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Title: IIT Creating Access to Remote Electronic Support (Summer 2011) IPRO 345: IIT Creating Access to Remote Electronic Support IPRO345 Summer2011 Project Plan_redacted
Creator: Kos, Carolyn, Valio, Nicole, Michael, Hazel, Chinzorig, Unubold, Johnson, Kendra
Date: 2011, 2011-07
Description: The purpose of IPRO 345 is to improve and mobilize the data and remote health care system for Mount Sinai Hospital. Specifically, this project...
Show moreThe purpose of IPRO 345 is to improve and mobilize the data and remote health care system for Mount Sinai Hospital. Specifically, this project aims to create a data support to aid diabetic patients within 500 meters of the hospital in order to decrease cost of operation and time and increase the quality of care. We will develop the groundwork for future IPRO 345 teams that will eventually implement the new data collection program.
Sponsorship: Mount Sinai Hospital and Medical Center
Project Plan for IPRO 345: IIT Creating Access to Remote Electronic Support for the Summer 2011 semester
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Title: waterWORKS
Creator: Webster, Reed
Date: 5/3/2011, 2011-05
Description: Water shortages will be a global problem by the year 2025. With the Great Lakes Basin accounting for 95% of the fresh water in the United...
Show moreWater shortages will be a global problem by the year 2025. With the Great Lakes Basin accounting for 95% of the fresh water in the United States it will soon become our most valuable natural resource. In re-defining urban relationships to the Great Lakes a healthy, ecologically stable, and regenerative water system can become our greatest national asset. Providing a prototype solution for one of these urban areas (Traverse City, MI) may set a precedent for long term protection of the Great Lakes.
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Title: waterWORKS: RW_MastersBoardFinal
Creator: Webster, Reed
Date: 5/3/2011, 2011-05
Description: Water shortages will be a global problem by the year 2025. With the Great Lakes Basin accounting for 95% of the fresh water in the United...
Show moreWater shortages will be a global problem by the year 2025. With the Great Lakes Basin accounting for 95% of the fresh water in the United States it will soon become our most valuable natural resource. In re-defining urban relationships to the Great Lakes a healthy, ecologically stable, and regenerative water system can become our greatest national asset. Providing a prototype solution for one of these urban areas (Traverse City, MI) may set a precedent for long term protection of the Great Lakes.
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Title: waterWORKS: Reed Webster Final Book
Creator: Webster, Reed
Date: 5/3/2011, 2011-05
Description: Water shortages will be a global problem by the year 2025. With the Great Lakes Basin accounting for 95% of the fresh water in the United...
Show moreWater shortages will be a global problem by the year 2025. With the Great Lakes Basin accounting for 95% of the fresh water in the United States it will soon become our most valuable natural resource. In re-defining urban relationships to the Great Lakes a healthy, ecologically stable, and regenerative water system can become our greatest national asset. Providing a prototype solution for one of these urban areas (Traverse City, MI) may set a precedent for long term protection of the Great Lakes.
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Title: Discover. Action. Change.
Creator: Antea, Ruxandra
Date: 4/27/2011, 2011-05
Description: The project is located in Chicago IL, between Bridgeport and Pilsen neighborhood, on an abandoned industrial site named Bubbly Creek. Discover...
Show moreThe project is located in Chicago IL, between Bridgeport and Pilsen neighborhood, on an abandoned industrial site named Bubbly Creek. Discover. Action. Change. summarizes the intervention and the effect of this architectural project. The developed project wants to activate and change this deteriorate site into a place where people can came together and be aware of the new discoveries for green technologies and also can beneficiate of the outdoor space that incorporate lots of activities year-round. A bike and a pedestrian path are proposed to link two existent streets from the opposite neighborhoods and also to activate the site. The building, composed of two structures, is anchored along the path to reinforce it and also to create a reference point to everything ales on the site. The two proposed buildings represent a Research Center for Green Technologies with a training center and an Exhibit / Community space. These two structures are linked together through the RED TWIST element which guides the interested eye from the entrance at the south side, all the way to the North side. The twist serves as a floor for the first building and then chances and becomes the roof of the second building. In the end through all this elements implemented on the site, the project hopes to be a success for bringing people together into a pleasant environment, to an interesting / interactive building that allows visitors to be explored .
