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The flexibility and insulating nature of polymeric dielectric materials are widely used in robotic and wearable electronic devices like electrical insulation, capacitive sensors, and electromechanical actuators. When combined with a phase transition-induced shape memory property, the resultant bistable electroactive polymer (BSEP) opens up new applications due to the rigid-to-rigid actuation of BSEP tremendously reducing the energy consumption for device operation while providing desirable strength for external loads. This dissertation focuses on investigating insulating, electroactive, and phase transition properties of BSEP, and adapting each aspect of the properties in the pursuit of innovative devices, such as rewritable photonic paper, smart windows with whole solar spectrum modulation, and wearable pressure sensors. An ink-free rewritable photonic paper has been invented through the interdisciplinary combination of photonic crystals, shape memory and electroactive properties of BSEP. The rewritable paper consists of a ferroferric oxide-carbon (Fe3O4@C) core–shell nanoparticle (NP)-based photonic crystal embedded in a BSEP. The nanocomposite can be repeatedly triggered to change into different shapes and colors due to the z-directional deformation that is induced by an electric field. The actuated shape and color can be maintained for a long term without energy input, and the stored images can then be rewritten over 500 times without noticeable degradation. Low energy consumption and simple erasing/rewriting are features that match the benefits of conventional paper as a zero-energy and long term data storage medium, but provide the additional advantage of rewritability. With pixelated electrode arrays, user-defined information can be actuated and erased at will which has been demonstrated through a seven-segment numerical display. A smart window with wide-band light modulation is designed solely based on the phase transition property of BSEP. One component of BSEP can be switched between semicrystalline and amorphous states through cooling below or heating above its melting temperature, leading to a reversible opaque-to-transparent transition. The opacity switching property of BSEP was further improved by mixing a more hydrophilic component to induce micro-scale phase separation, which is responsible for the whole solar spectrum light modulation due to Mie scattering. The resultant smart window achieves both high solar transmittance modulation of 70.2% and high luminous transmittance modulation of 80.4% which rivals the best reported smart windows and commercial privacy glasses with the highest privacy levels. This flexible smart window can also be mounted on curved surfaces for the need of windows with arbitrary shapes. This work is the first one to report an all-solid thermochromic smart window film without the inclusion of any metal/metal oxides or liquid crystals to enable a large light modulation over the whole solar spectrum.A flexible fiber-based pressure sensor is realized by applying a dielectric layer on the outside of a TEMPO-oxidized bacterial cellulose (TOBC)/silver nanowire (AgNW) conducting fiber. The pressure sensor can detect pressures up to 134 MPa with sensitivity of 101 � 10-4 kPa-1 due to its hierarchical structure and high conductivity. The porous structure of TOBC/AgNW helps increase the thickness deformation of the sensor with applied pressure, improving the sensing ability. Small pressures of human pulse and voice vibration can be detected with this sensitive pressure sensor. A machine learning classification model was implemented to recognize human’s speech where the prediction accuracy on a test dataset is > 90%. The ultrathin fibrous sensor (53 �m) is capable of high-resolution detection, and suitable as a comfortable and fashionable thread substitute for real wearable devices.The combined properties of BSEP with the proof-of-concept developments of rewritable paper, smart windows and wearable sensors demonstrate its potential for real-world applications. And an outlook for future research and suggested improvements for commercialization are discussed in the conclusion.

Research on paper-based microfluidic devices has grown into prosperity since 2007 when the Whitesides group in Harvard University first announced their work of qualitative bioassays on paper platform. These devices have a huge potential to be used in screening and point-of-care applications because they are easy to fabricate, simple to use, and low in cost. In this work, paper properties, wax printing, and micro-level fluid flow on paper-based materials are investigated first as preliminary study, and then a qualitative blood coagulation test device is developed utilizing traditional lateral flow platform.In order to utilize paper-based materials as test platform, various paper properties are studied to understand their behaviors with fluid present. When conducting different type of tests, different types of paper may be considered due to their unique properties. As a fabrication technique of paper device, wax printing is studied in detail to learn the printing accuracy and resolution of wax printer during device fabrication. By printing hydrophobic wax barriers on hydrophilic paper, wax printing is a very cheap, simple and fast way to fabricate microfluidic channels on paper device.Microfluidic flow behaviors of water and dextran aqueous solution with different viscosity are studied on cellulose papers and nitrocellulose membranes. Both fluids display the characteristics of Washburn flow on both types of materials. On cellulose material, fluid flows faster in narrower channels, which makes it possible to achieve flow control by manipulating channel geometry. On nitrocellulose material, fluid with smaller viscosity travels faster than that with larger viscosity, and the slope of (traveled distance)2 vs traveling time is linearly proportional to fluid viscosity on semi-log scale. This property makes it possible to anticipate fluid viscosity by measuring its traveling distance in a certain amount of time on nitrocellulose membrane.In the development of qualitative blood coagulation test device, traditional LFA structure consisting of sample pad, analytical membrane, and wick pad is utilized as diagnostic platform, and citrated rabbit blood and coagulant CaCl2 solution with different concentration are utilized to mimic human whole blood with various coagulation ability. Qualitative analysis of blood coagulation ability is performed by measuring the distance that different blood sample travels on analytical membrane. The further traveled distance indicates weaker coagulation ability, and the shorter traveled distance indicates stronger coagulation ability. A linear relationship between traveled distance and coagulation ability of blood sample is established, and whole blood coagulation ability can be anticipated by measuring its traveled distance on blood coagulation diagnostic LFA device in a certain amount of time.

This thesis focuses on the study of size-scale structural effects on paper fracture toughness. Three analyses, including tensile strength ratio, consumed energy ratio and stress intensity factor ratio were used to explore the sensitivity of paper to the propagation of cracks. The results of the comparison were utilized to focus on stress ratios for the new modified LEFM approach presented in appendix A. The modified LEFM can be used as a simple method to explore fracture toughness relative to tensile strength. Both commercial papers and handsheets were tested and analyzed for their fracture behavior using double-notched tensile specimens. The combination of experimental testing and analysis suggest that paper structure plays an important role on relative fracture toughness. The results indicate that paper towel, the least homogenous material tested, had the lowest sensitivity to notches. The differences in relative fracture toughness are related to size-scale of structural features. Relative fracture toughness varied for handsheets made under various process conditions to yield different structures. It is concluded that material relative fracture toughness increases with material heterogeneity.

Paper is an everyday product used for various reasons by the consumer. This study focuses on a low basis weight nonwoven paper substrate used as toilet paper. Paper manufacturers are always trying to increase line speed to push out more paper at the same cost and the manufacturing process this research focuses on is the embossing process. This study will focus on determining the rate dependent in-plane constitutive relations that define the mechanical behavior of the paper substrate in tension. Once the constitutive models are created they can be imported into a finite-element software package and used to study changes made to the embossing process. Experimental tests were run in order to isolate specific properties of the material. Uniaxial tension tests were run at 0.1 1/s, 4.5 1/s and 45 1/s total engineering strain rates in order to determine the rate dependent effects on the material. Stress relaxation tests were run at varying moisture contents and temperatures with the idea of determining the viscoelastic model and how moisture and temperature affect the material. Viscoelastic and viscoplastic behavior models were developed to characterize the rate dependencies in the elastic and plastic regions of the material. A generalized Maxwell model is used to model the viscoelastic region and a modified form of G’sell’s flow stress law was used in conjunction with the viscous based overstress theory (VBO) to define the viscoplastic region. The research done on this paper substrate details a method to define the rate dependent constitutive properties of any fiber network material through an experimental study.

The automated banking industry, especially deposit automation, is rapidly evolving. One aspect of deposit automation includes automatic check processing modules. These are modules capable of scanning and reading a check and crediting the amount to customers's bank accounts without ever having to step inside the bank. Most of these modules are available at drive-up or walk-up Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). With the need for more functionality and the same space constraints as past designs, there are many times when low profile pinch force is required to help transport media within an ATM module.The ultimate purpose of this thesis is to provide an understanding of the unique design and analysis that goes into the creation of a pair of low profile leaf springs used for paper handling in ATMs. This involves first explaining the application in which these springs are used and the need for the design. Once the springs’ functions are defined, the parameters around which the design was created will be defined.The prototype design for these leaf springs uses mild steel which is not suited for the application in a production environment. Careful attention is required to produce consistent parts using the mild steel, because a tight tolerance band is required and because the parts are prone to deformation during handling. The shortcomings of the prototype designs are recognized, and a new design is developed and analyzed to take the place of the mild steel version of the component. This new design for the bin spring parts involves a slight modification to the geometry of the springs and a drastic change to the material selected. Finite element analysis, component measurements and functional testing are provided to support the redesign and its success for the intended application. As a result of these analyses and functional tests, a new leaf spring drive system that is both functional and manufacturable is presented.

