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RC Baja: Drivetrain and Chassis
Full text linkThe RC Baja project aims to develop a high-performance RC vehicle for Baja-style racing through a comprehensive design, manufacturing/prototyping, and testing. The objective is to address engineering challenges related to ensuring durability, efficiency, and performance while navigating rugged terrains and obstacles.
To achieve this objective, the engineers conduct extensive research to guide the design process, with a specific emphasis on the drivetrain and chassis components. Detailed CAD modeling is utilized to refine the design of the drivetrain, incorporating elements such as gear ratios, differential systems, and torque distribution to enhance power delivery and traction. Similarly, the chassis design prioritizes factors such as weight distribution, ground clearance, and structural integrity to withstand the stresses encountered during aggressive off-road driving.
The implementation of engineering principles yields promising results in both the drivetrain and chassis components. Testing reveals the function of the vehicle to meet expectations and requirements which allow the engineers to compete in the ASME Baja competition. The drivetrain design demonstrates improved efficiency, maximizing power transfer to the wheels and minimizing energy losses. This resulted in a top speed of 30 mph. Similarly, the chassis design enhancement results in increased durability and responsiveness, allowing the vehicle to withstand impacts and rough terrain while maintaining agility and control. This resulted in a deflection of less than 1/8 of an inch. Overall, the project’s focus is on refining the drivetrain and chassis components which contributes to the development of a high-performance RC Baja vehicle capable of excelling in competitive off-road racing scenarios
Nasa Student Launch Payload Kinetic Energy Absorption
Full text linkThe challenge given by NASA was to design and build a reusable payload capable of a human survivable landing, without the use of a parachute or streamer.
The method chosen to accomplish this was a large spring to extend and mitigate impact forces over a few seconds. The device was attached to the lower end of the payload to act as a secondary force reducer, with the primary device being the gyrocopter assembly built by Brycen. Two 6061 aluminum rods, attached together with a spring, act as the main structure of the payload, connecting the spring assembly, the capsule, the connector, and the gyrocopter assembly together. To maintain a rigid structure, the small rod overlaps with the large rod by at least four inches, and the spring allows them to overlap by another nine inches when compressed. The lower payload acts like a crumple zone for a car. Where instead of a collapsing structure, the spring compresses, increasing impact time and absorbing most of the force.
Testing measured survivability metrics from the capsule housed in the middle of the main structural rod. Accelerometers were used to measure G forces experienced in the capsule. To succeed the payload needs to meet human survivability metrics. The payload achieved less than 30 G of instantaneous G forces during testing. In addition, testing measured and assessed payload stress and damage to ensure the payload was reusable
Tina Morefield Audio Interview
No full textTina Morefield talks about her time working in the office of the registrar at CWU. SHe also discusses graduating from Kittitas High School and working at the unemployment office before coming to Central in 1997. She enjoyed the environment and remembers fondly some of the past student, administrators, and co-workers.https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cwura_interviews/1309/thumbnail.jp
Found in the Archives: Basketball Collage from 1965
No full textStudents discovered this Basketball Collage from 1965 in a stack of fine art prints. It is an example of why you should not use glue and tape on photographic prints. Always have a mat to keep the print off of the glass if framed. Filmed by Lilly Baur diasassembly and narration Marty Blackson. The Team image from 1965 can be seen here:https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/athletics-teamphotos/146/ The student newspaper edition from March 5, 1965 can be downloaded here: https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cwu_student_newspaper/1080
Do Nitrogen and Phosphorus Influence Channel Catfish Growth in a Great Plains River?
