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Improvement of the Water Distribution System in Chaguarpamba, Ecuador: An Engineers Without Borders Program.
Get PDFEWBMiami has been working on a collaborative initiative with the community of Chaguarpamba, Ecuador for the past four years to find a sustainable solution to disinfect the community’s water supply and provide an adequate supply of clean water. The project was opened in 2011 and since then the chapter has taken four trip to the community for assessment and implementation. On the first trip in March 2012, six student chapter members and our professional mentor traveled to Chaguarpamba to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the water quality. During that trip they identified fecal coliforms as the primary cause of water contamination. The health clinic overseen by the Peace Corps confirmed that parasites and diarrhea due to consuming contaminated water were the leading health care issues in Chaguarpamba. Therefore, EWBMiami partnered with the Chaguarpamba municipality and community to engineer a sustainable water disinfection solution as well as work on a water source development project. EWBMiami engineered a solution to improve capture at the water collection sites while eliminating pipe obstructions such as sediment blockage which frequently impedes water flow into the distribution system.Another group of students traveled to Chaguarpamba in January 2013 to implement their solutions to these two projects, mainly an improved water chlorination system, as well as search for and test the viability of a new potential source of water for the village. At the request of the community, EWBMiami shifted the focus of the project work in 2014 to building an AutoCAD map of their existing water distribution system. This involved collecting the data necessary to create a map of the city’s water system, such as the locations of the piping, meters, valves, and other parts of the system. Beyond the map, EWBMiami found it necessary to begin developing a hydraulic model, made in EPA NET, based on the map. Currently, the city does not receive enough water to support its growing population and does not have a map of its drinking water system. The map and especially the model are necessary to determine the locations of leaks and areas where water is being used but not being paid for. By creating a map and model of their system, we can provide a way to determine what changes should be made to increase the amount of water available for the city of Chaguarpamba. The municipality is also considering constructing a new pipeline from an additional water source in the future. This project is highly dependent on funding, such as government loans. Because of this very long term aspect to the project and the fact that Chaguarpamba does have collegeeducated engineers, EWBMiami and the municipality have come to an agreement to end our project partnership approximately one year early. Before a complete program close out EWBMiami will take a final trip to the community to provide an updated version of the AutoCAD map, a complete hydraulic model, and training for the local engineers on how to use the model software.
Investigation of Preventative Treatment Options for Pressure Ulcers
Get PDFThe health care system currently lacks a product that both treats and prevents the progression of sub-dermal pressure ulcers. Not much is known about the formation of sub-dermal pressure ulcers however it is widely accepted that lack of blood supply, and thus lack of oxygen, is the cause. The purpose of this investigation is to develop a device that supplies oxygen from an external reservoir, at a controlled rate, to the location of a subdermal pressure ulcer. Since skin is a large diffusional barrier to oxygen the incorporation of microneedles into the devices allows for increased and possibly uninhibited gas diffusion. We plan on using this data to creating a device that would effectively treat the progression of pressure ulcers, or more generically a device that would be able to diffuse gas to a sub-dermal tissue
Safari Scrapbook
Get PDFA multidisciplinary team of engineering students was formed in an effort to complete the senior design project required by Miami University. The study was conducted in Camden Town, London in May and June of 2014. Students collaborated with a privately owned physical therapy business, Kiki’s Clinic, located in Clapham, London. The project focus centers on developing a wear-resistant product for all ages to test grip and pinch strength. The major goal of this product is to develop a functional, safe, interactive product to make the therapist, parent and child’s lives easier and positively influenced. This will include an appealing interface for the child, as well as a simple-to-read, accurate display for the monitor.Research as to what conditions affect grip and pinch strength has been conducted as well as current methods used to assess baseline and progress levels. Safety regulations as determined by the European Union have been established and employed when constructing design ideas. After much prototyping, the final design idea was decided to be a rectangular-shaped camera with pressure sensors on each vertical handle along with a pressure sensor on the upper horizontal part that will serve as the pinch sensor. The child-friendly interface to accompany this design will be a safari scrapbook. This will allow for patient testing, along with the opportunity for the child to practice by adding more pictures to their scrapbook.This device tests right and left grip strengths individually, simultaneously, and it also tests pinch strength. The data from the various tests will be sent out and converted to an Excel patient file. Each trial will be recorded, and a graph of strength versus time will be generated for the therapist’s reference
Automated U-Bolt Inspection System
