Other Engineering Commons^™

Manipulation Of Surface Plasmon Resonance In Metal And Alloy Thin Films Using Dielectric Media, Benjamin Dubray Hall

Graduate Theses - Physics and Optical Engineering

Surface plasmon polaritons are coherent electron oscillations that propagate along an interface between a Drude metal and a dielectric medium. The excitation of polaritons is highly dependent on the dielectric properties of the metal, the thickness of the metal, and the optical properties of the dielectric material. First, plasmonic activity is assessed for several thicknesses of silver and nickel chromium under He-Ne incidence. Relationships between film thickness and metal dielectric function are explored in both cases. To manipulate the plasmonic activity at the silver surfaces, two methods are explored. Silver oxide was grown on the surface of the silver films, …

Bbq Grill Temperature Uniformity Study, Monty Dodge Jr, Samuel Melo

Mechanical Engineering

Bull Outdoor Products, Incorporated, a barbeque grill and outdoor kitchen manufacturer, sponsored this project with the intent of improving the temperature uniformity across the surface of their barbecue grills. For this project, the Cal Poly team of mechanical engineering students, Monty Dodge Jr. and Samuel Melo, used the Brahma grill head model with setups for both natural gas and propane. In order to determine exactly what the uniformity across the grill surface was, the student team designed a testing apparatus which would measure a grid of temperature locations one inch apart spanning an area 16 by 36 inches. Developing a …

Direct Band Gap Gallium Antimonide Phosphide (Gasbxp1-X) For Solar Fuels., Harry Benjamin Russell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Photoelectrochemical water splitting has been identified as a promising route for achieving sustainable energy future. However, semiconductor materials with the appropriate optical, electrical and electrochemical properties have yet to be discovered. In search of an appropriate semiconductor to fill this gap, GaSbP, a semiconductor never tested for PEC performance is proposed here and investigated. Density functional theory (DFT+U) techniques were utilized to predict band gap and band edge energetics for GaSbP alloys with low amount of antimony. The overall objective of this dissertation is to understand the suitability of GaSb_xP_1-x alloys for photoelectrochemical water splitting application. Specifically, …

Extended Gamut Printing In Flexographic Packaging And The Impact Of Brand Management, Andrew Bogan

Honors Theses

Flexography is the dominant print process in regards to the reproduction of packaging products. Packaging, particular the color and graphics, is an essential tangible element for brand owners striving for brand management. Extended gamut printing is a printing technique that can produce high color saturations on packaging samples, which can have positive implications for brand management. Currently, most information on extended gamut printing is proprietary, making it very difficult for non-print industry members to obtain and utilize information relating to the benefits of extended gamut printing. The aim of this study was to provide evidence that packaging samples with extended …

Ergonomics In Space Flight – Past, Present, & Future, Robert Consolo

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

From the days of “The Rocket Men” to the uprising of SpaceX, spaceflight has always inspired awe in humanity. If you examine the men that were apart of those first missions, you will find that they were not only the most capable, but won the genetic lottery to become this nations first astronauts. Looking to the times of Mercury, you see the extreme constraints that potential astronaut candidates had to meet in order to go to space. Aside from the rigorous medical testing, potential candidates also had to meet strict height and weight requirements. Early candidates could not be taller …

Mems Based Tracking Devices For Measuring Distribution Hazards On The Product And Package, Changfeng Ge, Tom Oh, Daniel Johnson, Anthonio Mondragon, Kai Lei

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

This paper introduces two microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based working data logger prototypes and the cloud based data analysis system that were trademarked and patented as Pak-Track^TM-I and Pak-Track^TM-II. The Pak-Track^TM-I is designed to wirelessly record and report information in real time about individually packaged products during transit. The system allows the user to immediately view the data with a Global Positioning System (GPS) location via a secured website or Android tablet or smart phone. The Pak-Track^TM-II is a standalone device that stores all measurements on internal memory without communicating over a network. …

Decision Making Framework Using Probabilistic Pareto For Sustainable Packaging Life Cycle Assessment, Euihark Lee, Huihui Qi, Hae Chang Gea

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

The Packaging industry is one of the largest industries in the world and is associated with many environmental concerns. To reduce its environmental impacts, designing sustainable packaging has been one of the top priorities in packaging industries. A common tools for evaluating the environmental impact of a package design is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) which provides information on environmental impacts for different indicators. However, making decisions based on the LCA results leaves us with major challenges. First, the LCA tools should consider various uncertainties such as measurement and data quality. Second, the LCA may give conflicting results on different …

Processing And Interpretation Of Three-Component Vertical Seismic Profile Data, Ross Sea, Antarctica, Meltem Akan

