CETA Day

Many of our senior and Master’s projects are solutions to real-world problems brought to us and sponsored by local industry; others are projects that students propose themselves; all require a demonstration of results. These projects are a valuable integrative experience for CETA students, who must demonstrate what they have learned over the course of their time here through the work they present. Any program accredited by ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology), as our programs are, requires its seniors to produce capstone projects.

We were joined on CETA Day by students from the University High School of Science and Engineering, one of two magnet schools on the University of Hartford campus. Before they watched the robot demonstrations, the students received a welcome and introduction to the projects by Dr. Hisham Alnajjar, CETA’s associate dean.

Dean Alnajjar talks to our visitors from University High School.

The presentations and presenters are listed below.

First-Year Engineering Students
All Majors
ES 143, Engineering by Design (Boe-Bots)

Ben Accardo, Bandar Almosa, Eric Camacho (Team Soccor)
Pelé-Bot

April Amaral, James Centrella, Berk Dirican (Team Larry)
Secretary-Bot

George Ezeoke, Yumayra Leal, Ryan Maurer, Cameron Villers (Team Ninja)
Ninja-Bot

Dean Alexander, Jasmine Dumas, Steve Sheak (Team 4)
Resident-Hall-Security–Bot

Courtney Barnes, Antonio Bueti, Joe Flanagan, Shedrick Johnson-Jones
AF1

Shania Brown, Sydney Colon, Mohammad Jarrar,
Roxana “Desi” Sagastume, Roshel Vas
Team X

James Downing, Patrick Landusky, Francisco Nunez, Craig Polchinski
Team Rockémon

C.J. Brunner, Rock Emond, Jason Hegenauer, Karl Watson
Fubar

Nick Ceme, Carl Pappalardo, Tim Wase
Spida-Bot

Jessica Caraval, Dan Powers, Jon Savarese, Tiffany Stahura
Walking Through a Neighborhood

Colin Hartung, Tom Ouellette, Bobby Tomasulo, Emily Willhoft
Old Faithful

Jack Briskie, Rick Mantell, Gabe Moses
Pick-It-Up–Bot

Max Accardo, Muhammad Albuti, Troy Hollihan, Sam Nadeau
Parallel Parking Bot

The bot prepares to parallel park.

Amber Sorensen Van Cleave, John Hushaw, Sarah Matloff, Jesse Weinstock
Bat Bot

Vlad Auster, Clint Cyr Gary, Lucas Hope, Rutger Strauss
Lean Mean Singing Machine

John Paneto, Adam Sobiewski
The AutoTank

Alyssa Carra, Joel Daniel, Anthony Marando, John Stevenson
Maze Solver

Abdulrahman Alharbi, Nick Broadhurst, Alfredo Elias, Alex Gladstone
Wirelessly Controlled Boe-bot

Christine Barry, Matt Kelly, John McKinney, Chris Roser
Treadmaster Elite

Matt Dececco, James Hall, Chris John
Watch-Bot

Ferdinand Aliaj, Jerred Jordan, Alton Taylor
Heat and Seak Boe-Bot

J.P. Alexandre, Jeff LaZazzera, Mike Vopelak
Simulated Driving Boe-Bot

Jackie Farley, Scott Klasner, Jasmine Tyson, Danny Yeung
Escape Bot

Mike Bedson, Brendan Bretscher, Jon Kraus, Dave Stewart
Mission Impossibot

Civil, Environmental, and Biomedical
Engineering Department
Biomedical Engineering

Joseph Arascunaga, Erik Carlson, Stephen Charry, Billdickson Dely,
Barry Hansen
Aquatic Treadmill Lift Design for the Hospital for Special Care

Civil, Environmental, and Biomedical
Engineering Department
Civil Engineering Poster Session
CE 420, Water Quality Engineering I, course projects

Eric Benoit, George Bongart, Ray Culver, Dan Melnik
Low-Cost Desalination System

Ryan Bresnahan, Nicholas Carrozza, Andrew Mukon, Elia Noujaim
Laboratory-Scale Water Treatment System

