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Scalable Manufacturing of Electrodes for Wearable Electronics
Get PDFThis thesis consists of two main parts: (1) the development of a low-temperature imidization process for polyimide (PI) to enable scalable manufacturing of flexible and stretchable electrodes for wearable electronics, and (2) a comparative study of flexible and stretchable electrode pattern designs.The first study introduces a low-temperature Imidization process for PI, designed to be compatible with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates, a cost-effective and flexible material that is well-suited for roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing but cannot withstand traditional high-temperature curing methods. The developed process enables the integration of PI-based electrodes onto PET, supporting large-scale production. The resulting electrodes were validated through real-time biopotential monitoring in electrocardiogram (ECG) and electromyogram (EMG) applications, demonstrating effective performance. This work advances wearable electronics by providing a scalable, R2R-compatible, and cost-effective manufacturing approach that bridges laboratory research and industrial production.The second part compares three electrode designs—open mesh, closed mesh, and island-bridge— fabricated by laser-cut from gold-coated PI films. These designs were evaluated for mechanical and electrical performance under bending and stretching. The closed-mesh design demonstrated superior stability, with minimal resistance variation (±2.3% longitudinal, ±1.21% transverse) and the highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in electromyogram (EMG) measurements (up to 14.83 dB). The island-bridge design excelled in unidirectional strain applications, while the open-mesh design, though highly flexible, showed greater resistance variability
Jazz String Orchestra Composition
Get PDFThis thesis explores the expressive and structural possibilities of integrating string orchestration within jazz composition. Drawing from historical context, analysis of existing jazz string orchestra works, and practical arranging techniques, the study investigates how strings can enrich jazz harmony, texture, and form. These findings are then applied in a set of original compositions, demonstrating how string sections can be effectively utilized in contemporary jazz writing. Through this creative process, the work contributes to the growing repertoire of jazz compositions for string ensembles and aims to inspire further artistic exploration in this area
Next-generation health monitoring: The role of nanomaterials in 3D-printed wearable devices
Get PDFWearable devices have made transformative advancements driven by the integration of nanomaterials, enhancing their versatility, sensitivity, and overall performance. The emerging 3D printing techniques revolutionize traditional fabrication, enabling the high-efficiency fabrication for sophisticated and miniaturized healthcare monitoring systems. This review summarizes the essential properties of nanomaterials and their roles in 3D printing and examines the pros and cons of various 3D printing methods. Key applications of 3D-printed wearable devices, showcasing the synergistic contributions of nanomaterials, are introduced to provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art progress and the promising prospects for next-generation healthcare monitoring
Yellow-legged hornet what beekeepers need to know
Get PDFYellow-legged hornets (YLH; Vespa velutina Lepeletier, previously referred to as “Asian hornets”) are social insects native to Southeast Asia. These hornets prey on many insect species, including the Asian honey bee (Apis cerana) and European honey bee (A. mellifera). Even though YLH prey on honey bee colonies, it should not be confused with the northern giant hornet (NGH; Vespa mandarinia) that were found in 2020 and 2021 in Washington State. NGH were declared eradicated from the United States in 2024 by the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA 2024). This Extension publication aims to provide an overview of YLH, including current status, biology, tips for identification, and comparison to other species, and urges beekeepers, naturalists, agriculturalists, pest consultants, gardeners, or concerned citizens to report any sightings to the WSDA and Washington State University Bee Program
Secure Milk Supply Plans Creating Plans Through a Student-Led, Processor-Organized Model
Get PDFSecure Milk Supply (SMS) plans for enhanced biosecurity provide a business continuity strategy for dairy producers in the event of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. During the summers of 2022, 2023, and 2024, Washington State University veterinary and undergraduate students created SMS plans for 101 premises representing 70 dairies within Washington. This project’s success was dependent upon the collaborative efforts of Northwest Dairy Association field managers who proved to be the bridge between the students and producers. Producers reflected that they appreciated having students as an intermediary between them and state officials, preferring to support education rather than regulation
Evaluating Public Involvement in Environmental Assessment: A Case Study of Washington Department of Natural Resources Dabbler Timber Sale
Get PDF Public involvement is an important aspect of democratic governance and a critical component of environmental policy. It contributes to social license to operate, ensuring public acceptance and support of government actions. In environmental policy, public involvement helps ensure that those most affected by agency decisions with significant environmental impact are able to share their concerns and that those concerns are considered in the decision-making process. In both the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321-4370h (1970), and Washington’s State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), 43.21C RCW (1983), public involvement is a procedural requirement that must also receive substantive consideration in agency decisions. Research confirms that public involvement under NEPA can have substantive influence on outcomes. However, meaningful public participation poses challenges for both agencies and the public, including issues of administrative capacity and accessibility. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) manages millions of acres of land across Washington state, including state trust lands. WDNR is legally mandated to generate revenue from state trust lands for trust beneficiaries and primarily fulfills that obligation through the public auction of timber. This research uses the Dabbler timber sale, located in Clark County, Washington, as a case study to evaluate procedural and substantive compliance with SEPA and the corresponding public involvement process. The findings reveal that WDNR is failing to meet SEPA standards and is facing increasing challenges to its social, political, and legal license to operate. This paper explores the implications of those challenges and highlights the importance of inclusive, meaningful, and effective public involvement in the environmental assessment process.</p
Authenticity, Greenwashing, and the Wicked Problem of Sustainable Design Equitable, Sustainable Practices or Greenwashing?