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Title: Discover. Action. Change.: Discover. Action. Change. Ruxandra Antea- May 2011
Creator: Antea, Ruxandra
Date: 4/27/2011, 2011-05
Description: The project is located in Chicago IL, between Bridgeport and Pilsen neighborhood, on an abandoned industrial site named Bubbly Creek. Discover...
Show moreThe project is located in Chicago IL, between Bridgeport and Pilsen neighborhood, on an abandoned industrial site named Bubbly Creek. Discover. Action. Change. summarizes the intervention and the effect of this architectural project. The developed project wants to activate and change this deteriorate site into a place where people can came together and be aware of the new discoveries for green technologies and also can beneficiate of the outdoor space that incorporate lots of activities year-round. A bike and a pedestrian path are proposed to link two existent streets from the opposite neighborhoods and also to activate the site. The building, composed of two structures, is anchored along the path to reinforce it and also to create a reference point to everything ales on the site. The two proposed buildings represent a Research Center for Green Technologies with a training center and an Exhibit / Community space. These two structures are linked together through the RED TWIST element which guides the interested eye from the entrance at the south side, all the way to the North side. The twist serves as a floor for the first building and then chances and becomes the roof of the second building. In the end through all this elements implemented on the site, the project hopes to be a success for bringing people together into a pleasant environment, to an interesting / interactive building that allows visitors to be explored .
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Title: Discover. Action. Change.: Discover.Action. Change. Poster- Ruxandra Antea- May 2011
Creator: Antea, Ruxandra
Date: 4/27/2011, 2011-05
Description: The project is located in Chicago IL, between Bridgeport and Pilsen neighborhood, on an abandoned industrial site named Bubbly Creek. Discover...
Show moreThe project is located in Chicago IL, between Bridgeport and Pilsen neighborhood, on an abandoned industrial site named Bubbly Creek. Discover. Action. Change. summarizes the intervention and the effect of this architectural project. The developed project wants to activate and change this deteriorate site into a place where people can came together and be aware of the new discoveries for green technologies and also can beneficiate of the outdoor space that incorporate lots of activities year-round. A bike and a pedestrian path are proposed to link two existent streets from the opposite neighborhoods and also to activate the site. The building, composed of two structures, is anchored along the path to reinforce it and also to create a reference point to everything ales on the site. The two proposed buildings represent a Research Center for Green Technologies with a training center and an Exhibit / Community space. These two structures are linked together through the RED TWIST element which guides the interested eye from the entrance at the south side, all the way to the North side. The twist serves as a floor for the first building and then chances and becomes the roof of the second building. In the end through all this elements implemented on the site, the project hopes to be a success for bringing people together into a pleasant environment, to an interesting / interactive building that allows visitors to be explored .
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Title: Eco-Life (URBAN REDEVELOPMENT following CATASTROPHE in nanjing, china)
Creator: Wu, Yingqiu
Date: 2011-05-04, 2011-05
Description: My project is an urban redevelopment following catastrophe. A catastrophic explosion in 2010 left a portion of Nanjing city destroyed. The...
Show moreMy project is an urban redevelopment following catastrophe. A catastrophic explosion in 2010 left a portion of Nanjing city destroyed. The project proposes a new urban plan to rebuild the neighborhood and restore the community. A powerful explosion at an abandoned plastics factory in Qixia district of Nanjing city has left several people dead and dozens injured. Buildings and vehicles within 100m of the factory destroyed, 3000 citizen got the key of the street and buildings suffered varying degrees of damage in the area 8 miles in circumference. The blast was caused by a leak from a gas pipeline inside the factory, the blast happened after workers dismantling the plant damaged a propylene pipeline. The leaked gas was then ignited when a car engine was started at the scene. There were a community college and several kindergartens in this area, fortunately, it was summer break at that time, no students hurt reported. It is a unique opportunity to develop a plan in an urban context when the prior years of development have been wiped away. The purpose of the project is giving condos return to 3000 people who lost their houses in the explosion and planing mix-used buildings of the community for next 20 years. At present, many old nerghbourhoods in China are being replaced by new ones. In the most cases, the existing urban patternes are erased and a town is built with out any links to what had previouly existed there. My ptoposal is reusing most of the existing tree line streets, river and bridges. The key of this proposal is sustainability, first idea is using existing river to develop a nice wetland park and the second idea is farming gradens.
