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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- Creators: Chemical Engineering Program
- Creators: O'Flaherty, Katherine
Description
This thesis project examines the likely factors that cause students to drop out of Barrett, the Honors College. Honors literature regarding retention and attrition suggests four areas encompassing individual student attributes and honors program characteristics which may impact a student's decision to stay or leave an Honors College. The primary question in focus is, "Why do students leave the Honors College?" followed by the tertiary questions of, "what can be done to mitigate this occurrence?" and, "how does this affect the quality of an honors education?" Assessing attrition can be broken down into biographical, cognitive-behavioral, socio-environmental, and institutional-instrumental components. Students who graduated with honors and those who did not graduate with honors were assessed on these four components through survey methods and qualitative interviews to investigate specific reasons why students leave the honors program. The results indicated a wide array of reasons impacting student attrition, the most significant being negative perceptions towards (1) honors courses and contracts, (2) difficulty completing a thesis project, and (3) finding little to no value in "graduating with honors." Each of these reasons reflect the institutional-instrumental component of student attrition, making it the most salient group of reasons why students leave the Honors College. The socio-environmental component also influences student attrition through peer influence and academic advisor support, though this was found to be within the context of institutional-instrumental means. This project offers solutions to ameliorate each of the four components of attrition by offering standardized honors contracts and more mandatory honors classes, mandatory thesis preparatory courses instead of workshops, and emphasizing the benefit Barrett gives to students as a whole. These solutions aim at increasing graduation rates for future honors students at Barrett as well as improving the overall quality of an honors education.
ContributorsSanchez, Gilbert Xavier (Author) / Parker, John (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Undergraduate on-campus residential education is a topic of significant inquiry within the field of higher education, and specifically student affairs. It has become commonplace for institutions of higher education in the United States to leverage the intersections between academics and residence life in order to promote student success by offering on-campus housing options that strategically place students in residential communities that provide additional connection to the students' academic experience, often by major, college, department, or other focus areas. Such models vary by institution, but are often referred to as living-learning communities or residential colleges, depending upon their structure and goals. For example, Barrett, the Honors College on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University implements a residential college model within its student housing; honors students live and study together, with the addition of three "special communities" designed for students majoring in Engineering, Business, or the Arts. This honors thesis case study describes and investigates the impact the visual and performing arts Barrett residential community has upon its residents in their first-year college experience. Through the lens of student development theory, this research focuses upon examining this specific residential community in detail in order to gain an understanding of its effect upon residents' academic and personal well being.
ContributorsBieschke, Sara Danielle (Author) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Thesis director) / Rendell, Dawn (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Rotary equipment has been used widely in the processing of particulates for the last century, but low thermal efficiency and poor effluent uniformity continue to plague its performance. Consequently, these technologies contribute largely to modern energy waste, environmental pollution, and price inflation of products dependent on particulates in their manufacture. Large industries like pharmaceuticals and oil are impacted, yet minimal research has been conducted into optimizing the equipment because of costs associated with process shut-downs necessary to enable study. Recent works bypassed this constraint with simulations and scaled-down replicates to observe impact of common design parameters, fill level and rotation speed, on heating. This thesis supplanted these studies by investigating particle diameter as a control parameter to optimize heating. The thesis investigated methodologies to study a stainless-steel rotary drum model facilitating the conductive heating of a silica bed by external heat guns. Diameter was varied 2-4 mm at controlled fill levels and rotation speeds, and radial temperature profiles were measured with thermocouples. Heating performance was evaluated for efficiency and uniformity; the former by analyzing thermal time constants and average temperature progression across 70 minutes of operation, and the latter with corresponding radial temperature variances. It was theorized that the direct influence of size on transport properties would implicate an inverse correlation between diameter and performance, but results demonstrated no significance. The apparatus and methodology were still under development, so results were preliminary. From results, the study proposed setup modifications to refine results and future directions to guide follow-up research.