Coke drums are large pressure vessels used in the oil refining process, which generate lightweight oil products and solid cokes as a byproduct from the heavy residual oil. Coke drums are critical units in the delayed coking process and often undergo severe thermo-mechanical loadings that cause plastic deformation in the vessels. The accumulative damage in coke drums over operation cycles leads to low-cycle fatigue failure that significantly reduces the lifetime of coke drums. Many factors can contribute to the low-cycle fatigue damage in coke drums, including design, fabrication, operation, and repair. One of the inherent reasons is the thermal and mechanical incompatibility between the base metal and weld metal, as low-cycle fatigue damages are frequently observed adjacent to the weld seams. The structural integrity is significantly compromised at a bulging or cracking region, so coke drum repair is required before continuing the operation. Welding repair has been widely adopted in industry to restore the structural integrity of damaged regions. However, the repaired regions are also susceptible to subsequent failures due to welding defects and mechanical incompatibility.A careful selection of filler metal and the welding process is critical to improve the efficacy of welding repair. To address the issue of selecting the optimal filler metal and welding process for coke drum repair, a study regarding coke drum welding repair was initiated in the Manufacturing & Materials Joining Innovation Center (MA2JIC) at OSU in the year of 2016. In Phase-I, a novel isothermal low-cycle fatigue (ILCF) testing approach was developed using the Gleeble® thermo-mechanical simulator, and a wide range of filler metals and welding processes were evaluated using this technique. The project entered Phase II in the year 2019. The Phase-II study continues Phase-I efforts on filler metal selection based on low-cycle fatigue evaluation and expands the materials selection scope to coke drum fabrication. In addition, fundamental analysis of the low-cycle fatigue performance of coke drum base materials and welded joints was implemented through mechanical testing, materials characterization, in situ testing, and finite element analysis. This document covers the achievements made in Phase II and includes a summary of key findings in both Phase I and Phase II.The document consists of 11 chapters. Chapter 1 discusses the motivation and objectives of Phase II study, and Chapter 2 presents the background of this work. The industrial background of cokedrum is first discussed in Section 2.2 and followed by the discussions of a literature review in low-cycle fatigue testing approaches, materials performance, and weld simulation. Chapter 3 presents the low-cycle fatigue testing results of C-0.5Mo steel and a comparison with the 1.25Cr-0.5Mo steel results (Phase I) in terms of low-cycle fatigue performance. Chapter 4 shows the low-cycle fatigue evaluation of Ni-steel dissimilar joints and failure analysis. The chapter is constructed by three conference proceeding papers published regarding the topic. Chapter 5 evaluates the cyclic deformation of a dissimilar welded joint, in which the weld failure predominantly occurred in the weld metal region adjacent to the fusion boundary. Part of the contents in Chapter 5 overlap those in Section 4.1 and Section 4.2, but Chapter 5 presents a more in-depth analysis of the failure mechanism using the advanced characterization and the in-situ testing approach. Chapter 6 presents a published paper regarding cyclic deformation and strain localization in ferritic-pearlitic C-0.5Mo steel. This chapter aims at fundamentally understanding the impact of the ferritic-pearlitic microstructure on the cyclic behavior observed in Chapter 3. Chapter 7 introduces the measurement of local mechanical performance in similar and dissimilar welded joints using the digital image correlation technique. Chapter 8 introduces a novel optimization algorithm for cyclic hardening parameters, which are obtained from the isothermal low-cycle fatigue testing results. Chapter 9 presents a summary of the achievements in Phase I and Phase II regarding the selection of the material for coke drum fabrication and welding repair. Chapter 10 and 11 presents the major conclusions and future work for the study.

This paper introduces low-velocity impacts (LVI), presents a concept for evaluating them, tests various materials for proof-of-concept, and discusses how the machine could be used in future university projects as well as how it could be improved. The paper begins by defining low-velocity impacts and describing the factors that influence them. The second topic is the iterative design process involved with making an impact machine so that accurate results can be obtained. In the third section, some of the challenges and opportunities associated with the concept of low velocity impacts with a variety of tests conducted on the machine and with different materials. A summary of the design and results of the study is presented at the end of the paper, followed by some suggestions for further research and improvements that could be made.

This investigation was to compare the structural properties, of commercial available single ply paper towels, as they vary in X-Y plane. The focus was to quantify the differences in selected regions of interest, as measured by two analytical methods, non-contact Twin Laser Profilometry (TLP) and synchrotron X-ray micro-computed tomography (XRμCT). The thickness and out-of-plane deformation (OPD) distributions were mapped using a TLP and XRμCT. The XRμCT samples were further used to calculate for the mass center surface. TLP enables web structures to be mapped to a micrometer resolution over 12.5mm regions. Synchrotron X-ray microtomography method provides sub-micrometer resolution of the complete volumetric structure (1.4mm x 1.4mm x thickness (μm)) for the imaged region. The features of individual fibers are revealed by XRμCT method, so that the true surface geometry may be quantified.

A study of the acoustic emissions characteristics of handsheet made under diverse wet-pressures is presented. It is believed that the acoustic emissions technique describes the inelastic deformation, damage, and fracture characteristics of paper well. It is concluded that there exists an optimum wet-pressure at which a paper with better mechanical properties such as high strength and optimum ductility and best fracture toughness may be manufactured. It is suggested here that beyond this “optimum” wet-pressure it is possible to over-press the handsheets during the manufacturing stage. This causes internal damage in the microstructure of the fibrils and instigates the evolution of inherent flaws or defects in the paper. These defects or flaws become active during the tensile loading of the paper and extend or propagate under loading, thus reducing the overall macroscopic deformability, compliance, and ductility of paper. Alternatively, below this optimum wet-pressure the paper does not develop its full potential strength. The results of the acoustic emissions testing have consistently suggested that fracture resistance toughness, and therefore, failure in paper is a strain-related phenomenon. As acoustic emission is a deformation (or strain) sensitive event, a new definition for toughness of paper is introduced, which is equal to the measured area under the cumulative hit distribution curve. The exact, asymptotic, as well as simplified approximate expressions have been derived, which may be used evaluate the acoustic emissions toughness of paper. The results of the acoustic emissions testing indicated that based upon this definition of "AE toughness," the toughness of paper was highest for papers made under the "optimum wet-pressure" condition. It was also suggested that Tensile Energy Absorption (TEA), a measure of the area under the stress-strain curve, may not be a suitable measure for the fracture toughness of paper. This conclusion is more substantiated by the fact that fracture of paper is a strain[1]related phenomenon, and therefore, the fracture toughness should not be biased by stress.

Duplex stainless steels (DSS) are extensively used in heavy industry, such as Oil and gas, pulp and paper, and chemical, due to their remarkable corrosion resistance, yield strength, and toughness. The most corrosion-resistant DSS subgroups, super duplex stainless steels (SDSS) with Pitting Resistance Equivalent numbers (PREn) of 40-48, and the hyper duplex stainless steels (HDSS) with a PREn over 48, are highly alloyed. Additions of Cr and Mo provide better PREn but also promote intermetallic phases such as the chi and sigma phases. These intermetallics form when the material is exposed to temperatures between 600oC – 1100oC. It is known that even small volumetric fractions of the sigma phase severely reduce the material’s corrosion resistance and mechanical performance.A dedicated study on sigma phase formation kinetics was developed to control sigma phase presence in these specific alloys. A field studied but not yet completely connected between scientific research and industrial applications. Fundamental aspects of sigma phase kinetics were analyzed, computationally modeled, and experimentally validated. As a result of these efforts, the interface area per unit of volume was revealed as a critical microstructure factor for the sigma phase kinetics. The resultant model’s efficacy was further evaluated by building GTAW cladded mockups, and investigation into this material’s mechanical and corrosion performance further expanded on the impacts of the sigma phase.A Gleeble® system was used to develop experimental time temperature transformation (TTT) maps on SDSS and HDSS filler metals for sigma phase precipitation kinetics. Classical nucleation theory was then implemented on the CALPHAD-based kinetics model. In this model, the interfacial energy and nucleation sites were identified as the kinetics parameters to adjust the model based on experimental data. The sigma phase kinetics continuous cooling transformation CCT curves were calculated using the additive rule. A minimum cooling rate threshold of 4oC/s was found for sigma phase formation.Validation for application was developed through GTAW cladded mockups. While the sigma phase kinetics were equivalent in both filler metals, the corrosion and mechanical performance obtained from HDSS suggest it as a superior material. However, the sigma phase has proven to remarkably reduce the HDSS toughness. Thus, a sigmoidal behavior mechanism describing the sigma phase effect on toughness performance is proposed.Finally, an ICME python framework was developed to automate and extend the sigma phase kinetics analysis to other chemical compositions of highly alloyed DSS based on the development obtained in this research. The framework combines CALPHAD equilibrium analysis, CALPHAD-based kinetics, JMAK kinetics, and FEA thermal modeling to result in sigma phase volumetric presence as a function of the thermal history and allow optimization to performance or productivity.

A legislative authority empowered to protect Srilanka's environment, operating similarly to the Environmental Protection Agency of the U.S., is needed, along with wastewater treatment. Wastewater parameters of importance in treatment are BOD, COD, total suspended solids, settleable solids, pH, colour, turbidity, ammonia or nitrate nitrogen, heavy metals, sulfides, phosphates, and phenols. Methods of industrial waste treatment vary depending on the climatic conditions, the industry, raw materials, and process adopted. Textile and pulp and paper industries exist in Srilanka and have very high pollution potential. Methods of treatment to finally generate reasonably good quality effluent are available. Processing of effluents from these type industries together with municipal sewage is feasible and economical. Due to the complex nature of the composition of industrial wastes, a final decision could only be made after a thorough investigation of the industrial complexes, the methodology used, and pilot plant studies.

The persistent demand for flexible and wearable electronic components in healthcare, aerospace, media, and transit applications has led to a significant shift from traditional electronics processes to printed electronics. Printed electronics are anticipated to establish itself as the industry's dominant force due to their enhanced flexibility, rapid prototyping capabilities, and seamless integration with everyday objects. They are cost-effective and have the scalable option for large-scale production because additive manufacturing techniques are used. Among the various printing methods available, inkjet printing has recently gained popularity for printing electronics, especially capacitors that require precise and complex structures on different substrates. Inkjet printing relies on micro dispensing additive technology, where liquid phase materials are dispensed using the drop on demand (DOD) technique with conductive nanoparticle inks. Researchers have made several attempts to fabricate fully inkjet-printed composite capacitors and have discovered that the permittivity value of the composite increases compared to a polymer. This suggests that using composites as the dielectric material in a capacitor can potentially increase the capacitance value. However, despite the discussion on various composite dielectric materials, there is a scarcity of information on the use of BaTiO3/SU-8 dielectric materials for capacitor applications. To address this gap, the objective of this study is to formulate BaTiO3/SU-8 ink suitable for inkjet printing and develop a printing process for layered metal insulator metal (MIM) structures. The formulated BaTiO3/SU-8 ink is employed to print the dielectric material, while nano silver ink is used for the two electrodes, enabling the fabrication of the capacitor in a single step. The study takes into account volume and speed jetting parameters as well as waveform to achieve optimal and uniform liquid phase material inkjet printing on the substrates. The thickness of the printed layers is measured using a profilometer, and the sheet resistance of the inkjet printed nano silver conductive ink is evaluated using a four-point probe. Furthermore, the dielectric properties of the printed composite are characterized by measuring the capacitance value. The main goal of this paper is to provide insights into the formulation of BaTiO3/SU-8 dielectric materials and understand the processes involved in the fabrication of a full inkjet printed composite MIM capacitor. Additionally, the experimental results will be compared with theoretical models of BaTiO3/SU-8 dielectric developed by our research group. The successful development of inkjet printed composite MIM capacitors using BaTiO3/SU-8 dielectric materials has the potential to revolutionize the field of printed electronics. The ability to print capacitors with higher capacitance values and complex structures on flexible substrates opens up new possibilities for the integration of electronics into various applications. This research makes a valuable contribution to the expanding knowledge base in the field of inkjet printing for electronics, laying the foundation for future advancements in flexible and wearable electronic devices.

