Engineering Commons^™

Login Authentication With Facial Gesture Recognition, Ruiwen Li, Songjie Cai, Tor Saxberg

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

Facial recognition has proven to be very useful and versatile, from Facebook photo tagging and Snapchat filters to modeling fluid dynamics and designing for augmented reality. However, facial recognition has only been used for user login services in conjunction with expensive and restrictive hardware technologies, such as in smart phone devices like the iPhone x. This project aims to apply machine learning techniques to reliably distinguish user accounts with only common cameras to make facial recognition logins more accessible to website and software developers. To show the feasibility of this idea, we created a web API that recognizes a users …

Us Airline Stock Market Performance And Change In Investor Behavior Over The Great Recession Of 2008, Rebecca Wood, Jayendra Gokhale

Publications

We study the relationship of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil returns and the stock market returns with the US airline stocks before, during and after the 2008 financial crisis. We confirm the positive relationship of the airline stock returns with the overall market and the negative relationship with WTI. However, we find that the crisis led to a structural change in this relationship. Our results differ for low-cost airlines which absorb the oil price shock better as compared to legacy airlines. We also find that there is a difference in the relationship between the airline stock returns and WTI …

Study On Components Determination And Performance Evaluation Of Ls Pre-Maintenance Agent, Yuxiang Tian, Biao Ma, Ke Tian, Ning Li, Xueyan Zhou

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Adequate maintenance and taking active preventive measures can effectively prevent the early disease of asphalt pavements before significant damage occurs. By developing a light screening preventive maintenance agent (LS pre-maintenance agent) for strong ultraviolet (UV) radiation areas, based on the asphalt aging and regeneration mechanism, we analyzed the function and basic components and determined the optimum components ratio based on the best proportion of penetrant and solvent oil for solubility. The optimum ratio for quick-drying and long-term storage ability is the mass ratio of rock asphalt, reducing agent, penetrant, and solvent oil, which is 30:20:20:30. The light-shield agent is 5% …

Effect Of Recycled Geopolymer Concrete Aggregate On Strength Development And Consistence Of Portland Cement Concretes, Napoleana-Anna Chaliasou, Andrew Heath, Juliana Calabria Holley, Kevin Paine

Alkali Activated Materials and Geopolymers: Versatile Materials Offering High Performance and Low Emissions

Numerous studies have shown that production of geopolymer cement concretes can have lower carbon emissions compared to Portland cement concretes. However, for a full lifecycle assessment of environmental impacts, scenarios for the end of structures’ design life of must be considered, including reuse options. The work presented here is part of a wider study investigating the recyclability of fly ash-slag geopolymer cement (GC) concrete as an aggregate in Portland cement (PC) concretes.

Three types of GC concretes with varying Na₂O % per mass of precursor and SiO₂/Na₂O molar ratio were produced in the laboratory. …

Acid Geopolymer Materials Based On Different Aluminosilicate Sources, Sylvie Rossignol, Jenny Jouin, Virginie Mathivet, Michel Parlier

Alkali Activated Materials and Geopolymers: Versatile Materials Offering High Performance and Low Emissions

Geopolymers synthetized from the reaction of metakaolin (or alumino-silicate) in an alkali medium are studied since decades [1]. However, in order to develop composites, alkali medium is undesirable due to the detrimental effect of alkali ions on fibers. As an alternative, the use of an acid medium seems promising as some authors demonstrated an increase of mechanical properties with acid-based geopolymers [2, 3]. The aim of this work is to investigate the various formulations and to understand the reactional mechanisms.