Justin Howe, Luca Mineo, Sarah Shahin, Neftali Torres
Algae Biofuel Project

CE 452, Transportation Engineering I, course projects

Justin Howe, Luca Mineo, Sarah Shahin, Neftali Torres
Traffic Impact Assessment of a New Development in Downtown Hartford

Eric Benoit, George Bongart, Nicholas Carrozza,Raymond Culver,
Daniel Melnik
Traffic Impact Study of the Pathways to Technology Magnet School

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
Electronic Engineering Technology Program

David Fairbanks
The Progress of Lighting Dimmer and Controls

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
Electronic Engineering Technology Program

Papa Asante, Luis Guzman, Taylor McCall
Pick-a-Spot
(electronic pre-selection of parking places in large parking garage or lot)

Gavin McDonald
Head Phone Pre-Amp
(providing enhanced tone controls)

Rafael Rivera
Punching Bag Analyser
(programmable training routines)

Electrical and Computer Engineering
Master’s Presentations

Pinar Ozturk

Breakthrough Prediction for laser-Drilled Holes Using Ablative Surface Acoustic Signature
Thesis Supervisor: Dr. A.A. Ilumoka

Abstract: Today’s high cost of petroleum imposes much stricter requirements on aircraft engines for fuel efficiency. Engines must operate within appropriate temperature ranges achieved via cooling of engine parts through millions of laser-drilled holes in turbine engine blades and vanes. In order to maximize the benefits available from expensive laser drilling equipment, it is necessary to have the capability to predict the number of laser pulses required for puncturing material, i.e., breakthrough. The work reported here discusses a non-invasive method—based on monitoring of airborne acoustic emissions at the ablative surface—for breakthrough prediction.

Ashis Patel

Designing and Implementing the CORDOC Algorithm
Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Jonathan Hill

Abstract: Many different types of hardware are available to calculate scientific functions. However, one of the drawbacks is that many of these types of hardware use either series expansion or a look up table to calculate circular functions. In addition, these types of hardware require many multipliers and a large ROM for the look up tables. The main focus of this research was to try to avoid using a large number of hardware through the application of Picoblaze Soft Core Processor, Very high-speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL), and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) to design and implement Coordinate Rotation Digital Computer (CORDIC) algorithm.

Edinson Murillo

Embedded Temperature and Battery Voltage Level Monitoring System
Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Tom Eppes

Abstract: Videoscopes are often used for inspection and/or observation of confined spaces where the human eye cannot reach. In addition, they feature either a CMOS or CCD image sensor located directly in the tip of the insertion tube along with a light source to illuminate the inspection area for a wide range of applications. These applications can involve harsh environments such as high temperatures, exposing the image sensors to un-repairable damage. Therefore, it is important to determine a safe operating temperature range, and warn the user if the temperature gets too high in order to prevent damages. This project demonstrates a hardware and software design (e.g microcontroller, temperature IC’s) featuring an embedded battery voltage level and temperature monitoring system.

Sustainability Seminar on Clean Water Led by Dr. Pines

Water and an energy source: Those two things are needed for all life on Earth. Not oxygen. There are, after all, anaerobic creatures that do perfectly well without oxygen. But even those creatures require water.

So began Dr. David Pines in his presentation on “Sustainable Water Supplies,” the third lecture in the CETA Seminar Series on Sustainability. He went on to offer the definition of sustainability created by the World Commission on Environment and Development: Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Dr. Pines went on to point out that water and energy are interdependent. For example, water is necessary to grow the corn and soy we use for biofuel. But water is in short supply. Almost 97 percent of the world’s water is ocean—and would require energy for desalinization. Only 3 percent of the world’s water is fresh, but of that 3 percent 70 percent is in the planet’s icecaps and glaciers. And of the 30 percent of fresh water that is ground water, about 13 percent is in lakes, rivers, and the like. The rest is in swamps and otherwise unavailable without energy to make it potable.

The hydrological cycle, evaporation to rain and back again, provides water, but even that cycle is not dependable. New England is a rare place that gets reasonably even rain throughout the year; we have no significant dry season here. But most places on the planet, including many places in the United States, are not so fortunate. There are locations, for instance, that depend on the winter’s snow pack to get them through the dry summer months; if the snowfall is too light, they will experience significant water shortages. And other locations around the globe can vary between too much rain and too little. The built environment also affects water availability. If there is material in the air from smokestacks and other sources, the rain will wash the air clean—and become polluted and undrinkable in the process.

