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Smart Fire Extinguishing System (SFES)
No full textA poster submitted in ENG 207 taught by Dr. David Prescott for the Fall 2016 semester.Most buildings in UAE are complying with the safety standards related to fire accidents to ensure safe accommodation for the residents. Hence, most buildings use water-based sprinkler system for fire extinguishing, as shown in Figure 1. However, the simplicity and the common use of this system doesn’t mean it is impeccable. We are proposing a Smart Fire Extinguisher System in buildings, as an alternative to the traditional system
3D Printing of Buildings on Construction Sites
No full textA poster submitted in ENG 207 taught by Dr. David Prescott for the Fall 2016 semester.3D printing is a new technology that is still under development. 3D printing enables industry to construct buildings and structures quickly and efficiently at low cost. Cost reduction results from reduced expenditure on labor. Most of the structures are printed in factories and assembled at the building site
Anti-cancer Drug Delivery Using Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and Ultrasound.
No full textA Master of Science thesis in Chemical Engineering by Mihad Ibrahim entitled, "Anti-cancer Drug Delivery Using Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and Ultrasound.," submitted in May 2016. Thesis advisor is Dr. Ghaleb Al Husseini and thesis co-advisor is Dr. Rana Sabouni. Soft and hard copy available.Cancer is defined as the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells. Although billions of dollars have been spent on cancer research to develop its treatments, cancer still remains a major illness for mankind, partly due to the drawbacks of these treatments. In an attempt to address the shortcomings of conventional chemotherapy (low targeting specificity, severe side effects and poor pharmacokinetics), anti-cancer drug delivery systems are being extensively researched using various nanocarriers including liposomes, micelles, polyelectrolyte capsules and others. Among the recent nanoparticles investigated as drug delivery vehicles are metal organic frameworks which are defined as porous hybrid polymers that consist of metal clusters and organic ligands. They have certain features that promote their use as drug carriers. First, they are nontoxic and have the ability to carry high loads of the drug. Also, their sizes are suitable to control in vivo and in vitro drug release. In this thesis, two new metal organic frameworks were prepared from iron nitrate and 2,6 naphthalenedicarboxylic acid. The first metal organic framework (Fe-NDC-M) was synthesized in a microwave oven, while the second (Fe-NDC-O) was prepared in an electrical conventional oven. Both were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy techniques. Then, they were used to load calcein disodium salt (a model drug mimicking the anti-neoplastic agent doxorubicin). Both particles showed high loading efficiencies (greater than 98%). The release kinetics of the model drug in neutral phosphate buffered saline were investigated with and without acoustic irradiation. Without ultrasound, the release percentages from the loaded Fe-NDC-M and Fe-NDC-O at 37°C were found to be 2.3 and 4.9 %, respectively, after 10 min. These percentages increased significantly after applying 40-kHz ultrasound to reach 22.7 and 79.7 % for Fe-NDC-M and Fe-NDC-O, respectively. To confirm the ultrasound effect in triggering the release, the loaded Fe-NDC-M particles were exposed to another ultrasound frequency (20-kHz) at room temperature. After 10 min, the particles released 37.5% of the encapsulated model drug, compared to 1.7% without ultrasound.College of EngineeringDepartment of Chemical EngineeringMaster of Science in Chemical Engineering (MSChE
Convergence rate of regime-switching trees
No full textConsidering a general class of regime-switching geometric random walks and a broad class of piecewise twice differentiable payoff functions, we show that convergence of option prices occurs at a speed of order (-ᵝ), where β = 1∕2 when the payoff is discontinuous and β = 1 otherwise
Cultural Heritage and Spectacle: Painted and Digital Panoramic Re-Presentations of Versailles
No full textBy comparing and contrasting two panoramic projects of Versailles, one being a painted panorama by John Vanderlyn (1775-1852) completed in 1819 and the other, part of Google's World Wonders Project launched in 2012, this paper will examine the notion of heritage as a tangible entity, experiential consumable, and identity maker, and show how heritage sites and the panorama (both painted and digital) act as a spectacle that seeks to fulfill the needs and desires of its visitors to consume past and present cultural landscapes
An Experimental Investigation of R134a Clathrates with Liquid Additives
