Engineering Commons^™

Estimation Of Stage-Area-Storage Relationships In Reservoirs And Stage-Discharge Relationships In Rivers Using Remotely Sensed Data, Sailuj Shakya

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis estimates the relationships between the water surface levels and quantities of water in reservoirs and rivers using remotely sensed data without any field measurements. However, the accuracies of the estimates were validated using the field measurements from ground stations. The relationships between the water surface levels and quantities are fundamental for monitoring water quantities for the operation of hydraulic structures, as well as analyzing variability and changes in hydrology. Accessibility and transparency are big issues in establishing a monitoring system that can provide field validation of efforts to model global climate systems. Remote sensing has a capability of …

Assessing Simulated Transmissivity In Numerical Flow Models Of Complex Hydrogeology, Afan Tarar

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Accurately extracting a meaningful transmissivity, a target value within one order of magnitude of field estimates, in numerical models poses a significant challenge when modeling complex groundwater systems. Aquifer transmissivity is directly proportional to the aquifer thickness and the estimated aquifer hydraulic conductivity. In complex geologic conditions (especially in fractured systems) with multiple heterogeneous and anisotropic hydrogeologic units, transmissivity can vary over several orders of magnitude.

To extract a meaningful value of transmissivity from a numerical model, a simple five-layer MODFLOW model was constructed. Each layer in the model was assigned a fixed hydraulic conductivity and thickness. The model simulates …

Multi-Resolution Spatio-Temporal Change Analyses Of Hydro-Climatological Variables In Association With Large-Scale Oceanic-Atmospheric Climate Signals, Kazi Ali Tamaddun

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The primary objective of the work presented in this dissertation was to evaluate the change patterns, i.e., a gradual change known as the trend, and an abrupt change known as the shift, of multiple hydro-climatological variables, namely, streamflow, snow water equivalent (SWE), temperature, precipitation, and potential evapotranspiration (PET), in association with the large-scale oceanic-atmospheric climate signals. Moreover, both observed datasets and modeled simulations were used to evaluate such change patterns to assess the efficacy of the modeled datasets in emulating the observed trends and shifts under the influence of uncertainties and inconsistencies. A secondary objective of this study was to …

The Affective Perceptual Model: Enhancing Communication Quality For Persons With Pimd, Jadin Tredup

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Methods for prolonged compassionate care for persons with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities (PIMD) require a rotating cast of import people in the subjects life in order to facilitate interaction with the external environment. As subjects continue to age, dependency on these people increases with complexity of communications while the quality of communication decreases. It is theorized that a machine learning (ML) system could replicate the attuning process and replace these people to promote independence. This thesis extends this idea to develop a conceptual and formal model and system prototype.

The main contributions of this thesis are: (1) proposal of …

Application-Specific Memory Subsystem Benchmarking, Mahesh Lakshminarasimhan

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Application performance often depends on achieved memory bandwidth. Achieved memory bandwidth varies greatly given specific combinations of instruction mix and order, working set size, and access pattern. Achieving good application performance depends on optimizing these characteristics within the constraints of the given application. This task is complicated due to the lack of information about the impact of small changes on the performance. Some information is provided by benchmarks, but most memory benchmarks are confined to simple access patterns that are not representative of patterns found in real applications.

This thesis presents AdaptMemBench, a configurable benchmark framework designed to explore the …

Design Of Remote Datalogger Connection And Live Data Tweeting System, Zachary Wofford

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Low-Impact Development (LID) is an attempt to sustainably respond to the potential hazards posed by urban expansion. Green roofs are an example of LID design meant to reduce the amount of runoff from storm events that are becoming more intense and less predictable while also providing insulation to buildings. LID has not yet been widely adopted as it is often a more expensive alternative to conventional infrastructure (Bowman et. al., 2009). However, its benefits are apparent. The University of Arkansas Honors College awarded a grant to research the large green roof atop Hillside Auditorium. One part of this grant is …

Internal Design Of A Hydroponics Greenhouse For Tri Cycle Farms, Sarah Gould

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Hydroponics is the agricultural technique of growing plants without soil, using other growing media and added nutrients in a solvent. It is an attractive agricultural method over conventional agriculture because it is more water efficient, is less labor intensive, yields higher quality crops in less time, and is easier to control. According to the Digital Journal, “hydroponics crop value is anticipated to grow to USD 27.29 Billion by 2022 at an estimated CAGR of 6.39% from 2015 to 2020” (Sawant, 2016). Alongside this growing market acceptance for hydroponics, there is also a local demand that requires only a small transportation …

Lighting And Economic Considerations For A Hydroponic S-Based Greenhouse At Tri Cycle Farms, Laura Gray