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Title: Eco-Life (URBAN REDEVELOPMENT following CATASTROPHE in nanjing, china): Yingqiu Wu_Master project_May 2011++
Creator: Wu, Yingqiu
Date: 2011-05-04, 2011-05
Description: My project is an urban redevelopment following catastrophe. A catastrophic explosion in 2010 left a portion of Nanjing city destroyed. The...
Show moreMy project is an urban redevelopment following catastrophe. A catastrophic explosion in 2010 left a portion of Nanjing city destroyed. The project proposes a new urban plan to rebuild the neighborhood and restore the community. A powerful explosion at an abandoned plastics factory in Qixia district of Nanjing city has left several people dead and dozens injured. Buildings and vehicles within 100m of the factory destroyed, 3000 citizen got the key of the street and buildings suffered varying degrees of damage in the area 8 miles in circumference. The blast was caused by a leak from a gas pipeline inside the factory, the blast happened after workers dismantling the plant damaged a propylene pipeline. The leaked gas was then ignited when a car engine was started at the scene. There were a community college and several kindergartens in this area, fortunately, it was summer break at that time, no students hurt reported. It is a unique opportunity to develop a plan in an urban context when the prior years of development have been wiped away. The purpose of the project is giving condos return to 3000 people who lost their houses in the explosion and planing mix-used buildings of the community for next 20 years. At present, many old nerghbourhoods in China are being replaced by new ones. In the most cases, the existing urban patternes are erased and a town is built with out any links to what had previouly existed there. My ptoposal is reusing most of the existing tree line streets, river and bridges. The key of this proposal is sustainability, first idea is using existing river to develop a nice wetland park and the second idea is farming gradens.
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Title: A NOVEL SWITCHED RELUCTANCE MOTOR BASED PROPULSION DRIVE FOR ELECTRIC AND PLUG-IN HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Creator: Bilgin, Berker
Date: 2011-07, 2011-07
Description: Hybrid and Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs and PHEVs) have received increasing attention from the automotive industry over the recent...
Show moreHybrid and Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs and PHEVs) have received increasing attention from the automotive industry over the recent years. They are typically more efficient and they produce lower emissions than similar ICE-based vehicles, which significantly reduces their negative impact on the environment. In this study, design considerations of two fundamental parts of plug-in vehicles, traction motor and battery charger circuit, have been investigated toward the drivetrain applications in a solar assisted plug-in electric auto rickshaw. Switched reluctance motors (SRM) have been seen as potential candidates for propulsion systems over the last few years. They are robust, capable of performance in harsh operating conditions and have a wide speed range. Conventional SRM configurations have a higher number of stator poles than rotor poles. This PhD. dissertation presents the advantages of a novel SRM configuration with the number of rotor poles greater than number of stator poles and investigates the challenges in its design. Practical design considerations have been proposed and by using them a 3 phase 5 hp 6/10 SRM is designed, constructed and tested. A PHEV is a series or parallel hybrid electric vehicle equipped with a high energy density battery to extend the mileage and get better fuel efficiency. Since the capacity of the battery is higher than the sum of the energy that can be supplied by the internal combustion engine and regained from the regenerative braking, external charging from the grid is necessary. This research also investigates the requirements of the battery charger circuit and proposes low cost topology composed of a PWM boost rectifier cascaded with a bidirectional DC/DC converter. Operation of the circuit has been x xvii analyzed by deriving its mathematical model. Feedback controller requirements to control the input and output current and DC bus voltage have been studied. Critical issues to be considered in parameter selection of the voltage and current controller are explained in terms of universal input operation. In order to verify the analysis presented, an experimental hardware setup has been built and tested.
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, July 2011
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Title: IMPROVED METHODS FOR DETECTING PARTIALLY HYDROLYZED GLUTEN IN FOOD
Creator: Cao, Wanying
Date: 2016, 2016-07
Description: Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder in susceptible individuals caused by the consumption of gluten, a class of storage proteins present...