The work is based on the activation of an alumino-silicate source with phosphoric acid to obtain geopolymer The various formulations …

Risk Assessment Of Concrete Gravity Dams Under Earthquake Loads, Ufuk Sen

LSU Master's Theses

Dams are important structures to supply water for irrigation or drinking, to control flood, and to generate electricity. In seismic regions, the structural safety of concrete gravity dams is important due to the high potential of life and economic loss if they fail. Therefore, the seismic analysis of existing dams in seismically active regions is very crucial to predict responses of dams to ground motions. In this thesis, earthquake response of concrete gravity dams is investigated using the finite element (FE) method. The selected dam is the Pine Flat Dam which is located in the Central Valley of Fresno County, …

Promoting Global Clinical Care And Research For Children With Orthopaedic Disabilities Through Motion Analysis Technology, Jacob R. Rammer, Joycie Eulah Abiera, Monica Arroyo, Luis Fernando Caicedo, Karl Canseco, Christopher Constantino, Filipe Haces Garcia, Jorge Gomez, Nikhil T. Kurapati, Mariano Gonzalez Lugo, Terence Miller, Wilfredo Agredo Rodriguez, Carlo Emmanuel Sumpaico, Gerald F. Harris

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Human motion analysis is a tool used to understand orthopaedic disabilities in children and to plan and monitor treatment strategies. It enables clinicians to quantitatively describe rehabilitative progress, plan surgeries, and conduct research. While this technology is prevalent in major academic medical centers, access is lacking in many regions throughout the world. This paper presents a novel approach to offer more accessible technology at greatly reduced cost. Current applications are underway in the Philippines, Mexico, and Colombia. Through international partnerships, improvements in clinical care, medical education, and research have been observed.

Investigation Of Thermal History In Large Area Projection Sintering, An Additive Manufacturing Technology, Justin Nussbaum

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this work is to explore the benefits of using long exposure times with polymer powder bed fusion additive manufacturing processes and examine the feasibly of this new application as a manufacturing process. It is well known that the sintering which occurs in these systems are a time and temperature dependent process. However, the most common powder bed fusion systems use a laser which scans and heats the powdered feedstock for microseconds at a time, leaving insufficient time for the polymer to fully melt and/or fuse, leading to reduced mechanical properties. Little has been published on the effects …

Thermally Stable Super-Hydrophobic Surface Creation, Caleb Turner

Maseeh Summer Undergraduate Research Experience

Thermally stable super-hydrophobic surface coatings are critical to applications in low gravity fluid dynamics, and in particular Leidenfrost effects. The challenges of manufacturing different super-hydrophobic coatings that are thermally stable, semi-transparent, and environmentally safe at desired operating temperatures is pursued in order to explore the applications of such coatings aboard spacecraft. A catalog of surface coating manufacturing procedures is tabulated with measures for static contact angle, thermal stability, and transparency. These quantities and methods serve as a foundation for both technology applications and follow on experimentation concerning low gravity fluid mechanics at the Portland State Dryden Drop Tower lab.

Selective Flocculation Separation Of Fine Hematite From Quartz Using A Novel Grafted Copolymer Flocculant, Jinxia Zhang, Weiguang Sun, Zhiyong Gao, Fusheng Niu, Long Wang, Yawei Zhao, Yuesheng Gao

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Beneficiation of ultrafine mineral particles (typically with an average size less than 20 µm) remains a critical problem for the mineral processing industry. Selective flocculation technique has been found to show great potential to tackle this problem, whose success mainly depends on the selective adsorption of a flocculant on the target mineral particles. In this work, a novel copolymer flocculant was synthesized by grafting starch and acrylamide, which for the first time, was employed in the flocculation separation of fine hematite from quartz. The composites of the grafted copolymer flocculant (GCF) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and …

Real Soils Versus Fake Soils: Does Something Other Than Clay Minerals Influence Geopolymerisation Behavior In Real Soils?, Alastair Marsh, Pascaline Patureau, Mark Evernden, Pete Walker, Andrew Heath

Alkali Activated Materials and Geopolymers: Versatile Materials Offering High Performance and Low Emissions

Uncalcined geopolymer-stabilised soils have shown potential for replacing concrete and fired clay as low carbon masonry materials. There is now a good fundamental understanding of how aluminosilicate precursors react to form geopolymer phases in simple systems, but there is a knowledge gap for the more complex systems of real soils where minor phases may influence behaviour. Because the clay minerals and their proportions differ between soils, as well as minor phases present, we are still not able to easily predict which soils are suitable for geopolymer stabilisation. In this study, a comparison was made for the alkali activation of real …

