Automated vehicles are becoming more prevalent in the modern world. Using platoons of automated vehicles can have numerous benefits including increasing the safety of drivers as well as streamlining roadway operations. How individual automated vehicles within a platoon react to each other is essential to creating an efficient method of travel. This paper looks at two individual vehicles forming a platoon and tracks the time headway between the two. Several speed profiles are explored for the following vehicle including a triangular and trapezoidal speed profile. It is discovered that a safety violation occurs during platoon formation where the desired time headway between the vehicles is violated. The aim of this research is to explore if this violation can be eliminated or reduced through utilization of different speed profiles.

Innovative teaching methods must be studied and implemented to optimize student learning and prepare future generations for complex challenges. Dr. Keith Hjelmstad, a professor at Arizona State University, developed such an approach, “The Mechanics Project,” and has implemented it in foundational engineering mechanics courses. Although course instructors have used traditional “lecture and read” approaches for generations, the world is changing, requiring a modified policy. In this thesis, I research, discuss, and analyze the positive effects of The Mechanics Project for civil engineering students based on its fundamental principles.

The goal of this creative thesis is to focus on the experience of women in the field of STEM and more specifically civil engineering. This project will explore four main topics surrounding women in the workforce: how women navigate and succeed in a workforce with predominant male presence, how women advance their career given the gender barriers of the industry, including motherhood, and “impostor syndrome” in the workforce