plant. Biological treatment, using bacteria, have proven to be an effective method in the removal of the emulsified oils. However, the biomass produced in this case does …

Improvement Of Geometric Quality Inspection And Process Efficiency In Additive Manufacturing, Yu Jin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Additive manufacturing (AM) has been known for its ability of producing complex geometries in flexible production environments. In recent decades, it has attracted increasing attention and interest of different industrial sectors. However, there are still some technical challenges hindering the wide application of AM. One major barrier is the limited dimensional accuracy of AM produced parts, especially for industrial sectors such as aerospace and biomedical engineering, where high geometric accuracy is required. Nevertheless, traditional quality inspection techniques might not perform well due to the complexity and flexibility of AM fabricated parts. Another issue, which is brought up from the growing …

Simulation Modeling Of Cross-Dock And Distribution Center Based Supply Chains, Ghewa Al Chall

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Companies are implementing new strategies to meet the customer requirements in terms of quality, timing, and cost. One of these strategies is cross-docking, which can be defined as the process of consolidating the products coming from different suppliers, but having the same destination, with minimal handling and almost no storage between loading and unloading of the goods. The purpose of this research is to investigate the benefits of having a cross-docking facility in a supply chain. In this research, we focus on developing discrete event simulation models using the opensource Java Simulation Library (JSL). Also, we work on augmenting an …

Comparison Of Mpi And Spark For Data Science Applications, Manvi Saxena, Shweta Jha, Saba Khan, John Rodgers, Peggy Lindner, Edgar Gabriel

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Data Science applications represent a growing fraction of the scientific computing workload, many of them written in Python. The goal of this paper is to compare two popular parallel programming models, namely MPI and Apache Spark for Python based Data Science applications. The paper presents communication and file I/O microbenchmarks to evaluate the MPI support for Python applications and uses two applications use-cases from Natural Language Processing to compare the performance of the MPI and the Spark versions. Our results indicate that the MPI version shows better scalability and performance than the PySpark version of the code. On the other …

Contemporary Leadership Theory In Biomedical Engineering, Anna Seifried

Senior Honors Projects

Modern leadership theories have begun to slowly weave their way into technical skill based fields, such as Biomedical Engineering, due to a critical need for effective communication skills.

Effectively and efficiently integrating contemporary leadership techniques into these industries, allows for clear goal setting and increased personal and professional satisfaction for both the customers and faculty.

For my Honors Project, I sought to find pre-existing connections and form new ones between modern leadership theories and the current Biomedical Engineering field. I focused specifically on Prosthetics and Orthopedics, but these theories can be applied to other branches of Biomedical Engineering and extend …

Locating Emergency Shelters While Incorporating Spatial Factors, Justin Taylor

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the immediate response phase of a natural disaster, local governments and nonprofit agencies often establish shelters for affected populations. Decisions regarding at which locations to open shelters are made ad hoc based on available building inventory, and may result in high travel impedance to reach shelters and congestion. This thesis presents a shelter location optimization model based on the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method. The 2SFCA method creates a shelter accessibility score for each areal unit (e.g., census block group) which represents the ability for persons in the unit to access shelter capacity with low travel impedance, relative …

Characterization Of Avidin And Case9 Single Protein Molecules By A Solid-State Nanopore Device, Haopeng Li

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The shape and charge of a protein play significant roles in protein dynamics in the biological system of humans and animals. Characterizing and quantifying the shape and charge of a protein at the single-molecule level remains a challenge. Solid-state nanopores made of silicon nitride (SiNx) have emerged as novel platforms for biosensing such as diagnostics for single-molecule detection and DNA sequencing. SSN detection is based on measuring the variations in ionic conductance as charged biomolecules translocate through nanometer-sized channels driven by an external voltage applied across the membrane. In this paper, we observe the translocation of asymmetric cylindrical structure CRISPR-Cas9 …

Mathematical Modeling Of A Variable Mass Rocket’S Dynamics Using The Differential Transform Method, Ashwyn Sam

Honors Theses

In this paper, the mathematical modelling of a rocket with varying mass is investigated to construct a function that can describe the velocity and position of the rocket as a function of time. This research is geared more towards small scale rockets where the nonlinear drag term is of great interest to the underlying dynamics of the rocket. A simple force balance on the rocket using Newton’s second law of motion yields a Riccati differential equation for which the solution yields the velocity of the rocket at any given time. This solution can then be integrated with respect to time …

Predictive Modeling Of Iphone 7 Charge Rates Using Least Squares Curve Fitting, Grace Cahill

Honors Theses

In a time where individuals depend on their cell phones, the need for a long lasting and quick charging battery life is imperative. As information regarding how long a battery can remained charged is highly advertised, there is no information regarding how long it would take for a dead phone battery to completely charge. This study determined the amount of time it will take an iPhone 7 to charge from 0% to 100% using the standard charging cable under four different charging conditions. The charge percentage was recorded every two minutes until it was fully charged with this process being …

Helios And Tenasi Results For The Workshop For Integrated Propeller Prediction, Aaron Crawford

Honors Theses

Beginning in 2018, the AIAA began the workshop for integrated propeller prediction. This effort was intended to bolster the CFD prediction capabilities of the aerospace community due to a resurgent interest in propeller driven vehicles for electric applications. The test bed for this workshop is the NASA X-57, a model of which was experimentally tested in the Lockheed Martin Low Speed Wind Tunnel in January 2019. Using the 3D scanned geometry provided by the workshop a mesh was created and all priority one simulations were performed using two flow solvers. The flow solvers used were Helios, developed by the ADD …

Augmented Reality In A Dynamic Drone Based Environment, Christopher Davis

Honors Theses

Augmented Reality (AR) and Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAVs) are fast advancing technologies, and this research seeks to combine them to offer an effective, user friendly approach for monitoring infrastructure. Drones provide a means to easily access otherwise difficult to reach locations and visualize useful information with Augmented Reality. A UAV employs a wide-angle view and, when paired with AR, this will enable the user to better complete their task by effortlessly providing the critical information they need in the most intuitive way possible. This research is particularly applicable for civil applications such as construction and monitoring of difficult to access …

Development Of An In Vitro Intervertebral Disc Innervation Model To Screen Neuroinhibitory Biomaterials, Sarah M. Romereim, Caleb A. Johnston, Adan L. Redwine,, Rebecca A. Wachs

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Pain originating from an intervertebral disc (discogenic pain) is a major source of chronic low back pain. Pathological innervation of the disc by pain‐sensing nerve fibers is thought to be a key component of discogenic pain, so treatment with biomaterials that have the ability to inhibit neurite growth will greatly benefit novel disc therapeutics. Currently, disc therapeutic biomaterials are rarely screened for their ability to modulate nerve growth, mainly due to a lack of models to screen neuromodulation. To address this deficit, our lab has engineered a three dimensional in vitro disc innervation model that mimics the interface between primary …

Teaching Learning Newsletter Vol 1 Issue 1, Sastra Deemed To Be University

TLC Newsletter

No abstract provided.