Investigation Of The Relationship Between The Condensed Structure And The Chemically Bonded Water Content In The Network Of Geopolymer Cements, Herve Tchakoute Kouamo, Sorelle J. K. Melele, Claus H. Rüscher, Elie Kamseu, Cristina Leonelli

Alkali Activated Materials and Geopolymers: Versatile Materials Offering High Performance and Low Emissions

The main objective of this work was to investigate the relationship between the condensed structure and the chemically bonded water content in the metakaolin-based geopolymer network. The kaolinite clay used in this work as an aluminosilicate source was transformed to metakaolin by calcination at 700 °C. The powder of the waste glass and the silica fume were used as silica sources for the synthesis of the hardeners. The obtained hardeners were characterized by infrared spectroscopy and MAS-NMR ²⁹Si. The metakaolin and the hardeners were used for producing geopolymers cements. The synthesized products were characterized by X-ray diffractometry, infrared spectroscopy, …

Ltpp Data Analysis: Factors Affecting Pavement Roughness For The State Of California, Pedro Zavanga, Alisha Khanal, Mena I. Souliman

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The contributions of pavement structure and features, rehabilitation techniques, climatic conditions, traffic levels, layer materials and properties, pavement distress, and other factors causing changes in pavement smoothness are not well documented. As a result, it becomes difficult to select the appropriate pavement structure, design features and rehabilitation strategies to ensure pavement smoothness. This study focuses on analysing the available LTPP data for asphalt pavements in California by investigating the correlation between the pavement roughness and the effect of pavement temperature, precipitation, fatigue, age of pavement, rutting, and the average annual daily truck traffic. IRI has been identified as the factor …

Fracture Initiation In A Transversely Isotropic Solid: Transient Three Dimensional Analysis, Louis Milton Brock

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

A transversely isotropic solid is at rest, and contains a semi-infinite, plane crack. The axis of rotational material symmetry lies in the crack plane. Application of normal point forces to each face of the crack causes transient 3D growth. The related problem of discontinuities in displacement and traction that exist on regions that exhibit dynamic similarity is first considered. Analytic results are obtained in integral transform space. These lead to equations of the Wiener–Hopf type for the fracture problem. Analytic solutions are again obtained and, upon inversion, subjected to a dynamic energy release rate criterion that includes kinetic energy. A …

Analcime Geopolymers As Sorbents In Water Treatment, Hanna Runtti, Sari Tuomikoski, Janne Pesonen

Alkali Activated Materials and Geopolymers: Versatile Materials Offering High Performance and Low Emissions

Zeolite mineral, analcime [Na₁₆(Al₁₆Si₃₂O₉₆)·16H₂O], is formed in mining industry as lithium carbonate is produced from spodumene (LiAlSi₂O₆) using sodium pressure leaching process (1). Zeolite structure possess aluminosilicate framework and pores occupied by water and exchangeable cations (2). Zeolites act as cation exchangers due to which they have been applied as sorbents in water treatment (2). Geopolymers (GP) consist of an anionic framework of corner-sharing SiO₄ and AlO₄, and the exchangeable cations are located in the voids in the same way as in zeolites …

Performance Evaluation Of Metakaolin Clay Geopolymers Synthesised With Bamboo Wood Ash As An Activator, Mary B. Ogundiran, Olalekan P. Akinola

Alkali Activated Materials and Geopolymers: Versatile Materials Offering High Performance and Low Emissions

Global concern about substantial CO₂ emissions during manufacturing of Portland cement has led to studies on alternative low cost green binders. Geopolymer, an inorganic binder, which is produced from reaction of an alkaline activator and aluminosilicate mineral is receiving attention as an alternative cementitious material. However, one of the drawbacks of geopolymer production is the cost of chemical activators used in its synthesis. Studies are scanty on the use of Bamboo Wood Ash (BWA) as a less expensive alternative biomass ash activator in the synthesis of metakaolin clay geopolymers. Possibility of replacing a part of the alkaline commercial activator …

Investigation On Microstructure And Mechanical Properties Of Fa/Ggbs -Based Geopolymer After Exposure At Elevated Temperature, Apriany Saludung, Yuko Ogawa, Kenji Kawai