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The Antarctic Geological Drilling Program (ANDRILL) AND-2A drill hole was drilled, cored and logged in southern McMurdo Sound (SMS) in the western Ross Sea, Antarctica during the austral summer of 2007. A single near-offset, over-sea ice vertical seismic profile (VSP) was collected in the AND-2A drill hole as a part of the logging program. The source for VSP data collection was a Generator Injector (GI) air-gun which was suspended by a cable through a hole made in the sea ice. The reason for selecting a GI air gun was the minimization of the bubble pulse effects which are prevalent in …

Engineering Outreach Education Through Social Media, Katie E. Meiergerd, Dagen Valentine, Jennifer R. Keshwani, Bradley Barker

UCARE: Research Products

Familiarizing teachers and educators with Engineering and other related STEM fields is crucial in educating students, so ensuring teachers with access to these resources is important. The objective of this work is to identify ways to use social media to provide support to K – 12 educators interested in implementing engineering education with their students.

Satellite Ephemeris Correction Via Remote Site Observation For Star Tracker Navigation Performance Improvement, Jorge E. Diaz

Theses and Dissertations

In order for celestial navigation observing satellites to provide accurate positioning estimates, precise ephemerides of the observed satellites are necessary. This work analyzed a method to correct for satellite ephemeris to be used in celestial navigation applications. This correction is the measured angle differences between the expected location of the satellite, which is given by propagating publicly available Two-Line Elements (TLE), and their observed angles from a precisely known reference site. Therefore, the angle difference can be attributed completely to satellite ephemeris error assuming instrument error was accounted for. The intent is to calculate this correction from the reference site …

Autoencoded Reduced Clusters For Anomaly Detection Enrichment (Arcade) In Hyperspectral Imagery, Brenden A. Mclean

Theses and Dissertations

Anomaly detection in hyper-spectral imagery is a relatively recent and important research area. The shear amount of data available in a many hyper-spectral images makes the utilization of multivariate statistical methods and artificial neural networks ideal for this analysis. Using HYDICE sensor hyper-spectral images, we examine a variety of preprocessing techniques within a framework that allows for changing parameter settings and varying the methodological order of operations in order to enhance detection of anomalies within image data. By examining a variety of different options, we are able to gain significant insight into what makes anomaly detection viable for these images, …

Scientometric Analysis Of Technology & Innovation Management Literature, Kadir Yildiz

Theses and Dissertations

The management of technology and innovation has become an attractive and promising field within the management discipline. Therefore, much insight can be gained by reviewing the Technology & Innovation Management (TIM) research in leading TIM journals to identify and classify the key TIM issues by meta-categories and to identify the current trends. Based on a comprehensive scientometric analysis of 5,591 articles in 10 leading TIM specialty journals from 2005 to 2014, this research revealed several enlightening findings. First, the United States is the major producer of TIM research literature, and the greatest number of papers was published in Research Policy …

Optimizing Allocation Of U.S. Humanitarian Civic Assistance Projects In Support Of Developing Foreign Democracy, Christopher E. Wittman

Theses and Dissertations

Humanitarian projects in foreign countries are funded by the U.S. government to foster peace, prosperity, and the spread of democratic ideals around the globe. The type and scope of projects are restricted by current doctrine and funding regulations. Specifically in 2014, USAF personnel supported medical and educational construction projects/programs in the country of Belize. Within Belize, medical and educational projects were funded under the Humanitarian and Civic Assistance (HCA) program through the NEW HORIZONS exercise. Fiscal constraints, including shrinking budgets due to sequestration, have placed greater emphasis in the responsible distribution of resources and foreign assistance. The purpose of this …

Purdue Tap, Carly Turow

Engagement & Service-Learning Summit

Purdue TAP provides high-value solutions that help Indiana businesses maximize their success by increasing profits, reducing costs, and implementing growth and innovation engineering systems. Our organization serves more than 500 companies annually by implementing continuous improvement principles in the areas of productivity, growth and technology. Purdue TAP has helped our clients collectively achieve over $1 billion of economic impact in Indiana since 2005.

Development Research And Implications For Cte, Jeff M. Shannon

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University By Jeff M. Shannon on March 9, 2016.

Fire And Life Safety Analysis Of Cal Poly Engineering Iv, Business In Amarillo, Tx And Costco, Russell B. Bainbridge Iii

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

The main fire protection disciplines ‐ Egress Analysis and Design, Fire Detection, Alarm and Communication Systems, Water‐based Fire Suppression Systems and Structural Fire Protection ‐ are covered in this report.

