Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2009, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Each student in his or her senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. The senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real-world solution to an engineering challenge.

A highlight of the year-long senior design project is the senior design competition. This competition, which usually takes place the week before finals each semester, helps focus the senior students on increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects.

Judges from local industry evaluate the projects on innovation, commercial …

Exercise Power Grid Display And Web Interface, Alexander (Alex) Chernetz

Computer Engineering

The 2008-2009 expansion of the Recreation Center at Cal Poly includes three new rooms with cardiovascular fitness equipment. As part of its ongoing commitment to sustainable development, the new machines connect to the main power grid and generate power during a workout. This document explains the process of quantifying and expressing the power generated using two interfaces: an autonomous display designed for a television with a text size and amount of detail adaptable to multiple television sizes and viewing distances, and an interactive, more detailed Web interface accessible with any Java-capable computer system or browser.

Reflective Optics Cpv Panels Enabling Large Scale, Reliable Generation Of Solar Energy Cost Competitive With Fossil Fuels, S. Horne, M. Mcdonald, N. Hartsoch, K. Desy

Publications (E)

The objective of this 18 month subcontract was the improvement of reflective optics CPV panels to enable the large-scale, reliable production of solar electricity to meet SAI-established LCOE targets, and ultimately provide a path to solar power at parity with or better than the cost of energy generated utilizing fossil fuels. To this end, SolFocus has completed this subcontract with great success as evidenced by the end results of a CPV panel with conversion efficiencies greater than the targeted 22% and manufacturing capabilities with a run rate capacity far exceeding the milestone benchmark >3MW.

Wind Energy And Power System Operations: A Review Of Wind Integration Studies To Date, Jennifer Decesaro, Kevin Porter

Publications (E)

This paper provides an overview of the challenges associated with wind integration and summarizes the findings of the wind integration studies conducted over the course of the past five years. We begin with an overview of the approximate time frames used in grid operations. We then describe how wind integration studies are conducted, discuss the results on wind integration costs and grid impacts from these grid integration studies, and assess some of the grid planning and operation changes that may be necessary to incorporate higher levels of wind generation. We close with several conclusions.

Electrocatalytic Performance Of Carbon Supported Ir Catalysts With Different Ir Loadings For Ammonia Oxidation, Yu-Zhi Jiang, Qing-Mei Kong, Tian-Hong Lu, Yi-Ming Zhou, Ya-Wen Tang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The electrocatalytic performance of the Ir/C catalyst as the anodic catalyst in the amperometric and electrochemical NH3 sensor was investigated.The experimental results illustrated that in the NaClO4 neutral electrolyte,the electrocatalytic performance of the Ir/C catalyst for the NH3 oxidation is related to the Ir loading in the Ir/C catalyst.Among the Ir/C catalysts with different Ir loading,the best electrocatalytic activity,stability and sensitivity were achieved by the Ir/C catalyst with 10% Ir loadings.In addition,the current densities of the NH3 oxidation at the Ir/C catalysts with the different Ir loadings were linearly proportional to the NH3 concentration.The Ir/C catalyst has a potential application …

Cyclic Voltammetric And In-Situ Ftir Spectroscopic Studies Of Adsorption And Reduction Of No On Electrode Of Pt Nanoparticles, Qian Cheng, Yan-Xia Jiang, Dong-Mei Zeng, Shi-Gang Sun

Journal of Electrochemistry

Adsorption and reduction of NO on electrode of Pt nanoparticles in acid solutions were studied by means of cyclic voltammetry(CV) and in-situ FTIR spectroscopy.The results indicated that the reduction of NO is a complicated process including the adsorption of NO on electrode surface.Two types of surface-bonded NO were determined on Pt nanoparticles.The weakly adsorbed NO was reduced between 0.6 V and-0.05 V,which yielded nitrous oxide(N2O) and ammonium(NH+4) as products;while the strongly bonded NO was reduced at more negative potentials between-0.05V and-0.15V,producing only NH4+ species.