Alkali Activated Materials and Geopolymers: Versatile Materials Offering High Performance and Low Emissions

Fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast -furnace slag (GGBS) are industrial wastes and have been widely utilized as construction material due to the environmental impacts. The use of these by-products is not only for the sustainable construction but also for reducing the emission of CO₂ due to the use of Portland cement. This study presents the microstructure and mechanical properties of geopolymer paste made from different ratios of low -calcium FA and GGBS after exposure at elevated temperature (500- 950^oC). Compressive strength tests for both heated and unheated cylindrical specimens (using 50 mm x 100 mm …

Geopolymers Including Cdw For Application As A Building Material, Matteo Panizza, Marco Natali, Adriana Bernardi, Matteo Panizza, Enrico Garbin, Michele Secco, Vilma Ducman

Alkali Activated Materials and Geopolymers: Versatile Materials Offering High Performance and Low Emissions

No abstract provided.

Conference Program, John L. Provis, Waltraud M. Kriven, Cristina Leonelli, Aldo Boccaccini, Arie Van Riessen

Alkali Activated Materials and Geopolymers: Versatile Materials Offering High Performance and Low Emissions

No abstract provided.

Fault Identification And Location For Distribution Network With Distributed Generations, Wen Fan, Yuan Liao

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Power distribution networks with distributed generations may experience faults. It is essential to promptly locate the fault for fast repair and restoration. This paper presents a novel method for identifying the faulted section and accurate location of faults that occur on power distribution grid. Appropriate matrices are set up to represent meter locations on the grid and the topology of the grid. The voltage and current measurements obtained are utilized to decide the fault sections. Then fault location is determined by solving equations that link measurements and fault locations through bus impedance matrix. The method is applicable to both single …

Computer Science Master’S Graduate Chronicles Her Journey At Usu | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Mounika Arukala joined the master’s of computer science program at Utah State University in August 2016.

Applications Of Complex Network Analysis In Electric Power Systems, Mahmoud Saleh, Yusef Esa, Ahmed Mohamed

Publications and Research

This paper provides a review of the research conducted on complex network analysis (CNA) in electric power systems. Moreover, a new approach is presented to find optimal locations for microgrids (MGs) in electric distribution systems (EDS) utilizing complex network analysis. The optimal placement in this paper points to the location that will result in enhanced grid resilience, reduced power losses and line loading, better voltage stability, and a supply to critical loads during a blackout. The criteria used to point out the optimal placement of the MGs were predicated on the centrality analysis selected from the complex network theory, the …

Can The Application Of The Visual Programme Tool Dynamo Assist In Streamlining Current Cobie Requirements For Design Professionals, Bim Tudublin, Richard Kenna

Capstone Reports

information exchange (COBie) is still a misunderstood and miscommunicated topic. Despite the free distribution of supporting information, many errors remain in its practical application. This study explores strengthening COBie design practices, reducing computational expense by data automation and streamlining the workflow process without the need for designer’s total immersion into COBie theory. Synergies between Autodesk Revit and Dynamo BIM were the chosen software utilised to achieve such a goal. A literature review is first employed to provide a current overview from academic and industry sources, with the principles of design science the chosen methodology in the development, implementation and evaluation …

Synthesis-Structure-Activity Relationships In Co3o4 Catalyzed Co Oxidation, Kathleen Mingle, Jochen A. Lauterbach

Faculty Publications

In this work, a statistical design and analysis platform was used to develop cobalt oxide based oxidation catalysts prepared via one pot metal salt reduction. An emphasis was placed upon understanding the effects of synthesis conditions, such as heating regimen and Co2+ concentration on the metal salt reduction mechanism, the resultant nanomaterial properties (i.e., size, crystal structure, and crystal faceting), and the catalytic activity in CO oxidation. This was accomplished by carrying out XRD, TEM, and FTIR studies on synthesis intermediates and products. Additionally, high-throughput experimentation was employed to study the performance of Co3O4 oxidation catalysts over a wide range …