Imaging technology is a growing field that provides solutions in many areas from manufacturing to agriculture. Through previous research, imaging technologies have been studied in livestock farming to monitor the animal’s health and welfare in the production process. However, the feedlot industry is still behind in validating the feasibility to use some of these technologies nor to adopt such technologies to address challenges the industry is facing, such as lack of skilled labor.This work proposes using novel imaging methods to identify feed types and estimate the amount of feed remaining in a typical Midwestern feedlot feed bunk. These methods have promising potential to provide alternative tools to feedlot operations to alleviate labor requirements for tasks like bunk calling, feed sourcing, and feed mixing. This approach, if successful, provides an alternative option that allows existing systems to incorporate these methods into their framework to accurately perform daily tasks.The main contribution of this work is to leverage imaging technologies, specifically, depth imaging and machine learning techniques to build and validate models that can be used in the feedlot production systems in the Midwestern U.S. To date, several studies have explored the use of imaging technologies and machine learning to monitor individual cow intake in dairy production, but there is limited research body comprehensively conducted to explore these technologies for feedlot applications.The proposed methods were used to collect imagery data for eleven common feedlot ingredients and seven diets. Collected images were processed (a) to estimate the weights of residual feed in the bunk, (b) to evaluate the accuracy of depth cameras in estimating residual feed, (c) to characterize the different feed textures, and (d) to classify feed textures using machine learning techniques. Regression models using pixel transformation were developed to correlate image-model-estimated and the scale-measured feed weights, whereas texture analysis techniques and residual neural network model in 10 classes were used to identify the individual ingredients. Methodologies and results are presented in this thesis as a paper format. The major findings indicate that using low-cost depth cameras and machine learning techniques is promising in the development of alternative tools to estimate the amount of residual feed in concrete bunks and identify individual feed ingredients commonly used in commercial feedlots in the U.S. Advisor: Yijie Xiong

With the increasing prevalence of electronic equipment worldwide, there is also a decrease in the size of the components on their printed circuit boards (PCBs), leading to an increase in the density of these components. A significant amount of failure in electronic equipment is vibration fatigue of solder joints and their attachments. However, the complexity of these PCBs and their components has made finite element modeling (FEM) more complex, adding considerable time to create and analyze a model. This paper aims to provide a literature review for the vibration fatigue of leaded solder components, create a test setup, and validate an analytical solder joint stress model. The literature review provides a walkthrough on modeling PCBs and their components using FEMs and analytical models, fatigue modeling methodology, and fatigue testing data and highlights gaps in the literature. This review was important to compile due to the limited data and the rigor required to find it all when searching. With this literature review collected, testing was to be completed using an analytical model highlighted. Therefore, a setup and procedure have been developed to test the vibration fatigue of leaded solder attachments. The setup combines a test specimen, specimen mounting head, and preliminary model correlation between the test specimen and FEM. Using initial model correlations, an analytical solder joints stress model, and fatigue curves from literature, a vibration fatigue life prediction was made for the test specimen, and tests were run. However, the results were inconclusive and further testing is deemed necessary. Suggestions have been made, such as picking other analytical models to test, modifying the test setup, and increasing the fidelity of local areas in the FEM.

Unintentional releases of hazardous gases have led to significant injuries and fatalities in severe cases. Field tests can be used to release hazardous gases to document and evaluate the behavior of the gases. Chlorine is an especially hazardous gas due to its toxicity. The Jack Rabbit II Phase I field tests released chlorine within a mock urban environment (MUE) consisting of Conex containers arranged in rows to simulate buildings and streets. The number of field tests is limited by both expense and time. Simulation of a field test using a wind tunnel model can provide additional data and opportunity for study of relevant phenomena at reduced cost. This study focused on Phase I of the Jack Rabbit II trials which consisted of five vertically downward chlorine releases into the MUE. The chlorine deflected horizontally off the underlying concrete pad to spread radially outward into the MUE. In the wind tunnel model, the field releases were simulated by releasing a gas mixture of theater fog, sulfur hexafluoride, carbon dioxide, and air into the 1:50 scale tunnel model through an area source. A polycarbonate disk was positioned above the area source to deflect the vertically upward tunnel release into a radially spreading horizontal wall jet similar to what was observed in the field tests. The flow rate, composition, and wall jet initial height are source gas parameters that must be determined to model the field tests. Jack Rabbit II Trial 4 was used to determine the source gas parameters by adjusting each parameter and comparing the gas behavior of the tunnel model to the behavior of the field trial. Once the video record parameters were determined, the parameters were validated by comparison to Jack Rabbit II Trial 5. Jack Rabbit II Trial 3 had inconsistent wind data to model with confidence in the wind tunnel. The tunnel model was used to estimate the wind direction during Trial 3 by simulating different wind directions and comparing release behavior of the tunnel releases and field test. The tunnel model was further used to determine the maximum upwind extent of the field chlorine release if the MUE offered the least upwind resistance by changing the wind direction. The release method and parameters determined in this study were used in further tunnel model simulations to measure the concentration of the release gas in instrument locations with the MUE. The release method was further used to study the wind direction within the MUE at specific locations and planes. Additional videos are included along with this paper to demonstrate the tunnel model simulating the field releases. The videos show a comparison of the field release and the similar behavior of the tunnel release. Each of the three videos is labeled with the trial number of the field release that the wind tunnel model is simulating: Flow Visualization of Jack Rabbit II Trial 3, 4, and 5.

Software models are used to analyze and understand the properties of the system, providing stakeholders with an overview of how the system should work before actually implementing it. Such models are usually created informally, such as drawing sketches on a whiteboard or paper, especially during the early design phase, because these methods foster communication and collaboration among stakeholders. However, these informal sketches must be formalized to be useful in later applications, such as analysis, code generation, and documentation. This formalization process is often tedious, error-prone, and time-consuming. In an effort to avoid recreating formal models from scratch, this thesis presents SkeMo, a sketch-based software modeling tool. SkeMo is built on a CNN-based image classifier using 3000 input sketches of class diagram components and integrated into the functionality of an existing web-based model editor, the Instructional Modeling Language (IML), with a newly implemented touch interface. SkeMo was evaluated using a ten-fold cross-validation to assess the image classifier and through a user study involving 20 participants to collect metrics and feedback. The results demonstrate the promising potential of sketch-based modeling as an intuitive and efficient modeling practice, allowing users to quickly and easily create models to design complex software systems.

Engineers are needed more than ever to sustain our current life and maximize the best possible life for our future. From our everyday present lives, engineers work on powering our markets, offices, and homes to designing computer software. From what our future holds, engineers can develop efficient humanoid robotic systems to conduct surgical procedures, build renewable energy buildings and transportation sources, and predict meaningful political, medical, and financial information based on prior big data. Yet, in the United States, the field of engineering neither attracts nor maintains college students who were originally interested in pursuing it, particularly for minoritized students (Beering, 2007; National Science Foundation, 2021). Increasing and diversifying the number of engineers will contribute not only to better current and future living standards, but also bring new perspectives to solve the problems the nation faces. This dissertation research aims to address the critical issue of college students becoming uninterested or disengaged in engineering through YouTube videos to promote choice and persistence.The dissertation consists of three separate, but connected papers that examine undergraduates’ choice and persistence in engineering using an alternative methodology of YouTube videos. Paper 1 focuses on engineering college students’ career values and the extent to which the discussion of their careers is associated with career values. There are two studies within this paper. The first study investigates students’ agentic (i.e., the importance of doing something in service of the self) and communal (i.e., the importance of doing something in service of others) career value themes in their written post-graduation responses after watching a YouTube video. I found career, personal development, and financial gains agentic career value themes as well as helping others and being family- oriented communal career value themes. The second study uses those career value themes to match achievement-related and interpersonal word categories to surveyed career values. I found significant associations between students’ word usage on their career and surveyed career values. Paper 2 examines transfer engineering undergraduates’ experiences filming engineering advice-related YouTube videos to community college students, in which we predicted that students experience the saying-is-believing effect. The saying-is-believing effect refers to how individuals are more likely to internalize a message if they advocate for it (Higgins & Rholes, 1978). This study identifies for important college students’ affective, cognitive, and behavioral engagement themes during their experiences creating the YouTube videos, in order to differentiate the different levels of the saying-is- believing effect. I found that students do differ in the extent to which they experience the saying-is-believing effect based on the different components of engagement. In particular, students’ positive affective experiences from creating YouTube videos may be the starting point to experiencing the saying-is-believing effect. Paper 3 takes a different perspective of the motivational intervention by focusing on the engineering community college students who watched the YouTube videos rather than those who filmed the YouTube videos. Students were able to choose from a library of videos from a diverse group of engineering transfer undergraduates. This study investigates the difference in engineering community college students’ course grades and subsequent engineering course enrollment between those who participated and those who did not participate in the intervention. I found that students who participated in the role model intervention leveraging YouTube had higher course grades and subsequent course enrollments in engineering compared to those who did not participate in the intervention.Each of the three papers: (a) provides a greater understanding on how to support engineering college students’ choice and persistence; and (b) focuses on using YouTube videos as an alternative method to gain a more comprehensive picture on engineering undergraduates’ motivation. Using YouTube videos to understand students’ perceptions can help participants answer in a way that would minimize predetermined item choices and researchers’ expectations. This methodology can aid researchers and practitioners investigate engineering college students in a more naturalistic way. Incorporating a wide selection (or library) of YouTube videos from minoritized engineering college students can optimize the motivation of others who similarly identify, which can thus, increase the diversity in the labor force market.

