Engineering Commons^™

Art To Engineering: Curved Folding And Developable Surfaces In Mechanism And Deployable Structure Design, Todd G. Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

This work investigates how curved-crease origami and the developable surfaces which compose it can be transitioned to engineering design. Methods for creating flexible, tailorable-property surfaces that function as thick panels in place of paper are presented. Concepts from curved-crease origami and developable surfaces that can describe and extend engineering applications are discussed and demonstrated. These concepts are particularly beneficial to applications where curved surfaces are integral to the function, deployability is desired, and planar manufacturing could be beneficial.The first part of this work uses arrays of compliant elements to create flexible-tailorable property surfaces. The key feature to these arrays is …

Board 85 : Cadcompare™: A Web-Based Application That Compares Pdf Cad Drawings, Lukas W. Dibeneditto, Rustin Webster

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

This work in progress describes the development of a web application titled CADcompare™, which automatically compares, displays, and highlights differences in Portable Document Format (PDF) files of computer-aided design (CAD) drawings and is specifically designed to compare multiple student files to an instructor's grading key. CADcompare augments the grading process of technical and engineering CAD drawings by highlighting differences that can be easily missed by a human grader, such as incorrect line type(s), color(s), or double lines (i.e., lines on top of each other). Some CAD software has built-in comparison tools, however, none of the comparison tools accept PDF files …

Nutrient Removal In Microalgae Raceway Ponds And Nitrification Modeling, Esmeralda Diego

Master's Theses

This thesis explores the treatment of municipal wastewater using pilot-scale raceway ponds and looks specifically at the capability of the raceways in removing BOD and nitrogen. Nine 33 square-meter algal raceway ponds were used to conduct research at the San Luis Obispo Water Resources Recovery Facility. Main objectives of this study were to increase the removal of total ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N plus NH₄⁺-N) from municipal wastewater through increased assimilation and nitrification. Raceway ponds with CO₂ addition were operated in series with an intermediate settling step and a total hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 4 …

Thermal Modelling And Validation Of Heat Profiles In An Rf Plasma Micro-Thruster, Alec Sean Henken

Master's Theses

The need and demand for propulsion devices on nanosatellites has grown over the last decade due to interest in expanding nanosatellite mission abilities, such as attitude control, station-keeping, and collision avoidance. One potential micro-propulsion device suitable for nanosatellites is an electrothermal plasma thruster called Pocket Rocket. Pocket Rocket is a low-power, low-cost propulsion platform specifically designed for use in nanosatellites such as CubeSats. Due to difficulties associated with integrating propulsion devices onto spacecraft such as volume constraints and heat dissipation limitations, a characterization of the heat generation and heat transfer properties of Pocket Rocket is necessary. Several heat-transfer models of …

How Useful Is Travel-Based Multitasking? Evidence From Commuters In Portland, Oregon, Patrick A. Singleton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

As research on travel-based multitasking—doing other things while traveling—becomes more common, some studies also investigate the quality or value of activity participation during travel. This idea of travel usefulness is a component of the positive utility of travel concept; understanding the benefits of travel-based multitasking is important for calculating accurate economic values trading-off travel time and other variables. This study analyzed travel usefulness and its potential determinants using a 2016 survey of about 650 commuters in the Portland, Oregon, area. Ordered logit models identified factors associated with subjective assessments of the overall usefulness of activity participation while on a recent …

A National Pragmatic Safety Limit For Nuclear Weapon Quantities, Joshua M. Pearce, David C. Denkenberger

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

This study determines the nuclear pragmatic limit where the direct physical negative consequences of nuclear weapons use are counter to national interests, by assuming all unknowns are conservatively optimistic. The only effect considered is nuclear winter (“nuclear autumn” in the low weapons limits) and the resultant effects on the aggressor nation. First, the ability of low nuclear weapon limits is probed for maintaining deterrence in the worst-case scenario of attacking the most-populous nation. Second, the ability of aggressor nations to feed themselves is assessed without trade and industry resultant from a nuclear attack causing “nuclear autumn” (10% global agricultural shortfall). …