Dr. Pines explains planning water runoff options in the built environment.

Dr. Pines went on to ask some questions: Is water a basic human right? Does water play a role in conflicts? What effect will climate change have on our water supplies.

He explained that more than a billion people worldwide have no access to safe drinking water. Another 2.6 billion live without access to sanitation systems that are necessary to avoid water-borne disease. Given that diarrhea is one of the leading causes of child death around the world, access to clean water is key to saving lives.

Climate change will affect our water supply: Snow packs will be affected, droughts will be longer and more severe, and there can be contamination of what is now drinkable water. For instance, as sea levels rise, water supplies near the coasts can be infiltrated by salt water.

These issues must be addressed by conservation and efficiency of use. For example, we can turn to greywater (from showers and sinks) to water lawns and flush toilets and similar uses. Currently, we purify water to drinking quality, but we actually drink very little of the water that is so treated—domestic use of water is only 7 percent of the 100 billion gallons of water used every day in the United States.

To address these issues locally, Dr. Pines is offering two courses in the spring semester. One is ES 591, Industrial Archeology, which will involve a trip to St. Vincent, in the Caribbean, to design and implement the refurbishment of an old sugar mill. Students will learn about the culture and economy of St. Vincent so that they will have “a historical perspective on the role that technology plays in society” and be prepared in their careers to understand how future technologies will affect society.

The second course is ES 591, Design for Extreme Affordability. In this class students will earn credits as they take part in the ACARA Challenge, a program created by the ACARA Institute, a non-profit organization that creates sustainable social businesses using the best practices from industry in concert with university courses to enable students to create real businesses. The program matches students with counterparts in another country, in this class India, and industry mentors and challenges them to develop solutions to problems like the lack of clean water and energy in urban slums. The winning team in the class will receive funding for travel to India and a two week stay so that they can further develop their business plan and secure funding for their venture. As Dr. Pines pointed out while discussing these two classes, though poor people cannot afford to spend a great deal on the necessities, there are a lot of poor people in the world, around 5 billion; the market is vast and untapped.

All undergraduate and graduate majors are welcome to participate in either class, but to enroll, you must send Dr. Pines (at pines@hartford.edu) a résumé and a two-paragraph summary about why you’re interested in the taking the course. Space is limited in both courses.

The CETA Seminar Series on Sustainability is organized by Dr. Clara Fang, assistant professor of Civil, Environmental, and Biomedical Engineering, and Dr. Tom Filburn, associate professor of Mechanical Engineering, and sponsored by a Sustainability Grant from the Office of the Provost, as well as by the ASCE, ASHRAE, ASME, IEEE, and SWE student chapters in CETA.

CETA Faculty Receive Homeland Security Grant

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has awarded a one-year grant to two CETA faculty, Dr. Tom Filburn, associate professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, and Dr. Nikolay Nazaryan, instructor of Mathematics. The grant, for $125,000, will support development of a new, lighter and more portable X-ray machine with greater intensity X-rays than current models create. This machine will enhance examination of cargo containers at border and maritime security checkpoints.

Filburn and Nazaryan’s design involves various modifications to current X-ray machine models that will allow for a more uniform spherical distribution of the X-rays. Their design will allow for the production of higher-energy-intensity beams that will provide more detailed information about cargo or other material as compared with conventional machines, but it will create much more heat than conventional X-ray machines, and so part of their work involves the development of a new method to cool the machine. Their cooling method requires a cooling jacket around the X-ray source metal that allow the generation of X-rays through the thin metal of the jacket. If Filburn and Nazaryan, assisted by a graduate student in Mechanical Engineering, can prove that their design does remove the heat load it generates, they will seek a follow-up grant with which to produce the machine.

CETA congratulates Drs. Filburn and Nazaryan and looks forward to reporting on their work.