This paper aims to explore the application of small-scale desalination systems to provide clean water in the wake of marine natural disasters. A lack of clean water is a devastating impact of many natural disasters. Desalination technologies, both thermal and membrane, show potential for being scaled down and self-powered by renewable energy. Desalination can transform ocean water and contaminated drinking water with a high salt content into drinkable, usable water. While these techniques are not perfected, and the solution to a need for clean water is multifaceted, desalination shows potential. Through further research and ever-advancing technology, small-scale desalination could develop into a life-saving solution for those in need of clean water.

Currently Arkansas requires a layer of asphalt as the main bond-breaker over cement treated base for rigid pavement design. The study presented in this paper aims to replicate the results from previous research which demonstrated the bond-breaker properties of concrete curing compounds and geotextiles. Bond-breakers are materials applied to the surface of stabilized bases to reduce the interaction between the base and a pavement cement concrete layer. The excessive interaction between these two layers can lead to cracking in the overlay and reduction of the serviceability life of concrete. The curing compound was applied in a single application (SA, 200 sf/gal), a double application (DA, 75 sf/gal), and a DA with 24 hours in between applications (DA-24). The testing also included a Geotextile, Geotext 601, and specimens with no bond-breaker. The materials were tested using push-off and slant shear test procedures. It was determined that from the tested materials the DA of curing compound proved to be the most effective, and the geotextile was the least effective. The same trend is shown in the results from both procedures and replicating the trends of performance set by previous research. The geotextile showed a sticking point when tested in shear, where the specimen failed but the material still showed residual shear capacity.

On the surface, creativity seems to be an attainable, easy-to-master construct. However, ‎when diving into the literature, the observer will realize that creativity is a complex, ‎multifaceted, highly debatable phenomenon with many definitions, models, and factors ‎attached to it. Given the complexity and the multi-disciplinary nature of creativity, this ‎dissertation took the systems thinking approach to organize its associated landscape and ‎confirm the effect of some factors on engineers. The mission was accomplished by first ‎proposing a data-driven definition for creativity based on the analysis of 166 definitions. ‎Second, a classification of the vast number of models describing creativity was proposed ‎based on the analysis of tens of creativity related papers. The classification resulted in ‎five categories: Level Models, Thematic Models, Process Models, Mental Models, and ‎Ecological Models. Third, a nested model for the five creativity levels: mini-c creativity, ‎little-c creativity, ed-c creativity, Pro-c creativity, and Big-C creativity was proposed based ‎on an extended analysis of four creativity level models: 2C Model, 3C Model, 4C Model, ‎and 5C Model. Fourth, an enhanced thematic model for the seven strands of creativity: ‎person, process, product, press, measure, persuasion, and potential was proposed based on ‎the ‎analysis of five creativity thematic models: 3PM Model, Rhodes 4P Model, Simonton ‎‎4P ‎Model, 5P Model, and 6P Model. Fifth, a simplified process model for creativity ‎consisting of three ‎interconnected steps: problem understanding, divergent thinking and ‎convergent ‎thinking was proposed based on an extended analysis of two creativity process ‎models: Wallas Model and Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem-Solving Model and an overall ‎analysis of six other models. Sixth, a classification of the vast number of factors affecting ‎creativity was proposed based on ‎the analysis of tens of creativity related papers. The ‎classification resulted in three categories: personal ‎characteristics, environmental ‎characteristics, and approaches and tools. Seventh, an ecological model for creativity ‎based on the classification suggested ‎for creativity models as well as the classification ‎suggested for creativity ‎factors was proposed. Eighth, the relationship between a set of ‎personal characteristics (biological ‎factors, knowledge and experience, personality, creative ‎self-efficacy, and creative ‎potential), task engagement, and creative performance was ‎studied to confirm their effects in the field of engineering. Ninth, the effect of near and ‎far cues on the creative performance of engineers was investigated both behaviorally and ‎neurologically and no statistically significant differences were detected.‎

Deep learning algorithms are increasingly popular for complex prediction and classification tasks, and hyperparameter configurations play an important role in algorithm performance. However, the best hyperparameter tuning strategy still remain unresolved. While grid search and random search can be used to detect better hyperparameters, they are costly for big deep learning algorithms and may not produce the optimal result. Bayesian Optimization balancing the exploration and exploitation trade-off shows significant improvement over grid search and random search in both efficiency and accuracy, but the algorithm makes computation on the entire domain, which can be still costly especially in higher dimension settings. In this paper, we propose a space adjustment algorithm selecting top percent points at each iteration that can be incorporated in additional to Bayesian Optimization framework to further reduce experimental cost and improve optimization efficiency. We show our algorithm’s adaptable nature to the response surface of hyperparameter configuration space. We demonstrate our algorithm’s outstanding performance compared with Efficient Global Optimization through a variety of test functions and an application to machine learning datasets.

The use of airport gate electrification infrastructure in the form of ground power (GP) and pre-conditioned air (PCA) systems can reduce energy and maintenance costs, emissions, and health risks by limiting the use of aircraft auxiliary power unit (APU) engines at the gate. However, their benefits can be gained only when they are actually being used, otherwise pilots keep APUs on to fulfill their aircraft’s demands of electrical power and air conditioning. GP and PCA systems require a large initial infrastructure investment in the name of energy efficiency, and they are installed with the assumption that they will be used as much as possible. In this dissertation, a method is developed to examine how much and why they are not used to their full potential when they are already available. Maximizing the use of gate electrification infrastructure is a fragmented, interdependent, and dynamic management challenge. The processes of using GP and PCA are fit tightly in an intricate sequence of connected and concurrent activities required to complete an aircraft turnaround operation. Each process depends on close communication, collaboration, and shared responsibility among airports, airlines, ground crews, and pilots. The circumstances and schedule of each operation can change unexpectedly while it unfolds, with limited time to react. The lack of responsiveness in such a tangled system allows for any issue to interfere with the effective use of GP and PCA (e.g., technical problems, resource constraints, scheduling conflicts, and behavioral issues). Many unique circumstances that result in APU overuse can be blamed on the unexpected incident that caused it. However, these incidents should not be interpreted as isolated accidents; they are recurrent symptoms of neglect, lack of prioritization, or lack of adaptability for maximizing energy efficiency at airport gates.A case study on San Francisco International Airport (SFO), using 2019 databases, confirms that underuse of ground power is a broad and heterogeneous problem. More than 83% of turnaround operations analyzed used their APUs more than 15 minutes while at the gate, a common threshold found in other relevant papers and stringent airport policies. 20% of turnaround operations never used gate electrification infrastructure throughout their turnaround. GP utilization rates of individual operations were associated with the aircraft model and gate. Most interestingly, performance across large samples of operations varied a lot depending on the airline, with the best performing airline having a utilization rate up to approximately 5 times greater than the second worst (the worst one barely used GP at all). The lack of energy use monitoring and data sharing among airports, airlines, pilots, and ground crew workers perpetuates inefficiencies. Without measurements to hold individual operations accountable for their energy use, any enforcement and policy remains short-sighted and ineffective. Without being able to track long-term performance or set a standard, successful practices or systematic problems remain hidden. Without a way to predict and manage the energy being used at the gate, highly fluctuating energy demand from airport gates becomes an additional challenge. An integrated monitoring solution would enable airports not only to enforce policies to restrict the use of APUs, but also to gain a pro-active management role in the airline’s use of gate electrification infrastructure. By ensuring all gate turnarounds abide by a maximum APU use time of 15 minutes, airports could achieve a further 70% reduction in airline fuel costs and carbon emissions from current levels at airport gates, with an average fuel cost saving of $50 and 180 kg CO2 per turnaround operation. The monetary and environmental savings of gate electrification are not independent from many other costs of turnaround operations. Maximizing energy efficiency at the gate should not come at the expense of other priorities. There are many factors in assessing the performance of a turnaround operation, some being far more consequential than the use of gate electrification infrastructure such as safety, on-time departure, or passenger experience. For this reason, it is important to assess turnaround operations with a method that is both comprehensive enough to represent the multifaceted costs and simple enough to be systematically applied. Furthermore, the costs involved apply differently to each responsible party (i.e., airline, airport, ground crews, pilots). With an understanding of the relationship between inputs (e.g., equipment, schedule, work sequence, staffing) and the costs in an operation, the groundwork is laid to predict, optimize, and incentivize effective energy management for ground handling operations. In this dissertation, a method is developed that formulates a life cycle inventory on GP, PCA and APU use, and evaluates energy use for turnaround operations in terms of their financial, global, and local impact. The method was applied to SFO as a case-study. Each operation was associated with a breakdown of monetary and CO2 costs, including initial and non-operational costs. In addition, a dispersion analysis and health risk assessment are used to estimate the health impact of local air pollutants on apron workers. The value of being able to monitor, predict, and optimize operations depends on how quickly these tasks can be performed to provide actionable results. With a retrospective assessment of historical data, a broadly optimized management of a turnaround operation can provide moderate savings, satisfying the need for resiliency by placing contingencies in the plan. A turnaround operation manager can coordinate the ground crew as the operation unfolds, but all humans are limited in their ability to monitor, predict, and optimize. By streamlining the process of data acquisition, prediction, optimization, and simulation through a real-time computerized system, it is possible to design a decision support tool that can quickly adapt to the unfolding circumstances of each operation. This dissertation outlines the architecture of an automated computerized system that can support scheduling and decision making for turnaround operations. By prototyping and running the system in a simulated environment, this dissertation demonstrates that computerized adaptive scheduling can unlock monetary and environmental savings through increased resiliency, reduced uncertainty, and increased collaboration between stakeholders.This research lays down the foundations for data-driven monitoring, modeling, and management of gate operations, specifically with focus on GP use. It shows how airport databases can be integrated to produce insightful results in an immediately feasible and replicable way. It tests several modelling and evaluation techniques that dissect turnaround operations with unprecedented detail. It indicates how maximizing GP use is in part a risk management problem, and proposes an active solution to address it within the framework of a larger interconnected system. Furthermore, it proposes future research directions to advance and expand the body of knowledge in improving aircraft turnaround operations.

