M o n d ay, A p r i l 3 0 , 2 0 1 2 , 9 : 3 0 A M - 2 : 0 0 P M

G r e a t Ro o m , P r y z b y l a C e n te r

4th ANNUAL ENGINEERING

S e n i o r D e s i g n D ay

C o n c u r r e n t S e s s i o n I R o o m A

9:30 AM - 10:30 AM, Civil Engineering Session Chair: Bing Xu, Ph.D., George P. Mavroeidis, Ph.D.

9:30 - 9:45 Monroe Street Bridge Re-Design, Pat Terry, Joe Husted, Josh Monroe, Dan Jones, Hunter Mason

9:45 - 10:00 Hyattsville Middle School Renovation and Extension, Jenna Coyne, Alexandra Wildes, Jean Paul Roman, Ben Lopresti, Hector Mayorga

10:00 - 10:15 The Cable-Stayed Bridge: An Investigation of Modern Bridge Technology, Tim Cork, Lawrence De Simone, Kirk Kasa, Alexander King

10:15 - 10:30 The Floating House, Tri Minh Le, Maureen Sullivan, Tom Scotto, Tim Guckvan

10:45 AM - 12:30 PM, Mechanical Engineering Session Chair: Joseph Vignola, Ph.D.

10:30 - 10:45 AM Coffee Break

9:00 - 9:30 AM Attendee Check-in

12:30 - 1:45 PM Lunch & Poster Session Room B

10:45 - 11:00 Aerial Drone, Carlos Aguilar, Kevin Curtin, Dominic Dixon, Christopher Little, and Manrique Rivas

11:00 - 11:15 Automatic Guitar Tuner, Brian P. Harmon

11:15 - 11:30 Compressed Air Foam System (CAFS), John R. Tull, Kevin Barrow,

Thomas Berlenbach, Timothy J. Quine

11:30 - 11:45 Marine Bio-Mechanics Applied to Kayak Propulsion, Matthew

Beben, Ryan Black, Mollie Cannon, Lauren Zelinski

11:45 - 12:00 Paddle Wheel Kayak, James Saine, Joe Brennan

12:00 - 12:15 Reduced Maintenance Centrifugal Coffee Maker, Victoria Edinger, Michael Puskar, Kenneth White, Jeevan Yoganathan, Tareq Alosh

12:15 - 12:30 Wind Energy Harvester, Samantha Daubman, Michael Marciante

1:45 - 2:00 PM Awards Presentation/Concluding Remarks

C o n c u r r e n t S e s s i o n I I R o o m C

9:30 AM - 10:45 AM, Biomedical Engineering Session Chair: Peter Lum, Ph.D., Binh Q. Tran, Ph.D.

9:30 - 9:45 Twisted-Nematic Liquid Crystal Device, Celeste Crane, Andrew Miller,

9:45 - 10:00 Print-Sthetic 3D Printer & Scanner, Billy Vermillion, Kimberly Fabyan, Amanda Carter, Ben Nguyen

10:00 - 10:15 Self Activating Falls Equipment (S.A.F.E.), Anne Fromm, Mark Panes, Maissa Alshenqit, Michael Staggenborg

10:15 - 10:30 Permeable Scaffolds in a Bone Bioreactor to Achieve Differentiation in Preosteoblasts, Jessica Clement, Angela DeMarco, Joseph McAnaney

10:30 - 10:45 Upper Extremity Stroke Rehabilitation Device, Tim Mierzwa, Elizabeth

McCormick, Pramodh Kariyawasam

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

Session Chair: Ozlem Kilic, Ph.D.

