Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Mathematical Modelling Of Temperature Effects On The Afd Neuron Of Caenorhabditis Elegans, Zachary Mobille, Rosangela Follmann, Epaminondas Rosa

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Analyzing And Classifying Single Molecule Microscopy Data, Troy Buzynski, Ali Tabei

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium

No abstract provided.

Developing Arduino Coding Curriculum, Tyler Brown, Riley Bucheitte, Timothy Kidd

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium

No abstract provided.

Dynamic Monte Carlo Modeling Of Protein-Dna Interactions, Aaron Kirchman, Ali Tabei

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium

No abstract provided.

First-Principles Study Of V(1+X)S(2-X) Monolayer, Adam Ramker, Evan O’Leary, Pavel Lukashev

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium

No abstract provided.

Chemical Substitution Induced Half-Metallicity In Crmnsb(1-X)Px, Devon Vanbrogen, Adam Ramker, Evan O’Leary, Pavel Lukashev

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium

No abstract provided.

Modeling The Griffiths Phase In Manganese Intercalated Tantalum Disulfide [Poster], Aaron Janaszak, Lukas Stuelke, Paul Shand

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium

No abstract provided.

Modeling Adsorption Of Molecular Semiconductors On An Ionic Substrate: Ptcda And Cupc On Nacl, Julia Thorpe

Scholars Week

Molecular adsorption can be accurately studied using computational chemistry methods. Experimental results suggest that molecular geometry and energies can be influenced by the presence of thin film substrates as well as surrounding molecules. In our study, Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Molecular Mechanics (MM) are used to model the configurations of the organic semiconducting materials, Perylene Tetracarboxylic Dianhydride, C24H8O6 (PTCDA), and Copper Phthalocyanine, C34H16CuN8 (CuPc), as adsorbed on single and double layer NaCl substrates of various dimensions and charge settings. After geometry and charge optimization of the molecules using DFT, the molecular geometries are optimized under different environments using computational …

Parameter Identifiability And Estimation In A 1d Cardiovascular Fluid Dynamics Model, Mitchel J. Colebank

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Emergence, Mechanics, And Development: How Behavior And Geometry Underlie Cowrie Seashell Form, Michael G. Levy, Michael R. Deweese

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Parameter Estimation For Tear Film Thinning, Rayanne Luke

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Coherent Captain Mills: The Search For Sterile Neutrinos, Ashley Elliott, Jeramy Gordon, Jonah Greenwood, Rachel Lake, Ryder Moreno, Emily Strawn, Kate Walker

Discovery Day - Prescott

The observation of neutrino oscillations confirms that the active neutrinos (νe, νμ, ντ) are comprised of three mass eigenstates with Δm2 values between 10-3 to 10-5 eV2 . However, a persistent phenomenon has been observed at LSND, MiniBooNE and other shortbaseline experiments (SBE) where Δm2 ~ 1eV2 and is not compatible with the current mixing between mass eigenstates. However, a 4th neutrino, a sterile neutrino (νs) that doesn’t participate in weak interactions could explain the phenomena observed as SBE’s. An experiment has been constructed at TA-53 at Los Alamos National Laboratory to investigate this large Δm2 ~ 1eV2 and determine …

Finding Strong Gravitational Lenses With Residual Neural Networks, Christopher Storfer, Andrew Pilon, Varun Ravi, Matthew Domingo

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

Measuring gravitational lensing by galaxies is the only way to directly study the elusive dark matter. However, gravitational lensing is a very rare phenomenon (~1 in 10,000 galaxies). Our goal is to find new strong gravitational lenses using deep neural networks (“neural nets”). We train our neural nets on a hand-labeled set of images, consisting of both lenses and non-lenses (“the training sample”). We then apply the trained neural nets to a “validation set” to assess the accuracy and precision of its predictions. Given the rarity of lenses, we cannot tolerate a false positive rate higher than 0.1%. This is …

Electron Yield Of A Carbon Fiber Composite, Matthew Robertson

Utah Space Grant Consortium

As electron yield models continue to evolve and improve, a study of carbon fiber materials was conducted to try and understand more complex nanoscale structures and their influence on electron yield.

Using Geologic And Geodetic Analyses To Define The Location, Slip Rate, And Geometry Of Off Fault Deformation, Hidden Spring Fault Zone, Southern California, Rebekah Riemann, Andrea Donnellan, Jay Parker

Utah Space Grant Consortium

A strain deficit of about 10 mm/yr exists across the San Andreas Fault system on the boundary between the North American and Pacific plates. We investigate the role of the Hidden Spring Fault Zone, east of the Salton Sea in Southern California, and related structures in accommodating some of this slip. We compile data from historic and current aerial and satellite imagery, coupled with UAVSAR and LiDAR data have allowed us to identify and map hundreds of new fault segments in the region. Where possible, we correlate some of these data with geologic evidence for the faults. These data emphasize …

Byu Rocketry, Joseph Andrews, Bradley Buttars, Mark Johnson, Zachary Lawless, Jodi Pham, Harris Rothaermel, Mark Sweeney

Utah Space Grant Consortium

BYU Rocketry competed in the 2019 Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition at the 3^rd Annual Spaceport America Cup in Las Cruces, NM by building an 8-foot High Power rocket to send an 8.8 lb. CubeSat payload 10,000 ft. above ground level. Over 100 collegiate teams from around the world will competed.