Over the past decade, the benefits of photonics over electronics such as ability to achieve high bandwidth, high interconnectivity and low latency, together with the high maturity of silicon photonics foundries has spurred robust applications in optical transceivers and in classical and quantum computing. In both application areas, silicon microring resonators (MRRs) using carrier depletion effects in p-n junctions represent the most compact optical switches manufacturable at high volume with 5.2fJ/bit power consumption. Matrix computation approaches as well wavelength-division-multiplexed modulators require several MRRs in series coupled to the silicon waveguide optical bus. Such architectures are potentially limited to ∼ 30 by the limited free-spectral range (FSR) of an individual MRR. However, with ever increasing data volumes, there is a need to process larger matrices and/or modulate more wavelengths in the telecom bands along a single silicon bus channel. Photonic crystal (PC) dielectric structures confine an optical mode to sub-micron mode volumes and have shown the potential to reach 0.1fJ switching energies. Research till date on PC devices havecentered on either inline one-dimensional PC nanobeam structures or on two-dimensional PC waveguide coupled microcavity configurations. In this paper, through detailed electrical and optical simulations, we demonstrate the feasibility to achieve compact switches with 1dB insertion loss, 5dB extinction and ∼ 260aJ/bit energies in oxide-embedded bus-coupled 1D photonic crystal nanobeam platform. Resonance linewidths 100nm enable energy efficient computing of larger matrices with ∼200 resonators in series separated by ∼ 0.5nm wavelength over the entire C+L bands. Device architectures will be presented.

Question: What are the benefits of using the Last Planner System in commercial construction projects in areas with high disruption, e.g. the Civil War in Iraq from 2005-2017. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore the benefits of using the Last Planner System with respect to the key project metrics of cost, safety, quality, and time performance in projects operating in highly disruptive environments. Very few qualitative studies have been done on the Last Planner System in commercial construction and none specifically studying work in areas of high disruption. Research Method: The study utilizes qualitative methodology with a grounded theory approach with input from focus groups and structured interviews. Twenty-one individuals who were practicing engineering professionals from the middle east participated in this research. Findings: The grounded theory approach led to four themes regarding the use of the Last Planner System. These themes were planning, quality, safety and cost. 95% of the participants felt that using a lean approach helped reduce waste in construction projects, 75% reported that lean approach had improve planning and quality of work, and 65% of them reported the lean approach extended safety in their construction work in Iraq. Limitations: This study utilized professionals from the Middle East who were working on specific types of commercial construction projects. Results may be different for other construction sectors. Implications: Results indicate that the use of the LPS can assist in improving the project metrics of cost, quality, safety, and planning over traditional project management methods. Value for authors: This paper communicates results from engineers and managers in the field and thus are highly applicable.

It is not granted that the advantageous architecture of hybrid electric vehicles will result in improved economy and functionality. This is due to the complex nature of the tradeoff between fuel consumption and battery consumption in the vehicle and how it is controlled. Thus, as hybrid electric vehicles become more ubiquitous, it is necessary to conceive quicker and cheaper ways to prototype their controls.One feasible alternative to the immensely expensive prototypes produced by OEMs is to use an existing conventional vehicle platform as a host for a prototype. This method is explored in this paper and involves the installment of electric motors, a high voltage system, and, if desired, an engine swap. The systems’ on-board serial communications structure must be commandeered in order to prototype hybrid supervisory controllers which interact with both the stock and added components. To achieve this a single programmable node equipped with a serial gateway can be inserted into the stock serial system. This tool can then be utilized to enable the torque splitting necessary between the two halves of the powertrain.During the development of this method, it was noted that the programmable node and its serial gateway had the power to enable many secondary features such as shift timing algorithms, P0 series charging, start/stop manipulation, and implementation of an ACC controller.

Human societies are themselves tangled layered networks of human, biological, and technological systems. In the last decade alone, these networks have experienced massive shock events in the form of natural disasters, infrastructure failures, and pandemics. These events will only continue and will likely include unexpected new forms of shocks in the future. Researchers across disparate disciplines have recently begun to investigate resilience in society, and how our built systems contribute to or degrade it, but there has not yet been an attempt to field a system informed by resilience research in a relevant real-world setting. This paper describes an effort to bolster the capabilities of public health work by using resilience engineering principles to generate a new extra-organizational capability amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This new capability attempts to engage the public as a part of a societal scale team engaged in a joint activity to identify positive COVID-19 cases. Our work reveals insights about is required to generate new non-standard capabilities for the benefit of society. These, in turn, reveal some of the dynamics of a society enduring a critical disruption, which future work into societal resilience will need to consider to be successful.

Fundamental understanding of crumpled graphene and its optical properties are currently lacking. This paper addresses the gap in current literature by characterizing two hierarchical graphene systems: biaxially-strained randomly crumpled graphene (BRCG) and gold particle coated periodically crumpled graphene (GP-coated PCG), through rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) computations. In BRCG, the structure is primarily characterized by its correlation length (ξ) and root-mean-square amplitude (α), which are taken as the average value over the entire simulation space, as well as the film thickness (δ). In GP-coated PCG, the periodic crumple structure is characterized by its amplitude (A) and pitch (P) as well as the radius (r) and separation (λ) of gold particles. The results show by decreasing the ξ of BRCG from 1.5 to 0.25 μm, the spectral average absorbance in the ultraviolet to near-infrared (0.2–2 μm) region increased from 0.44 to 0.75 while reflectivity was lowered from 0.52 to 0.19. Increasing α from 0.25 and 1.5 μm, the spectral average absorbance increased from 0.38 and 0.75 while reflectivity was lowered from 0.59 to 0.19. The rise in absorbance observed with decreasing ξ and increasing α is attributed to the resulting geometrically induced enhancement in internal ix scattering between and within adjacent crumples. The simultaneous reduction in reflectivity is due to the amplification of interference effects and the lowering of specular reflection as surface roughness is increased. By decreasing δ from 3.5 to 0.35 nm, average absorbance was lowered from 0.45 to 0.31 due to a shorter optical length which diminishes internal scattering. Average reflectivity also increased from 0.51 to 0.66 and is driven by the reduction in absorbance. In GP coated PCG, decreasing the P from 1 to 0.14 μm led to an increase in average solar absorbance (Asolar) in the UV-NIR (0.05–1 μm) region from near-zero to 0.14 due to the associated enhancement in electric field confinement and plasmonic resonance. Concurrently, the average solar transmittance (Tsolar) in the same region decreased from 0.74 to 0.55 due to the reduced exposure of underlying transmissive graphene while the average solar reflectivity (Rsolar) is marginally improved from near-zero to 0.05 due to the diminished separation between reflective gold particles. The same mechanisms are applied to explain the changes in optical properties with varying A. Decreasing A from 0.2 to 0.025 μm. Asolar increased from 0.07 to 0.14, Tsolar decreased from 0.67 to 0.55, and Rsolar was again marginally improved from near-zero to 0.05. In the mid infrared (MIR, 1–20 μm), all optical signals were shifted along the wavelength axis due to Bragg diffraction without notable changes in their magnitude. Enlarging r from roughly 4.2 to 67 nm increased Asolar from near-zero to 0.15 due to the enhanced presence of gold particles which contribute to electric field (E-field) confinement and plasmonic resonance effects. The enlarged extinction cross-section of gold particles with increasing r also contributes to the rise in absorbance. Rsolar also increased from near-zero to 0.09 and Tsolar dropped from 0.74 to 0.49 due to the increased cross-section of gold particles and decreased exposure of underlying graphene, respectively. Changing λ from 0.2 to 0.05 μm, Asolar increased from 0.01 to 0.06 due to the enhancement in E-field confinement enabled by the closer proximity of gold particles. This was x accompanied by a reduction in Tsolar from 0.73 to 0.67 and a marginal improvement in Rsolar from near-zero to 0.01, attributed to the same mechanism discussed above. Marginal changes with varying particle radius and separation were observed in the MIR. Thermal analysis further demonstrates enhanced radiative heating and cooling through precisely controlling the structures’ solar absorptivity and infrared emissivity. This paper presents two approaches to creating hierarchical graphene systems through varying either the surface geometry of BRCG or nanoparticle dimensions of GP-coated PCG, and subsequently tune their optical properties from the UV-NIR to MIR region to enable more effective thermal radiation control.