11:00 - 11:15 A Reconfigurable Architecture for Very Long Instruction Word Processors, Michael Metz

11:15 - 11:30 Dynamic Spectrum Allocation using Software-Defined Cognitive Radio, Jonathan Fox

11:30 - 11:45 Solar Tracker, Grimaud Kouwenaar, Christopher Castellano

11:45 - 12:00 ClonuX: The Cloud-Based Operating System, Evan Votta

12:00 - 12:15 Power Pants, Andre Malochee, Steven Hair

12:15 - 12:30 Planning Robot Motions to Navigate and Explore, Joseph Lattisaw, Nguyen-Minh Le, Phuong Pham,

1:45 - 2:00 PM Awards Presentation/Concluding Remarks

10:45 - 11 AM Coffee Break

12:30 - 1:45 PM Lunch & Poster Session Room B

9:00 - 9:30 AM Attendee Check-in

Twisted-Nematic Liquid Crystal Device, Celeste Crane, Andrew Miller, Mallory Vogel Using optical techniques to determine measurements of the nucleus and its contents based on their refractive indices can be used to detect precancerous changes in cells for early cancer diagnosis. Ramella-Roman et al. has proven it is possible to get accurate optical measurements with expensive, manufactured liquid crystal variable retarders compared to the work of other groups. This research examines the feasibility of a custom fabricated twisted-nematic liquid crystal device to eliminate scattering compared to a manufactured liquid crystal device. With a custom test set-up, we evaluate retardance, voltage threshold, transmittance, and extinction of our lab-

built twisted-nematic liquid crystal device.

Print-Sthetic 3D Printer & Scanner, Billy Vermillion, Kimberly Fabyan, Amanda Carter, Ben Nguyen

Due to a lack in availability of materials and resources, providing prosthetics to people in third world and war-torn countries is a unique challenge. For our senior design project we designed and built a three-dimensional scanning and printing system that can scan an object and, after some editing, print a 3D model of the original object by melting plastic in a set pattern. Of the many possible applications for this system, we focused our investigations on the feasibility of using a 3D printing system to more efficiently manufacture custom sockets for prosthetic limbs while also lowering their cost. This was done with the intent of enabling individuals in third-world countries to more easily acquire properly fitting prostheses.

Self Activating Falls Equipment (S.A.F.E.), Anne Fromm, Mark Panes, Maissa Alshenqit, Michael Staggenborg According to Center for Disease Control, the population over the age of 75 has the highest rate of falls. They predict the number of falls and the cost of treatments are going to increase. There is a need for a device that can help cut down the number of injuries due to falls. The goal of this research is to design an algorithm that can predict and detect a person falling as well as finding the best location for the sensor on the body for increased accuracy. This will be accomplished by gathering data on test subjects while they perform daily activities and while falling. This data will allow us to detect the distinctive signs that trigger a fall. By accomplishing this we will be able to advance the current knowledge of fall detection and therefore better protect the elderly from this very prominent hazard.

B I O M E D I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G A B S T R A C T S

Permeable Scaffolds in a Bone Bioreactor to Achieve Differentiation in Preosteoblasts, Jessica Clement, Angela DeMarco, Joseph McAnaney The main goal of this project was to create a functional bone bioreactor. The focus of the project’s research was to investigate using a permeable scaffold to achieve differentiation in preosteoblast cells. For the project to succeed, it was determined necessary to control factors in the system such as temperature, pH, gas exchange, sterility, medium addition/waste removal, and medium circulation. Prototype iterations were successful in controlling several of the parameters necessary for cell growth. One bioreactor test plate and two control plates, each with a five layer KimWipeTM scaffold, were seeded with MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts. One additional control plate with the scaffold was without cells and used for comparison. At the end of the trial, one half of each layer was used for cell counting, and the other half was stained for mineralization with Alizarin Red stain. Mineralization was seen in both the control and bioreactor plates. For each scaffold, the number of cells per layer declined on an exponential curve, as expected. Future work is needed to more conclusively determine the efficacy of the dynamic bioreactor system in comparison with a static system; completion of more trials would allow more statistical analysis to be performed.