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Hydroponics is an agricultural technology that involves growing plants without soil, instead using other growth media with added nutrients, typically inside a controlled facility such as a greenhouse. Hydroponics-based agriculture has a number of benefits, namely that it is more water efficient, requires less intensive labor, yields higher quality crops consistently in shorter time, and is easier to control. It also has the potential to be economically advantageous, due to its ability to grow certain crops in the off-season. In Fayetteville, Arkansas, a non-profit urban farm known as Tri Cycle Farms has been seeking a way to design, build, and …

Effectiveness Of Titanium And Iron Nanoparticles In Treating M. Aeruginosa For Harmful Algal Bloom Remediation, Natalie Von Tress

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are a growing issue worldwide, posing harm to both aquatic ecosystems and drinking water quality. This issue could be potentially mitigated using nanoparticle (NP) treatment, simultaneously removing cyanobacteria and associated cyanotoxins in HABs. This research seeks to discern the effectiveness of using titanium dioxide and iron (III) oxide NP treatment at removing cyanobacteria via flocculation and sedimentation. Each NP at 25 mg/L and 50 mg/L were used to treat suspended culture of Microcystis aeruginosa, the representative cyanobacteria, up to 72 hours. Cell concentration and morphology in the supernatant were measured via a Coulter counter and …

Simulating Delayed Flood And Alternate Wetting And Drying Rice Production In Arkansas Using Apex, Jaden Tatum

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Rice is a staple food for billions of people, and rice production will need to grow with global populations. One potential solution to decrease the environmental impacts associated with rice production is alternate wetting and drying (AWD) management which, as opposed to sustained flooding, allows a reduction of water use and methane emissions. Studies into AWD have shown that yield levels may be conserved when using this practice, which would be necessary for widespread implementation. Modeling AWD management changes successfully would help to determine where and to what extent this practice may be effective in the US. The management and …

Ecological Co2 Flux Of A Green Roof Ecosystem And A Typical Grassland Ecosystem, Madeline Oxner

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Hillside Auditorium Green Roof is a low impact development feature on the University of Arkansas campus. It retains storm water and allows plants living on the roof to take up and transpire the water. Green roofs work to mimic natural ecosystems in urban environments. A key property is ecosystem respiration, which plays a large role in the global carbon cycle and is an important biologic activity indicator. The ecosystem respiration of Hillside Auditorium Green Roof was compared to a typical grassland ecosystem at the University of Arkansas farm to determine how closely the green roof is able to mimic …

Quantifying Litter Decomposition Rates On A Semi-Intensive Green Roof, Eli Lasalle

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The overall goal of this study was to provide a measure of the decomposition rate constant on a semi- intensive green roof located in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The specific approach chosen was the use of the Tea Bag Index (TBI), a standardized plant litter decomposition test. There was some heterogeneity observed on site and the locations of samples tested were chosen based on this. Additional laboratory tests were conducted in order to determine whether there would be a large impact of temperature on decomposition or if it would be outweighed by other factors. The temperatures compared were 5°C, 20°C, and 30°C. …

A Unified Risk-Based Framework For Assessing Sustainability And Resiliency Of Civil Infrastructure, Thomas Adam Robbins

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

As of February 2019, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has reported since 1880 the average global temperature has increased 1°C, with the warmest year on record being 2016. As the years continue to pass, it is becoming more evident that climate change is occurring, which is known to be a catalyst for climatic weather events. Statistically speaking, these events are more prevalent, and catastrophic exemplified as hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding, and fires. In addition to the increase of potentially catastrophic events, society as a whole has become more conscientious in the use and preservation of natural resources, waste generation, …

Understanding The Effect Of Crystalline Structure And Atomic Arrangement In Metal Oxide Electrodes For Sodium Ion Batteries, Changjian Deng

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the fundamental understanding in the influences of order-disorder and atomic arrangement on electrochemical properties of electrode materials for sodium ion batteries (SIBs). In specific, TiO₂ anode and NaNi_xFe_yMn_xO₂ cathode materials are studied. Due to their low cost and relatively high abundance of raw materials SIBs are attractive for large-scale energy storage systems for high round trip efficiency and long cycle life. Recent studies suggest that various polymorphs of TiO₂ are suitable as anode material. However, the impact of crystallinity on the electrochemical properties of the material has not …

Parametric Amplification Study And Applications In Millimeter-Wave Transmitters, Sherry Huang

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

In wireless communication systems, the millimeter-wave frequency band has been gaining more interests recently, mainly due to its wide bandwidth and ability to support high data-rate. However, challenges come with the advantages. To transmit and receive complexed data, the quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) scheme paired with orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is used most commonly. In transmitter designs of such modulation schemes and frequency access schemes, two important requirements are high linearity and high efficiency. The building blocks of transmitters include power amplifiers (PA) and mixers. Nevertheless, traditional design techniques exhibit trade-offs between linearity and efficiency for PAs, and between conversion …