Full text linkEvaluating abiotic environmental factors that influence growth of sportfish is key to understanding population dynamics and making appropriate management decisions. This is especially true in river systems where primary and secondary productivity can vary across temporal and spatial scales. In this study, we assessed fish responses to ambient nutrient levels (total nitrogen and total phosphorus) using growth rates determined from age-1 Channel Catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, in Platte River, Nebraska. Water quality and growth data were collected from sites across the central and lower Platte River from 2007 to 2013. We analyzed Platte River water quality data to find yearly average levels of total nitrogen and phosphorus in the system. Results show a significant difference in growth rates and nutrients levels across Platte River segments, however nutrient levels did not help explain the differences in growth. For example, the mean growth rate across years was not significant between central and lower river segments (p-value = 0.202), but the mean total nitrogen and total phosphorus levels were significantly greater in the lower river segment across all years (p = 0.004 for nitrogen and p = 2.028-6 for phosphorus). While this study lacks evidence for a clear correlation between nutrient levels and Channel Catfish growth future investigations could help clarify the short-term and long-term impacts of eutrophication of rivers such as the Platte River that run through agricultural and urban landscpaes
A Foundational Research Project for Future Collaboration Between Indigenous Communities and Small Museums: a Case Study of Twenty-Five Beaded Bags
No full textSmall museums are ethically obligated to reconnect collections to creator communities, even with the added difficulty of fewer resources. This thesis has developed and implemented a model for mutually beneficial and collaborative relationships between creator communities and small museums with the example of the Central Washington University Museum of Culture and Environment (MCE) and Indigenous communities of the Columbia Plateau, namely the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, in the Pacific Northwest relating to twenty-five beaded bags held in possession of the MCE. This thesis uses ethnographic interview methods, provenance research, and literature review to create a cultural biography of the beaded bags stewarded by the MCE, as well as creating a model for collaboration that other small museums and institutions may follow, as previous research into this topic has focused on mid to large size museums. Five Yakama Nation beadwork artists were interviewed to understand beadwork styles, symbolism, materials, contemporary patterns and methods, and the culture surrounding beadwork. Throughout this thesis, the MCE has continued to implement new care practices, information, and future exhibit designs into the cultural biographies of these beaded bags. The MCE has learned about their responsibilities towards the beaded bags and has expanded their understanding of the material culture they steward through this thesis project, as well as the imperative need to continue collaborative projects with creator communities
Assessing the Ore Mineralization Depth and Crustal History of Plutons in Northeastern Washington Using Thermodynamic Modeling of Wall Rock Assemblages
Full text linkCritical minerals are essential for advanced technologies across all economic sectors, but domestic deposits are unconstrained and underutilized, leaving the U.S. economy vulnerable to disruption. In northeastern WA, several ore-bearing plutons may be a significant resource; however, their formation depths, a component responsible for ore genesis, are unknown. To constrain regional ore formation depths, the mineral assemblages of calc-silicate and pelitic rocks from the contact aureoles of two Cretaceous plutons, located in the Adams Mountain and Hunters (AMH) quadrangles in the hangingwall of the Kettle detachment fault (KDF), were quantitatively constrained with scanning electron microscopy and XMapTools and compared to thermodynamic models created with GeoPS. Comparisons between modeled and observed assemblages of four samples indicate that andalusite and cordierite-bearing aureoles of the 104 – 100 Ma Germania pluton, the host of a significant tungsten (W) deposit, formed at depths 3.7 – 13 km, assuming a metasedimentary overburden density of 2600 kg/m3. The andalusite and corundum (pelite) and clinopyroxene and biotite-bearing (calc-silicate) contact aureoles of the 74 – 71 Ma, weakly mineralized Fruitland pluton, formed at depths between 0.1 – 2.1 km. These results are consistent with global W deposit formation depths and suggest an average exhumation rate of ~0.2 km/My between 100 Ma and 74 Ma. Thermodynamic models indicate that the Eocene Kettle dome’s garnet and sillimanite gneiss, located in the footwall of the KDF, was metamorphosed at depths of 18 – 28 km between 59 – 52 Ma and exhumated at rates between 7.6 – 8.6 km/My after 52 Ma. These results indicate that mid-Cretaceous plutons exposed at the surface in the KDF’s hangingwall formed at greater depths favorable for W mineralization and underwent exhumation before the shallower intrusion of late-Cretaceous plutons, which have the same exposure level and less mineralization potential. These findings indicate that older, mid-Cretaceous plutons are a superior target for future W exploration in northeastern Washington. Future work to improve the resolution of pluton and core complex pressure, temperature, depth, and exhumation rate constraints, coupled with modeling additional intrusive aureoles in the AMH and Orient quadrangles, can further constrain formation conditions of deposits in the region, aiding future exploration for domestic critical minerals
River Response to Removal of a Small Dam and Replacement with a Roughened Channel
Full text linkRelatively few studies have analyzed how the removal of small dams and re-engineering of the channel affect river channel processes. The low-head Nelson Dam was built in 1920 on the Naches River in central Washington, causing two miles of aggraded sediments. This resulted in upstream flooding and excessive downstream incision that led to ineffective irrigation diversions, and hindered fish spawning. Nelson Dam was removed in 2021 and replaced with a graded, roughened, nature-like channel and a newly engineered diversion that was completed in 2023. The research presented here quantifies the effects of the Nelson Dam removal and channel redesign on river channel processes. Documenting the locations and scale of the initial response were used to estimate longer-term changes to the fluvial system.