Highly Durable Pt/Ruo_2/C Catalyst For The Cathode Of Direct Methanol Fuel Cells, Chun-Yu Du, Tao Dong, Ge-Ping Yin, Peng-Fei Shi

Journal of Electrochemistry

Instability of the carbon-supported Pt(Pt/C) catalyst at the cathode is one of the key technical challenges for the development of Direct Methanol Fuel Cells(DMFCs).In this paper,an efficient approach to enhancing the stability of the cathode catalyst was explored by designing and synthesizing a novel nanocomposite support,RuO2 coated carbon black(RuO2/C).Firstly,a wet chemical method was employed to synthesize the RuO2/C nanocomposite,from which Pt/RuO2/C catalyst was further prepared by a microwave method.The morphology and crystalline structure of the RuO2/C support and Pt/RuO2/C catalyst were then characterized by TEM and XRD.Finally,the electrochemical performance of the RuO2/C support and Pt/RuO2/C catalyst was analyzed by cyclic …

Electrocatalysis In Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells, Li Li, Si-Guo Chen, Xue-Qiang Qi, Yao-Qiong Wang, Meng-Bo Ji, Lan-Lan Li, Zi-Dong Wei

Journal of Electrochemistry

This review presents the study of Chongqing University in electrocatalysis for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells(PEMFCs).Based on the understanding to the performance degradation of PEMFCs' catalysts,the university has being concentrated on how to increase the activity,stability and utility of noble metal catalysts.It covers the molecular design of near-surface alloy catalysts for improvement of activity to oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) and resistance to foreign poison species,selective deposition of Pt on the so-called "three-phase interface" for a high Pt utility,and invention of anti-flooding electrode against water flooding in the catalyst layer of the membrane assemble electrode(MEA),and so on.The catalytic mechanism of electrode reactions …

Platinum Modified With Hydrogen Molybdenum/Tungsten Bronze As Electrocatalysts For Direct Small Organic Molecule Fuel Cell, Wei-Shan Li, Li-Peng Tian, Jun-Hua Du, Hong-Liang Huang, Wei Li, Li-Xia Zhang, Hong-Yan Yang, Pan-Pan Guo, Zhi-Hui Zhou, Xing-De Xiang, Zhao Fu

Journal of Electrochemistry

There are several problems that limit the application of direct small organic fuel cell,including the use of precious platinum and the activity loss of platinum due to the intermediates poisons from the oxidation of small organic molecules.These problems have attracted wide interest and many solutions have been proposed.We have developed a new method to reduce the platinum usage and improve its activity,based on the modification of platinum with hydrogen molybdenum/tungsten bronze(HxMo(W)O3,0

Enhanced Visible Light Photoelectrochemical Performances With Nitrogen Doped Tio_2 Nanowire Arrays, Xiao-Jun Lv, Yue-Ming Li, Hao Zhang, Da Chen, Hensel Jennifer, Z Zhang Jin, Jing-Hong Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

Self-organized anodic anatase TiO2nanowire arrays doped with nitrogen have been successfully fabri-cated and their photoelectrochemical(PEC) properties have been characterized and found to be substantially im-proved compared to undoped nanowires or commercial P25 nanoparticles.Photocurrent measured with monochro-matic incident light showed that the incident photon-to-current efficiency(IPCE,%) values of nanowire arrayelectrodes with or without N-doping were obviously higher than that of commercial P25 nanoparticle electrodes,and nitrogen-doped TiO2nanowire arrays(NTNA) had noticeable absorption in the visible region.The NTNAelectrodes showed the highest photocurrent density and power conversion efficiency under 100 mW/cm2visiblelight illumination.A maximumolphotoconversion efficiency of 0.52% was achieved for the NTNA sample at anapplied potential of …

Synthesis Of Α-Mno_2 Microspheres For The Application In Supercapacitor, Liang Wang, Gui-Chang Liu, Zhi-Cong Shi