The objective of this research project was to replicate the dynamic behavior of a truck-tank trailer combination vehicle using representative dimensions, properties, and inertias of the trailer/fluid ballast combination. A literature review was completed describing techniques for modeling fluids and fluid-container interactions using finite element analysis. Various fluid modeling techniques were identified, and parameters associated with those models were archived. Next, researchers utilized the tank geometry of the elliptical straight-frame 5949 trailer produced by LBT Inc. to generate a finite element mesh using finite element analysis preprocessors HyperMesh and LS PrePost. Material properties were taken from reference guides, research papers, and specifications from LBT, a tank trailer manufacturer. Component constraints were added to the model to mimic fasteners such as bolts and nuts. Contacts were also added to allow the tank to impact external features, as well as to allow tank components to interact with each other during dynamic events. Different techniques were employed to generate fluid meshes to reside within the interior tank structure. Next, preliminary properties for the fluids were generated using reference materials from published papers. Finally, fluid components were implemented into tank-trailer model. The minimum barrier height to contain a tractor-tank vehicle was determined to be 62 in. for a rigid, vertical-faced barrier by a barrier height analysis done through LS-DYNA computer simulation. Recommendations for how to improve the tank-trailer model were presented. Advisor: Cody S. Stolle

This thesis document is the first step in creating an online prototyping guide (and the available resources) for engineering students in the college of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Ohio State University. First, the current undergraduate curriculum is analyzed for areas of improvement regarding prototyping education. As of Spring 2022, the curriculum focuses on the engineering design process and prototyping during the first-year Introduction to Engineering courses, and the Fundamentals of Design for Manufacturing course during the first semester of student’s second year. Between the second year and the senior capstone sequence, there is little prototyping education and experience incorporated into the curriculum. By senior year, students often forget the various prototyping categories, fabrication methods, and the resources available to them. The prototyping guide outlined in this document aims to bridge the gap between first/second-year information and the design projects students work on during senior capstone. Next, current prototyping categories (drawings, concept models, functional prototypes, scale models, proof-of-principle prototypes, and full prototypes), and fabrication methods (drawing/sketching, paper product mockups, 3-D modeling, 3-D printing, laser cutting, and machining) are examined and compiled for adaptation to an online format available to students. Lastly, the groundwork for a prototyping guide is laid out with the hopes of adapting it to an online format. The guide consists of the information previously mentioned, as well as a selection process to help students determine a prototype category, fabrication method, and the resources offered to them.

This thesis presents the methods of statistical shape analysis in two-dimensional data with the application of nanoparticle shape. We can treat each shape as a random quantity and we are interested in defining probabilistic rules. We introduce a statistical modeling multivariate shape data with a specific probability distribution. Modeling involves two main steps: determining the appropriate distribution into a given data set, which is called "best-fitting" and estimation the parameters of that distribution. Especially nite mixture models are practical to use because our shapes data can be seen as the result of two subpopulations, called components. This comes from the result of clustering shapes into two groups. We propose using a Gaussian mixture model (GMM), which is a representation of normally distributed subpopulations with their own mean and covariance. This is a novel idea and we would like to define the GMM in tangent spaces of a shape space with the center of a Karcher mean of each cluster. We see that the density is higher with the larger number of shapes belong to a particular cluster and the density is lower when there is observed a small number of shapes. There exist several approaches for estimating parameters of a probability distribution, including analytical, graphical and numerical. We use a maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), where the mathematical formula is expressed by a likelihood equation of the data set. However, the likelihood equation could not be calculated analytically and the numerical technique seems reasonable to use. The iterative algorithm termed an expectation-maximization (EM) is a practical manner to solve the likelihood equation. Accordingly, the EM starts from some initial estimation of the mean and covariance and then proceeds to iteratively update them until convergence is detected. The approach presented in this thesis is based on the application of the shape of nanoparticles. During the production, growing nanoparticles is a dynamic process where shapes and multi-component reactions (e.g. splits and merges) between nanoparticles rapidly change. Analysis in real-time would produce a large number of shapes and it could be dicult to nd important patterns. Statistical methods for determining a few common trajectories provide an adequate summary of the evolution of shape's gold nanoparticle and diminish the time of analysis large number of images. Here we describe a general approach for representing a shape. Determining the shape of gold nanoparticles allows scientists to investigate chemical and physical properties. Nevertheless, an analysis of shapes involves advanced mathematical tools. Initially, appropriate mathematical representations and descriptions of shapes need to be developed. Shape descriptions are basically classifieded into two approaches: contour-based and region-based approach. Contour-based methods are more popular because of many applications related to the identification and detection of an object. This paper reviews various techniques from contour-based representations, for example, sets of nite points called landmarks or functional representations named square-root velocity functions (SRVF). The essential advantage of using the last representation is its invariance to re-parametrization also with standard transformations, such as translation, rotation and scaling, and the capability of point to point registration. SRVF called also elastic curves are they are used to represent nanoparticle shapes. An important goal in this study is to classify nanoparticles according to their shapes. Clustering shapes involves many challenges, including variations like deformation or incomplete shapes, which is associated with choosing an appropriate description. Secondly, the shape space is an infinite-dimensional space and most clustering approaches (for example K-means) offered for Euclidean spaces cannot be applied for clustering shapes.

Excess phosphorous in water ways is known to be a cause of harmful algal blooms. These blooms have caused problems with water aesthetics and recreational use. Water Treatment Residual (WTR) has been shown to have an affinity for phosphorous. Since WTR is a bi-product of the drinking water treatment process it has the potential of being a low-cost alternative to remove excess phosphorous from water ways, potentially preventing harmful algal blooms. A previous study proved there was a beneficial reuse for WTR produced at the Akron Water Treatment plant for binding excess phosphorous. This research thesis looked further into Akron Water Treatment Plants WTR, to see if baking could increase its phosphorous adsorption capacity.Initial 24-hour sorption studies determined optimal baking temperatures of 175°C for Al-WTR (ce = 0.31 mg/L, qe = 117.21) and 150°C for PAC-WTR (ce = 0.20 mg/L, qe = 120.00). Isotherm studies for baked Al-WTR (175°C) and PAC-WTR (150°C) found that there was a net desorption of phosphorous when in distilled background solution. A statistical analysis across all experimental conditions determined that baked PAC-WTR (mean qe 11.00 mg/kg) performed significantly (ρ < 0.05) better than baked Al-WTR (mean qe 8.18 mg/kg). When the specific condition of the isotherm experiments were considered, baked PAC-WTR sorbed more PO4 (mean qe 36.64 mg/kg) (ρ < 0.05) when subjected to raw water at 20°C and static in conditions. Baked Al-WTR was the next best (mean qe 21.42 mg/kg) significantly (ρ < 0.05) in 5°C Static in raw water.Continuous flow column tests were also conducted to find the sorption maximum of the baked WTR, and to compare the adsorption capacity of As-Is WTR versus baked WTR conducted. Baked WTR was found to have an affinity for phosphorous with a sorption capacity of 7.91 mg-P/g-WTR for baked Al-WTR and 16.21 mg-P/kg-WTR. When compared to As-Is WTR, baked PAC WTR was the only material found to have a higher adsorption capacity by 83% compared to As-Is PAC-WTR at the same run time.After analysis of all experiments it was concluded that As-Is WTR performed significantly (ρ < 0.05), better than baked WTR and would be the recommended reuse of Akron Water Treatment Plant’s WTR for the adsorption of phosphorous. There were not many papers on the reuse of baked WTR. This paper evaluated the economics and the effect of baking on phosphorous adsorption. While it was not found to be beneficial for phosphorous adsorption at selected temperatures, the analytical methods used could be employed for further analysis on the effects of baked WTR.

Resistive heating of nanocomposite material is proposed for use in many applications because of its light weight and low current requirements. When the nanocomposites are resistively heated, thermal stresses starts arising in it due to mismatch of CTE between the fiber and matrix of the nanocomposite. A nanocomposite material can withstand only limited thermal stress when it is resistively heated. If the thermal load is too high, or combined with other external loads, the nanocomposite can fail by means of delamination, crack formation, warpage and other related modes. Hence, studying the thermal stress that develops in nanocomposites upon resistive heating will help in preventing otherwise unanticipated failures. The objective of this effort was to develop and experimentally validate a Finite Element Method model for evaluation of the thermal stress arising in nanocomposite material upon resistive heating. In order to fill the technology gap of predicting thermal stress in resistively heated nanofiber composites, a finite element method (FEM) model was created. This model was created using ABAQUS® software. To verify the results of the model, the experimental method of hole-drilling was adopted. The nanocomposite considered for the research were a carbon/glass hybrid with epoxy resin and a glass/epoxy composite reinforced with CNT Buckypaper. The experiment was based on the principle of redistribution of stress when the hole is drilled in the composite and the relieved strain is measured by a strain gage rosette. The strain release corresponds to the thermal stress that was present before the drilling the hole. The thermal stress results of hole-drilling method were compared with the FEM model result, validating the model and analysis results. The verified FEM model can be used to predict thermal stresses arising in nanocomposites and preventing failure when the nanocomposite is resistive heated and externally loaded.

There is a large body of systems literature that studies and learns from adaptive team performance in high-complexity domains (nuclear, healthcare, aviation). However, there is little to no systems research on arguably the most popular team setting: organized sports. Using converging methods, this study looked at (1) patterns of adaptation that are revealed when using a resilience engineering lens to look at intra- and inter- game coaching decisions, and (2) the strategies that coaches use to affect individual and system performance on a collegiate basketball team. The specific concepts borrowed from resilience engineering used to view this domain were common ground, mutual directability, interpredictability, polycentric control and being poised to adapt, amongst others. A resilience engineering lens was used due to the fact that it is known to be critically important to other complex adaptive systems.Decision-making and adaptations in sports are commonly thought to be targeted towards each individual. Through structured interviews, this study found that there are hidden triggers and decision-making processes that are system-focused rather than individually-focused when coaches assess the need for an adaptation and execute it. In addition, the existence of different time scales to implement and execute adaptations was found to be a critical point that coaches exploit in order to increase the readiness to adapt during high tempo periods. Basketball has high varying tempos on multiple time scales, from longest to shortest: practices and film sessions between games, halftime breaks, timeout breaks, play breaks and in-play breaks. This study identifies various hidden system level strategies that coaches use in order to achieve successful team performance across the different time scales: increasing the levels of common ground, directability, predictability, readiness to adapt and polycentric control. For example, this research found that the development of coded terminology during low tempo periods can help a system implement adaptations in very short timeframes during high tempo periods, which is a key to successful performance. The paper will present a detailed explanation and various examples of how these strategies translate to a basketball game. This research calls into question much of the conventional wisdom assumptions about the importance of individual traits (e.g. agility, speed, strength) and shows how often decisions are made that reduce the overall team performance on these dimensions, but improve aspects of team or system performance (e.g. coordination, readiness to adapt, predictability, etc.). This paper will present the importance of considering these strategies and patterns in the future when trying to advance the development and design of complex adaptive systems that are resilient in face of decompensation.