Applying Real-World Learning Through Amusement Parks To Help Teach The Upcoming Changes To Utah Core Standard, Phil Lundgreen, Amanda Otterstrom

Utah Space Grant Consortium

To assist educators in satisfying the Science with Engineering Education (SEEd) Standards the Utah State University (USU) Physics Department has developed a curriculum centered around USU Physics Day at Lagoon.

With an upcoming change to Utah's core standards and a shift to more hands-on learning styles, the use of real-world learning offered by amusement park applications is analyzed in its ability to satisfy the Utah State Bureau of Education’s (USBE) SEEd standards. Amusement park learning allows educators a vehicle to capture students’ attention in the classroom by discussing science principles in a fun and exciting manner with a promise of …

Leveraging Commercial Nuclear Reactors To Power Space Exploration, Ben Johnson

Utah Space Grant Consortium

This study is aimed at exploring the adaptation of commercial nuclear reactors as an alternative to NASA’s current high-power fission reactor systems, particularly with respect to applications on the surface of Mars. The study concludes that while the Kilopower architecture is brilliantly poised to provide affordable, near-term power in the 1-10 kilowatts electric (kWe) range, the financial barrier to higher power scaling of such systems is significant. This financial barrier adds risk to the development of greater than 10kWe systems and is likely to result in the failure to successfully scale the technology to higher powers for space exploration applications. …

Internal Waves Generated From Asymmetric Topographies, Kyle Hakes

Utah Space Grant Consortium

Internal waves are a key part of the energy budget of the ocean and atmosphere. The generation of internal waves in the ocean from tides is dependent on the frequency of oscillation, the profile of the underwater mountain range, and the density of water in the surrounding ocean. A study of the effect of an asymmetric mountain range, with varying pro-files, on the generation of internal waves is presented. Results begin to indicate that the wave is mostly similar when generated on either side of the topography, but might extend to higher wavenumbers in Fourier space when generated on the …

Resistivity Of Nickel Silicide Thin Films, Rylan Woods

Utah Space Grant Consortium

The characterization of resistivity within thin films is paramount for proper integration into modern electronics wherein they show promise as contact materials due to their low contact resistance and high conductivity. Nickel silicide compounds often form in microelectronics at intersections between nickel and silicon, traditionally forming as a variety of intermetallic compounds including NiSi, Ni₂Si, Ni₃Si, Ni₃Si₂, and NiSi₂. Within this study, nickel silicide thin films ranging in thickness from 25nm to 110nm were synthesized on a silicon wafer substrate utilizing vapor deposition at a temperature of 900°C in low …

Implementing Theta-2-Theta Measurements To Measure Mirror Reflectance, Kylie Wolfe

Utah Space Grant Consortium

Our research group studies multilayer mirrors for use in space-based telescopes. The mirror property we are most interested in optimizing is reflectance. In the past, measuring the reflectance of our sample mirrors was difficult, as we either had to travel to the Advanced Light Source in Berkeley, California or we had to conduct and combine the data from many single-axis scans by hand. This made measuring reflectance tedious, error-prone, and time-consuming. By adding an automated theta-2-theta scan to our system, I removed these issues, allowing us to study our mirrors much more efficiently.

A Miniaturized Multi Sensor Array For Balloon-Borne Air Measurements, Phase Ii, Drew Huber, Huiling (Renee) Xie, John E. Sohl, Jeffrey D. Page

Utah Space Grant Consortium

Weber State University’s High-Altitude Ballooning team, HARBOR, is developing a lightweight, flexible, expandable sensor array for both high-altitude balloon flight and low-altitude drone flight.

The system will have the following capabilities:

1.Gas sensor and air quality board/chamber:

a. Gases: CO, CO₂, NO₂, NH₃, SO₂, O₃, VOCs

b. Particulates: PM1, PM2.5, PM10.

2. Metrological data measurement suite:

a.Temperature, pressure (with two sensors), %RH.

b. Wind by proxy for balloon flights via the GPS.