Aerial imagery, sediment-size surveys and elevation differencing software were used to determine upstream and downstream changes. Aerial imagery was used to map channel changes, and sediment-size surveys tracked sediment transport following the dam removal. Pairs of LiDAR images from 2000, 2005, 2008, 2013, 2019, 2022, and 2023 were differenced to quantify locations and amounts of erosion and deposition before and after the Nelson Dam removal.
Aerial imagery shows little downstream change leading up to and after dam removal, but frequent, major channel shifts have occurred upstream through time. Since dam removal, sediment-size surveys suggest up to a 13% increase of fine sediment; however, the coarse component of two downstream bars skewed slightly coarser. The differencing analysis indicates locations of recent bank erosion upstream and downstream that may continue. This process could help replace the present coarse sediment distribution with a more even distribution of coarse and fine sediment. Future downstream lateral channel migration and redistribution of impounded upstream sediment may return the downstream reach to a more natural state, but confinement of the river between bedrock and a highway may hinder this change.
This study provides a baseline description for future study in 5-10 years. The results of this study give understanding to the local region, but also supply knowledge toward similar rivers where communities want to remove the adverse effects of a dam while retaining some functionality
Investigating a Potential Protein-Protein Interaction Between Transcription Factor PAX6 and Ribosomal Protein S20 (RPS20)
Full text linkThe neocortex is the largest region of mammalian brains and is responsible for the complex cognitive abilities and behaviors of mammals. The neocortex of mature mammals is divided into concise areas, which process sensory information from ears, eyes, and touch receptors, and regulate conscious movement of muscles. The combined graded expressions of several transcription factors over the embryonic neocortical ventricular zone regulates the sizes of these functional areas in the adult neocortex. Although progress has been made in understanding how transcription factors affect neocortical patterning, additional research is required to fully understand the underlying molecular mechanism(s), which will contribute to a better understanding of brain development and function and will have implications for the study of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. It is becoming clear that transcription factors do not function alone, but rather through interactions with other proteins, that improve the specificity of their regulatory functions. The focus of our work is to identify novel proteins that interact with the transcription factors involved in neocortical arealization and that thereby may contribute to this process. The goal of the current project is to investigate the potential protein-protein interaction between the transcription factor PAX6 and ribosomal protein S20 (RPS20). Initial yeast two-hybrid assays indicated a positive interaction between PAX6 and RPS20. However, further analysis suggested that the result may be a false-positive
Obsidian Occurrence and Frequency from the Upper Middle and Lower Upper Columbia River
No full textPrevious lithic studies have documented obsidian occurrence in the central Washington archaeological record. Those efforts have focused on the implications of stone tool source proximity as well as the selective conditions for stone tool cost and performance. The following research will use a scientific evolutionary archaeology comparative framework to further investigate obsidian stone tool occurrence in the upper Columbia River valley. Twenty-seven archaeological sites were identified containing 545 obsidian artifacts, and 82 were sent for x-ray fluorescence geochemical analysis. A model of cost and performance was used along with a paradigmatic classification analysis to identify inter-variable relationships across stone tool provenance, material, technological, and functional attributes. Results indicated that selective conditions favored non-local, high-quality obsidian sources that occurred across the majority of object types and reduction classes. Source diversity appears to increase over time and space