Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
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Description
Engineering is a multidisciplinary field with a variety of applications. However, since there are so many disciplines of engineering, it is often challenging to find the discipline that best suits an individual interested in engineering. Not knowing which area of engineering most aligns to one’s interests is challenging when deciding on a major and a career. With the development of the Engineering Interest Quiz (EIQ), the goal was to help individuals find the field of engineering that is most similar to their interests. Initially, an Engineering Faculty Survey (EFS) was created to gather information from engineering faculty at Arizona State University (ASU) and to determine keywords that describe each field of engineering. With this list of keywords, the EIQ was developed. Data from the EIQ compared the engineering students’ top three results for the best engineering discipline for them with their current engineering major of study. The data analysis showed that 70% of the respondents had their major listed as one of the top three results they were given and 30% of the respondents did not have their major listed. Of that 70%, 64% had their current major listed as the highest or tied for the highest percentage and 36% had their major listed as the second or third highest percentage. Furthermore, the EIQ data was compared between genders. Only 33% of the male students had their current major listed as their highest percentage, but 55% had their major as one of their top three results. Women had higher percentages with 63% listing their current major as their highest percentage and 81% listing it in the top three of their final results.
ContributorsWagner, Avery Rose (Co-author) / Lucca, Claudia (Co-author) / Taylor, David (Thesis director) / Miller, Cindy (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
In the past ten years, the United States’ sound recording industries have experienced significant decreases in employment opportunities for aspiring audio engineers from economic imbalances in the music industry’s digital streaming era and reductions in government funding for career and technical education (CTE). The Recording Industry Association of America reports promises of music industry sustainability based on increasing annual revenues in paid streaming services and artists’ high creative demand. The rate of new audio engineer entries in the sound recording subsection of the music industry is not viable to support streaming artists’ high demand to engineer new music recordings. Offering CTE programs in secondary education is rare for aspiring engineers with insufficient accessibility to pursue a post-secondary or vocational education because of financial and academic limitations. These aspiring engineers seek alternatives for receiving an informal education in audio engineering on the Internet using video sharing services like YouTube to search for tutorials and improve their engineering skills. The shortage of accessible educational materials on the Internet restricts engineers from advancing their own audio engineering education, reducing opportunities to enter a desperate job market in need of independent, home studio-based engineers. Content creators on YouTube take advantage of this situation and commercialize their own video tutorial series for free and selling paid subscriptions to exclusive content. This is misleading for newer engineers because these tutorials omit important understandings of fundamental engineering concepts. Instead, content creators teach inflexible engineering methodologies that are mostly beneficial to their own way of thinking. Content creators do not often assess the incompatibility of teaching their own methodologies to potential entrants in a profession that demands critical thinking skills requiring applied fundamental audio engineering concepts and techniques. This project analyzes potential solutions to resolve the deficiencies in online audio engineering education and experiments with structuring simple, deliverable, accessible educational content and materials to new entries in audio engineering. Designing clear, easy to follow material to these new entries in audio engineering is essential for developing a strong understanding for the application of fundamental concepts in future engineers’ careers. Approaches to creating and designing educational content requires translating complex engineering concepts through simplified mediums that reduce limitations in learning for future audio engineers.
ContributorsBurns, Triston Connor (Author) / Tobias, Evan (Thesis director) / Libman, Jeff (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Complex human controls is a topic of much interest in the fields of robotics, manufacturing, space exploration and many others. Even simple tasks that humans perform with ease can be extremely complicated when observed from a controls and complex systems perspective. One such simple task is that of a human carrying and moving a coffee cup. Though this may be a mundane task for humans, when this task is modelled and analyzed, the system may be quite chaotic in nature. Understanding such systems is key to the development robots and autonomous systems that can perform these tasks themselves.
The coffee cup system can be simplified and modeled by a cart-and-pendulum system. Bazzi et al. and Maurice et al. present two different cart-and-pendulum systems to represent the coffee cup system [1],[2]. The purpose of this project was to build upon these systems and to gain a better understanding of the coffee cup system and to determine where chaos existed within the system. The honors thesis team first worked with their senior design group to develop a mathematical model for the cart-and-pendulum system based on the Bazzi and Maurice papers [1],[2]. This system was analyzed and then built upon by the honors thesis team to build a cart-and-two-pendulum model to represent the coffee cup system more accurately.