Grad Student Validating Simulations

In a paper published in the Proceedings of FEDSM’09 (the 2009 ASME Fluids Engineering Division summer Meeting, held August 2 through 6, 2009, in Vail, Colorado), Dr. Ivana Milanovic, associate professor and chair of Mechanical Engineering in CETA, reported on her work on impinging jets. Such a jet is simply fluid issuing from a nozzle that hits a wall perpendicularly and splits. Water pouring from a faucet into a sink is an impinging jet. The study of such jets is important because they have applications in vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, cooling and heating, drying, mixing, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes. Hence Dr. Milanovic’s continued attention to the subject.

However, experimenting on impinging jets can be expensive. In one experiment, which examined flow structure in the near wall region of a submerged impinging jet using a non-intrusive flow diagnostic technique that involved a laser, the setup cost over $200,000. Dr. Milanovic has therefore turned her attention to computer simulation of such experiments.

Dr. Milanovic’s graduate student, Ajal Parikh, has created a simulation of the experiment and is working to match the simulation’s data to the experimental data; that is to say, she is using ANSYS, Fluent, and Tecplot in an attempt to validate the simulation she has created. If she can do so, experimenters can have confidence in the simulation and use it for other experiments.

Ajal Parikh working on simulating impinging jets

Ms. Parikh, who began her graduate work in Mechanical Engineering in 2008, is performing this work as her Master’s thesis research project and also is interning at Westinghouse, where she works in the Loss of Coolant Accident Analysis & Methods (LA&M) Group. Along with other members of that group, she is responsible for providing high-quality, cost-effective, and innovative solutions to the nuclear power industry. The principal product of the group is systems & safety analysis integrated into the design of the customer utility. More specifically, Ms. Parikh analyses, summarizes and prepares date required for emergency core cooling systems, which must met NRC design criteria.

Her goal here in CETA is to create confidence in CFD (computational fluid dynamics) predictions Once she can demonstrate that the data is indeed valid, other students can use the software to run experiments that are now not possible because of cost and space considerations.

Ms. Parikh reports that “the work is a great learning experience. . . . I am learning different software that can save us on experimental hurdles and still predict the actual results, which is a great help for industry.” The work will be of great use here in CETA, too, where students will be able to perform more experimental studies and learn software that is crucial in industry.

CETA Faculty Make Presentations

Dr. Christian Carloni, assistant professor of Architecture in CETA, has published a paper, “Investigation of the Interface Fracture During Debonding Between FRP and Masonry,” in the new issue of Advances in Structural Engineering (pages 731 to 743). Dr. Carloni’s co-author on this paper is Dr. Kolluru V. Subramaniam, associate professor of Civil Engineering and director of the Civil Engineering Materials Laboratory at the City College of the City University of New York. The paper reflects Dr. Carloni and Dr. Subramaniam’s ongoing research in concrete and masonry structures.

On November 8, Dr. Carloni will attend the American Concrete Institute (ACI) Convention in New Orleans to present another paper co-authored with Dr. Subramaniam, this one titled “Application of Fracture Mechanics to Debonding of FRP from Concrete Beams.” While at the Conference, Dr. Carloni will attend the annual meeting of the ACI 440 Committee as an associate member. The mission of the committee is to develop and report on information on fiber-reinforced polymer for the internal and external reinforcement of concrete; its members work on the application of composite materials to structural members. The Committee is responsible for guidelines to be used in designing structural members with composite materials in the United States.

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Dr. Ladimer Nagurney, associate professor of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering in CETA, attended the annual FIE (Frontiers in Education) Conference held in October in San Antonio, Texas, and presented a paper titled “Software Defined Radio Across the Electrical and Computer Engineering Curriculum.” FIE is an annual conference sponsored by the Educational Research & Methods Division (ERM) of the American Society for Engineering Education, the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Computer Society, and the IEEE Education Society with the goal of improving engineering education. The theme of this year’s conference was “Imagining and Engineering Future CSET Education.” Computer science, engineering, and engineering technology (CSET) graduates will directly influence the direction of technology and society, and so this year’s conference goal was to encourage serious conversation about the future of education in these important disciplines.

CETA congratulates Dr. Carloni and Dr. Nagurney on their presentations and publications.