Journal of Electrochemistry

The MnO2 microspheres were prepared through the oxidation of KMnO4 and MnCO3 microspheres precursor.The microstructure and supercapacitor properties of MnO2 were characterized by XRD,SEM and CV.The results show that MnO2 was in a poorly crystalline state with α-crystallographic form,the size of microspheres typically ranged from 0.5 to 2 μm.Loading 5 mg·cm-2 MnO2 microspheres had excellent capacitance behaviors in 2 mol·L-1(NH4)2SO4 solution.The specific capacitance was 135.6 F·g-1 with the scan rate at 2 mV·s-1,and 118.8 F·g-1 with the large scan rate at 100 mV/s.Coulumbic efficiency was still above 87.8% in the 500 cycles,and the specific capacitance of the 500th cycle was …

Progresses In Electrocatalysis Of Nanomaterials—Tuning The Surface Structure And Property Of Electrocatalysts, Yan-Xia Jiang, Na Tian, Zhi-You Zhou, Sheng-Pei Chen, Shi-Gang Sun

Journal of Electrochemistry

The property of an electrocatalyst depends strongly on its surface structure.The study of surface structure-catalytic functionality is the base of design and preparation of electrocatalysts of high activity,high stability and high selectivity at microstructure level.In this paper,based mainly on our results concering hydrogen and oxygen adsorption-desorption,ethylene glycol oxidation and CO2 reduction,the research progresses in tuning the surface structure and property of electrocatalysts are summarized.This paper overviews firstly the cyclic voltammetric characteristics,electrocatalytic properties of platinum single crystal planes lying on different crystallographic zones of the unit stereographic triangle of face-centered cubic(fcc) metals.Next,the innovation of electrochemical methods to control the surface structure …

Synthesis And Electrocatalytic Properties Of Ni-Pd/C Catalysts With Pd-Enriched Surface, Yu-Mei Chen, Zhi-Xiu Liang, Sheng-Li Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Ni-Pd alloy catalysts with Pd-enriched surface were synthesized through a modified polyol process.The synthesized materials were investigated by XRD and electrochemical methods,and tested as electrocatalysts for CH3OH-tolerant oxygen reduction.The results indicated that the synthesized Ni-Pd nanoparticles possess multiple phases containing Pd-Ni alloy and pure Ni.Comparing with Pd/C,the prepared Ni-Pd/C nanoparticles exhibited better resolved voltammetric peaks between the hydrogen absorption and adsorption,and positively shifted current peaks for the reduction of Pd oxide.The prepared Ni-Pd alloys with Pd-enriched surface have significantly enhanced ORR activity and improved CH3OH tolerance as comparing with Pd/C catalysts.

Enhanced [Ru(Bpy)_3]~(2+)-Mediated Oxidation Of Guanine Prompted By Dhp, Bao-Lian Zhang, Wei Hong, Bao-Yi Lu, Hong Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

The effects of dihexadecyl phosphate(DHP) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWNTs) on the oxidation of guanine mediated by[Ru(bpy)3]2+ on the ITO electrode have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry.The results showed that [Ru(bpy)3]2+ can mediate the oxidation.In the range from 0.01 to 0.15 mmol·L-1,peak currents for guanine oxidation mediated by [Ru(bpy)3]2+ increased with the rise of DHP concentrations.On the contrary,cationic surfactant HTAC has the ability to weaken the mediated oxidation of guanine.In addition,the oxidative mechanism of guanine mediated by [Ru(bpy)3]2+ with the participation of DHP is discussed.

Preparation Of Pt Nanoflower/Zno Composites Arrays And Their Electrocatalysis For Methanol Oxidation, Li Gao, Yi-Feng E, Lou-Zhen Fan

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Pt nanoflower/ZnO(PtNF/ZnO) nanorod composites arrays were electrochemically prepared by controlling the hydrophobicity and the hydrophilicity of ZnO nanorods arrays.The Pt nanoflowers grew on the tip of ZnO nanorods,which maintain the vertical array of Zno nanorods with a high degree of size uniformity and high surface area.Compared with Pt nanoparticle covered ZnO nanorod arrays,which were prepared by controlling the hydrophilicities of ZnO nanorods and Pt nanoparticles,the PtNF/ZnO displayed highest electrocatalytic activities for the oxidation of methanol.