Show moreCeliac disease is an autoimmune disorder in susceptible individuals caused by the consumption of gluten, a class of storage proteins present in wheat, barley and rye. There is no cure for celiac disease, and the only effective treatment is strict adherence to a gluten-free diet. Manufacturers who label their products as “gluten-free” must ensure that these products contain < 20 ppm gluten. Analytical methods currently exist for detecting and quantifying gluten in foods. However, quantifying gluten in fermented or hydrolyzed foods presents an analytical challenge. In order to develop reliable and accurate gluten analytical methods, a better understanding is needed with respect to gluten hydrolysis reactions that occur in fermented and hydrolyzed foods. In addition, research is needed to determine ways to control gluten in food production facilities that produce gluten-containing and gluten-free products on the same processing line. The objectives of this project were to: 1) evaluate the effectiveness of different cleaning procedures on removing gluten from a pilot-scale beer brewing line, 2) assess gluten cross-contact from a shared beer brewing line, 3) track the changes in gluten detection in traditionally brewed soy sauce at different stages of production using five commercial gluten ELISA kits and 4) evaluate the effects of an enzyme (a prolyl endopeptidase- Brewers Clarex®) on detecting gluten in beer brewed with barley malt as an ingredient. A pilot-plant scale beer brewing line located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) was used to produce sorghum beer (gluten-free beer), barley malt-containing beer and Clarex®-treated barley malt beer. Three cleaning methods (a push-through cleaning treatment, a hot water rinse, and a full cleaning procedure involving the use of an alkaline detergent) were evaluated for effectiveness at removing gluten residue from the pilot-scale brewing line at UW-Madison. Cleaning study results indicated that a hot water rinse and a push-through cleaning treatment with sorghum beer were less effective in removing gluten from equipment in the brewing line than a full cleaning procedure that included use of an alkaline detergent solution followed by a final hot water rinse. Gluten-free sorghum beer samples used to evaluate cross-contact from an inadequately cleaned brewing line were analyzed, and up to 105.1± 9.3 ppm (μg/mL) gluten was detected using the RIDA Competitive ELISA test kit which is designed to detect hydrolyzed gluten. Model soy sauce products were produced in a pilot-plant at Kikkoman R&D Center in Japan, and samples were obtained at different stages of production. Studies that traced gluten in soy sauce products found that high levels of gluten could be detected at the early stages of production prior to fermentation. However, gluten concentrations in soy sauces after fermentation were below the limit of quantitation (LOQ) for all of the gluten ELISA kits evaluated in the study. Use of Clarex® during the production of barley malt beer resulted in substantial reductions in the amount of gluten (intact and partially hydrolyzed) detected in beer compared to the control treatment without added enzyme. Although, gluten was detected at levels >20 ppm in some Clarex®-treated beer samples, filtration treatment further reduced gluten concentrations in these beer samples below 20 ppm gluten. Results of this project indicate that use of adequate cleaning procedures is needed to control gluten in food production facilities that have shared processing lines. Some fermentation and hydrolysis reactions that occur in food result in substantial reductions in gluten content as measured by ELISA. However, more work is needed to determine if celiac-reactive peptides still remain in these products.
M.S. in Food Safety and Technology, July 2016
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Title: THE BIOENCLOS© FAÇADE PANEL: FROM SELECTION TO DESIGN, ASSESSMENT, AND BEYOND
Creator: Hassan, Ahmed Ali
Date: 2017, 2017-05
Description: Bio-polymeric materials derived from renewable biomass have successfully replaced conventional materials in many applications. Despite...