Analysis of the single pendulum model showed that there exists a low frequency region where the pendulum and the cart remain in phase with each other and a high frequency region where the cart and pendulum have a π phase difference between them. The transition point of the low and high frequency region is determined by the resonant frequency of the pendulum. The analysis of the two-pendulum system also confirmed this result and revealed that differences in length between the pendulum cause the pendulums to transition to the high frequency regions at separate frequency. The pendulums have different resonance frequencies and transition into the high frequency region based on their own resonant frequency. This causes a range of frequencies where the pendulums are out of phase from each other. After both pendulums have transitioned, they remain in phase with each other and out of phase from the cart.
However, if the length of the pendulum is decreased too much, the system starts to exhibit chaotic behavior. The short pendulum starts to act in a chaotic manner and the phase relationship between the pendulums and the carts is no longer maintained. Since the pendulum length represents the distance between the particle of coffee and the top of the cup, this implies that coffee near the top of the cup would cause the system to act chaotically. Further analysis would be needed to determine the reason why the length affects the system in this way.
The coffee cup system can be simplified and modeled by a cart-and-pendulum system. Bazzi et al. and Maurice et al. present two different cart-and-pendulum systems to represent the coffee cup system [1],[2]. The purpose of this project was to build upon these systems and to gain a better understanding of the coffee cup system and to determine where chaos existed within the system. The honors thesis team first worked with their senior design group to develop a mathematical model for the cart-and-pendulum system based on the Bazzi and Maurice papers [1],[2]. This system was analyzed and then built upon by the honors thesis team to build a cart-and-two-pendulum model to represent the coffee cup system more accurately.
Analysis of the single pendulum model showed that there exists a low frequency region where the pendulum and the cart remain in phase with each other and a high frequency region where the cart and pendulum have a π phase difference between them. The transition point of the low and high frequency region is determined by the resonant frequency of the pendulum. The analysis of the two-pendulum system also confirmed this result and revealed that differences in length between the pendulum cause the pendulums to transition to the high frequency regions at separate frequency. The pendulums have different resonance frequencies and transition into the high frequency region based on their own resonant frequency. This causes a range of frequencies where the pendulums are out of phase from each other. After both pendulums have transitioned, they remain in phase with each other and out of phase from the cart.
However, if the length of the pendulum is decreased too much, the system starts to exhibit chaotic behavior. The short pendulum starts to act in a chaotic manner and the phase relationship between the pendulums and the carts is no longer maintained. Since the pendulum length represents the distance between the particle of coffee and the top of the cup, this implies that coffee near the top of the cup would cause the system to act chaotically. Further analysis would be needed to determine the reason why the length affects the system in this way.
ContributorsZindani, Abdul Rahman (Co-author) / Crane, Kari (Co-author) / Lai, Ying-Cheng (Thesis director) / Jiang, Junjie (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
Pasta is a staple food for many people and understanding how the process of making it at a homemade level and industrial level should be examined. Pasta is a large and growing market due to growing populations and new products, therefore, researching the pasta has many benefits. The goal of the research is to determine a consistent way to make homemade pasta and compare it to the industrial method. The comparisons that will be examined are the costs and the process to make the pasta. From there it can be determined where homemade pasta can fit in the market. Through experimentation, an optimal ratio of 1.65 grams of flour to 1 gram of egg was found to create pasta dough that would consistently make pasta easy to work with. Different methods of storage were tested to find a viable method to store fresh pasta. It was found that storing the pasta in an enclosed bag with a condensed shape in the freezer was the best method because it created the most durable pasta out of all the trials and it could be cooked. The industrial method for making pasta differed in some aspects to the homemade pasta method. The biggest changes were the use of an extruder and a drying machine which makes it easier to mass produce uniform pasta. The cost per kilogram based off ingredient prices to make homemade pasta was 0.92 dollars while the industrial pasta cost 0.89 dollars per kilogram. The biggest changes in cost comes from the method of storage of homemade pasta. It was determined that following the drying process of the industrial method would be best because then the price difference is dependent on the price of ingredients. This led to multiple possibilities where homemade pasta could enter the market, for example, as a part of premade meals. Overall, it is possible to create a better quality pasta that can be supplied to a wide arrange of demographics.