Bioactive Polydimethylsiloxane Surface For Optimal Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell Sheet Culture, Zichen Qian, David Ross, Wenkai Jia, Qi Xing, Feng Zhao

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) sheets hold great potential in engineering three-dimensional (3D) completely biological tissues for diverse applications. Conventional cell sheet culturing methods employing thermoresponsive surfaces are cost ineffective, and rely heavily on available facilities. In this study, a cost-effective method of layer-by-layer grafting was utilized for covalently binding a homogenous collagen I layer on a commonly used polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate surface in order to improve its cell adhesion as well as the uniformity of the resulting hMSC cell sheet. Results showed that a homogenous collagen I layer was obtained via this grafting method, which improved hMSC adhesion and …

Cost Model Evaluation For Large Scale Additive Manufacturing, Andrea Piazza

Theses and Dissertations

Additive manufacturing (AM) is becoming a valuable option in medium to large scale manufacturing operations, due to the increasing technological advances and popularization of different techniques. Product development assembly costs can be greatly reduced with additive manufacturing, producing directly consumer-usable parts without the need of always rising labor costs. Entry level companies can bridge the gap between Tier 1 suppliers and Research & Development (R&D) businesses by utilizing the lower capital and reoccurring costs of modern additive manufacturing techniques, thereby avoiding the necessity for retooling and specialized machinery. The following study both explores the advantages and quantifies the cost factors, …

Automated Pruning Of Greenhouse Indeterminate Tomato Plants, Joey M. Angeja

Master's Theses

Pruning of indeterminate tomato plants is vital for a profitable yield and it still remains a manual process. There has been research in automated pruning of grapevines, trees, and other plants, but tomato plants have yet to be explored. Wage increases are contributing to the depleting profits of greenhouse tomato farmers. Rises in population are the driving force behind the need for efficient growing techniques. The major contribution of this thesis is a computer vision algorithm for detecting greenhouse tomato pruning points without the use of depth sensors. Given an up-close 2-D image of a tomato stem with the background …

Comparative Analysis Of Physiological Measurements And Environmental Metrics On Predicting Heat Stress Related Events, Mckenzie Lee Barlow

Master's Theses

Exposure to high heat and humidity can lead to serious health risks, including heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) and heat index have historically been used to predict heat stress events, but individualized factors are not included in the measurement. It has been shown that there is a relationship between cardiovascular measurements and heat stress, which could be used to measure heat stress risk on an individual level. Research has been done to find relationships between cardiovascular metrics in a workplace environment, however the study did not include the use of a controlled environment as a …

A Protocol-Based Blended Model For Fluid Mechanics Instruction, John Solomon, Eric Hamilton, Vimal Viswanathan, Chitra Nayak, Firas Akasheh

Faculty Publications, Mechanical Engineering

A personalized and media-rich learning framework called “Knowledge and Curriculum Integration Ecosystem” (KACIE) has been developed and implemented in a junior level fluid mechanics course in Fall 2016 and Spring 2017. This model shares characteristics of blended instruction as well as a flipped classroom, with an overall structure that includes the application of established principles emerging from the learning sciences and from cognitive neuroscience. These principles have taken form in the KACIE model as classroom protocols or written instructions to scaffold and guide teaching and learning by faculty and students respectively. In KACIE, the course has been presented as a …

Application Of Brain-Based Learning Principles To Engineering Mechanics Education: Implementation And Preliminary Analysis Of Connections Between Employed Strategies And Improved Student Engagement, Firas Akasheh, John Solomon, Eric Hamilton, Chitra Nayak, Vimal Viswanathan

Faculty Publications, Mechanical Engineering

In a pilot study supported by NSF, an instructional model that uses brain based learning principles as instructional protocols has been developed and successfully implemented in the course Introduction to Fluid Mechanics at a HBCU. Motivated by that success, we extended a similar intervention to another course, Dynamics, in the same school. In this paper, we report preliminary data from this intervention. The main strategies implemented in this intervention include: organization of the course into specific concepts and sub-concepts, which are concisely presented by short (limited to 2-6 minutes) content-rich lectures (diagrams, animations, narrations), active learning through in-class worksheets, and …