Electrooxidation Of Formic Acid On Pd-Ni Alloy Film Electrode-The Effect Of Dealloying, Chao Wang, Fei-Fei Shi, Jin-Yi Wang, Han-Xuan Zhang, Wen-Bin Cai

Journal of Electrochemistry

A Pd-Ni alloy film was electrodeposited on Au disc electrode at a constant potential from a weakly basic bath containing PdCl2,NiSO4 and ethylenediamine.The as-deposited film was then subjected to potential cycling in a perchloric acid solution for surface dealloying treatment.The dealloyed Pd-Ni film electrode was examined for the electrocatalytic oxidation of formic acid,and compared with the as-deposited one as well as a Pd film electrode.The FE-SEM and electrochemical measurements on the Pd-Ni films revealed that the dealloying treatment caused a surface roughening and an increase in specific surface reaction area.The ICP-AES and XPS analyses demonstrated that the preferential dissolution of …

Electrocatalytic Activities Of Au-Mmni_(3.2)Al_(0.2)Mn_(0.6)Co_(1.00) For Borohydride Oxidation, Gui-Ling Wang, Jin-Cheng Liu, Ke-Ning Sun, Dian-Xue Cao

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this work,the electrocatalytic activities of MmNi3.2Al0.2Mn0.6Co1.0,NaOH treated MmNi3.2Al0.2Mn0.6Co1.0 and Au-MmNi3.2Al0.2Mn0.6Co1.0 obtained after NaOH treatment(Mm: misch metal) for NaBH4 oxidation were reported.The electrodes were prepared by electrodeposition,their morphologies were analysized by SEM,their electrocatalytic properties were studied by the linear sweeping test.It was found that the oxidation current density of the Au-MmNi3.2Al0.2Mn0.6Co1.0 was 60 mA·cm-2,it was 3.5 times higher than that at the MmNi3.2Al0.2Mn0.6Co1.0 electrode.In addition,the oxidation current density at the Au-MmNi3.2Al0.2Mn0.6Co1.0 electrode immersed in the electrolyte solution for 10 hours was 184 mA·cm-2.

Complex Reduction Preparation Of Carbon Supported Pd Nanoparticle Catalyst And Its Electrocatalysis For Formic Acid Oxidation, Wei He, Yong-Yin Kang, Chong Du, Zhi-Qing Zou, Xiao-Gang Zhang, Hui Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

A simple procedure involved the complexing of PdCl2 with sodium citrate followed by ethylene glycol reduction has been employed for the preparation of carbon-supported Pd nanoparticles(Pd/C).The XRD and TEM characterizations indicate that Pd nanoparticles with a small particle size were well-dispersed on carbon support.The mean particle sizes of the Pd/C catalysts were found to be increased from 2.7 to 5.8 nm with heat-treatments at different temperature.The mass activity of the Pd/C catalyst for formic acid electrooxidation increased with the decrease in Pd particle size.However,the specific activity increased with Pd particle size.Furthermore,the Pd/C catalyst with a particle size of ca.3.6 nm …

Research Progress Of Synergistic Effect Of Metal Oxides On Pt-Based Catalysts, Hui-Ping Yuan, Xun Guo, Xin-Ping Qiu, Wen-Tao Zhu, Li-Quan Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this paper,the work of Pt-based catalysts modified by metal oxides as the anode catalysts of direct methanol fuel cell(DMFC) is reviewed.The relationship between the structure and the composition of the catalysts and the reaction mechanism,exiting problems and developing direction are discussed.