For Egress Analysis and Design, the California Polytechnic State University’s Engineering IV building was analyzed and covered in the first portion of this report. The building was analyzed against the 2015 edition of NFPA 101 and the 2015 edition of the International Building Code. It is a typical university engineering building with classrooms, professors’ offices and some laboratories. The occupancies, the occupant load, exit widths, exit lengths and number of …

Maintenance Shop Building- Comprehensive Fire Protection Evaluation, Theodore P. Stanton

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

The purpose of this report is to analyze the fire protection systems and features of the Maintenance Shop Building (MSB), which is a two story office and training building on the campus of a large industrial facility in central California. The goal of the fire protection systems and features of the Building is to provide occupants with reasonable assurance of safety from fire. This goal can be met by ensuring that occupants not intimate with the initiation of a fire will be able to safely escape from the Building in the event of the fire.

The ability of the MSB’s …

Technical Area 3 - 40; Physics Building- Fire And Life Safety Analysis, Parker Fellows

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

A Fire Protection Engineering Analysis was performed on TA‐3‐0040, Physics Building at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The goal of the analysis has two parts; first, to examine the buildings fire protection features from a code based prescriptive analysis and second, to examine the building and fire protection features using a performance based design analysis.

Building 40 is a 2 story structure approximately 187,000 square feet. The building was constructed in the mid‐1950s with a first floor, basement, partial sub‐basement, and various mezzanines. Originally, this building was constructed as a non‐combustible type IIB structure according …

Taylor Place- Fire Life Safety Report, Christopher Thomas

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This document is a Fire and Life Safety Report on the Taylor Place Dormitory located in Phoenix, Arizona as part of the Arizona State University (ASU) downtown campus. The building was evaluated on a prescriptive basis based on the current City of Phoenix building codes and further evaluated on using performance based methods from the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) Handbook and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 101 Life Safety Code®.

These building features and systems were evaluated using prescriptive methods:

General construction, fire resistive construction and fire resistive separations Occupancy, Life safety features and building egress Smoke management …

Micro-Mechanics: Fire And Life Safety Evaluation, Michael Beam

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

The purpose of this report is to perform a fire and life safety evaluation of an existing building, Micro-Mechanics. The current codes and standards are used to evaluate the following prescriptive fire protection systems including: Occupancy and Hazard Classification, Structural Fire Protection, Egress Analysis, Fire Detection, Alarm and Communication Systems, and Fire Suppression Systems. An evaluation of possible special hazards is discussed to determine if any extra precautions need to be taken to prevent uncontrollable fire or explosions. A performance based analysis is used to evaluate the effectiveness of the prescriptive building systems. Using a combination of computer models including …

Thermal Mass Behaviour Of Concrete Panels Incorporating Phase Change Materials, Dervilla Niall, Roger West, Sarah Mccormack, Oliver Kinnane

Conference papers

Phase Change Materials (PCM) have been incorporated into a range of building envelope materials with varied success. This study investigates two different methods of combining concrete and phase change materials to form PCM/concrete composite panels. The first method involves adding microencapsulated paraffin to fresh concrete during the mixing process. The second method involves vacuum impregnating butyl stearate into lightweight aggregate which is then included in the concrete mix design. The primary aim of the study is to determine which method is the most effective way to improve the thermal mass characteristics of a concrete panel in the context of a …

Late Morning Concurrent Sessions: Innovations In Aviation Technologies: Presentation: Relative Material Loss: A Methodology For Assessing Island Airport Steel Marine Bulkheads, Robert Ernsting, Constantine M. Koursaris

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

A July 2015 report from the Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA) states “U.S. airports are long overdue for [a] major structural improvement projects. Most U.S. airports are aging, … and because of budgetary restrictions, they’re not aging well.”(Garcia and Clampet, 2015). The average US age is 40 years old with the youngest (Denver International) recently turning 20 years old. As airports continue to age, airport commissioners will struggle to find creative ways to either fund airport replacements or extend the service life of existing airport facilities (commonly referred to as service life extension projects or SLEP). Due to …

Dlvo Approximation Methods For Predicting The Attachment Of Silver Nanoparticles To Ceramic Membranes, Anne M. Mikelonis, Sungmin Youn, Desmond F. Lawler

All Engineering Faculty Research

This article examines the influence of three common stabilizing agents (citrate, poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP), and branched poly(ethylenimine) (BPEI)) on the attachment affinity of silver nanoparticles to ceramic water filters. Citrate-stabilized silver nanoparticles were found to have the highest attachment affinity (under conditions in which the surface potential was of opposite sign to the filter). This work demonstrates that the interaction between the electrical double layers plays a critical role in the attachment of nanoparticles to flat surfaces and, in particular, that predictions of double-layer interactions are sensitive to boundary condition assumptions (constant charge vs constant potential). The experimental deposition results can …