Autonomous Vehicles Operating Collaboratively To Avoid Debris And Obstructions, Toan T. Le, Cole W. Oppenheim, James H. Gildart, Kyle M. Bybee

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this project is to demonstrate the safety and increased fuel efficiency of an automated collision avoidance system in collaborative vehicle platooning. This project was cosponsored by Daimler Trucks North America headquartered in Portland, Oregon, as well as Dr. Birdsong, and Dr. DeBruhl of Cal Poly. The mechanical engineering team consists of Cole Oppenheim, James Gildart, Toan Le, and Kyle Bybee who worked in coordination with a team of computer engineers. Vehicle platooning is a driving technique to increase the fuel efficiency of a group of vehicles by following a lead vehicle closely to reduce the drag experienced …

Adjustable Seating Systems, Grace Timken, Zachary Dworaczyk, Jasper Lewin, Eric Voss

Mechanical Engineering

The Adjustable Seating Systems team designed and prototyped a collapsible and nestable seat for use in transit vehicles to create more free space for more passengers and cargo. Our team is the second senior project group to have worked at solving this problem. The previous team established a unique seat folding method that is currently pending patent approval. Our team’s responsibility was to improve the ease of use and overall hardware design of the entire seating system. This document captures the efforts that our team has performed to organize an approach to completing a full design and working prototype this …

Danny’S Recumbent Bike Accessibility Device Final Design Report, Joseph J. Lee, Huy Nguyen, Jack Mcatee, John Kulick

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this document is to fully define our design solution and explain our manufacturing and testing results. Our project’s goal is to find a way to allow Danny Knutson, a retired Navy pilot and incomplete quadriplegic with limited use of his arms and an impaired sense of balance, to enter and exit his recumbent tricycle without any discomfort for him or his aide. We completed multiple interviews with Danny, patent research, existing product research, and other technical literature research in order to fully understand the problem. We synthesized this information to create a concrete list of customer wants …

High Strollers, Braeden Hammond, Morley Perrin, Reid Bartels, Juan Rodriguez

Mechanical Engineering

This report documents the final product of Jonathon’s new lightweight stroller. The Mechanical Engineering team from Cal Poly, High Strollers, began the project to create a lightweight stroller for the project sponsor, Nina Aguayo, and her son, Jonathon Aguayo, in Fall of 2018. Jonathon is diagnosed with Delayed Brain Development and Hypotonia with some characteristics of Cerebral Palsy. He has a 50lb high intensity stroller to go to and from school. Mrs. Aguayo needed a stroller that is easier to transport while still meeting all of Jonathon’s needs. The re-designed stroller will make leisurely outings for Mrs. Aguayo and Jonathon …

Go With The Flow, Scott Weinhardt, Priscilla Ng, Ben Rydberg, Ritika Makhijani

Mechanical Engineering

This Final Design Review (FDR) report outlines the Fuel System Flow Analysis senior project completed by the presenters listed. Included is research about Solar Turbines’ needs, and objectives for our project, our design decision process and final design, manufacturing, design verification report, final results, and suggestions moving forward with this experiment. The goal of the project is to identify stable pressure fields throughout the Solar Turbines fuel delivery system. Specifically, the optimal placement for taking measurements downstream of the main and pilot fuel control valves. The data is used to validate the accuracy of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) models that …

Sustainable Ground Improvement Method Using Recycled Plastic Pins, Md Nur Basit Zaman

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Failure of civil engineering infrastructures due to insufficient bearing and shearing capacity of the unsuitable foundation soil is a common problem in the area of North Texas which results in significant maintenance issues for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The major concerns regarding construction over such foundation soil includes excessive total and differential settlement of footing resulting in bearing capacity failure and sliding failure of the Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) retaining structure due to inadequate shear resistance. The most common technique followed by TxDOT to counter such problem is to remove and replace the existing soil with appropriate fill …

Modeling Of Electrochemical Processes At The Magnesium Anode During Struvite Formation, Tobias Dwyer

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study analyzes the current transients observed during the electrochemical formation of struvite from a solution of ammonium phosphate using a pure magnesium and magnesium alloy electrode. Through converting the chronoamperometric data to chronocoulometric data and fitting the data to various models, the driving mechanisms for struvite nucleation were elucidated. While the pure magnesium anode is controlled by only instantaneous nucleation at the electrode, the AZ31 alloy is nucleation controlled at short times and Cottrell diffusion controlled at long times.