A Study On The Student Success In A Blended-Model Engineering Classroom, Vimal Viswanathan, John Solomon

Faculty Publications, Mechanical Engineering

One of the primary concern that many engineering educators face is the lack of engagement of students in their classroom. While literature suggests a variety of factors that might negatively influence student engagement, the theory of “Tailored Instructions and Engineered Delivery Using Protocols” (TIED UP) specifically addresses the lack of engagement arising from a weak pre-requisite base. TIED UP is a blended teaching model where the content delivery follows a set of protocols inspired by the brain-based learning approach. In a typical TIED UP classroom, content delivery is performed using short, animated and scripted concept videos that are generated before …

Development Of A Vortex Particle Code For The Modeling Of Wake Interaction In Distributed Propulsion, Eduardo Alvarez, Andrew Ning

Faculty Publications

Recent developments in electric aircraft technology have enabled the use of distributed propulsion for the next generation of vertical lift vehicles. However, the ability to rapidly assess the performance of these design concepts, with sufficient fidelity, is a current weakness of this nascent industry. This paper explores the capacity of the viscous Vortex Particle Method (VPM) to model wake interactions found in distributed propulsion. The elements of the vortex particle method are summarized, and a new approach for the calculation of vortex stretching through the complex-step derivative approximation is presented. Preliminary validation is performed on vortex ring cases resembling the …

Camera View Planning For Structure From Motion: Achieving Targeted Inspection Through More Intelligent View Planning Methods, Trent James Okeson

Theses and Dissertations

Remote sensors and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have the potential to dramatically improve infrastructure health monitoring in terms of accuracy of the information and frequency of data collection. UAV automation has made significant progress but that automation is also creating vast amounts of data that needs to be processed into actionable information. A key aspect of this work is the optimization (not just automation) of data collection from UAVs for targeted planning of mission objectives. This work investigates the use of camera planning for Structure from Motion for 3D modeling of infrastructure. Included in this thesis is a novel multi-scale …

Design And Implementation Of Fuzzy Controller For Non-Linear Thermally Insulated Mimo Greenhouse Building Utilizing Weather Conditions And Ground Temperature, Raghed Abdul Menam Al Housari

Electrical Engineering Theses

The increased demand of electricity and water consumption for cooling and heating processes together with the continuous increase in earth temperature due to greenhouse gases emission urged the utilization of sustainable, affordable and clean energy resources. Globally, the biggest amount of water is consumed for agricultural purposes. Domestically, in Abu Dhabi Emirate, the agriculture sector consumes over 50% of the supplied water. Part of this consumption is due to the evaporative cooling approach that is typically used in cooling greenhouses. This approach utilizes a large amount of water and energy to maintain the greenhouse temperature within the desired range. Ground …

Using Switchable Solvents For Simultaneous Microalgae Lipids’ Extraction And Biodiesel Production, Mariam Sultan Saeed Alamer

Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Theses

Biodiesel produced from microalgae biomass has been pursued as a possible replacement to petroleum diesel. Among the main steps in microalgae biodiesel production are the drying and cell walls disruption, which are energy intensive and/or time consuming, and oil extraction, which is conventionally done using toxic organic solvents that contaminate the left over biomass and require additional solvent recovery. Therefore, these steps are considered the major obstacles facing the commercialization of microalgae biodiesel.

In this work, switchable solvents (SSs), which can reversibly alter their hydrophobicities, have been tested for oil extraction and biodiesel production. Three switchable solvents, namely N, N-dimethylcyclohexylamine …

Integration Of Remote Sensing And Proximal Sensing For Improvement Of Field Scale Water Management, Foad Foolad

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Water is one of the most precious natural resources, and sustainable water resources development ‎‎is a significant challenge facing water managers over the coming decades. Accurate estimation of ‎‎the different components of the hydrologic cycle is key for water managers and planners in order ‎‎to achieve sustainable water resources development. The primary goal of this dissertation was to ‎investigate techniques to combine datasets acquired by remote and proximal sensing and in-situ ‎sensors for the improvement of monitoring near surface water fluxes. This dissertation is ‎separated into three site-specific case studies. First study, investigated the feasibility of using ‎inverse vadose zone …