ContributorsDeBruin, Dylan (Author) / Emady, Heather (Thesis director) / Adepu, Manogna (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description"Writing the Races" is a documentary exploring how two writers talk about race in their comedy television shows. http://www.writingtheraces.com/
ContributorsTyau, Nicole Jenice (Author) / Rodriguez, Rick (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The objective of this research is to create biodegradable mats with tunable characteristics such as fiber diameter and surface area. The drug delivery mats enable spatially controlled delivery of disease-specific therapeutics. Using a large electric potential to draw fibers from a solution flowing at a specific rate, the polymer fibers reach a grounded target several inches away. The biodegradable polymer used in this study was poly(lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA). PLGA solutions ranging from 0.5 to 27 wt.% were prepared by dissolving the block copolymer in a solvent mixture containing tetrahydrofuran (THF) and dimethylformamide (DMF) at a 3:1 weight ratio. They were then electrospun at needle-to-target distances of 7, 14, and 18 cm and rates ranging from 0.8 to 4 mL/h. The range of voltage used was between 8 – 15 kV, which was based on the observation of the formation of a Taylor cone, largely affected by on the environment and weather (e.g., temperature and humidity in the lab). A 27 wt.% PLGA solution, electrospun at 1 mL/h at a voltage of 11.25 kV and needle-to-target distance of 14 cm produced uniform fibers with an average fiber diameter of 0.985 m. All other parameters outside the range given created beaded fibers. In addition, solution rheology was performed on some of the PLGA solution to measure viscosity, which is directly correlated to the fiber diameter of the electrospun mats. Observing the impact of solvent on fiber spinning and fiber diameter brings about many positive results in developing fully characterized and well-understood fibrous mats for drug delivery. The nanoscale fibers will be used as drug delivery mats and, therefore, the biodegradation kinetics of the polymers will be studied. Next, parameters of the polymers as well as the polymeric mats will be correlated to the degradation-mediated release of small molecule therapeutics (e.g., peptides, drugs, etc.) such that time-resolved dosing profiles can be created.
ContributorsLent, Madeline (Author) / Green, Matthew (Thesis director) / Holloway, Julianne (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Enhancing the expression levels of Fabs (antigen-binding antibody fragments) in Escherichia coli is a difficult field that has a variety of potential exciting implications. The field has grown substantially in the past twenty years. The main area of difficulty is facilitating the entry of the antibody fragments into the periplasm of E. Coli, where the antibody fragments can be successfully expressed. Entry into the periplasm is difficult for antibody fragments due to their inability to fold in any other section besides the periplasm. Therefore it is necessary for the antibody to enter the periplasm in an unfolded state. Background research was done into inspecting the three primary methods of periplasmic entry: the Sec-dependent pathway, the SRP-dependent pathway (signal recognition particle) and the TAT-dependent pathway (twin arginine translocase). The Sec-dependent and SRP-dependent pathways were deemed more viable for expressing antibodies due to their ability to transfer an unfolded protein into the periplasm, which the TAT-dependent pathway cannot do. Academic research showed that the Sec-dependent and SRP-dependent pathways were equally viable methods, with more research being done into the Sec-dependent pathway, particularly of the OmpA signal sequence. Physical experiments were done using typical cloning procedures with slight modifications to the ligation step (Gibson Assembly was performed instead of normal ligation). These physical experiments showed that the Sec-dependent and SRP-dependent pathways were equally viable methods of periplasmic entry. The A4 and C6 antibodies were successfully expressed using these pathways. These antibodies were expressed on an SDS gel using 10% SDS. It was hypothesized that with further experimental modifications, using different signal sequences, Fabs can be expressed at higher and more consistent level.
ContributorsParker, Matthew David (Author) / Nannenga, Brent (Thesis director) / Nielsen, David (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
The purpose of this project is to investigate the swelling ratio exhibited due to photothermal effects of double network polyacrylamide poly(acrylic acid) hydrogels synthesized with carbon black as a light-sensitive chromophore. Optimal carbon black dispersion was achieved in solutions through sonication, using V9A32 carbon black, where dynamic light scattering recorded particle diameters in the range of 195.0-375.8 nanometers for water/carbon black mixtures, 242.4-262.6 nanometers for monomer/carbon black mixtures without initiator, and 1109.3-1783.9 nanometers for monomer/carbon black mixtures including initiator. The double network polyacrylamide poly(acrylic acid) hydrogels with carbon black yielded weight increases of 0.126% and 6.043%, respectively, after 2 minutes and 10 minutes of being exposed to a light stimulus; compared to previous work which showed a double network polyacrylamide poly(acrylic acid) hydrogel with chlorophyllin yielded weight increases of 18.3% and 20.8%, respectively, after 2 minutes and 10 minutes of being exposed to a light stimulus, the carbon black resulted in a less robust response. Future work for application of the light-responsive hydrogels includes the development of a screen covering that will be made of the hydrogels. This covering is intended for use on LED screen displays, where a light change will result in a protrusion from the screen. The purpose behind this application is that technology users who are visually impaired can still determine what their LED device is trying to communicate with them.