Show moreBio-polymeric materials derived from renewable biomass have successfully replaced conventional materials in many applications. Despite covering 10-15% of the current global plastic market, the application of the Bio-polymeric materials in the field of building facades has hitherto been limited. Unlike the conventional façade materials, Bio-polymeric materials can lessen the carbon footprint of the building façade significantly, reduce a considerable percentage of heat loss, and contribute in alleviating the amount of C&D waste dumped in landfills each year. This will help in saving the natural resources, conserving landfill spaces, decreasing pollution rates, and reducing the overall building weight and energy consumption. Accordingly, this research aims at developing a revolutionary lightweight building façade panel, made from Bio-polymeric agri-based materials, to replace the curtain wall glass and aluminum panel in office buildings, and to assess its impact on the environment, the building energy consumption, thermal performance and structural stability. To achieve that, the research discusses in the first place the potentiality of employing these materials while exploring the main physical and environmental challenges they may confront when introduced to the building facades realm. Secondly, the research adopts rigorous selection criteria to facilitate proposing innovative opaque/transparent materials capable of handling all the environmental, thermal, optical, functional, and economic considerations of the building facade. Thus, 1236 state-of-the-art Bio-polymeric materials have been exposed to a strict methodical screening process through structured quantifiable constraints. MCDM methods have then been employed to enable sorting and ranking the resulted set of candidates considering their order-of-preference in achieving the aforementioned performance criteria. Finally, computational simulation tests have been carried out to ensure that the BioEnclos© Façade Panel satisfies all the energy and building code requirements in terms of heat transfer, energy performance, optical properties, and structural behavior. Consequently, the simulation findings have demonstrated the great capabilities the BioEnclos© Façade Panel can provide to the future of the building façades. Through its several options, the BioEnclos© Façade Panel can reduce the weight of the entire building façade by a range of 43-53%. It also can improve the façade’s thermal resistance and energy savings by a range of 31-52%. In addition, it can maximize the visible light transmittance through the façade’s assembly by a range of 15-31%. Moreover, the BioEnclos© Façade Panel can be commissioned in different colors/textures with good UV radiation resistance, self-extinguishing abilities, exceptional 50-70% reduction in CO2 emissions, and multiple end-of-life options.
Ph.D. in Architecture, May 2017
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Title: DESIGNING SMART ARTIFACTS FOR ADAPTIVE MEDIAT~ON OF SOCIAL VISCOSITY: TRIADIC ACTOR-NETWORK ENACTMENTS AS A BASIS FOR INTERACTION DESIGN
Creator: Salamanca, Juan
Date: 2012-10-10, 2012-12
Description: With the advent of ubiquitous computing, interaction design has broadened its object of inquiry into how smart computational artifacts...
Show moreWith the advent of ubiquitous computing, interaction design has broadened its object of inquiry into how smart computational artifacts inconspicuously act in people's everyday lives. Although user-centered design approaches remain useful for exploring how people cope with interactive systems, they cannot explain how this new breed of artifacts participates in people's sociality. User-centered design approaches assume that humans control interactive systems, disregarding the agency of smart artifacts. Based on Actor-Network Theory, this research recognizes that artifacts and humans share the capacity of influencing society and meshing with each other, constituting hybrid social actors. From that standpoint, the research offers a triadic structure of networked social interaction as a methodological basis to investigate how smart devices perceive their social setting and adaptively mediate people's interactions within activities. These triadic units of analysis account for the interactions within and between human-nonhuman collectives in the actor-network. The within interactions are those that hold together humans and smart artifacts inside a collective and put forward the collective's assembled meaning for other actors in the network. The between interactions are those that occur among collectives and characterize the dominant relational model of the actor-network. This triadic approach was modeled and used to analyze the interactions of participants in three empirical studies of social activities with communal goals, each xiii mediated by a smart artifact that enacted – signified – a balanced distribution of obligations and privileges among subjects. Overall, the studies found that actor-networks exhibit a social viscosity that hinders people's interactions. This is because when people try to collectively accomplish goals, they offer resistance to one another. These design experiments also show that the intervention of smart artifacts can facilitate the achievement of cooperative and collaborative interaction between actors when the artifacts enact dominant moral principles which prompt the preservation of social balance, enhance the network's information integrity, and are located at the focus of activity. The articulation of Actor-Network Theory principles with interaction design methods opens up the traditional user-artifact dyad towards triadic collective enactments by embracing diverse kinds of participants and practices, thus facilitating the design of enhanced sociality.
PH.D in Design, December 2012
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Title: DIGITAL CONTROL OF 2-QUADRANT AND 4-QUADRANT SWITCHED RELUCTANCE MOTOR DRIVES
Creator: Shao, Baiming
Date: 2011-04-19, 2011-05
Description: Switched reluctance machines (SRMs) are attractive because of their manufacturing simplicity and high reliability. They do not have any...