Electrocatalysis Of Myoglobin-Chitosan-Au Colloid Film Modified Glass Carbon Electrode, Yu-Hua Qin, Jun Guo, Hui Xu, Li-Heng Zhou, Sheng-Tian Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The cyclic voltammgram of Mb/AAO/Au Colloid/GCE shows a pair of well-defined and nearly reversible peaks at about-0.20 V(vs.Ag/AgCl) in 0.1 mol/L NaAc-HAc buffer(pH = 5.4),being the characteristic peaks of the Mb heme Fe(Ⅲ) / Fe(Ⅱ)redox couples.The electron transfer between Mb and the electrode was greatly enhanced under present testing conditions.The effects of scan rate,pH and buffers concentration on the electrochemical behaviors of Mb were studied in detail.Position of the Soret absorbance band suggested that Mb in chitosan-colloidal gold hept its secondary structure similar to the native states.Oxygen was catalytically reduced by Mb in chitosan-colloidal gold films.

Indirect Electrosynthesis Of Double Aldehyde Starch Using Pb-(Bro_3~-/Br~-) As Electro-Catalytic Mediator, Chen Ni-Na, Chen Ri-Yao, Xi Zheng, Chen Xiao, Zhen Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this paper,Nafion membrane was used as the separator in the electrolysis cell to indirectly electro-generating the double aldehyde starch(DAS) with BrO-3/Br-as a redox mediator and Pb as an anode.Effects of temperature,concentration of sulfuric acid and starch on the electro-oxidation of DAS were discussed.The steady state polarization curves were obtained.The experiment results showed that the current efficiency was over 50% when the electrolysis current density was 15mA/ cm2.

Electromagnetic Scattering Solutions For Digital Signal Processing, Jonathan Blackledge

Other resources

Electromagnetic scattering theory is fundamental to understanding the interaction between electromagnetic waves and inhomogeneous dielectric materials. The theory unpins the engineering of electromagnetic imaging systems over a broad range of frequencies, from optics to radio and microwave imaging, for example. Developing accurate scattering models is particularly important in the field of image understanding and the interpretation of electromagnetic signals generated by scattering events. To this end there are a number of approaches that can be taken. For relatively simple geometric configurations, approximation methods are used to develop a transformation from the object plane (where scattering events take place) to the …

Sensors: A Novel Lateral Field Excited Acoustic Wave Sensor For Chemical And Biological Agents, John F. Vetelino, David Frankel, Carl Tripp, Paul J. Millard

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Sensors for the sensitive and selective detection of chemical agents and a biological agent are being developed. The sensor structure consists of a piezoelectric platform that is coated with a film that selectively sorbs a chemical or biological agent of interest. The sensitivity of the sensor is embodied in the sensor platform, which consists of a quartz crystal that is excited by a lateral electric field. The exciting electrodes are placed opposite to the sensing surface, and the sensing film is attached directly to the sensor platform. This arrangement is in contrast to the standard quartz microbalance (QCM), where the …

Rigid And Non-Rigid Point-Based Medical Image Registration, Nestor Andres Parra

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary goal of this dissertation is to develop point-based rigid and non-rigid image registration methods that have better accuracy than existing methods. We first present point-based PoIRe, which provides the framework for point-based global rigid registrations. It allows a choice of different search strategies including (a) branch-and-bound, (b) probabilistic hill-climbing, and (c) a novel hybrid method that takes advantage of the best characteristics of the other two methods. We use a robust similarity measure that is insensitive to noise, which is often introduced during feature extraction. We show the robustness of PoIRe using it to register images obtained with …

Adaptive Distributed Fair Scheduling For Multiple Channels In Wireless Sensor Networks, Maciej Jan Zawodniok, Jagannathan Sarangapani, Steve Eugene Watkins, James W. Fonda

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A novel adaptive and distributed fair scheduling (ADFS) scheme for wireless sensor networks (WSN) in the presence of multiple channels (MC-ADFS) is developed. The proposed MC-ADFS increases available network capacity and focuses on quality-of-service (QoS) issues. when nodes access a shared channel, the proposed MC-ADFS allocates the channel bandwidth proportionally to the packet's weight which indicates the priority of the packet's flow. The packets are dynamically assigned to channels based on the packet weight and current channel utilization. The dynamic assignment of channels is facilitated by use of receiver-based allocation and alternative routes. Moreover, MC-ADFS allows the dynamic allocation of …