ContributorsReimann, Morgan Elizabeth (Co-author) / Yifei, Xu (Co-author) / Dai, Lenore (Co-author, Thesis director) / Xu, Yifei (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The inability of a single strain of bacteria to simultaneously and completely consume multiple sugars, such as glucose and xylose, hinder industrial microbial processes for ethanol and lactate production. To overcome this limitation, I am engineering an E. coli co-culture system consisting of two ‘specialists'. One has the ability to only consume xylose and the other only glucose. This allows for co-utilization of lignocellulose-derived sugars so both sugars are completely consumed, residence time is reduced and lactate and ethanol titers are maximized.
ContributorsAyla, Zeynep Ece (Author) / Nielsen, David (Thesis director) / Flores, Andrew (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Research concerning increased sensitivity and accurate glucose sensors have been on the forefront of diabetes mellitus. In this study, Electroactive Poly-Amidoamine Polymer (EPOP) was studied to determine if it can be used as a biocompatible electrode, with known redox mediators to determine if it can transfer its own electrons or amplify signal, and if signal is amplified when using an Ag/AgCl working electrode. From the results, it was determined that EPOP is neither a redox mediator, since it cannot transfer its own electrons, nor an electron mediator, since it does not amplify measured current at a specific voltage. Rather, it behaves as an electron sink capacitor with inconsistent behavior when Ag/AgCl is used as the working electrode with the redox mediator alone or with the redox mediator using in combination with glucose oxidase (GOx) and glucose. This was validated using AC-Impedance which gave a -3.3999 slope for isolated 0.05 g/mL EPOP in solution and R2 value of 0.992 displaying it had more capacitor-like behavior compared to resistor-like behavior. For this reason, EPOP was infused into a carbon screen-printed electrode by adding it dissolved and undissolved at two levels into carbon ink. The effectiveness of this electrode was tested using a potentiostatic CV. For the 0.1 g/mL EPOP dissolved in carbon ink, the reduction voltage peak (0.18 V) was found to be slightly higher than a GDE (0.14 V); however, the measured current was found to be 1.57 times the amplitude of a GDE. When 0.05 g/mL EPOP in PBS dissolved in graphite ink was used to detect glucose as the working electrode, there was increased signal amplification, and therefore, increased sensitivity to glucose when using EPOP infused electrodes. This offers promising results for disposable glucose sensors.
ContributorsKapadia, Meera Vipul (Author) / LaBelle, Jeffrey (Thesis director) / Islam, Rafiqul (Committee member) / Honikel, Mackenzie (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The United States and most of the world is pushing to significantly reduce carbon emissions, with many countries intent on fostering carbon negative energy processes to offset ozone depletion and climate changes. 30% of the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are generated from the combustion of fossil fuels to generate electricity1. Current commercial IGCC carbon capture processes employ a capital and operating cost intensive water-gas shift reaction facilitated by a high temperature reactor followed by a low temperature reactor and an amine absorber to separate the hydrogen and carbon dioxide streams to capture the carbon. Dr. Jerry Y.S. and his laboratory at Arizona State have developed a hydrogen permselective MFI type ZSM-5 zeolite membrane reactor that effectively facilities the water gas shift reaction with high conversion and separates the CO2 and H2 streams during reaction to generate ultrapure retentate and permeate streams. The membrane, formed by secondary free growth, is synthesized on an ultrapure a-alumina membrane support currently purchased from an outside vendor. The purpose of this study was to design an α-alumina support processing plant with capability to supply one full-scale commercial reactor annually with membranes. The design yielded a DCFRoR of 71% for a 20-year project life. A zeolite membrane processing material balance was conducted using alumina support as the raw material. The study showed very low material costs and consumption rates for all materials except a gas used to refine the membrane after processing. The results of both studies were favorable enough to suggest further study.
ContributorsNorman, Taylor Cristine (Author) / Lin, Jerry Y.S. (Thesis director) / Meng, Lie (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05