Show moreSwitched reluctance machines (SRMs) are attractive because of their manufacturing simplicity and high reliability. They do not have any windings or permanent magnets on the rotor, which makes them robust and easy to maintain. On the other hand, SRMs are highly non-linear since they work in saturation. This causes problems such as high torque ripple and system noise. In addition, mutual inductance needs to be considered for the high performance systems such as electric vehicle or aerospace applications. This effect could become critical when more than one phase is conducting. This also makes them difficult for modeling and control. Significant research on different SRM control techniques has been done in order to improve the performance of the controller and present a good solution for the industrial applications with a reasonable cost. Conventional control techniques for SRMs include chopped current control (CCC), angular position control (APC), and pulse-width modulation (PWM). Proportional-integral (PI) and other linear controllers are also used in the drive systems. However, because of the non-linearity of the machine, classic linear control techniques are not ideal for SRMs as they have challenging control issues in wide speed ranges. Different methods have been presented to implement non-linear control techniques for SRM drives or linearize the SRM motor equations. Many SRM controllers are using one or more look-up tables. The behavior of the controller is adjusting in real-time depending on the data in the look-up tables. This could increase the cost and complexity of the system. In this Ph.D. dissertation, an advanced digital control concept is presented for SRMs in both motoring and generating modes. By treating the system digitally, the controller switches between two pre-defined states to get the desired output. The proposed control technique does not need any look up tables, is not sensitive to the motor parameter variations, is low cost, and has a wide speed range. Simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the proposed digital control approach.
Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, May 2011
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Title: THE POLYMORPHIC DIAGRAM: CONCEPTS FOR DESIGN TECHNOLOGY TO MODEL SPATIAL CRITERIA IN ARCHITECTURE DESIGN
Creator: Hamadah, Qutaibah
Date: 2012-11-03, 2012-12
Description: In Architectural design, reasoning about space and its configuration lies at the center of the conceptual design workflow. The process unfolds...
Show moreIn Architectural design, reasoning about space and its configuration lies at the center of the conceptual design workflow. The process unfolds in a reflective and adaptive modeling methodology, through which architects structure their understanding of the design problem, and mediate its responsive and sensitive resolution. Paradoxically, however, modeling and representing spatial information – knowledge about the design problem’s spatial requirements and its relational orders – is perhaps the least welldeveloped feature in modern design systems. With all its importance in architecture design, existing design technology offers only limited assistance to one of architecture’s most critical and difficult design workflows, the definition of space, its layout and configuration. Moving forward, modern design systems must extend their ability to assist the architect in modeling spatial and relational design criteria. They must profit an integrated workflow where the problem definition, and the solution proposition develop in unison. In particular, it should pay heed to the architect’s cognitive and generative parameters, which necessarily relies on an adaptively and reflective modeling workflow, one that bridges between the problem definition and its solution proposition using multiple forms of representation. Towards this end, this dissertation presents the Polymorphic Diagram: a concept for a design technology to assist the architect in modeling spatial and relational design criteria using an interactive, graph-based, multi-representational medium.
PH.D in Architecture, December 2012
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Title: THERMAL INACTIVATION OF SALMONELLA AGONA IN LOW-MOISTURE FOOD SYSTEMS AS INFLUENCED BY WATER ACTIVITY
Creator: Jin, Yuqiao
Date: 2016, 2016-07
Description: Salmonella can survive in low-moisture, high-protein and high-fat foods for several years. Despite nationwide recalls for Salmonella in low...
Show moreSalmonella can survive in low-moisture, high-protein and high-fat foods for several years. Despite nationwide recalls for Salmonella in low-moisture products, information on survival of Salmonella during high-protein and high-fat food processing is limited. This project evaluated Salmonella enterica serovar Agona 447967 thermal inactivation kinetics in a high-protein and a high-fat matrix using a defined matrix composition, varying water activities and process conditions. A high-protein matrix, composed of 60:6:25 weight ratio of flour: oil: protein, and a high-fat matrix, composed of 60:25:6 weight ratio of flour: oil: protein was studied. Each matrix was inoculated with Salmonella enterica serovar Agona 447967 at activities of 0.5, and 0.9. Samples were packed in aluminum test cells and heat treated over a range of temperatures and time intervals. Survival of Salmonella Agona was detected on trypticase soy agar with 0.6% yeast extract. The average z-values for the high-protein matrix at the water activity (aw) of 0.5 and 0.9 were 9.01ºC, and 7.51ºC, respectively. The average z-values for the high-fat matrix was 11.91ºC at aw 0.5, and 7.08ºC at aw 0.9. Results showed that the z-value at aw 0.5 was significantly different from the z-value at aw 0.9 (p < 0.05) in both the highprotein and high-fat matrices. Critical process factors associated with pathogen destruction were identified during thermal treatments in this project. Results indicated that a correlation existed between temperature and water activity and must be accounted for when predicating inactivation of Salmonella enterica in these model matrices under dynamic process conditions.
