Matching Items (127)
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- All Subjects: Computer Science
- Creators: Barrett, The Honors College
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
- Resource Type: Text
ContributorsHilliker, Jacob (Author) / Li, Baoxin (Thesis director) / Libman, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2021-12
Description
Among classes in the Computer Science curriculum at Arizona State University, Automata Theory is widely considered to be one of the most difficult. Many Computer Science concepts have strong visual components that make them easier to understand. Binary trees, Dijkstra's algorithm, pointers, and even more basic concepts such as arrays all have very strong visual components. Not only that, but resources for them are abundantly available online. Automata Theory, on the other hand, is the first Computer Science course students encounter that has a significant focus on deep theory. Many
of the concepts can be difficult to visualize, or at least take a lot of effort to do so. Furthermore, visualizers for finite state machines are hard to come by. Because I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Automata Theory and parsers, I wanted to create a program that involved the two. Additionally, I thought creating a program for visualizing automata would help students who struggle with Automata Theory develop a stronger understanding of it.
ContributorsSmith, Andrew (Author) / Burger, Kevin (Thesis director) / Meuth, Ryan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor)
Created2021-12
Description
This thesis explores how large scale cyber exercises work in the 21st century, going in-depth on Exercise Cyber Shield, the Department of Defense’s largest unclassified cyber defense exercise run by the Army National Guard. It highlights why these cyber exercises are so relevant, going over several large scale cyber attacks that have occurred in the past year and the impact they caused. This research aims to illuminate the intricacies around cyber exercise assessment involving manual vs automated scoring systems; this is brought back to work on creating an automated scoring engine for Exercise Cyber Shield. This thesis provides an inside look behind the scenes of the operations of the largest unclassified cyber defense exercise in the United States, including conversations with the Exercise Officer-In-Charge of Cyber Shield as well as a cyber exercise expert working on assessment of Exercise Cyber Shield, and the research also includes information from past final reports for Cyber Shield. Issues that these large scale cyber exercises have faced over the years are brought to light, and attempts at solutions are discussed.
ContributorsZhao, Henry (Author) / Chavez Echeagaray, Maria Elena (Thesis director) / Rhodes, Brad (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor)
Created2021-12
Description
The Centralia Council, representative of a small Pennsylvania borough, arranged for an illegal controlled burn of the Centralia landfill in late May 1962. It happened the same way every year. As Memorial Day drew closer, the Council contracted volunteer firefighters to burn the top layer of refuse in the landfill in preparation for the day’s festivities, but intentionally burning landfills violated state law. A tangle of events over the years saw the “controlled” burn develop into an underground mine fire and then into a coal seam fire. Excavation costs lie far beyond the state’s budget, and Pennsylvania plans to let the fire burn until its natural end--anticipated at another 240 years. The tangled mess of poor decisions over 21 years begs one question: did the people or the fire kill Centralia?
This paper’s field of study falls into the cross section of geology and fire science, history, social conflict, public service ethics, and collaborative failures. I explore how a series of small choices snowballed into a full, government funded relocation effort after attempts at controlling the anthracite coal seam fire failed. Geology and fire science worked in tandem during the mine fire, influencing each other and complicating the firefighting efforts. The fire itself was a unique challenge. The history of Centralia played a large role in the government and community response efforts. I use the borough and regional history to contextualize the social conflict that divided Centralia. Social conflict impaired the community’s ability to unify and form a therapeutic community, and in turn, it damaged community-government relationships. The government agencies involved in the mine fire response did their own damage to community relationships by pursuing their own interests. Agencies worried about their brand image, and politicians worried about re-election. I study how these ethical failures impacted the situation. Finally, I look at a few examples of collaborative failures on behalf of the government and the community. Over the course of my research, it became apparent the people killed Centralia, not the fire.
This paper’s field of study falls into the cross section of geology and fire science, history, social conflict, public service ethics, and collaborative failures. I explore how a series of small choices snowballed into a full, government funded relocation effort after attempts at controlling the anthracite coal seam fire failed. Geology and fire science worked in tandem during the mine fire, influencing each other and complicating the firefighting efforts. The fire itself was a unique challenge. The history of Centralia played a large role in the government and community response efforts. I use the borough and regional history to contextualize the social conflict that divided Centralia. Social conflict impaired the community’s ability to unify and form a therapeutic community, and in turn, it damaged community-government relationships. The government agencies involved in the mine fire response did their own damage to community relationships by pursuing their own interests. Agencies worried about their brand image, and politicians worried about re-election. I study how these ethical failures impacted the situation. Finally, I look at a few examples of collaborative failures on behalf of the government and the community. Over the course of my research, it became apparent the people killed Centralia, not the fire.
ContributorsLandes, Jazmyne (Author) / Bentley, Margaretha (Thesis director) / Gutierrez, Veronica (Committee member) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
Karate is a Japanese martial art that originated approximately a century ago, with heavy influence from Chinese martial arts at the time. Although it was originally created as a form of self-defense, many today practice it for sport. Organizations such as the World Karate Federation (WKF) and USA Karate establish rules for competitions as well as host tournaments for practitioners of all ages and skill levels to participate in. Dojos will often host small, local tournaments for their students to practice and sharpen their competition skills. Smaller tournaments often do not have the same tools and technologies that larger tournaments do. Sign-ups are typically done in-person and payments are cash-only, which can be inconvenient for those who are extremely busy or forgetful. Another issue with hosting local tournaments is that the software used to run the timer is a desktop application, called Karate Semaphore. In the case of technical difficulties, installing the software on another machine can be extremely time-consuming and delay the progression of the tournament. Not to mention, Karate Semaphore was created following the 2012 WKF rules—meaning it is currently out of date, as it does not contain any features supporting new rules.