Upper Extremity Stroke Rehabilitation Device, Tim Mierzwa, Elizabeth McCormick, Pramodh Kariyawasam

More than 700,000 people in the United States suffer a stroke each year, and approximately two-thirds of these individuals survive and require rehabilitation. A stroke happens when blood flow to a part of the brain is interrupted because a blood vessel in the brain is blocked or bursts open. It prevents the brain from getting blood and oxygen, causing brain cells to die, causing permanent brain damage. Many patients lose movement in their arm after they suffer a stroke and use rehabilitation to regain their movement and range of motion. Rehabilitation experts believe that the most important element in any rehabilitation program is repetitive practice. Our long-term goal is the development of a new, cost-effective, and passive method for rehabilitation of arm function after a stroke. In this project, we will test our upper extremity rehabilitation device in preparation for a human trial and commercialization. Our upper extremity rehabilitation device is an in home exo-tendon device that can help the stroke survivor with the extension and flexion of their elbow, and extension, flexion and abduction of their

shoulder.

B I O M E D I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G A B S T R A C T S

Monroe Street Bridge Re-Design, Pat Terry, Joe Husted, Josh Monroe, Dan Jones, Hunter Mason In Preparation for the expected population growth that comes with the new development underway for Monroe Street market and the proposed 9th street devolvement the Monroe Street bridge needs to be updated to handle the future traffic (pedestrians and vehicular). Our goal is to learn about the process of truss bridge design in order to implement it to the new Monroe Street Bridge. In addition to the design of the bridge we plan on focusing on the foundation for the abutments of the truss bridge. This design project allows us to implement skills learned in the field of concrete, steel, foundations, and structures. Our group utilizes SAP 2000 to design and test the integrity of our proposed bridge. Based on the bridge analysis computed in SAP 2000 we determine the best structural members while considering cost effectiveness. Design goals are aimed at optimal lightness, constructability, cost and aesthetics.

Hyattsville Middle School Renovation and Extension, Jenna Coyne, Alexandra Wildes, Jean Paul Roman, Ben Lopresti, Hector Mayorga The schooling system in America is a major component in the education of future and current generations. A stimulating and motivating atmosphere for students is key in inspiring learning and knowledge in (and out) of the classroom. The scope of the project is to renovate the existing school and to build a new auditorium for the creative arts program which is integrated into the school’s regular curriculum. The renovation encompasses multiple tasks which include: gym floor, bleachers, locker room and lockers, ceilings, classrooms, and parking. The new auditorium will consist of stadium style seating, a full stage, a lobby, and a backstage area fitted with a ramp for easy loading onto the stage area. An additional parking lot will also be constructed next to the new auditorium. The project team replicates real-life project management skills and methods in order to efficiently and effectively completes the venture. Along with construction methods, the team institutes scheduling, pre-construction risk assessment, safety management, and estimating into the project scope. The goal of the project is to improve and expand the education space at Hyattsville Middle School in Hyattsville, Maryland for teachers, current students, parents, visitors, and future students.

C I V I L E N G I N E E R I N G A B S T R A C T S

The Cable-Stayed Bridge: An Investigation of Modern Bridge Technology, Tim Cork, Lawrence De Simone, Kirk Kasa, Alexander King The advent of the cable-stayed bridge has sparked an age of significant advancements in the field of bridge design. Cable-stayed bridges have become more prevalent and desirable due to technological innovation and aesthetic appearance. In comparison to truss and suspension bridges, cable-stayed bridges are more economical for moderate spans. There are currently no cable stayed bridges in the greater Washington DC area, where such a design could be extremely beneficial for the moderate spans over the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. Their stability and stiffness reduces deformations and internal forces caused by the loading of the bridge under its own weight. Time dependent properties such as creep and shrinkage of concrete bridge sections make the analysis of staged construction design a critical factor in the investigation of these unique structures. Cable-stayed bridges have a variety of cable system designs. For structural analysis, SAP2000 is used to analyze the different effects of three different cable systems (fan, modified fan, and harp) as well as the effects of creep and shrinkage during staged construction. The effect of using different sized cross sections of the bridge elements is also a useful consideration in the study of this design.

The Floating House, Tri Minh Le, Maureen Sullivan, Tom Scotto, Tim Guckvan For this project our team designed a three story floating house that is on Lake Union in Seattle, Washington. The dimensions were chosen by us and show in an AutoCAD drawing. By using the ASCE codes our team was able to find the dead, live, and wind loads on the structure. Once the loads were determined, we were able to place the data into a SAP model in order to choose the suitable sizes for the beam and column dimensions. The structure is made with beams and columns constructed from steel and a concrete base that uses Styrofoam for the floating device. The whole house is tied into steel piles that are anchored into the lake bed. These poles allow the house to rise and fall with the water level. The steel and concrete will be given a special treatment in order to deal with corrosion from the water. After the SAP model was completed, hand calculations were done in order to prove accuracy.