3. Flight dynamics and geolocation suite:

a. High altitude GPS

b. 9-axis inertial measurement: acceleration, gyroscope, and magnetometer. …

Mineralogy Of Great Salt Lake: An Analogue For Martian Evaporites, Calli B. Cahill, Adrik Z. Da Silva

Utah Space Grant Consortium

Gypsum (CaSO₄ · 2H₂O) and mirabilite (Na₂SO₄ · 10H₂O) are common precipitates at the Great Salt Lake (GSL). NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, found veins of gypsum deposited by water in 2011 and gypsum has been detected on Mars as early as 2005 by the ESA’s Mars Express Orbiter. On Earth, gypsum is formed in hypersaline environments, in minerals left behind when water evaporates, trapping microorganisms in fluid inclusions. Likewise, GSL mirabilite develops when mineral-rich groundwater meets cold winter air to create crystalline structures. While there is no physical evidence of mirabilite …

Lunar Mining: Designing A Robust Robotic Mining System, Ted Goodell, James Ehlers, Rian Simpson, Tina Hayward, Ali Almiskeen, Logan Peterson, Joshua Miraglia, Alexander Charters, Palmer Clegg, Chandler Millar, Emerson Labon, Jonathan Warner, Matthew Cohen, Evan Cleveland, Jackson Dean, Todd Renner, Sergio Nunez, Pramit Chalise, Arthur Steur, Jake Erickson, Kenny Ho

Utah Space Grant Consortium

The annual NASA Robotic Mining Challenge: Lunabotics tasks teams with building robots capable of traversing and mining simulated Lunar terrain. The competition goal is to utilize automation and sensing alongside mechanical systems to harvest icy regolith (gravel) from beneath the satellite’s surface.

This year, Utah Student Robotics sought to improve upon the design from last year. The 2019-2020 rover is based on proven NASA concepts, such as the RASSOR 2.0 digging drum, and the Rocker-Bogie mobility platform.

Analyzing Flash X-Ray Machine Diagnostics, Sebastian Bustillo, Asaph Camillo, Jake Morris

Scholars Day Conference

The Cygnus Dual Beam Radiographic Facility consists of two flash x-ray machines, Cygnus 1 and 2. The seamless performance of these machines is critical to the maintenance of the United States stockpile of nuclear weapons. Since these SubCritical experiments cost about $104 million when something malfunctions millions of dollars are lost. As a result, it is imperative to assess the performance of the machine from diagnostics collected by the different sensors. Its performance is measured by the level of radiation dose a shot obtains. Utilizing exploratory data analysis, interesting trends were found and a 74.1% level of correctness was achieved …

285— Modifications Of Cosmic Watch Muon Detectors For Deployment At Letchworth State Park, Kevin Seitz

GREAT Day Posters

For an American Physical Society funded physics outreach project, fifteen Cosmic Watch cosmic ray muon detectors, designed at MIT, are being assembled by students at Geneseo. Over the summer of 2020, ten detectors will be deployed around Letchworth State Park to educate park visitors about cosmic rays. The muon detection rate and cumulative count are displayed on a small OLED screen, with an LED flashing every time a muon passes through the detector’s scintillator. Each incidence is also logged to a micro SD card. Customized open-source software was used to allow the OLED and SD card to work simultaneously. The …

297— Modeling Optical Extinction Spectra Of Polystyrene Beads In Water, Justin D'Souza

GREAT Day Posters

To model the global climate, it is critical to understand how light interacts with particles in the atmosphere. Extinction spectra have been measured and simulated for a model system consisting of polystyrene beads in water. These beads have sizes comparable to atmospheric aerosols and can be dyed to mimic the properties of soot. Once the simulation is validated by comparing optimized simulation parameters to nominal particle properties, it can be used to study soot aerosols. We show that our simulation program can return reasonable values for the size and optical properties of this model system.

396— Radioactive Decay Calibrations Of Rics Using 41 Ar, Emily Vanderbilt, Nicole Gindling

GREAT Day Posters

The short-lived isotope-counting system (SLIC) being built for the OMEGA laser facility at LLE requires gaseous radioisotopes for calibration purposes. Using a Plutonium-Beryllium (Pu-Be) source at SUNY Geneseo, 41Ar was made by capturing thermal neutrons via the 40Ar(n,gamma) reaction. Once activated, 41Ar beta decays, producing an electron with endpoint energy of 1.198 MeV. The daughter product is found to be the second excited state of 41K 99.1% of the time. This decays to the ground state and emits a 1.293 MeV gamma ray. To accurately measure the beta activity of 41Ar, the Gamma-X system at Geneseo is used as a …

240— Target Characterization Using Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy, Matthew G. Klein, Anthony C. Cooper, Jovahn A. Roumell

GREAT Day Posters

Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) is a non-destructive ion-beam analytical technique that is used to determine properties of a target such as thickness, areal density, and elemental composition. This scattering is the result of Coulomb forces between the target atoms and the incident particle. The energy spectrum of the scattered ions depends on the atomic number of the target atoms as well as the target thickness.

293— Moly - Monitoring Oxygen Levels In Ntof Scintillators Using Cosmic Ray Muons, Sean King, Matthew Signor

GREAT Day Posters

High Energy Density Physics and Inertial Confinement Fusion facilities employ nTOF methods to measure neutron energies. Laser induced fusion facilities use the beam pulse as a start signal and Xylene scintillators as the stop signal to obtain the time of flight. To improve timing performance, the scintillator liquid is quenched with oxygen reducing the light production. However, oxygen reacts with the scintillator liquid causing the detector photo flash decay time to increase that reduces the energy resolution of the detector. An in-situ monitoring system which uses cosmic ray muons to determine the oxygen concentration, is being developed at SUNY Geneseo. …