Human Knee Fea Model For Transtibial Amputee Tibial Cartilage Pressure In Gait And Cycling, Gregory Lane

Master's Theses

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating disease affecting roughly 31 million Americans. The incidence of OA is significantly higher for persons who have suffered a transtibial amputation. Abnormal cartilage stress can cause higher OA risk, however it is unknown if there is a connection between exercise type and cartilage stress. To help answer this, a tibiofemoral FEA model was created. Utilizing linear elastic isotropic materials and non-linear springs, the model was validated to experimental cadaveric data. In a previous study, 6 control and 6 amputee subjects underwent gait and cycling experiments. The resultant knee loads were analyzed to find the maximum …

Effect Of Bioaugmentation Product Biowish® Aqua™ On Nitrogen Removal In Wastewater, Patrick Cassidy Kalvass

Master's Theses

Biological nutrient removal (BNR) from wastewater, and specifically nitrogen removal, is a growing concern to wastewater dischargers such as municipalities. Excess nutrients in effluent can create problems such as eutrophication, toxicity to aquatic life, and dissolved oxygen depletion in receiving waters. BNR systems have been installed in many locations with success, but their operation presents operational and financial demands greater than conventional biological treatment. Nitrogen removal is typically performed in sequential autotrophic nitrification and denitrification, which increases needed energy input, operational complexity, and therefore cost. Simultaneous nitrification-denitrification (SNdN) achieved in a single system has also been successfully implemented, however operational …

Differential Power Analysis In-Practice For Hardware Implementations Of The Keccak Sponge Function, Nathaniel Graff

Master's Theses

The Keccak Sponge Function is the winner of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) competition to develop the Secure Hash Algorithm-3 Standard (SHA-3). Prior work has developed reference implementations of the algorithm and described the structures necessary to harden the algorithm against power analysis attacks which can weaken the cryptographic properties of the hash algorithm. This work demonstrates the architectural changes to the reference implementation necessary to achieve the theoretical side channel-resistant structures, compare their efficiency and performance characteristics after synthesis and place-and-route when implementing them on Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), publish the resulting implementations under the …

Object Tracking In Games Using Convolutional Neural Networks, Anirudh Venkatesh

Master's Theses

Computer vision research has been growing rapidly over the last decade. Recent advancements in the field have been widely used in staple products across various industries. The automotive and medical industries have even pushed cars and equipment into production that use computer vision. However, there seems to be a lack of computer vision research in the game industry. With the advent of e-sports, competitive and casual gaming have reached new heights with regard to players, viewers, and content creators. This has allowed for avenues of research that did not exist prior.

In this thesis, we explore the practicality of object …

A Comparative Study Of Feature Detection Methods For Auv Localization, Andrew Y. Kim

Master's Theses

Underwater localization is a difficult task when it comes to making the system autonomous due to the unpredictable environment. The fact that radio signals such as GPS cannot be transmitted through water makes autonomous movement and localization underwater even more challenging. One specific method that is widely used for autonomous underwater navigation applications is Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM), a technique in which a map is created and updated while localizing the vehicle within the map. In SLAM, feature detection is used in landmark extraction and data association by examining each pixel and differentiating landmarks pixels from those of the …

Mastering The Game Of Gomoku Without Human Knowledge, Yuan Wang

Master's Theses

Gomoku, also called Five in a row, is one of the earliest checkerboard games invented by humans. For a long time, it has brought countless pleasures to us. We humans, as players, also created a lot of skills in playing it. Scientists normalize and enter these skills into the computer so that the computer knows how to play Gomoku. However, the computer just plays following the pre-entered skills, it doesn’t know how to develop these skills by itself. Inspired by Google’s AlphaGo Zero, in this thesis, by combining the technologies of Monte Carlo Tree Search, Deep Neural Networks, and Reinforcement …