C I V I L E N G I N E E R I N G A B S T R A C T S

Aerial Drone, Carlos Aguilar, Kevin Curtin, Dominic Dixon, Christopher Little, and Manrique Rivas The objective of the Aerial Drone project was to design and build a prototype of a portable, remote-controlled craft that can be locally deployed as a mobile sensor. The design of a single motor counter-rotating coaxial propeller system mounted in a spherical housing frame will be shown. To accommodate specified operational conditions, special interest was given to the craft’s structural integrity and freedom of movement in flight. Five central subsystems will be described. These include the lift system, flight control surfaces, electrics, the power train, and the exoskeleton. The discussion will include consideration of requirements and constraints for each subsystem, simulation results that informed the design and SolidWorks drawing to illustrate the design.

Automatic Guitar Tuner, Brian P. Harmon

This presentation shows the design and fabrication of the “Automatic Guitar Tuner”: a PC-powered automated acoustic guitar string tuning device. This tuning system adjusts string tension and subsequently the frequency via a microphone signal and frequency analysis aided by pc programming, the final physical tensioning is accomplished with the use of stepper motors. Design and final fabrication of motor mounting and motor-to-tuning key connector is shown. The presentation also covers signal analysis, motor control, fabrication, and final testing. Programming matters for stepper motor control and signal analysis in LabVIEW and MATLAB is discussed.

Compressed Air Foam System (CAFS), John R. Tull, Kevin Barrow, Thomas Berlenbach, Timothy J. Quine Wildfires cause the destruction of thousands of evacuated homes every year, and represent a property damage threat projected to increase in the near future. This presentation describes the design of a fully automated Compressed Air Foam System (CAFS), engineered to prevent damage to an average single family home from a wildfire. This presentation includes the analysis of requirements and constraints, and optimization of tradeoffs of solution mixture power components, foam concentrate injection methods, mixture methods, piping systems, electronic systems, and heat detection systems. A full system design was related to a prototype CAFS scaled down to 20% of the full design. Theoretic al flow simulations of both the full CAFS and Prototype were conducted. Testing of the CAFS prototype was conducted to confirm theoretical flow simulations and flow rate, nozzle velocity, pressure loss, spray diameter, spray quality, and adhesion time data was taken and used to improve the full CAFS design. The final CAFS design is presented in detail.

Marine Bio-Mechanics Applied to Kayak Propulsion, Matthew Beben, Ryan Black, Mollie Cannon, Lauren Zelinski This presentation describes the design of a kayak propelled by an oscillating tail. This tail is driven onto a traveling sinusoidal wave motion by a pedal system. The pedal powered tail is connected to a gear-linkage system that translates the rotational movement into oscillatory motion. The design of the tail is based on research of marine biomechanics and the study of the undulatory movement of fish, in

M E C H A N I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G A B S T R A C T S

particular carangiform motion. The design of the tail uses a Neoprene rubber and contour core PVC foam sandwich structure. Analysis and modeling were used to produce a sinusoidal ±30 degree motion of the tail mimicking the carangiform motion observed in marine biomechanics. Cables connect a propulsion system to the rear tail crossbeam, rotating it to move the tail and propel the kayak. Human ergonomics, boat dynamics, fish analysis, cable tension and safety were also taken into consideration and will also be discussed.

Paddle Wheel Kayak, James Saine, Joe Brennan This Senior Design presentation will discuss a design of a paddle wheel kayak based on traditional paddle wheels and human performance capabilities. The project consists of designing and fabricating two paddle wheels to be attached to a sit-on-top kayak. The design of subsystems including paddles, axels, and pedal system will be presented. These designs are based on thorough force analysis including deformation and stress calculations. Research and testing of various materials will be discussed based on individual material properties including the weight of the part, functionality in a marine environment, and material strengths. The test results that validate the design decisions will be presented and discussed in detail. Presentation will conclude with a discussion of the tests performed to confirm that the design decisions, made based on research conducted, met the project goals of

achieving and maintaining 6 mph with paddle wheel propulsion due to pedal drive system.