M.S. in Food Process Engineering, July 2016
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Title: MINIMIZING SALMONELLA CONTAMINATION IN SPROUTS BY CONTROLLING THE IRRIGATION CONDITIONS DURING GERMINATION
Creator: Xie, Jing
Date: 2014, 2014-07
Description: The objective of this study was to examine whether the proliferation of Salmonella can be minimized during sprouting by controlling the...
Show moreThe objective of this study was to examine whether the proliferation of Salmonella can be minimized during sprouting by controlling the irrigation conditions using seeds that have been either treated or not treated with 20,000 ppm of calcium hypochlorite, Ca(OCl)2. 200 g of alfalfa seeds spiked with 2 g (or 1 %) of inoculated seeds (containting~1 log cfu/g of Salmonella) were allowed to germinate in a glass jar or in an automatic sprouter (EasyGreen) for 5 days at room temperature. The sprouts germinated in the automatic sprouters were irrigated with either sterile tap water or chlorinated water (containing 100 ppm of calcium hypochlorite) at various frequencies (once every 1, 2 or 4 h); the sprouts germinated in glass jar were rinsed every 24 h with sterile tap water. The same growth studies were performed on seeds treated with 20,000 ppm Ca(OCl)2 for 15 min prior to sprouting. Sprout samples were taken daily and analyzed for the level of Salmonella using the three-tube most probable number method as described in the FDA BAM. Seed treatment with 20,000 ppm Ca(OCl)2 reduced Salmonella level in seeds to a level that was below the detection limit (< -2.5 log MPN/g). The pathogen was not detected during five days of germination in automatic sprouters or jars. Using untreated seeds, the level of Salmonella changed from an increase of ~ 7 log MPN/g in sprouts grown in jars and irrigated once every 24 h to an increase of ~ 4 log MPN/g during sprouting in the automated sprouters and irrigated once every 1 h. Irrigation with chlorinated water although inhibited Salmonella re-growth but affected the quality of sprouts. Overall, seed treatment combined with frequent irrigation with tap water or chlorinated water can control the level of Salmonella to an undetectable level during sprouting.
M.S. in Food Safety and Technology, July 2014
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Title: TOWARD A NATURAL GENETIC/EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHM FOR MULTIOBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION
Creator: Ramasamy, Hariharane
Date: 2013, 2013-05
Description: Practical optimization problems often have multiple objectives, which are likely to conflict with each other, and have more than one optimal...
Show morePractical optimization problems often have multiple objectives, which are likely to conflict with each other, and have more than one optimal solution representing the best trade-offs among the competing objectives. Genetic algorithms, which optimize by repeatedly applying genetic operators to a population of possible solutions, have been used recently in multiobjective optimization, but often converge to a single solution that is not necessarily optimal due to lack of diversity in the population. Current multiobjective genetic and other evolutionary methods prevent this premature convergence by promoting new members that are dissimilar in parameter or objective space. A distance measure, which calculates similarities among the members in either objective or parameter space, is used to degrade the fitness of solutions when they are crowded in a small region. This process forces the algorithm to find new but distinct trade-off points in the objective or parameter space, but is computationally expensive. As the number of objectives or parameters increases, the methods fail to scale up and they deviate from the motivating concept of the genetic algorithm—natural evolution. We extend the standard genetic algorithm through two simple, yet powerful, changes motivated by natural evolution. In the first method, the algorithm, at each step, randomly or sequentially chooses one of the objectives for optimization; hence the method is called sequential extended genetic algorithm (SEGA). In the second method, a population is maintained for each objective, and crossover is performed selecting parents from across populations. This method is called parallel extended genetic algorithm (PEGA). We applied these methods to test problems from the literature, and to two well known problems, protein folding and multiple knapsack. We discovered our methods found better trade-off solutions than current multiobjective methods, without increasing computational complexity of genetic algorithms.