Neodymium-Iron-Boron (Nd-Fe-B) magnets were developed in the 1980s, and since then, they have appeared as a common component in many fields. From the industry to consumers or defense applications, from turbines, computers, cellphones to most audio systems, Nd-Fe-B magnets are present everywhere. But when Nd-Fe-B magnets are applied to the motors of electric vehicles and wind-turbine generators, their temperature rises, therefore Nd-Fe-B-Dy magnets are used. However, while the use of these magnets is common at low temperatures, their properties decrease dramatically with the increase of temperature. In this paper, the Nd-Fe-B-based samples used were prepared by using arc melting, melt spinning, annealing (600-800°C, 10-20min), spark-plasma sintering (700°C, 30-40s), hot deformation, and grain boundary diffusion (Nd70Cu30, Pr-Cu-Al, Nd62Dy20Al18). The objective of this paper is to get a better understanding of the magnetic properties (coercivity, remanence, energy product) of these magnets under different temperatures and with slightly different compositions and processes in order to find a correlation between them. Advisor: Jeffrey E. Shield

The topic of instructional feedback to residents is an under-researched area in medical education. As the demand for feedback in educational information on the progress of learners continues to grow, the need for delivering effective feedback quickly and accurately becomes of great importance. Over the years, the paper-based techniques have been used for feedback. This method delivers feedback in indefinite time. Meanwhile, the residents undergo further evaluations and they often provide an incomplete picture of the students' whole performance. Therefore, paper evaluations are frustrating and place a heavy burden on instructors to track students' progress within the training program. Hence, the web-based instant feedback techniques play a prominent role to deliver the progress to the students. This thesis proposes a two-tier cloud-based web model-view-controller (MVC) architecture as a proof-of-concept, which allows the instructors to submit the feedback and the students to check their progress instantaneously in the web browser. This is accomplished by developing an MVC architecture with a web-based called ``Centralized Anesthesia Resident Achievement Tracking System (CARATS)". It is an online platform for medical faculty members to submit the feedback on multiple areas of resident's performance including daily performance, oral presentations, and simulation sessions. Additionally, this system compiles case numbers as logged by the residents into the ACGME system. All data entered into the system are displayed on a dashboard in a pertinent graphical format for both the residents and instructors. The web-based system offers several advantages over traditional feedback mechanisms. First, it allows the instructors to easily submit daily feedback on the resident's performance and makes such data immediately available to the students via the dashboard so that corrective measures can be taken immediately, rather than a month later. Second, by aggregating and integrating performance in multiple areas of residency in one place and providing an insightful overall score, it allows the students' and instructors to more easily track the progress throughout the training.

This study demonstrates the application of Agent-Based Simulation as a potential training aid for Transfer of Care (ToC) between EMS and a hospital triage department. The specific aim was to develop a simulation to increase the efficiency and accountability of information communication during ToC to test the suitability of Agent-Based Simulation to address training requirements in complex, health provision settings. This paper focuses on the design of the training simulation, including the development of individual agents within the simulation through the user interface elements and the evaluation and verification of the prototype simulator. The primary objective is for the simulation to generate realistic scenarios including complex and non-repeating patient conditions and outcomes based on real-world data and to provide an interface for trainees to conduct a simulated ToC task. It is hypothesized that an agent-based ToC simulator will provide a representative model of emergency situations both in realism and complexity. The study showed Agent-Based Simulation is capable of producing highly complex representations of healthcare scenarios and the prototype simulator was found to be statistically representative of real-world data. This paper primarily presents the work related to the simulation design and development and an initial validation of some model elements using the NEMESIS database.

Supercritical CO2 (sCO2) power cycles are superior to traditional water-based, air-breathing, direct-fired, open Brayton cycles; or indirect-fired, closed Rankine cycles in terms of efficiency and equipment footprint. They hold great potential in nuclear power production, fossil fuel power plants, concentrated solar power, geothermal power, and ship propulsion. To unlock the potential of sCO2 power cycles, technology readiness must be demonstrated on the scale of 10 – 600 MWe and at the sCO2 temperatures and pressures of 350 – 700 ºC and 15 – 30 MPa for nuclear industries. The lack of suitable shaft seals at sCO2 operating conditions is one of the main challenges at the component level. So far, conventional seals are incapable of handling sCO2 pressure and temperature in one way or another. This study proposes a patented novel Elasto-Hydrodynamic (EHD) high-pressure, high temperature, and scalable shaft seal for sCO2 turbomachinery that offers low leakage, minimal wear, low cost, and no stress concentration. The focus of this paper was to conduct a proof-of-concept study with the help of computer simulations. To this end, a fully coupled Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) modeling approach was adopted, and the simulations were carried out in COMSOL Multiphysics software. The modeling approach was presented thoroughly, the results were discussed, and the subsequent research steps were highlighted. Under the EHD mechanism: the higher the pressures are, the tighter the sealing becomes while sustaining a continuous sCO2 film. a 2" diameter shaft static test rig was designed at Georgia Southern University before the actual dynamic testing at Sandia National Laboratories for proof-of-concept purposes. For simplicity, the working fluid was chosen to be Nitrogen, and the tests were conducted at room temperature. The test rig consisted of a 16.5 MPA N2 tank, steel tubing with compression type fittings, and OMEGA – PX5500C0-2.5KA10E pressure sensor to measure the pressure of the N2 after the pressure regulator from the tank, a chamber housing the 2" steel shaft and EHD seal (two prototype steel seals with seal clearances of 25 μm and 50 μm), a CONAX – K-INC12-U-T3(5FT)-7.5" temperature sensor to collect temperature data in the chamber, and an OMEGA – FMA-1623AI mass flow meter with temperature and pressure measurement capability to evaluate conditions after the test chamber. The pressure, temperature, and mass flow rate data were collected via a National Instruments DAQ – Module NI-9205 and a LabVIEW program. The tests were conducted for an inlet pressure of 0.1 ~ 15 MPa and at two different clearances of 25 μm and 50 μm. The mass flow rate exhibited a quadratic trend with increased pressure, which proved the hypothesis.

State estimation is an important tool for continuously monitoring the power system and aims to recover the underlying system voltage phasors, given supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) measurements and a model that encompasses the system topology and specifications. To ensure an accurate state estimation, it is essential to have the capability of detecting bad data. Assuming that the network parameters are known and the measurement devices are correctly calibrated, the main source of bad data is topological errors in the model. In this dissertation, we propose a methodology for robust power system state estimation (PSSE) modeled by AC power flow equations when there exists a small number of topological errors. The developed technique utilizes the availability of a large number of SCADA measurements and minimizes the L-1 norm of nonconvex residuals augmented by a nonlinear, but convex, regularizer. Representing the power network by a graph, we first study the properties of the solution obtained from the proposed NLAV estimator and demonstrate that, under mild conditions, this solution identifies a small subgraph of the network that contains the topological errors in the model used for the state estimation problem. Then, we introduce a method that can efficiently detect the topological errors by searching over the identified subgraph. In addition, we develop a theoretical upper bound on the state estimation error to guarantee the accuracy of the proposed state estimation technique. The power flow equations are nonlinear, and may admit multiple solutions. In the past, the conventional wisdom was to assume that the solution becomes unique by restricting it to "realistic'' or "physically realizable'' values. However, various examples in the literature show that multiple solutions may persist even after restricting either voltage magnitudes or phase angle differences to "physically realizable'' values. This dissertation establishes sufficient conditions for the uniqueness of AC power flow solutions via the monotonic relationship between real power flow and the phase angle difference. More specifically, we prove that the P-Theta power flow problem has at most one solution for any acyclic or GSP graph. In addition, for arbitrary cyclic power networks, we show that multiple distinct solutions cannot exist under the assumption that angle differences across the lines are bounded by some limit related to the maximal girth of the network. We also introduce a series-parallel operator and show that this operator obtains a reduced and easier-to-analyze model for the power system without changing the uniqueness of power flow solutions. In the next part of this dissertation, the above work is extended and we establish general necessary and sufficient conditions for the uniqueness of P-Theta power flow solutions in an AC power system using properties of the monotone regime and the power network topology. We show that the necessary and sufficient conditions can lead to tighter sufficient conditions for the uniqueness in several special cases. Our results are based on the previously introduced notion of maximal girth and a new notion of maximal eye. Moreover, we develop a series-parallel reduction method and search-based algorithms for computing the maximal eye and maximal girth, which are necessary for the uniqueness analysis. Reduction to a single line using the proposed reduction method is guaranteed for 2-vertex-connected Series-Parallel graphs.In the final part of this dissertation, we present a methodology based on homotopy to find the globally optimal solutions of nonconvex optimization problems. Optimal power flow (OPF) is a fundamental problem in power systems analysis for determining the steady-state operating point of a power network that minimizes the generation cost. In anticipation of component failures, such as transmission line or generator outages, it is also important to find optimal corrective actions for the power flow distribution over the network. The problem of finding these post-contingency solutions to the OPF problem is challenging due to the nonconvexity of the power flow equations and the large number of contingency cases in practice. In this paper, we introduce a homotopy method to solve for the post-contingency actions, which involves a series of intermediate optimization problems that gradually transform the original OPF problem into each contingency-OPF problem. We show that given a global solution to the original OPF problem, a global solution to the contingency problem can be obtained using this homotopy method, under some conditions. With simulations on Polish and other European networks, we demonstrate that the effectiveness of the proposed homotopy method is dependent on the choice of the homotopy path and that homotopy yields an improved solution in many cases.