Reduced Maintenance Centrifugal Coffee Maker, Victoria Edinger, Michael Puskar, Kenneth White, Jeevan Yoganathan, Tareq Alosh This presentation will discuss a design of a coffee maker intended to reduce maintenance by a user. A funnel shaped centrifuge design was chosen from research and testing. The designed system is automated to perform a brewing and cleaning cycle. The centrifuge is used for both brewing and separation of grinds from brewed coffee. The system brews 32 ounces of coffee per cycle with a cycle time of 6 minutes. To reduce maintenance the coffee grind waste from the centrifuge is discharged in a rinse cycle after each brew cycle into a waste tray. The waste tray is emptied after an 8 hour period where 160 cups of coffee are brewed. Considerations of a cleaning cycle used after each brew cycle will be discussed.

Wind Energy Harvester, Samantha Daubman, Michael Marciante This presentation describes the design and fabrication of a wind energy harvester intended to produce .81 watt of electricity, or 10% of the available energy, from a 5-7 m/s wind under arctic conditions. The design of the wind energy harvester incorporates a ribbon that interacts with moving air causing it to oscillate. A pair of magnets attached to the ribbon move in and out of copper coils mounted to a rigid frame inducing a current. This presentation details the constraints and the design considerations taken to fabricate an operational test apparatus, and to ultimately maximize the power output of the wind energy harvester under varying conditions including wind speed, magnet placement, and ribbon tension.

M E C H A N I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G A B S T R A C T S

A Reconfigurable architecture for Very Long Instruction Word Processors, Michael Metz

As transistor counts in integrated circuits continue to rise exponentially in accordance with Moore's Law, the ability of new generations of processors to effectively employ these resources often demands significant micro-architectural redesign. Most existing high performance general-purpose processors use superscalar, out-of-order designs; that is, they implement increasingly complex logic in hardware to exploit instruction level parallelism (ILP). Alternatively, Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) architectures hand the task of parallelizing the code entirely to the compiler, vastly simplifying the necessary hardware. In this project, a VLIW processor was designed and implemented in a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) development board to evaluate its performance running different applications. The design features a reconfigurable, heterogeneous set of execution units and a five-stage instruction pipeline with branch prediction. Additionally, a matching assembler was written to automatically analyze assembly code and produce parallelized machine code.

Dynamic Spectrum Allocation using Software-Defined Cognitive Radio, Jonathan Fox

With an increasing number of users on the RF bands and a limited number of frequency bands to support them, there is a need to have a more efficient method of utilizing all the available frequencies. A possible solution to this is cognitive radio, as this technique shows promise in achieving dynamic spectrum access. The premise of cognitive radio is based on sensing energy on a frequency or channel (indicated another user or unwanted noise), then depending on whether energy was detected change a key aspect about the communication network (for this project frequency), notify the rest of the network nodes, and continue communicating until the need to change arises again. Software-Defined radio provides a stable yet easily modifiable platform to develop this on as tradition communications equipment requires to much work to change aspects of the system.

Solar Tracker, Grimaud Kouwenaar, Christopher Castellano

A Solar Tracking System is a device for orienting a solar panel towards the sun, such that the sun’s rays are normally incident to it. Dual axis trackers have two degrees of freedom, one along the azimuth axis and another along the elevation axis. Compared to a stationary panel, dual axis tracking allows up to a 45% increase in produced power. The objective of this project is to redesign the solar tracking system currently being used by a solar panel array at the Franciscan Monastery on Quincy and 14th streets. That system utilizes a dual axis tracker which uses a PIC microcontroller to control actuators and a LCD screen to display various data. The redesigned tracker will use an Arduino microcontroller in place of the PIC as well as a GPS module and a Compass to provide additional functionality. The Arduino will be programmed to calculate the position of the sun and command the actuators to orient the array to that position. An LCD screen will be connected to the Arduino to display various data including, date and time, longitude and latitude and provide the user with the option to move the array manually. With the redesigned system, users will be able to easily

access and modify the controller for their specified needs.