No full text"Space and design affects day-to-day living through the impact of emotion, thought, and the environment. Creating an intentional sense of place is what designers are hired to do. When developing the built environment to span beyond current standards, it is important to keep the world moving forward in the right direction.Design theory is a framework of ideas and guides that can help explain why intentional design works. It helps give educated solutions to problems that may not have one outcome. Sometimes, the easiest way to solve a design problem is not how you define the solution, but rather the original issue. Theory is simply finding how to approach a conceptual issue. It can be personal, logical, illogical, and overall, just how a person or client wants things to be in a certain way.Theory acts as a guideline to understanding why there can be unwritten design rules and design “norms” to life that have not been thoroughly researched yet. Buchanan theorized design has turned from a “trade activity to a segmented profession to a field for technical research and to what now should be recognized as a new liberal art of technological culture,” (Buchanan, 1992). Theory connects the craft to the art and the concept to a result. Design connects to many other aspects of the world, one issue being wicked problems.Wicked problems are ill-defined, complex issues that impact society. These problems are defined by having distinct characteristics. The choice of explanation determines the nature of the problem's resolution. (Rittel and Webber, 1973, p. 166). How these wicked problems are defined or solved is not one simple answer; instead, these problems allow systems and institutions to think intuitively, and usually these issues are solved iteratively
Identification of Stochastic Manufacturing Defects Within Additively Manufactured Acoustic Liners
No full textThe exploration of novel acoustic engine liner designs using 3D internal lattices has become a growing topic of interest within the field of additive manufacturing (AM) and the aeroacoustics community. However, the comparison between the acoustic liner response of computational simulation using the design intent and experimental testing of as-built structure can show significant deviation. While the deviation in performance will be explored in a future publication, this work analyses possible causes of the deviation. A potential cause is the inclusion of stochastic manufacturing defects within the part. This paper establishes methods for systematically identifying and quantifying defects in the printing of novel acoustic liners. This approach intends to offer up significant insight into the build quality of the printed lattice structures without the cost and time investment typically required of computed tomography (CT) scanning. The core of the liner design analyzed in this paper is made up of a triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) Schwarz P lattice. Error distributions of several design variables are found by taking manual measurements of printed liners. Additionally, liners are scored using an automated screening method to detect significantly flawed prints. The potential for error distributions to be used in stochastic simulation studies could help predict what effect manufacturing defects have on the behavior of structures that leverage TPMS lattices with small features such as acoustic liners
Contrail Observation Limitations Using Geostationary Satellites
No full textContrails are a significant contributor to aviation's climate impact with an effective radiative forcing similar to that from aviation's CO2emissions, yet large uncertainties remain. Many observational contrail studies rely on data from a single sensor, in recent years increasingly from a geostationary imager, accepting lower spatial resolution in exchange for higher temporal and spatial coverage. However, the ability of geostationary imagery to resolve contrails has not been systematically characterized. By comparing higher spatial resolution low Earth orbit satellite imagery from Visual Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) to geostationary satellite imagery from GOES ABI, we show that the latter does not resolve 80% of the contrails nor half of the total length compared to contrails identified with VIIRS. Our findings underscore the need for multi‐sensor approaches to collect observational contrail data for improved validation of climate models and to enable more rigorous and verifiable contrail avoidance strategies. Plain Language Summary About half of aviation's climate impact is estimated to come from non‐CO2effects, predominantly contrails, which are the line‐shaped ice clouds that sometimes form behind airplanes. Many contrails can be avoided by small aircraft altitude adjustments to bypass the often thin layers of higher humidity in which they form and persist, making this an attractive opportunity for near‐term climate impact mitigation. Since the ability to forecast the location of these thin regions in the upper atmosphere is limited, studies often rely on observations of contrails in imagery from geostationary satellites instead. However, the impacts of the limited spatial resolution of such geostationary images on contrail observations have not been rigorously assessed. In this study, we compare images taken from low Earth orbit satellites, which are higher in resolution, to those taken at the same time and location using a geostationary satellite. We find that the lower‐resolution geostationary images miss 80% of the contrails observable with the higher‐resolution instrument. These results have important implications for understanding contrail impacts and developing observation and forecasting systems for avoiding contrails. The results suggest that it will be necessary to combine information from multiple sensors to validate climate models and inform mitigation strategies. Key Points Contrails are manually identified in false‐color satellite imagery from a geostationary sensor and a sensor in low Earth orbit Differences in the number, cover, and the geometric features of the two observed contrail populations are analyzed and compared The study finds that geostationary imagers miss 80% of all contrails and half of their total length observed from low Earth orbit imager
Hydromulch Maintains Strawberry Yield, Fruit Quality, and Plant Nutrition across Two Contrasting Environments
Get PDFPlastic mulches made from nonbiodegradable polyethylene (i.e., " PE mulch") are an integral tool for organic and conventional strawberry ( Fragaria x ananassa ) production due to their ability to optimize soil and crop microclimates, suppress weeds, and promote overall yield and fruit quality. Unfortunately, PE mulch is primarily single-use and seldom recycled, leading to large volumes of plastic waste, with some of the plastic mulch fragments residing in the soil or polluting the surrounding agroecosystem. Although soil-biodegradable plastic mulches are a promising mulch technology that aims to reduce waste generation, no commercial products are available that meet the National Organic Program's requirements. Hydromulches are an alternative mulch technology that is sprayable and can be formulated to meet organic requirements, but they have undergone limited testing. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of various hydromulch formulations on yield, fruit quality, and tissue nutrient status of day-neutral strawberries grown in two diverse environments. Hydromulches made with various formulations of paper, guar gum, or psyllium tackifiers were compared with PE mulch in Northwest Washington and North Dakota in 2022. Few treatment effects were observed throughout the experiment, and both strawberry yield and fruit quality were maintained. Slight variations in tissue nutrient concentrations were observed but not attributed to hydromulch treatments. Information resulting from this project demonstrates hydromulches maintain crop productivity and quality. Future research should evaluate the ability of hydromulches to suppress a spectrum of weed species, impacts on soil health, and economic viability