The reliable communication of short messages provides a foundation for today's information ecosystem. Text messages, control messages that initiate and manage calls on the cellular network, and messages from millions of sensors in the internet of things all need to communicate short messages promptly and reliably. For short messages, list Viterbi decoding (LVD) of tail-biting convolutional codes (TBCCs) aided by a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) has been shown to approach the random-coding union bound on frame error rate. There are two alternative approaches to LVD, serial LVD (S-LVD) and parallel LVD (P-LVD). Both S-LVD and P-LVD approach maximum-likelihood (ML) decoding performance as the maximum list size is increased. While several recent papers have focused on serial LVD, parallel LVD offers significant structural advantages for an implementation on a field-programmable gate-array (FPGA) board. This thesis presents a complete FPGA implementation of P-LVD and analyzes its performance. The thesis begins by introducing the general LVD paradigm and comparing P-LVD with S-LVD in terms of throughput and computational complexity. An adaptive version of P-LVD allows the list size to grow as with S-LVD. The thesis investigates various hardware architectures, culminating with selection of the best trade-off between throughput and FPGA resource requirements. The conclusion describes several directions for future work on this exciting and relevant area at the crossroads of cutting edge communication theory and practical communication system implementation.

Wirewalker vertical profilers have become a common tool for oceanographic research, but the energy required by onboard sensors sets up a maximum horizon for deployment before ongoing recovery and re-deployment becomes impractical and expensive. Given that the Wirewalker mechanically harnesses energy from ocean surface waves to drive propulsion, a natural next step for the Wirewalker system is using ocean wave energy to power the onboard sensors. This paper documents the design process for a 3-wheel power take-off system that merges the submersible motor-generator (Livewire), designed by Dr. Michael Goldin and Prof. Drew Lucas, within a Wirewalker frame. The as-tested “omega-configuration” power take-off relies on the grip of a single wheel on the mooring wire to both cam in one direction (allowing profiling mechanically driven by the surface waves, as in the present generation Wirewalker, and also efficiently generating power. Basic profiling dynamics and experimental results inspired a design that pushes the generator wheel between two sheaves, while allowing it to hinge up and down to passively increase grip on the wire as the power available in any particular wave cycle increases. Tests in the Scripps pool generated a peak power of 1 Watt, with a time average 0.1 Watts. However, this result was likely related to slipping and frictional losses, which also was observed to inhibit 1-way camming motion. Future iterations of the 3-wheel power take-off should wrap the wire further around the wheel, investigate wheel surfaces with a higher coefficient of friction, and reduce internal friction losses with better constrained sheaves.

A prominent field of robotics is exploratory vehicles intended to be sent to other celestial bodies to autonomously survey new areas and collect data. For such exploratory vehicles, there is a large importance placed upon multi-terrain navigation and self-reliance, as they cannot depend on outside assistance if they become overturned or stuck. It is also important that they are as compact and as lightweight as possible because of the extreme cost associated with sending payloads to space and beyond. Because of these criteria, folding or kinematic chain robots have many distinct advantages: they locomote via full body rolling, preventing their body from bottoming out on obstacles as many wheel and tread driven robots can; they can perform a variety of gaits to adapt to their current environment, making them better suited for multi-terrain navigation; and they can fold down flat for compact storage. Within this paper, a hexagonal kinematic loop robot is proposed to satisfy these criteria. A series of experiments were performed to quantify differences in the variety of rolling gaits used as well as the difference between unique tread geometries and control methods. Building off these results, subsequent chapters focus on variations on this design to improve upon its shortcomings. These include adding the ability to steer the robot, improving its ability to carry a payload, and improving its ability to traverse harsher terrains. Each of the ten variations are discussed in terms of their design, control, locomotion, and performance, as observationally evaluated during testing in a multitude of terrains. In the end it is found that two distinct evolutions of the robot presented represent promising prototypes for exploratory robots, and lessons learned from the development of each of the variations can be used to improve upon the designs in the future.

This paper captures the ability of AI neural network technology to analyze petrophysical datasets for pattern recognition and accurate prediction of the pay zone of a vertical well from the Santa Fe field in Kansas. During this project, data from 10 completed wells in the Santa Fe field were gathered, resulting in a dataset with 25,580 records, ten predictors (logs data), and a single binary output (Yes or No) to identify the availability of Hydrocarbon over a half feet depth segment in the well. Several models composed of different predictors combinations were also tested to determine how impactful some logs were compared to others for the prediction process. With 32 tested models using a base set of 5 logs (X, Y GR, DEPT, and CALI) and different combinations of 5 other logs ( RT90, RHOB, NPHI, PE, DT). All models containing RT90, NP, or DT led to a better prediction matching the pay zone established based on a petrophysical analysis and completion data from the well. Results from this project could be used as another support to help and justify decision-making for a Petro physicist regarding work in the field with less experience.

Advancements in semiconductor technology present new challenges in electric machine construction, operation, and control. Silicon carbide (SiC)-based power electronics are becoming the new standard for high-power consumer and commercial devices, and are implemented in technologies such as power inverters, converters and rectifiers. This paper focuses on the effects of inverter drives for traction motors in electric vehicles with high dV/dt rates on bar-wound machine windings, including the expected impacts on insulation materials under prolonged periods of high voltage stress. Partial discharge inception voltage testing was performed to evaluate the voltage bus level at which breakdown will start to occur. A simulation model was constructed using finite element analysis, the results of which were validated with experimental results using a commercially available SiC inverter and traction motor. Correlation has been established between the preliminary simulation results and experimental data. It is proven that as DC bus voltages increase with the capabilities of SiC devices, the voltage stresses inside the stator windings approach levels which could cause partial discharge and premature insulation degradation in existing stator designs.

In the manufacturing industry, varying forms of assembly can be used based on the needs and requirements of the facility. Typically, an assembly line is used to assemble a part serially though stations on a line. Seru manufacturing is a method for assembly that involves one or a few workers who complete the entire product. In order to meet demand, some worker training is typically necessary. This thesis considers on the job (OTJ) training where no formal training is conducted, augmented reality (AR) training where advanced technology is used to guide the worker, and Non-AR training where paper manuals or slideshows are used. This thesis aims to investigate the application of Seru versus assembly line in terms of training cost when worker skill level and training method is considered. A two-phase model is used to determine required skill levels and worker assignments for assembly line. A single non-linear model was used to determine required skill levels for Seru. Based on a known demand, optimal assembly method and training method was determined for a variety of environments. Results show that under normal conditions, assembly line with Non-AR or AR training yields the lowest training cost. Additionally, when skills are tightly clustered, the same results were presented, but when skills are largely varied, Seru with Non-AR training is best. In all cases, somemethod of formal training performed better than just OTJ training.

Lean Management Systems (LMS) and Continuous Improvement (CI) program deployments are increasingly becoming an important strategy for many organizations for gaining competitive advantage. Such deployments promise success to organizations of any nature and size. Significant resources in the form of employee time, external consultants and training programs are spent on LMS/CI deployments by a vast number of companies every year. Yet despite the long history and evolution of CI methodology, ease of concepts and application, high amount of time and resources spent and furthermore proliferation of such deployments - the adoption and ultimately the success of such programs is highly variable. While many research papers and companies claim to have realized hundreds of millions in economic benefits from Lean deployments, just as many report to not even recover the cost of deployment.Researchers conclude that a complete systems approach to successfully deploy Lean methodology for long-term sustained gains is not widely understood or practiced. For this reason, in this research I present the design work of a new way to approach Lean/CI deployment methodology utilizing first-principles. The need for the new approach to deploying Lean/CI was engendered due to a mandate from the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) at the organization. The SLT desired a holistic approach that would align better to Company’s Lean principles (first principles), show financial impact and bring about behavioral cultural change. This research presents the new approach - from First-Principles for the methodology, design criterion from SLT, to the design of the methodology, and then the application of the methodology to different businesses in the company. In essence, the research shows how any organization can build its own LMS utilizing first- principles to fit their own needs rather than copy pasting fragmented components offered by expensive consultants or snippets from literature – neither of which lead to long term sustained results. Additionally, the research provides the baseline or first iteration of the approach that can be a starting place for any organization. This research presents a systematic and tactical approach to improve the business - people and process every day.

APEX, Alternative Perspective for the User Experience, is a two-year collaboration between Ohio State University, ArtCenter College of Design, and Honda R&D Americas, Inc. The purpose of this project was to determine the millennial vision of the future of mobility. Honda tasked student teams at ArtCenter and OSU to design the user experience of an autonomous vehicle interior for millennial women in 2030. The final output of the project was a full-scale functional interior prototype. Honda will validate user experience concepts from this project with millennial women to ensure the APEX experience meets target customer needs and to guide future research.Out of the six project phases, OSU led the latter three which involved the design, implementation, and validation of the high-level interior prototype. The OSU team utilized principles of design thinking and lean startup, as well as project frameworks such as scrum and the V-model, throughout the project. This paper discusses the design, implementation, and testing of the APEX autonomous vehicle interior prototype. The paper will especially focus on management of the resources and technical partners involved in the project, and the integration of the vehicle subsystems into a functioning prototype.

In this work, we develop algorithms to efficiently deal with the Cutting Stock problem with multiple standard stocks of raw material (raws) and with limited number of cutting knifes. The main application of the cutting stock problem is in “sheet” industries such as steel, textile, paper, rubber, to name only a few. The problem is to cut standard stocks/rolls (raws) of steel sheets, textile rolls, paper rolls, or rubber sheets to appropriate sizes that will meet multiple orders with minimal waste/cost. The problem can be formulated as an LP with an extremely large number of columns. To solve the LP efficiently, we have to employ a technique called “column generation”, which is essentially a knapsack problem, to identify an entering column or to otherwise certify that an optimal solution has been obtained. This research extends the standard cutting stock problem with a single raw to problems with multiple raws (with or without limited number of each raw), and with limited number of cutting knifes. Algorithms to deal with these additional constraints efficiently are developed and tested.

In the second half of the 2010s there is a new trend emerging amongst the gaming community. The video game randomizer is a project taken on by hobbyist developers who are fans of a particular game and wish to extend its lifespan; to make the old new again. Some of these randomizers have become so popular that entire communities are beginning to form around them. In this paper I put forth a taxonomy for video game randomizers that categorizes them by degree of change to the base gameplay brought about by randomization. I identify a tipping point where the transformation to gameplay becomes fundamentally different from the base game and wherein the community forms. Through interviews and research I construct an ethnography of these communities to identify what other communities randomizer developers and players belong to and compare and contrast those communities.