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Models, Testing and Public Affairs: The Case for Crash Test Dummies
No full textAs the discourse on the evolving qualities of the STEM workforce continues, it becomes prudent to enrich the discussion with contexts which substantially illustrate the impact of workforce readiness on public affairs. We explore the political, economic, cultural foundations of the research and engineering of crash dummy models in the aerospace industry. The research question underlying this work is: how do models and testing in engineering influence public affairs in the context of safety in the aerospace industry? Aerospace safety for years has been known to rely on crash test dummy models created in the 19 50s that are modeled after the average male. We focus on this technology\u27s governance within the United State s. Our research focuses primarily on the development and implementation of a fem ale crash test dummy, which has the dimensions of 4\u271 1 and weighs 1 08 pounds, while the average American female is 5\u274 ? and 1 20 Ibs. This proj ect expl ores the role of mode ling in crash testing to improve safety outcomes for all occupants, and has pol icy implications on pregnant women, people at different ages, people with disabilities, and children. We explore the historical development of the technology with a focus on the scientific, socio-economic, institutional and cultural factors, and the interactions between these factors, that have influenced the technology\u27s evolution, with special attention to the role of engineering education up to the present. We show our analysis on com mon injuries and the vehicle response to a female anatomy in comparison to a ma le, which, ultimately, will allow us to pinpoint changes required to better make the aerospace and automotive industries safer, with results transcending to other modes of transportation. Advocating for a more inclusive approach
Interacting Simulink and Unreal Engine
No full textAn important aspect of solving problems in spaceflight dynamics is t he visualization of solutions. As part of the AE 426 course (Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics), student s are taught how to use Simulink and its built-in animation tools for this purpose. This functionality is set to be removed in a future release of Simulink, and will be replaced with 3D rendering software Unreal Engine. This project aimed to get ahead of t hat change by reproducing t h e animations used for AE 426 using Unreal Engine. It also looked to do so in a way that could easily be replicated by future students. To begin, we created basic models of the Earth and of a simple coordinate frame. which served as our spacecraft. From t here. we imported all of the files into Simulink and managed to integrate the models into existing programs used in A E 42 6. Finally, we compared the results to the old system and tweaked our program until the animations matched. We also identified a few problems wit h both Unreal Engine and the Simulink animation tools, which we found work-around s for. Future work on this project will aim to create more detailed and accurate spacecraft model s, look into t he feasibility of using other software beside s Unreal Engine for the models, and find more consistent, replicable solutions to the animation inconsistencies that we found
Facilitating Women\u27s Success in Software Engineering Through the Exploration of Non-Traditional Educational Environments
Get PDFSTEM fields face persistent challenges with diversity, equity, and inclusion. For example, while women make up 56% of students enrolled in undergraduate degrees, women account for only 22% of the students in engineering programs. This number drops even further in the workforce, where women comprise only 15.9% of the engineering industry (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024). Consequently, the industry of equity-focused coding education has grown rapidly, leading to the rise of coding boot camps, workshops, and community-based coding education specifically designed to increase the participation of women and underrepresented programmers in tech (Rea, 2022; Jabbari, 2023). While the impacts of these sites of coding education are many and varied, they have much to offer software engineering educators invested in exploring inclusive pedagogy (Byrd, 2020; Damian et al., 2024; Vakil, 2018). As such, legislation that hinders the reach of these organizations or even outright bans them is of major concern to both the industry and the women within it. These organizations provide a vital service and to be without them is to see a software engineering field sliding backwards in time, preventing major groups of people from having their voices heard and their perspectives considered. As faculty and students working within technical communication and engineering, our research team seeks ways to foster more equitable learning environments and help underrepresented students thrive in software engineering. To that end, this presentation offers pedagogical insights derived from an IRB-approved, multi-year qualitative study of sites of coding education created to increase representation, access, and equity in the tech industry. Ultimately, this presentation offers attendees a framework to critically evaluate pedagogical practices for software engineering education as well as specific strategies for cultivating a more inclusive learning environment and improving the learning experiences of underrepresented students in engineering
What If We Could Directly Measure Neutron Star Magnetic Fields To Transform Our Understanding of Massive Star Evolution?
No full textBe X-ray binaries (BeXRBs) serve as natural laboratories for studying matter under extreme conditions, with temperatures of millions of Kelvin, densities rivaling atomic nuclei, and magnetic fields billions of times stronger than Earth. These systems, which consist of a massive Be star and a compact stellar object (neutron star) orbiting a common center of mass, provide a unique opportunity to measure the most important parameter in any astrophysical system: magnetic fields, “directly” through cyclotron resonance scattering features (CRSFs) seen in their X-ray spectrum. CRSFs generally appear in absorption in the X-ray spectra of objects that contain highly magnetized neutron stars. CRSFs are caused by the resonant scattering of photons by electrons in strong magnetic fields, and allow direct measurement of magnetic field strength in these objects. We are currently focusing on the CRSF measurement of one Be X-ray binary XTE J1946+274. We find that the X-ray spectrum is complex and can be described by a power-law with a high energy cutoff with an absorption at 17 keV. This places the magnetic field in the range of 10^12 G. We are expanding our study to other similar systems to get a comprehensive measurement of magnetic fields in these enigmatic systems
Binder Jetting Additive Manufacturing of Metallic Battery Case with Integrated Cooling Channels
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The Apothecary
Get PDFImogen Hawthorne spent the last decade of her life married to a controlling, abusive, alcoholic man. After fleeing their home in Winter Harbor, Maine, Imogen moves to Savannah, GA, and purchases an old apothecary. Desperately trying to start over, she fears it\u27s only a matter of time before her husband tracks her down. While renovating the apothecary, Imogen is presented with a disturbing opportunity to stop her abuser for good. The Apothecary explores moral duality, karma, and whether one can truly find closure after enduring years of trauma
Age Analysis of NGC 2168 Cluster using BASE-9 Software
Get PDFThis research is an investigation into precision and accuracy of age determination in the open star cluster NGC 2168 using BASE-9 software. The project is divided into two parts with the first being the determination of the age of the entire cluster and the second being age determination of the individual stars within the cluster. Part one involves analyzing the collective properties of the cluster to derive its age. Part two involves assessing the age of individual stars within the selected star clusters using BASE-9 software. Through analysis of individual stars within the chosen clusters, we evaluated the reliability and validity of the age determinations obtained. This research project aims to contribute to the understanding of precision in age determination for both open star clusters and for individual stars by utilizing BASE-9 software by studying collective and individual age determinations of one open star cluster. This research will additionally contribute to advancing the knowledge of stellar evolution and star cluster properties
Analysis of Airline-in-Airline Strategy and Market Concentration in Europe
Get PDFThe European airline market consists of both full-service and low-cost carriers, with major airline groups like International Airlines Group (IAG), Air France-KLM Group, Lufthansa Group, and Ryanair Group managing multiple subsidiaries to target diverse passenger segments and different regional markets. This project examines how these airline groups and their use of airline-in-airline strategy impact market concentration and competition on intra-European routes, with a focus on the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) as a measure of market structure. Key research questions include the comparison of market concentration at national and regional levels, the influence of airline group subsidiaries on overall market share, and the role of airline-in-airline strategy in shaping market concentration on major intra-European routes. Data collected from DIIO and CAPA will be used for analyzing market share by flight capacity on overlapped vs. non-overlapped routes between legacy carriers and their low-cost subsidiaries from 2017 to 2023 covering both pre- and post-pandemic periods. The study aims to reveal how the market structure has evolved due to the formation of airline-in-airlines strategy and the growth of low-cost carriers, providing insights into the competitive dynamics of the European airline industry