Assessing The Photoprotective Effects Of Fluorescent Sphingomyelin Against Uvb Induced Dna Damage In Human Keratinocytes, Rebecca Marie Kandell

Master's Theses

Non Melanoma Skin Cancer (NMSC) affects 3.3 million Americans each year and results from Ultra Violet Radiation (UVR) damage to DNA in the form of pyrimidine dimers and photoproducts [1]–[5]. Cells directly detect the damage and initiate apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, or DNA repair by modulating p53 and p21 levels [6]–[9]. Current methods of photoprotection include sunscreen, but controversy over safety of some active ingredients necessitates research into more natural alternatives [10]–[12]. In particular, 24 hour incubation with bovine milk sphingomyelin (BSM) has demonstrated photoprotective potential by reducing p21 and p53 levels in keratinocytes (KRTs) after UV radiation [13], [14]. …

Finite-Difference Modeling Of The Batch Process Smoldering Combustion Of Wastewater, Laura H. Kawashiri

Master's Theses

A MATLAB model was developed for the smoldering combustion of wastewater in the context of a decentralized residential wastewater treatment appliance. Data from a batch process sewage smoldering experiment was simulated using implicit finite-difference approximations, assuming one-dimensional transient conductive heat transfer. The time-dependent temperature profiles within the column represented the main parameters of interest and were used to verify recoverable heat energy estimations. Given that the modeling method used for this thesis represents a unique approach, the assumptions and limitations of this model are thoroughly described in the context of reproducing results for other smoldering setups. A lack of convergence …

Adaptation Of Vt-Dbr Lasers For Lidar, Luke Horowitz

Master's Theses

Vernier Tuned Distributed Bragg Reflector (VT-DBR) lasers have had great success in the field of Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography (SS-OCT) due to their continuous and nearly 40 nm wavelength tuning range in a single longitudinal mode. Fast sweeps allow for real time imaging with micrometer resolution at a distance of a few centimeters. While this laser has proven quite useful as a medical imaging tool via OCT, it has yet to similarly prove itself for general light detection and ranging (LIDAR) applications due to range limitations that arise from a finite laser coherence length. The goal of this thesis is …

Effects Of Using Clay Nanoparticles As A Soil Amendment To Remove Nitrate From Stormwater, Megan P. Abutin

Master's Theses

Development of urban areas continues to increase, disrupting the natural ecosystem and the pathways for water to drain into downstream water bodies. As the amount of impervious area increases, pollutants can accumulate on the surface and enter the water cycle by stormwater. In most cities, the stormwater flows into a storm drain that is discharged into a water body. Low Impact Development technology has been developed to treat stormwater prior to discharge downstream. A bioretention cell is used to treat stormwater pollutants such as nitrate, phosphorus, total suspended solids, and metals. Past research has indicated that the removal efficiency of …

A Modified Multiphase Boost Converter With Reduced Input Current Ripple: Split Inductance And Capacitance Configuration, Zoe M. Hay

Master's Theses

This thesis presents the simulation, design, and hardware implementation of a modified multiphase boost converter. Converter design must consider noise imposed on input and output nodes which connect to and influence the operation of other devices. Excessive noise introduces EMI which can damage sensitive circuits or impede their operation. High ripple current degrades battery lifetime and reduces operating efficiency in connected systems such as PV arrays. Converters with high ripple current also experience greater peak conduction loss and require larger components. A two-phase implementation of a modified boost converter demonstrates the input current filtering benefits of the modified topology with …

Evaluation Of Electrochemical And Laser Polishing Of Selectively Lasermelted 316l Stainless Steel, Julian R. Lohser

Master's Theses

Selective laser melting has shown incredible growth as a metallic additive manufacturing process in recent years. While it does provide many solutions and new ways to approach challenges, it does not come without issues of its own, namely, surface roughness. In the as-printed state, the surface roughness of selectively laser melted parts is unacceptable for use in engineering applications. Additionally, selective laser melting is used to produce complex geometries with hard to reach features, preventing conventional mechanical polishing from being successful. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate non-mechanical polishing processes as treatments for surface roughness. In this study, electrochemical and …