Assessing Commonly Used Methods In Measuring Yield Of Cellulose Nanocrystals, Marilyn Pharr

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Cellulose is a ubiquitous, renewable biopolymer found in plants that can be broken down to isolate cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). CNCs have been utilized in various applications that include biomedical technology, structural composites, and barrier films because of their unique mechanical, optical, and physicochemical properties. CNCs can be produced by a variety of approaches from cellulosic materials; however, strong acid hydrolysis is the most common and effective technique as it results in stable colloidal suspensions. Existing literature reveals a wide range of CNC yields, depending on the production process, raw material used, and the method of yield estimation. The yields of …

Rating Curve Development For The Upper James Fork, Lower James Fork And Hinkle Jones Creek In The Upper Poteau River Watershed In Arkansas, Meagan O'Hare

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Stream discharge is necessary to estimate loads and calibrate and validate watershed models. Access to long-term water quality data and discharge measurements allows for modeling of water quality changes across a watershed over time. However, discharge monitoring stations are often expensive to install and maintain, particularly in small rivers. A more cost-effective method for monitoring streamflow has been implemented in the Upper Poteau River Watershed (UPRW) in Arkansas. This method consists of an SonTek acoustic doppler instrument for measuring storm stream flow, with is combined with manual baseflow discharge measurements. The combined stormflow and baseflow measurements are combined with a …

Bgaas Alloy Semiconductors For Lasers On Silicon, Joshua Mcarthur

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the world of semiconductors today, there is a large dissonance between optical devices and electrical application. Due to the limitations of electron transport, photonic integrated circuits are soon-to-be vital in fields like telecommunications and sensing. Right now, these PIC’s are mostly made from indium phosphide. Due to its ubiquitous nature, however, there is a huge push to integrate efficient optics with silicon. It’s cheap, abundant, dope-able, and our electronic infrastructure is based on it. The reason why silicon photonics aren’t already commercialized is because of silicon’s indirect bandgap—it is inefficient with optical applications. The problem with combining direct gap …

Rapidscat Backscatter Measurements Calibration, Ruaa Alsabah

Theses and Dissertations

Scatterometers are microwave radars deployed to estimate global wind speeds and directions over sea surface by measuring Normalized Radar Cross Section (σᵒ) of the sea. Measured is determined by the sea surface roughness that is modulated mostly by wind, thus establishing a relationship between and wind conditions. Wind vectors are retrieved by inverting an empirical Geophysical Model Function that relates measured to a wind vector (speed and direction) and radar measurement configuration (polarization, incidence, and azimuth angle). Careful scatterometer calibration is required for accurate wind retrieval. RapidScat is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ku-Band scatterometer that was operated …

A Data-Driven Approach For Detecting Stress In Plants Using Hyperspectral Imagery, Suraj Gampa

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A phenotype is an observable characteristic of an individual and is a function of its genotype and its growth environment. Individuals with different genotypes are impacted differently by exposure to the same environment. Therefore, phenotypes are often used to understand morphological and physiological changes in plants as a function of genotype and biotic and abiotic stress conditions. Phenotypes that measure the level of stress can help mitigate the adverse impacts on the growth cycle of the plant. Image-based plant phenotyping has the potential for early stress detection by means of computing responsive phenotypes in a non-intrusive manner. A large number …

The Changing Face Of Airmanship And Safety Culture Operating Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Tracy Lamb

Student Works

The notion of using drones for commercial purposes has evolved in the past 5 years from the initial “boom” of excitement around this, somewhat of a novelty and curiosity, to more calculated and sophisticated use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones. In the hands of true professionals, drones can offer highly efficient and profitable solutions for industrial, and commercial inspections and other data capturing tasks. The appetite for safe and efficient collection of data is a changing face of safety cultures and how teams and individuals apply airmanship principles, and how inspection crew and UAS crew interact. UAS are …

Molecular Investigation Of The Intestinal Barrier In Health And Disease, Santita Ebangwese

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The intestinal epithelial barrier contributes to the absorption of nutrients and in maintaining homeostasis. Several intestinal disorders such as Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis show common pathological features corresponding to a decreased intestinal epithelial barrier function, which makes it imperative to investigate the functional units of the intestinal barriers formed by complex protein interfaces called the tight junctions. Among the diverse set of transmembrane proteins involved in the formation of tight junctions, the mal-distribution of claudin family of proteins show direct correlation to compromised barrier functioning. Interestingly, claudin-3 expression reduces drastically in compromised barriers, while an increased expression of claudin-23 …

The Analysis Of Erlanger Hospital’S Suture Inventory Management Operations, Amanda George

Honors Theses

This paper evaluates the impact of using mechanical engineering and operations management principles to an inventory management system in Erlanger Hospital. Erlanger Hospital is a local, nonprofit hospital system in Chattanooga. Erlanger serves as a tertiary referral hospital and a Level I Trauma Center in the region. Therefore, they are heavily depended on during times of crisis or emergency [2]. This study focuses specifically on reducing the loss and ultimate waste of sutures across Erlanger’s surgery wing. A criteria for the appraisal of using mechanical and manufacturing engineering to improve the current system is established based on existing data regarding …