Performance Evaluation Of Energy-Autonomous Sensors Using Power-Harvesting Beacons For Environmental Monitoring In Internet Of Things (Iot), George Dan Moiş, Teodora Sanislav, Silviu Corneliu Folea, Sherali Zeadally

Information Science Faculty Publications

Environmental conditions and air quality monitoring have become crucial today due to the undeniable changes of the climate and accelerated urbanization. To efficiently monitor environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, and the levels of pollutants, such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air, and to collect data covering vast geographical areas, the development of cheap energy-autonomous sensors for large scale deployment and fine-grained data acquisition is required. Rapid advances in electronics and communication technologies along with the emergence of paradigms such as Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) and the Internet of Things (IoT) have led to …

Assessing Subjectivity In Environmental Sensor Data Post Processing Via A Controlled Experiment, Amber Spackman Jones, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, David P. Eiriksson

Publications

Collection of high resolution, in situ data using environmental sensors is common in hydrology and other environmental science domains. Sensors are subject to drift, fouling, and other factors that can affect the quality of the measurements and their subsequent use for scientific analyses. The process by which sensor data are reviewed to verify validity often requires making edits in post processing to generate approved datasets. This quality control process involves decisions by technicians, data managers, or data users on how to handle problematic data. In this study, an experiment was designed and conducted where multiple participants performed quality control post …

Hydrotreating Of Guaiacol: A Comparative Study Of Red Mud-Supported Nickel And Commercial Ni/Sio2-Al2o3 Catalysts, Hossein Jahromi, Foster Agblevor

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Upgrading of bio-oil through catalytic hydrotreating was investigated with guaiacol as a model compound. A nickel supported on red mud (Ni/RM) hydrotreating catalyst was developed and compared to the standard Ni/SiO₂-Al₂O₃ catalysts under similar experimental conditions. The Ni/RM catalyst was characterized by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), BET specific surface area, and temperature programmed reduction (TPR). The effects of reaction temperature (300, 350, 400 °C) and initial hydrogen pressure (4.83 MPa (700 psi), 5.52 MPa (800 psi), and 6.21 MPa (900 psi)) on products distribution …

New Insights Into The Glycosylation Steps In The Biosynthesis Of Sch47554 And Sch47555, Ozkan Fidan, Riming Yan, Gabrielle Gladstone, Tong Zhou, Du Zhu, Jixun Zhan

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Sch47554 and Sch47555 are antifungal compounds from Streptomyces sp. SCC‐2136. The availability of the biosynthetic gene cluster made it possible to track genes that encode biosynthetic enzymes responsible for the structural features of these two angucyclines. Sugar moieties play important roles in the biological activities of many natural products. An investigation into glycosyltransferases (GTs) might potentially help to diversify pharmaceutically significant drugs through combinatorial biosynthesis. Sequence analysis indicates that SchS7 is a putative C‐GT, whereas SchS9 and SchS10 are proposed to be O‐GTs. In this study, the roles of these three GTs in the biosynthesis of Sch47554 and Sch47555 are …

A Survey Of Ride-Hailing Passengers, Steven Gehrke

PSU Transportation Seminars

In less than a decade, the ride-hailing industry, led by Uber and Lyft, has dramatically transformed the way we travel in our metro regions. Rider adoption of these on-demand mobility services has proceeded much quicker than our understanding of their impacts to our urban transportation systems. Planning for this transformation in personal mobility, which will have unintended consequences, has been made more difficult by the scarcity in meaningful data made available by these ride-hailing companies. Public agencies responsible for managing congestion and transit services are hindered in their ability to successfully plan for the integration of this emergent travel mode …

An Evaluation Of Pit Latrines And User Perception Of Excrement In Ngäbe Communities In Panama, James A. Libby

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

At the end of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) period in 2015, 2.3 billion people, 31% of the global population, still did not have access to even basic sanitation services. Of these people, 892 million still practice open defecation, and 856 million people use unimproved facilities such as pit latrines without a slab or platform or hanging latrines or bucket latrines (JMP 2017). Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 6.2 now aims to achieve adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and sets the ambitious target of eradicating open defecation by 2030. While the number of people open defecating was …