No full textA Master of Science thesis in Mechanical Engineering by Hafiz M. Ahmad Gulzar entitled, "An Experimental Investigation of R134a Clathrates with Liquid Additives," submitted in September 2016. Thesis advisor is Dr. Saad A. Ahmed and thesis co-advisor is Dr. Mohamed Gadalla. Soft and hard copy available.Thermal energy storage (TES) using phase change materials is one of the most effective solutions for energy conservation. The selection of a phase changing material (PCM) with different liquid additives could improve the crystal growth rate and heat transfer characteristics. Direct contact heat transfer of PCM is one of the most influencing factors in improving the TES system performance. Numerous experimental runs were conducted to investigate the crystal growth formation time and its structural characteristics using different liquid additives under different operating conditions. The investigation was mainly based on the crystal growth formation time of the inclusion compound of R134a and the distilled water in the cold storage applications. Four different additives with different percentages were used to investigate their effectiveness on the clathrates characteristics. The additives used for this investigative work were ethanol, butanol, ethylene glycol, and glycerin. The onset time of crystal growth formation and the final endset time were recorded at different operating temperatures. Percentage of additives (for ethylene glycol, butanol and glycerin) used in this investigation varies between 1-4% while for the ethanol as additive, the percentage varies between 1.5%-4.5%. For the case of butanol, the refrigerant percentage was also varied in addition to the liquid additive percentage. The experimental results showed that additives impact on the clathrates formation time as well as clathrates characteristics. Minimum clathrates formation time was found to be 17 minutes for the ethylene glycol (as an additive) with the highest percentage of 4%. At the same time, the crystal structure remains fluffy. Although, the clathrates formation time was higher for the butanol initially but there was a sharp decrease in the clathrate crystal growth formation time throughout. Minimum clathrates formation time for the butanol (as an additive) was found to be 17.67 minutes for highest percentage of 4%. The clathrates formation for the butanol results into rock solid crystals. Same nature of crystals formation was demonstrated by the ethanol. The experimental results also concluded that there has to be a specific ratio between water and refrigerant on a mass basis in order for the clathrates to form with optimum operating conditions, which is close to 35%.College of EngineeringDepartment of Mechanical EngineeringMaster of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME
Piezoelectricity with Photovoltaic (PV) Panels
No full textA poster submitted in ENG 207 taught by Dr. David Prescott for the Fall 2016 semester.Solar energy is one of the most sustainable sources of energy, and one way to harness it is using solar panels. They are also known as photovoltaic panels (PV). Many countries such as Germany, Italy, China and the United States use PV panels extensively. However, PV panels have their shortcomings. They are prone to natural events like wind, dust, and rain
Systematic Postsynthetic Modification of Nanoporous Organic Frameworks for Enhanced CO2 Capture from Flue Gas and Landfill Gas
No full textControlled postsynthetic nitration of NPOF-1, a nanoporous organic framework constructed by nickel(0)-catalyzed Yamamoto coupling of 1,3,5-tris(4-bromophenyl)benzene, has been performed and is proven to be a promising route to introduce nitro groups and to convert mesopores to micropores without compromising surface area. Reduction of the nitro groups yields aniline-like amine-functionalized NPOF-1-NH2 that has a micropore volume of 0.48 cm3 g–1, which corresponds to 71% of the total pore volume and a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area of 1535 m2 g–1. Adequate basicity of the amine functionalities leads to modest isosteric heats of adsorption for CO2, which allow for high regenerability. The unique combination of high surface area, microporous structure, and amine-functionalized pore walls enables NPOF-1-NH2 to have remarkable CO2 working capacity values for removal from landfill gas and flue gas. The performance of NPOF-1-NH2 in CO2 removal ranks among the best by porous organic materials
Effects of immediacy on the perception of interactive art
No full textThis study examined how the observed immediacy of an interactive artwork affects the perception of the art, and how participants' engagement impacts the personal perception of time. A new projected artwork was created by the author that could randomly assign participants different interactive latency times. The design of the installation from a conceptual and technical viewpoint is discussed with reference to the desired outcomes from a pragmatic and phenomenological standpoint. Beyond the hypothesis, other results that looked at the need for a high level of perceptive processing produced a number of behavioral patterns that maybe of additional interest to other media artists