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: Electrical Engineering Program
Description
HIV/AIDS remains a pressing global health challenge, not only because of its medical complexities but also due to associated stigma and the lack of knowledge of the illness in communities around the world. This thesis analyzed cross-cultural differences and long-term changes in women’s knowledge and stigma around HIV/AIDS in low- and middle-income countries. Using Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from 24 countries for knowledge and stigma from 2000-2018, we examined changes in HIV/AIDS knowledge score and stigma score. The findings shed light on the perception of HIV/AIDS knowledge improving while stigma persisted indicative of remaining concerns about the illness amongst women.
ContributorsMurala, Divya Sruthi (Author) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Loebenberg, Abby (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor)
Created2023-12
Description
Quantum entanglement, a phenomenon first introduced in the realm of quantum mechanics by the famous Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox, has intrigued physicists and philosophers alike for nearly a century. Its implications for the nature of reality, particularly its apparent violation of local realism, have sparked intense debate and spurred numerous experimental investigations. This thesis presents a comprehensive examination of quantum entanglement with a focus on probing its non-local aspects.
Central to this thesis is the development of a detailed project document outlining a proposed experimental approach to investigate the non-local nature of quantum entanglement. Drawing upon recent advancements in quantum technology, including the manipulation and control of entangled particles, the proposed experiment aims to rigorously test the predictions of quantum mechanics against the framework of local realism.
The experimental setup involves the generation of entangled particle pairs, such as photons or ions, followed by the precise manipulation of their quantum states. By implementing a series of carefully designed measurements on spatially separated entangled particles, the experiment seeks to discern correlations that defy explanation within a local realistic framework.
ContributorsWasserbeck, Noah (Author) / Lukens, Joseph (Thesis director) / Arenz, Christian (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
Machine learning has been increasingly integrated into several new areas, namely those related to vision processing and language learning models. These implementations of these processes in new products have demanded increasingly more expensive memory usage and computational requirements. Microcontrollers can lower this increasing cost. However, implementation of such a system on a microcontroller is difficult and has to be culled appropriately in order to find the right balance between optimization of the system and allocation of resources present in the system. A proof of concept that these algorithms can be implemented on such as system will be attempted in order to find points of contention of the construction of such a system on such limited hardware, as well as the steps taken to enable the usage of machine learning onto a limited system such as the general purpose MSP430 from Texas Instruments.
ContributorsMalcolm, Ian (Author) / Allee, David (Thesis director) / Spanias, Andreas (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
Power generation through heat to electrical energy conversion for space applications faces distinct challenges not encountered in terrestrial settings, where Rankine and Brayton cycles have traditionally been predominant. The unique environment of space necessitates the adoption of either static converters, leveraging solid-state physics, or closed-cycle dynamic converters. While thermoelectric generators have historically been the primary choice for heat-to-electrical energy conversion in space applications, their relatively low efficiencies and limited scope for enhancement pose significant challenges as the power demands of space missions increase. This necessitates the exploration of alternative power generation methodologies to meet the evolving requirements. This thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of various power conversion technologies for space applications, focusing on the comparative study of static and dynamic converters, with a particular emphasis on Stirling converters. Other power systems discussed include thermoelectric, thermophotovoltaic, thermionic, and Brayton converters. Through comparative analysis, the research identifies the most promising converters for future space applications.
ContributorsWilderspin, Zoe (Author) / Lee, Taewoo (Thesis director) / Holbert, Keith (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
The Mary-El tarot deck is famous in the tarot community for its intense spiritual power and esoteric imagery. By analyzing its major arcana and investigating the symbology featured therein, for purposes of making the deck accessible to others, I discover a rich world of flowing energies and underlying transcendence. I've used writing to document my journey and discoveries of the internal self. I present these writings as my thesis, and I demonstrate my understanding of the cards through tarot readings.
ContributorsBenson, Caley (Author) / Giner, Oscar (Thesis director) / Zent, Miranda (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Music, Dance and Theatre (Contributor)
Created2024-05
DescriptionI spent two semesters studying and making a Deckbuilding card game. I split my time between researching existing games and playtesting my own. In the end, I produced a fully developed game with printed cards.
ContributorsBarrantes Slivinsky, Andrew (Author) / Loebenberg, Abby (Thesis director) / Mack, Robert (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
Recent satellite and remote sensing innovations have led to an eruption in the amount and variety of geospatial ice data available to the public, permitting in-depth study of high-definition ice imagery and digital elevation models (DEMs) for the goal of safe maritime navigation and climate monitoring. Few researchers have investigated texture in optical imagery as a predictive measure of Arctic sea ice thickness due to its cloud pollution, uniformity, and lack of distinct features that make it incompatible with standard feature descriptors. Thus, this paper implements three suitable ice texture metrics on 1640 Arctic sea ice image patches, namely (1) variance pooling, (2) gray-level co-occurrence matrices (GLCMs), and (3) textons, to assess the feasibly of a texture-based ice thickness regression model. Results indicate that of all texture metrics studied, only one GLCM statistic, namely homogeneity, bore any correlation (0.15) to ice freeboard.
ContributorsWarner, Hailey (Author) / Cochran, Douglas (Thesis director) / Jayasuria, Suren (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
This paper delves into the carbon footprint generated by AI chips during their training and operational phases. It highlights the often-overlooked environmental impact of training AI models like ChatGPT, emphasizing the significant CO2 emissions and computational demands involved. The paper also explores the paradoxical nature of AI, which, while contributing to climate change, also holds potential in combating its effects. This dual role of AI sparks ethical debates, particularly concerning strategies to minimize the carbon emissions associated with AI training. Some potential solutions, such as increased transparency among AI-utilizing companies and the adoption of analog-in-memory computing, to address these challenges while also continuing to push the boundaries of AI computing.
ContributorsMulvey, Nicole (Author) / Marinella, Matthew (Thesis director) / Short, Jesse (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2023-12
Description
This research explores the potential use of microwave energy to detect various substances in water, with a focus on water quality assessment and pathogen detection applications. There are many non-thermal effects of microwaves on microorganisms and their resonant frequencies could be used to identify and possibly destroy harmful pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses, without heating the water. A wide range of materials, including living organisms like Daphnia and Moina, plants, sand, plastic, and salt, were subjected to microwave measurements to assess their influence on the transmission (S21) measurements. The measurements of the living organisms did not display distinctive resonant frequencies and variations in water volume may be the source of the small measurement differences. Conversely, sand and plastic pellets affected the measurements differently, with their arrangement within the test tube emerging as a significant factor. This study also explores the impact of salinity on measurements, revealing a clear pattern that can be modeled as a series RLC resonator. Although unique resonant frequencies for the tested organisms were not identified, the presented system demonstrates the potential for detecting contaminants based on variations in measurements. Future research may extend this work to include a broader array of organisms and enhance measurement precision.
ContributorsChild, Carson (Author) / Aberle, James (Thesis director) / Blain Christen, Jennifer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2023-12
Description
Into The Network is the result of a years worth of role-playing game research and design. Creating a game that allows for dramatic and comical narratives about colliding video-game worlds. This thesis documents the process of researching various analog games, the process of developing mechanic ideas into a prototype, testing the prototype on groups, and finalizing the game into a full product.
ContributorsGaumond, Timothy (Author) / Loebenberg, Abby (Thesis director) / Mack, Robert (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor)
Created2024-05