PH.D in Computer Science, May 2013
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Title: LOAD RATING OF RAILWAY BRIDGES BY ANALYSIS AND TESTING
Creator: Khademi, Faezehossadat
Date: 2015, 2015-05
Description: Investigating existing structures in the real world can help us know more about their characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages. In this...
Show moreInvestigating existing structures in the real world can help us know more about their characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages. In this thesis project, the investigation was performed on two real bridges named “Yale” Bridge, and “Valleyfield” Bridge. They were owned by the CN, one of the largest railway in the North American railroad industry. First, field testing of the bridges was performed by CN. Strain gauges (devices for indicating the strain of a material) and displacement transducers (devices for indicating movement) were placed on specific points on desired elements. Then the strain and displacement data for these specific points were recorded during the time trains were passing through the bridge. These devices record the data in voltage, so calibration constants must be applied to convert the data to stress & displacement units. After that, the bridges were modeled in “SAP2000” software, and the results were compared to the data recorded in the field. In the real world, these types of bridges are behaving something between the “Truss Model” and the “Frame Model”. Our aim is to know how they exactly behave and which model they are closer to. Results are showing that although the bridges are considered “Truss Bridges”, both of them are behaving more like a “Frame” Model than a “Truss” Model. In addition, the effect of the collision strut on L0U1 was investigated. Results shows that having this collision strut leads to the larger bending moment on L0U1 in comparison to lack of this member on the bridge. Finally, with respect to our results, “Adjustment Factors” for three different groups of diagonal, horizontal, and vertical members were provided in order to improve load rating analysis in the future.
M.S. in Civil Engineering, May 2015
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Title: MULTI-DISCIPLINARY PERFORMANCE-BASED FORM GENERATION PROCESS: DEVELOPING AN OPTIMIZATION APPROACH FOR LONG SPAN ROOFS
Creator: Nicknam, Mahsa
Date: 2013, 2013-05
Description: This research is intended to incorporate multiple performances into the architectural form generation process of long span roofs. To this end,...
Show moreThis research is intended to incorporate multiple performances into the architectural form generation process of long span roofs. To this end, it proposes a multidisciplinary performance-based form generation process (MPGP) using Genetic Algorithm (GA) for the exploration of form based on performance criteria. This process leads us to a new integrated design approach in architecture. Conceptual design decisions have the greatest impact on building performance. However in conventional linear approaches, energy and structural issues are typically dealt with after these program, massing, and enclosure decisions are well articulated. This locks in life-cycle performance, and leads to costly redesigns when results fail to satisfy requirements. Research has shown how successful buildings emerge from the rapid and systematic generation and multidisciplinary analysis of many alternatives. However, until recently Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) design teams were constrained by tools and schedule and only be able to generate a few alternatives, and analyze these from just a few perspectives. The rapid emergence of parametric and generative design, building simulation, and design space exploration and optimization tools now make it possible for a design team to construct and analyze far larger design spaces more quickly, and better understand the importance of design variables on the overall building performance. The proposed process, moves beyond the current form generation approaches by using the dynamic potential possibilities of simulation tools in which form generation is based on their performance feedback. The simultaneous integration of multiple xvi performances at the early stage of design minimizes the need to move back and forth later on the design development phase, therefore reducing the overall design circle. MPGP uses the potential of parametric algorithm to generate the form and uses an optimization algorithm, Genetic Algorithms (GAs), as a search algorithm to explore the proper design satisfying required performances. This method will demonstrate how a flexible 3D model can be parametrically altered toward targeted solutions with the help of near real-time feedback generated by performance-based analysis tools within an optimization framework. Hence, in this approach, design is considered to be a process of a repeated loop of generation, evaluation, and modification until the targeted objectives are satisfied. The integration of generative tools and performance analytical tools in the early stage of design provides great opportunities for the designers to enhance the design space and select the proper design among different design solutions based on their preferences. As a result, designers develop architectural forms based on informed decisions by observing the impact of the varying parameters on the structural and energy efficiency performances. Consequently, this process will greatly benefit engineering by achieving a more collaborative and information-based design environment. Increasing the number of efficient design alternatives, dealing with different levels of complexity in the architectural design process, promoting multi-disciplinary collaboration, and improving overall design understanding are the main benefits of the proposed process.
PH.D in Architecture, May 2013
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