CETA Researcher Receives NASA Grant

Dr. Tom Filburn, associate professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering in CETA, and Dr. Ramesh B. Malla, an associate professor of Geo-mechanics in Civil Engineering at the University of Connecticut, submitted a proposal through the Connecticut Space Grant Consortium to NASA for research dollars under Phase One of the NASA Ralph Steckler Space Grant Colonization Research and Technology Development Opportunity. They have now been notified that their proposal is one of just 18 proposals from around the United States selected by NASA to receive money under the program. Among other recipients were professors at MIT, Penn State, and U.C.-San Diego.

Under their grant, Doctors Filburn and Malla will design a lunar habitat that takes advantage of efficiencies in design by designing the life support system in collaboration with the habitat structure. Dr. Malla is an expert in lunar soil (regolith) and has worked on lunar structural design. Dr. Filburn, who is director of the Connecticut Space Grant Consortium, has worked on various life support systems for use in space. In addition to the two professors, students from both universities will work on the project to create a lighter, more efficient habitat module.

The Steckler Grants are a legacy of Ralph Steckler, who was an assistant film director and photographer in Southern California with a lifelong interest in space colonization. He left part of his estate to NASA to support space colonization, and it is that bequest that funds the program Dr. Fulburn and Dr. Malla will draw on.

Phase One of the Steckler Grants will last nine months, during which the grant recipients will establish the scientific and technical merit and feasibility of their proposed innovation, research or technology development. Among the projects being funded in Phase One besides habitation are rovers, surface power, communications and extravehicular activity systems.

Phase Two, which will last two years, will provide money to the investigators on each of the four most promising Phase One projects so they can conduct the research and technology development effort. This activity will be followed by Phase Three, during which the Phase Two projects will be integrated with NASA programs or projects.

The Connecticut Space Grant Consortium is a network of colleges and universities, industry, museums and science centers, and state and local agencies working together to support and enhance science and engineering education, research, and public outreach for NASA’s aeronautics and space projects. The affiliates are organized in 52 consortia in the states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The University of Hartford is the lead institution in the Connecticut Consortium.

CETA congratulates Dr. Filburn and Dr. Malla on their grant and looks forward to learning more about their research.

University of Hartford Builds Partnership with CCAT's Incubator Facility

The University of Hartford has become a collaborator in the business incubator at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, Inc. (CCAT), a move aimed at growing the relationship between the entrepreneurs who work with CCAT and the faculty, students, and resources of the University.

The University now has an office at CCAT’s Pitkin Street headquarters in East Hartford to serve as a gateway for businesses, students and faculty to find mutually beneficial opportunities to work together, particularly through CCAT’s newly established Entrepreneur Center. The Entrepreneur Center includes the former Innovation Pipeline Accelerator Program (IPA), which over the last several years has helped nearly 30 technology startups in the state to access market and competitive analysis resources within the University of Hartford’s Barney School of Business. The IPA was developed by the Connecticut Technology Council with funding provided by the Department of Economic and Community Development prior to its recent acquisition by CCAT.

Several other collaborative efforts between CCAT and the University of Hartford are also envisioned over a broad spectrum of University capabilities in everything from technical evaluations, business case development and visual communications. This collaboration will leverage other joint efforts already underway including those with the University’s College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture (CETA).

CETA Dean Lou Manzione says that, “Working with entrepreneurs and start-up companies is an excellent way for our students to prepare themselves for professional careers. In the 21st century global economy, we can all benefit from more entrepreneurial skills. There is no better way for students to develop these skills than to work with entrepreneurs in start-up companies. The collaboration with the CCAT Incubator enables us to develop these opportunities for faculty and students across the University.”

The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, Inc. (CCAT) helps private and public entities to apply innovative tools and practices to increase efficiencies, improve workforce development, and boost competitiveness. CCAT functions as a unique economic development organization that combines expertise in cutting-edge technology with specialized centers of excellence in manufacturing, education, training, energy, and entrepreneurialism. Throughout these efforts, we promote partnership between industry, academia, and government to create a new collaborative framework for addressing 21st-century economic challenges. The CCAT facility also boasts state of the art telecommunications, distance learning facilities, and interactive meeting rooms that are available for University use.