For my creative project, I designed a website through which smaller, local tournament registration and management are possible. Users can register for tournaments through the registration page. Registered users can check their registration is successful by viewing a table of all competitors. If the list of competitors is too long, they can filter results based on search criteria. Tournament management will be possible via a functioning timer following WKF rules which keeps track of both the match’s score as well as time.
For my creative project, I designed a website through which smaller, local tournament registration and management are possible. Users can register for tournaments through the registration page. Registered users can check their registration is successful by viewing a table of all competitors. If the list of competitors is too long, they can filter results based on search criteria. Tournament management will be possible via a functioning timer following WKF rules which keeps track of both the match’s score as well as time.
ContributorsRuan, Shirley (Author) / Sarwat, Mohamed (Thesis director) / Chen, Yinong (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
We consider programmable matter as a collection of simple computational elements (or particles) that self-organize to solve system-wide problems of movement, configuration, and coordination. Here, we focus on the compression problem, in which the particle system gathers as tightly together as possible, as in a sphere or its equivalent in the presence of some underlying geometry. Within this model a configuration of particles can be represented as a unique closed self-avoiding walk on the triangular lattice. In this paper we will examine the bias parameter of a Markov chain based algorithm that solves the compression problem under the geometric amoebot model, for particle systems that begin in a connected configuration with no holes. This bias parameter, $\lambda$, determines the behavior of the algorithm. It has been shown that for $\lambda > 2+\sqrt{2}$, with all but exponentially small probability, the algorithm achieves compression. Additionally the same algorithm can be used for expansion for small values of $\lambda$; in particular, for all $0 < \lambda < \sqrt{\tau}$, where $\lim_{n\to\infty} {(p_n)^{1
}}=\tau$. This research will focus on improving approximations on the lower bound of $\tau$. Toward this end we will examine algorithmic enumeration, and series analysis for self-avoiding polygons.
}}=\tau$. This research will focus on improving approximations on the lower bound of $\tau$. Toward this end we will examine algorithmic enumeration, and series analysis for self-avoiding polygons.
ContributorsLough, Kevin James (Author) / Richa, Andrea (Thesis director) / Fishel, Susanna (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor, Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
A defense-by-randomization framework is proposed as an effective defense mechanism against different types of adversarial attacks on neural networks. Experiments were conducted by selecting a combination of differently constructed image classification neural networks to observe which combinations applied to this framework were most effective in maximizing classification accuracy. Furthermore, the reasons why particular combinations were more effective than others is explored.
ContributorsMazboudi, Yassine Ahmad (Author) / Yang, Yezhou (Thesis director) / Ren, Yi (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This study aims to examine how the use of consensus-based transactions, smart contracts,and interoperability, provided by blockchain, may benefit the blood plasma industry. Plasmafractionation is the process of separating blood into multiple components to garner benefitsof increased lifespan, specialized allocation, and decreased waste, thereby creating a morecomplex and flexible supply chain. Traditional applications of blockchain are developed onthe basis of decentralization—an infeasible policy for this sector due to stringent governmentregulations, such as HIPAA. However, the trusted nature of the relations in the plasmaindustry’s taxonomy proves private and centralized blockchains as the viable alternative.Implementations of blockchain are widely seen across pharmaceutical supply chains to combatthe falsification of possibly afflictive drugs. This system is more difficult to manage withblood, due to the quick perishable time, tracking/tracing of recycled components, and thenecessity of real-time metrics. Key attributes of private blockchains, such as digital identity,smart contracts, and authorized ledgers, may have the possibility of providing a significantpositive impact on the allocation and management functions of blood banks. Herein, we willidentify the economy and risks of the plasma ecosystem to extrapolate specific applications forthe use of blockchain technology. To understand tangible effects of blockchain, we developeda proof of concept application, aiming to emulate the business logic of modern plasma supplychain ecosystems adopting a blockchain data structure. The application testing simulates thesupply chain via agent-based modeling to analyze the scalability, benefits, and limitations ofblockchain for the plasma fractionation industry.
ContributorsVallabhaneni, Saipavan K (Author) / Boscovic, Dragan (Thesis director) / Kellso, James (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
DescriptionA two-way deterministic finite pushdown automaton ("2PDA") is developed for the Lua language. This 2PDA is evaluated against both a purpose-built Lua syntax test suite and the test suite used by the reference implementation of Lua, and fully passes both.
ContributorsStevens, Kevin A (Author) / Shoshitaishvili, Yan (Thesis director) / Wang, Ruoyu (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Learning to code is a skill that is becoming increasing needed as technology advances, yet is absent in traditional education. This thesis aims to provide a resource for middle school teachers to introduce programming skills and concepts to their students over several lessons designed to fit within the constraints of a standard class period. By targeting students in middle school, if they develop an interest, they will have enough time in middle or high school to prepare themselves for a degree in Computer Science or to complete a programming boot camp after they graduate high school. Additionally, middle school students are old enough to understand challenging programming concepts and work together to solve a programming challenge. The programming language and environment, VIPLE, will be used to teach the concepts in the lessons as it is a graphical programming language, which removes many of the common challenges faced by young students in learning to code, like dealing with syntax or remembering keywords for coding blocks.
ContributorsBelt, Emily (Author) / Chen, Yinong (Thesis director) / Miller, Cindy (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05