ContributorsKupres, Matthew David (Author) / Taylor, David (Thesis director) / Schoepf, Jared (Committee member) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
An understanding of aerodynamics is crucial for automobile performance and efficiency. There are many types of “add-on” aerodynamic devices for cars including wings, splitters, and vortex generators. While these have been studied extensively, rear spoilers have not, and their effects are not as widely known. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and wind tunnel study was performed to study the effects of spoilers on vehicle aerodynamics and performance. Vehicle aerodynamics is geometry dependent, meaning what applies to one car may or may not apply on another. So, the Scion FRS was chosen as the test vehicle because it is has the “classic” sports car configuration with a long hood, short rear, and 2+2 passenger cabin while also being widely sold with a plethora of aftermarket aerodynamic modifications available. Due to computing and licensing restrictions, only a 2D CFD simulation was performed in ANSYS Fluent 19.1. A surface model of the centerline of the car was created in SolidWorks and imported into ANSYS, where the domain was created. A mesh convergence study was run to determine the optimum mesh size, and Realizable k-epsilon was the chosen physics model. The wind tunnel lacked equipment to record quantifiable data, so the wind tunnel was utilized for flow visualization on a 1/24 scale car model to compare with the CFD.
0° spoilers reduced the wake area behind the car, decreasing pressure drag but also decreasing underbody flow, causing a reduction in drag and downforce. Angled spoilers increased the wake area behind the car, increasing pressure drag but also increasing underbody flow, causing an increase in drag and downforce. Longer spoilers increased these effects compared to shorter spoilers, and short spoilers at different angles did not create significantly different effects. 0° spoilers would be best suited for cases that prioritize fuel economy or straight-line acceleration and speed due to the drag reduction, while angled spoilers would be best suited for cars requiring downforce. The angle and length of spoiler would depend on the downforce needed, which is dependent on the track.
0° spoilers reduced the wake area behind the car, decreasing pressure drag but also decreasing underbody flow, causing a reduction in drag and downforce. Angled spoilers increased the wake area behind the car, increasing pressure drag but also increasing underbody flow, causing an increase in drag and downforce. Longer spoilers increased these effects compared to shorter spoilers, and short spoilers at different angles did not create significantly different effects. 0° spoilers would be best suited for cases that prioritize fuel economy or straight-line acceleration and speed due to the drag reduction, while angled spoilers would be best suited for cars requiring downforce. The angle and length of spoiler would depend on the downforce needed, which is dependent on the track.
ContributorsNie, Alexander (Author) / Wells, Valana (Thesis director) / Huang, Huei-Ping (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
As structural engineers in practice continue to improve their methods and advance their analysis and design techniques through the use of new technology, how should structural engineering education programs evolve as well to match the increasing complexity of the industry? This thesis serves to analyze the many differing opinions and techniques on modernizing structural engineering education programs through a literature review on the content put out by active structural engineering education reform committees, articles and publications by well-known educators and practitioners, and a series of interviews conducted with key individuals specifically for this project. According to the opinions analyzed in this paper, structural engineering education should be a 5-year program that ends with a master’s degree, so that students obtain enough necessary knowledge to begin their positions as structural engineers. Firms would rather continue the education of new-hires themselves after this time than to wait and pay more for students to finish longer graduate-type programs. Computer programs should be implemented further into education programs, and would be most productive not as a replacement to hand-calculation methods, but as a supplement. Students should be tasked with writing codes, so that they are required to implement these calculations into computer programs themselves, and use classical methods to verify their answers. In this way, engineering programs will be creating critical thinkers who can adapt to any new structural analysis and design programs, and not just be training students on current programs that will become obsolete with time. It is the responsibility of educators to educate current staff on how to implement these coding methods seamlessly into education as a supplement to hand calculation methods. Students will be able to learn what is behind commercial coding software, develop their hand-calculation skills through code verification, and focus more on the ever-important modeling and interpretation phases of problem solving. Practitioners will have the responsibility of not expecting students to graduate with knowledge of specific software programs, but instead recruiting students who showcase critical thinking skills and understand the backbone of these programs. They will continue the education of recent graduates themselves, providing them with real-world experience that they cannot receive in school while training them to use company-specific analysis and design software.