Hydraulic Sprayer Boom Upgrade, Chad R. Omlin

All Undergraduate Projects

Title and Author: Agriculture sprayer hydraulic boom upgrade by Chad Omlin (engineering Technologies, Safety, and Construction)

Abstract: Today’s agriculture industry is all about being the most efficient with your time, land, employees, and machinery. One thing that has made farming more efficient has been the use of hydraulics. Having a sprayer unit with manual booms is not being efficient with your time and/or employees. To make the sprayer unit more efficient, hydraulic cylinders were added. Sketched solutions were analyzed using statics and mechanics of materials principles. Drawings were completed for the successful analysis solutions. Solid works software was used to …

A Need For Evidence-Based And Multidisciplinary Research To Study The Effects Of The Interaction Of School Environmental Conditions On Student Achievement, Josephine Lau, Lily M. Wang, Clarence E. Waters, James A. Bovaird

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

With funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Healthy Schools initiative, a research team from the University of Nebraska– Lincoln (UNL) is currently working on establishing how environmental conditions in K-12 school buildings impact student scholastic achievement. The objectives of the research project are: (1) to study comprehensively the impacts of a wide set of indoor environmental factors (including indoor air quality, thermal, lighting and acoustic conditions) on student achievement; (2) to investigate how these environmental conditions interact with each other to impact student achievement; (3) to rank order the environmental variables in terms of their relative impact on …

Cognitive Radio For Smart Grid With Security Considerations, Khaled Shuaib, Ezedin Barka, Nedaa Al Hussien, Mohammed Abdel-Hafez, Mahmoud Alahmad

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

In this paper, we investigate how Cognitive Radio as a means of communication can be utilized to serve a smart grid deployment end to end, from a home area network to power generation. We show how Cognitive Radio can be mapped to integrate the possible different communication networks within a smart grid large scale deployment. In addition, various applications in smart grid are defined and discussed showing how Cognitive Radio can be used to fulfill their communication requirements. Moreover, information security issues pertained to the use of Cognitive Radio in a smart grid environment at different levels and layers are …

Normalized Effect Of Condenser Fouling And Refrigerant Charge On Performance Of Vapor Compression Air Conditioning Systems, Mehdi Mehrabi, David Yuill

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Several laboratory experiments have studied the effect of faults on vapor compression cycle air-conditioning systems. There has been a particular focus on refrigerant charge variation, which is believed to be quite common in air conditioners, and a lesser focus on heat exchanger fouling. The majority of the published results evaluate the fault effects on particular system operating parameters in one unit. For example, the effect on capacity and efficiency are typically evaluated. The results differ from one study to the next. The current paper summarizes the effects for all of the results available in the literature for condenser fouling and …

Development Of Coordination Control For Multiple Rooftop Units, Denchai Woradechjumroen, Haorong Li, Akekachai Deesiri

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Rooftop Units (RTUs) have been widely applied in providing space heating and cooling for commercial buildings. In total, they serve over 60% of the commercial building floor space in the U.S. Even through the current control approaches of a RTU can maintain the zone temperature corresponding to a set point temperature, it performs inefficiently due to several factors such as limited sensing capability, non- coordinated local control, inherent oversizing effects and so on. In addition to unnecessary power consumptions, the current control and operation technology on RTUs also lead to the space humidity problem, equipment efficiency degradation, and premature failure. …

Fault Diagnosis Of Refrigerant Charge Based On Pca And Decision Tree For Variable Refrigerant Flow Systems, Jiangyan Liu, Huanxin Chen, Jiangyu Wang, Guannan Li, Haorong Li, Wenju Hu

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems are easily subjected to performance degradation due to refrigerant leakage, mechanical failure or improper maintenance after years of operation. Ideal VRF systems should equip with fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) program to sustain its normal operation. This paper presents the fault diagnosis method for refrigerant charge faults of variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems. It is developed based on the classification and regression tree (CART) algorithm. Data of the experimental VRF system is used to test the advantages of the CART method. Results show that the decision tree can achieve desirable diagnosis efficiency on undercharge faults, …

What Do We Know About Eesd And How Do We Know It?, Eddie Conlon, Iacovos Nicolaou, Brian Bowe

Conference papers

Huckle (2004) has argued that critical realism (CR) can provide a philosophical framework for higher education for sustainability. This paper reflects on the process of researching EESD in the Irish context and the usefulness of our approach which used mixed methods and drew on CR as its guiding philosophy. We will argue that aspects of the CR approach: its emphasis on a depth ontology, the search for causal mechanisms, its model of agency/structure relations and its emphasis on the combination of extensive and intensive methods provide tools for exploring EESD as a system. CR requires us to focus on “deeper …