Get PDFConsolidated Metal Products has a unique cold-forming process to create U-bolts that makes themthe industry leader in U-bolt production. This process has a tendency to create cracks due to high residualstresses. The senior design team researched several methods of crack detection including ultrasonic, dyepenetrant, and visual camera inspection. The conventional ultrasonic method was tested by NDT systems inhouse and was shown to work with the curvature of the U-bolt. Fluorescent dye penetrant was tested byapplying the dye to the bolts with, and without cracks in them and then observed the difference in light valuesin and out of the cracks. Camera inspection was tested statistically by comparing light intensity values insideand out of crack areas on gathered images without the application of dye. After testing these methods, camerainspection was chosen through the use of a selection matrix. In The senior design, the team began withconstruction of a controlled lighting environment box for taking photographs of U-bolts. A Matlab code wasformed to compare light intensity values of bolt images and to work in unison with an Arduino to outputseparate signals for normal and defective U-Bolts. The Matlab code also automatically analyzed images takenby the camera. The Matlab code was then tested with sample bolts. Threshold light values were obtained tooptimize the system’s ability to detect cracks
ECE – 449 : Target Indication Radar
Get PDFThe following paper details the construction of a continuous waver radar, proposed through the senior design project at Miami University. The purpose of this project is to implement a cost efficient and working radar. Currently, the majority of radars are only available for military use, and are too expensive for the everyday consumer. The goal was to create a radar for home security purposes that could be made both affordable and available in typical consumer markets
Design of Brain Tumor Phantoms Replicating the Elasticity of Gliomas
Get PDFIt is hypothesized that by finding the stiffness of gliomas in the brain, cryogel tumor phantoms can be created which match the elastic properties of gliomas. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is one method that can be used to identify tumors in the brain. Tumor phantoms can be used to help uncover potential weaknesses in these medical imaging systems. Cryogels prepared by the freeze-thaw technique have shown to mimic the mechanical properties of soft tissues and have been extensively used as phantom materials. The effects of varying freeze-thaw cycles and properties of various polymer mixtures in solution were researched in order to produce cryogel phantoms that could model tumor stiffness, compressive Young’s modulus(E), and shear modulus(G)
Letter from the Editor
Get PDFMiami Engineering and Computing Review (MECR) is a student peer-review online journal focused on highlighting exceptional senior design teams and student accomplishments. Beginning in May 2012, MECR is the first student peer review journal produced by Miami Universities College of Engineering and Computing. MECR strives to strike a balance of conforming the senior design project papers into journalistic format while preserving both the differences among engineering disciplines and the reflective senior experience. To this end the articles include reflections written by senior design team members and the reference style has been adjusted to reflect modern footnote style. The editors for the 2012-13 papers consist of six senior engineers with the expectation of publishing in the fall of 2013. The goal was to include work from all departments. Hopefully MECR will continue to grow and highlight exceptional projects and students
Miami University Class Schedule Validator
Get PDFThis document discusses the Miami University Class Schedule Validator. The Miami University Class Schedule (M.U.C.S) Validator is designed for use in individual departments, divisions, and the University Registrar’s Office of Miami University to help monitor and comply with a set of class scheduling parameters and rules set by the Miami University Office of the Provost, defined as the Oxford Class Schedule Policy (Policy). (Miami University, 2011). The application analyzes proposed schedules and checks them for validation by generating information showing the compliance of schedules with the Policy parameters and rules
Letter from the Editor
Get PDFThe Miami Engineering and Computing Review (MECR) is a student peer-reviewed online journal committed to the development of undergraduate research excellence at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. MECR aims to publish peer-reviewed articles regarding senior design level projects completed by SEAS engineering students. MECR originated in January 2012 with the first publication expected for May 2012. This is the first student peer-reviewed journal produced by SEAS and therefore acts as a trial run from which we hope to develop a superb publication. Our current editorial team is composed of four senior standing engineering students. All current members are graduating in May and therefore we will need to elect a completely new group of editors for next year. We hope the first issue will inspire younger SEAS students to become involved and to produce excellent research for publication
American Red Cross Badge Database and Web Portal
Get PDFoai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/2The purpose of this project is to implement a database to hold American Red Cross historical nurse badge numbers as well as a web portal for secure access and querying into this database. The database is designed to assist the American Red Cross with organizing, maintaining, and searching data of previous Red Cross nurses, as well offering current badge holders with a way to add their information to the database. The primary goal of the web portal is to provide the American Red Cross and any other stakeholders with a secure tool to view and query the database