ContributorsMaurer, Cole Chaon (Author) / Hjelmstad, Keith (Thesis director) / Chatziefstratiou, Efthalia (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Eng Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This thesis aims to incorporate exosomes into an electrospun scaffold for tissue engineering applications. The motivation for this work is to develop an implant to regenerate tissue for patients with laryngeal defects. It was determined that it is feasible to incorporate exosomes into an electrospun scaffold. This addition of exosomes does alter the scaffold properties, by decreasing the average fiber diameter by roughly a factor of three and increasing the average modulus by roughly a factor of two. Cells were cultured on a scaffold with exosomes incorporated and were found to proliferate more than on a scaffold alone. This research lays the groundwork for further developing and optimizing an electrospun scaffold with exosomes incorporated to elicit a tissue regenerative response.
ContributorsKennedy, Maeve (Author) / Pizziconi, Vincent (Thesis director) / McPhail, Michael (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Entrepreneurship is an incredibly difficult endeavor. Along with the potentially high risk-to-return-ratio, starting an entrepreneurial venture, in nearly any capacity, necessitates a significant summation of work, time, creativity, and adaptability.1 In my opinion, many of the token hyper-productive individuals that have produced enormous amounts of value for the world were entrepreneurs who started their own companies and organizations. However, for every successful founder, there are thousands of failed entrepreneurs. In 2015, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that roughly 50% of businesses fail in the first four years.2 Founders, over time, must become professionals in their respective industries in order to succeed. With limited financial capital to hire employees, founders must learn skills in a variety of focus areas which could include finance, strategy, technology, management, marketing, sales, and many more, until they can generate enough capital to hire employees to fulfill these roles. Although the learnings and experiences from starting a company can more effectively be understood through experiencing it first-hand, in this document, I intend to start a startup from scratch, learn a multitude of skills involved with starting a startup and describe my experience. My hope is that potential founders can read this document and get a better understanding of what it’s like to start a startup. This thesis will be less focused on quantitative data capturing and more focused on my first-hand experience.
ContributorsNaluz, Ethan Gabriel (Author) / Sebold, Brent (Thesis director) / Mian, Sami (Committee member) / Ravichandran, Anirudh (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Competitive Swimming is not only a sport, but also an invaluable life skill. As long as it has existed, people have wondered how to swim faster. There are a multitude of variables that go into any race and shockingly not much research around to scientifically approach the question. This study aims to investigate the drag forces behind a Swimmer’s race to give better insight as to what will slow a Swimmer down through simulations in ANSYS Fluent. Simple 2D simulations were made with a Swimmer in different positions and a flow of water moved over them. What was found was that different positions, or techniques, yield vastly different results. When following typical good technique, a Swimmer can expect to be approximately 136% less drag forces compared to a typical bad technique. Additionally, small errors such as not being perfectly horizontal can lead to a difference of around 100 Newtons of drag force between perfectly horizontal and a 5-degree angle of attack. Another observation made was that errors are exacerbated by being near a wall, so Swimming in an end lane next to the pool wall leads to about 57% more drag forces that any other lane. Still, there are many more observations to be made as there is so much more to research in swimming.
ContributorsBenavidez, Kevin A (Author) / Murthy, Dr. Raghavendra (Thesis director) / Huang, Dr. Huei-Ping (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
NIPAAm co-DEAEMA hydrogels are a potential solution for sustained, local delivery of ketorolac tromethamine. Current methods of postoperative pain management, such as local anesthetics, NSAIDs, and opioids, can be improved by minimizing side effects while still effectively treating severe and extreme pain. Though high doses of ketorolac can be toxic, sustained, local delivery via hydrogels offers a promising solution. Four ketorolac release studies were conducted using PNDJ hydrogels formulated by Sonoran Biosciences. The first two studies tested a range of JAAm concentration between 1.4 and 2.2 mole percent. Both had high initial release rates lasting less than 7 days and appeared to be unaffected by JAAm content. Tobramycin slowed down the release of ketorolac but was unable to sustain release for more than 6 days. Incorporating DEAEMA prolonged the release of ketorolac for up to 14 days with significant reductions in initial burst release rate. Low LCST of NIPAAM co-DEAEMA polymer is problematic for even drug distribution and future in vivo applications.
ContributorsHui, Nathan (Author) / Vernon, Brent (Thesis director) / Heffernan, John (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05