Analysis Of Globule Types In Malignant Melanoma, Jin Xu, Kapil Kumar Gupta, William V. Stoecker, Yamini Krishnamurthy, Harold S. Rabinovitz, Austin Bangert, David A. Calcara, Margaret C. Oliviero, Joseph M. Malters, Rhett J. Drugge, R. Joe Stanley, Randy Hays Moss, Mehmed Emre Celebi

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Objective: To identify and analyze subtypes of globules based on size, shape, network connectedness, pigmentation, and distribution to determine which globule types and globule distributions are most frequently associated with a diagnosis of malignant melanoma. Design: Retrospective case series of dermoscopy images with globules. Setting: Private dermatology practices. Participants: Patients in dermatology practices. Intervention: Observation only. Main Outcome Measure: Association of globule types with malignant melanoma. Results: The presence of large globules (odds ratio [OR], 5.25) and globules varying in size (4.72) or shape (5.37) had the highest ORs for malignant melanoma among all globule types and combinations studied. Classical …

Absolute Nitrogen Atom Density Measurements By Two-Photon Laser-Induced Fluorescence Spectroscopy In Atmospheric Pressure Dielectric Barrier Discharges Of Pure Nitrogen, Et-Touhami Es-Sebbar, Christian Sarra-Bournet, Nicolas Naudé, Françoise Massines, Nicolas Gherardi

Dr. Et-touhami Es-sebbar

In this paper, two-photon absorption laser induced fluorescence spectroscopy is used to follow the nitrogen atom density in flowing dielectric barrier discharges fed with pure nitrogen and operating at atmospheric pressure. Two different dielectric barrier discharge regimes are investigated: the Townsend regime, which is homogeneous although operating at atmospheric pressure, and the more common filamentary regime. In both regimes, densities as high as 3x1014 /cm3 are detected. However, the N atoms kinetic formation depends on the discharge regime. The saturation level is reached more rapidly with a filamentary discharge. For a given discharge regime, the N atom density depends strongly …

Contributions To The Development Of The S.E.T.U.P. (Experimental And Theoretical Simulations Useful For Planetology) Project, E. Arzoumanian, C. Romanzin, M-C. Gazeau, Et. Es-Sebbar, A. Jolly, S. Perrier, Y. Benilan

Dr. Et-touhami Es-sebbar

No abstract provided.

Multiwavelength Studies For Titan's Atmospheric Composition Analysis, Y. Benilan, Et. Es-Sebbar, N. Fray, M-C. Gazeau, A. Jolly, M. Schwell, J. Guillemin

Dr. Et-touhami Es-sebbar

Titan's atmosphere mainly made of nitrogen and methane is rich in organic molecules. Hydrocarbons are formed from the photolytic dissociation of CH4 and nitriles are created by dissociation of N2 followed by reactions with hydrocarbons. In order to understand the physicochemical mechanisms responsible for the evolution of Titan's atmosphere, photochemical models are built. The latter need constrains for vertical profiles of organic compounds from the high thermosphere down to the low stratosphere as well as photodissociation rates. Those profiles over the entire atmosphere can be retrieved from Cassini observations, in particular by limb sounding, coupling infrared and ultraviolet spectroscopy. However, …

Reinforcement-Learning-Based Output-Feedback Control Of Nonstrict Nonlinear Discrete-Time Systems With Application To Engine Emission Control, Peter Shih, Brian C. Kaul, Jagannathan Sarangapani, J. A. Drallmeier

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A novel reinforcement-learning-based output adaptive neural network (NN) controller, which is also referred to as the adaptive-critic NN controller, is developed to deliver the desired tracking performance for a class of nonlinear discrete-time systems expressed in nonstrict feedback form in the presence of bounded and unknown disturbances. The adaptive-critic NN controller consists of an observer, a critic, and two action NNs. The observer estimates the states and output, and the two action NNs provide virtual and actual control inputs to the nonlinear discrete-time system. The critic approximates a certain strategic utility function, and the action NNs minimize the strategic utility …