E L E C T R I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G & C O M P U T E R S C I E N C E

ClonuX: The Cloud-Based Operating System, Evan Votta

ClonuX is just like a regular desktop Operating System (OS) like Windows, except that it is run from “the cloud”. To access clonuX, users have their own password-protected accounts, called "cloudspaces", which can be accessed from any web-enabled device. Users can run cloud-based applications that appear in "windows", much like on a desktop OS. Similarly, the windows can me minimized, maximized, resized, and moved. ClonuX is integrated with both Facebook and Twitter, and could in the future become integrated with other web-based services like Gmail or Drop-box. This way, all of the services a user uses on the web can be access from clonuX. This means that user' accounts, files, and applications will be consistent across all devices, which means it will always be familiar and there will never be any data redundancy. ClonuX is built using entirely open-source software, and itself will remain open-source.

Power Pants, Andre Malochee, Steven Hair

As power requirements for electronics fall, they can be powered by sources that were previously impractical. With these lower requirements, the field of energy harvesting has emerged. Energy harvesting converts small amounts of ambient energy into usable electrical energy to replace or augment more traditional electronic power sources, such as batteries. Our project attempts to harvest energy from human motion using polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), a plastic piezoelectric transducer. We attached the PVDF to a polyethylene terephthalate substrate to create a unimorph. The system was designed such that the PVDF converted the mechanical motion from the knees into electrical power, which was then used to power a proof-of-concept circuit. Given that the power generation is proportional to cyclic frequency and humans run at a relatively low frequency, the best use of power from the transducers is to charge a capacitor that discharges periodically. Real-world applications include powering small medical devices such as wireless heart rate monitors.

Planning Robot Motions to Navigate and Explore, Joseph Lattisaw, Nguyen-Minh Le, Phuong Pham,

Motivated by robotics applications in inspection, vehicle automation, and search-and-rescue, our projects develop motion planners that enable robots to autonomously navigate to the goal while avoiding collisions, find short paths that reach multiple goals, or explore unknown environments. The motion planners search for solutions by sampling the space of feasible robot motions. If moving obstacles are encountered, repulsive potentials are applied to move the robot away. To reach multiple goals, sampling is used to create a roadmap of collision-free routes that the robot can follow. When exploring an unknown environment, motion planning determines the path to the next area to be explored. The motion planners are implemented in simulation and on iRobot roombas equipped with Xbox Kinect and laser-range finders. Future improvements include predicting the paths of moving obstacles to reduce the need for re-planning, using odometry to localize the robot, and smoothing the solution paths.

E L E C T R I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G & C O M P U T E R S C I E N C E

The engineering program was established in 1896, soon after the founding of The Catholic University of America. Formally established in 1930, it was shortly thereafter renamed the School of Engineering & Architecture until 1992, when engineering and architecture were

separated.

Prior to 1950, Engineering’s primary focus was on undergraduate studies, as well as graduate programs. Research activity and graduate professional offerings increased steadily after 1950. Today, the school offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in five academic programs as well as a master's degree in engineering management. The school prides itself on being a small, Catholic engineering school, providing quality education with a personal touch. Students can expect close interaction with faculty, small class sizes, small student-to-faculty ratios,

and a faculty dedicated to teaching and research.

The school's strong ties with local research institutions such as NASA, NIH and NRL, etc. foster

research collaborations and enable our faculty to bring research experience into the classroom.

School of Engineering The Catholic University of America

620 Michigan Ave, NE, Washington DC 20064 http://engineering.cua.edu EMAIL: engineering@cua.edu

Ozlem Kilic (EECS, CUA)

George Mavroeidis (CE, CUA)

Afshin Nabili (ENGR, CUA)

Peter Lum (BE, CUA)

Binh Tran (BE, CUA, Chair)

Joseph Vignola (ME, CUA)

Bing Xu (CE)

Design Day Organizing Committee

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING