2012 VCU Engineering Senior Design Projects

2012 SENIOR DESIGN PROJECTS
VCU School of Engineering
Cover Design courtesy of Lauren Hockaday
Table of Contents
PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FROM THE DEAN 2012 SENIOR DESIGN EXPO SPONSORS AND CORPORATE COMMITTEE 2012 SENIOR DESIGN EXPO ADVISORS 2012 SENIOR DESIGN JUDGES BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING A Synthetic Small Diameter Vascular Graft Quantifying Rigidity in Patients with Neurological Movement Disorders Transparent Temperature-Controlled Cell Stretching Attachment for Live Cell Imaging Non-Invasive Measurement of the Arterial Pulse Waveform Tympanometry Extendable Membrane Bioreactor with an Air Liquid Interface Non-Invasive Therapeutic Hypothermia Evaluative Eye-Tracking System Longitudinal Hand Traction System Reducing Action Tremors during Laparoscopic Surgery Minus the Mouse: Hands-Free Device for Function of a Computer Mouse Redesigning Prescription Bottles for a Geriatric Population AHL: Variable Cracking Pressure Swing Check Valve Micro-Bead Maker CHEMICAL AND LIFE SCIENCE ENGINEERING Production of Biobutanol as a Source of Alternative Energy Cobalt-Nickel Extraction and Emulsion Separation utilizing an Expanded Polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) Membrane Surface Tension Confined Microfluidics (STCM) as a Platform for Medical Diagnostics Functional Drug Delivery System Constructed with a Silk Biopolymer COMPUTER ENGINEERING Biometric Home Security System Remote Controlled 3-Axis Camera Gimbal Smart Lighting i iii iv v vi 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 19 20 21 22 23 25 26 27
Table of Contents
Universal Home Controller Household Energy Enumeration Logger (H.E.E.L.) Alarm System Internet Module COMPUTER SCIENCE Project Flipbooks Chat Bot to Expose Services Across Boundaries MWV IT Authorizations for Expenditure Google Application Cloud Computing Security Virginia Rest Area Advertising ATSC MyPBA Web Application Jazz Studies Ensemble and Orchestra Scheduling and Reporting Identifying and Predicting Fraud, Waste and Abuse in Medicare Claims Theater Stage Management System ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING Surface Micromachined Accelerometers Solar Cell Efficiency Improvement Methods GreenMen Capturing Motion Human Tracking Robot RFID Tracking System for Animal Care Facilities Earthquake Sensor VCU Electromagnetic Launch Apparatus (VELA) MECHANICAL AND NUCLEAR ENGINEERING Organic Solar Cells Using PTCDI-C8 Nanorods Drag Reduction Using Synthetic Jet Actuators RC Unmanned Aircraft Designing of Methods and Devices to Measure the In-plane Shear Modulus of High-strength Fiber-reinforced Plastics including Analysis of Epoxy Binder in High Humidity Environs The Design and Characterization of a Magnetically-Driven Needle-Less Medicine Injection System Dry Cask Storage Inspection Device for Removal of Seeds from Jamun Fruit Drag Reduction Device on Semi-Trailer Trucks 28 29 30 31 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 43 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 55 56 57
58 59 60 61 62
Table of Contents
Garden Guard Design Design and Construction of a Formula SAE Race Car Suspension Engineering Design Strategy Board Game Human-Powered Moonbuggy Redesign for a Better Handling Characteristics Updating History: A Design of a HVAC and Power Generation System for the Byrd Theatre Smooth Muscle Biomechanics Characterization Device Boiler Flue Inspection Robot AWD Electric Vehicle Drive Train: Design and Integration Small Aircraft Seat Safety System Seed Planting Device for Individuals with Disabilities and Limited Motor Skills Generation of Nanoaerosols from Conventional Nebulizers for Optimal Respiratory Drug Delivery INTERDISCIPLINARY VCU Visible Reactor Distal Touch Nuclear Reactor Simulator River Rush An Electronic Board Game VCU SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING VCU SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 75 77 78 79 80 81 82
Preface
The Senior Design program has been part of the School of Engineering curriculum since 1999 and is a requirement for graduation. The senior design experience provides an opportunity for VCU School of Engineering students to complete a hands-on design project in their chosen field of engineering. The program also teaches leadership skills in a collaborative environment and provides students the opportunity to develop projects that may lead to product innovation for the benefit of society. In 2002, the School of Engineering held its first Senior Design Expo. This free, annual public event allows the senior design teams to share and demonstrate their prototypes with the greater Richmond community. The Expo is the culmination of eight months of effort for the design teams, and is an important day for the students, the faculty advisors, and for the industrial and organizational sponsors who have supported the teams. The Expo also serves the greater purpose of inspiring the next generation of engineers. Recognizing that an introduction to the field of engineering must begin early in life and that there is an intrinsic value in having young people interact with young engineers, the School of Engineering invites middle and high school students to attend the Expo to discuss projects with student team members and to learn more about studying engineering in a university or college setting. The Senior Design Expo has become a signature event for the School of Engineering and Virginia Commonwealth University. This year, 14 projects were funded by the School of Engineering Foundation Senior Design Grant. Our appreciation goes to everyone who made this grant possible.
For questions or comments please contact Dr. Afroditi Filippas, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, at avfilippas@vcu.edu or(804) 827-4097.
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Acknowledgements from the Dean
The success of the Senior Design program and Expo can be measured by the quality of the design accomplishments of the School of Engineering graduating class and the degree to which the Expo serves to inspire the next generation of students to pursue the discipline of engineering. Thanks to the partnership between faculty, students, and local industry, the School of Engineering is able to accomplish these goals year and year. Faculty sponsors and advisors at the VCU School of Engineering provide vital leadership to the senior design teams. Their support is invaluable to our students and the Senior Design program. The School of Engineering sincerely thanks members of the faculty and staff for their time, expertise, and guidance. The local engineering community plays a critical role in making the Senior Design program and Expo a great success. Our industry friends lend their support in many ways. This includes mentoring student teams, judging projects at the Expo, and providing vital funds and donations of supplies so that student investigations are not constrained by material expenses. Private support also covers the cost of chartering buses for middle and high school students to attend the Expo and the cost of the event itself, which allows us to share our students design innovations with the greater Richmond community. A committee of volunteers dedicated extensive time and effort to ensure the success of the 2012 Senior Design program and Expo. I extend my sincere thanks to committee chairman, Hugh Joyce, Present, James River Air Conditioning Company, and the following members of the 2012 Senior Design Expo committee: Shahrzad Grami, Data and Processing Manager, Health Diagnostics Laboratory, Inc.; William Lamp, Principal, Engineers Plus; Behnam Moradi, Fab 6 QA Manager, Micron Technology, Inc.; Geoffrey Parnell, Engineering Manager, Flexicell, Inc.; Chad Poultney, Principal, Clark Nexsen, Inc.; and Kris Redinger, Manager of Ordering & Sustaining Engineering, Thomas & Betts Corporation. A special word of thanks is offered to Mr. Richard Conti, Director and CEO of the Science Museum of Virginia, and his staff for hosting the 2012 Senior Design Expo at the museum. This is the third year that we have been privileged to showcase our projects at the museum, and I feel that this venue in particular heightens our students work and allows us to inspire and engage young audiences to investigate engineering and science. In understand that visitation to the Expo neared 1,000 visitors in 2011, and I anticipate even greater attendance this year. I understand that visitation to the Senior Design Expo neared 1,000 visitors in 2011, and I anticipate even more this year. As evidenced by the success of the 2012 Senior Design Expo, I am pleased to say that the partnership between faculty, students, and the engineering community is as strong as when the School first opened its doors nearly 16 years ago. Congratulations to the Class of 2012 and everyone involved for a job well done.
J. Charles Jennett, Ph.D. Interim Dean
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2012 Senior Committee
Design
Expo
Sponsors
and
Corporate
The VCU School of Engineering sincerely thanks the following individuals, corporate and industrial sponsors and members of the Senior Design Corporate Committee for their support of and participation in the 2012 Senior Design Expo.* 2012 SENIOR DESIGN EXPO CORPORATE COMMITTEE
Hugh A. Joyce Committee Chair President James River Air Conditioning Company Shahrzad Grami Data and Process Manager Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. William K. Lamp Principal Engineers Plus Behnam Moradi Fab 6 QA Manager Micron Technology . Geoffrey Parnell Engineering Manager Flexicell, Inc. Chad Poultney Principal Clark Nexsen, Inc. Kris Redinger Manager Ordering & Sustaining Engineering Thomas & Betts Corporation Power Solutions Group
2012 SENIOR DESIGN EXPO SPONSORS

Clark Nexsen Foundation Dominion Resources Engineers Plus James River Air Conditioning Company KeithFabry Reprographic Solutions Science Museum of Virginia Mark A. Sternheimer, Sr. Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society
The VCU School of Engineering also thanks the following corporations whose unrestricted gifts to the School of Engineering Annual Fund assist in underwriting the Senior Design Expo, scholarships, co-curricular and career development programming, Foundation operations, and other areas of greatest need.
Boehringer Ingelheim Chemicals Inc. BluePrint Automation Inc. Commonwealth Foundations Computer Music Shop, LLC. Dominion Duke Energy Foundation Flexicell, Inc. Infilco Degremont, Inc. Ingersoll-Rand Charitable Foundation James River Air Conditioning Company Massey Foundation Micron Technology Microsoft Newport News Shipbuilding The Community Foundation The Pauley Family Foundation Thomas H. Roberts & Associates PC Trane Commercial Systems Wells Fargo *As of April 10, 2012
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2012 Senior Design Expo Advisors

Additionally, the VCU School of Engineering would like to thank the dedicated faculty and industrial advisors and judges for their support of and participation in the 2012 Senior Design Expo. 2012 FACULTY AND INDUSTRIAL ADVISORS
Dr. Ross Anderson Dr. Gary Atkinson Mr. Sudhir Atreya Dr. Jayasimha Atulasimha Dr. Bai Mr. Tim Bakker Mr. Tim Baumgartner Mr. Mike Benini Dr. Baidurya Bhattacharya Dr. Sama Bilbao y Leon Mr. Justin Bleach Dr. Gary Bowlin Mr. Jeff Boyett Dr. Michael Cabral Mr. Thomas Carnes Mr. Will Clavijo Wietze De Vries Dr. Dhar Dr. Christine Eubanks Dr. Fei Dr. Afroditi Filippas Dr. Stephen Fong Prof. Antonio Garcia Samarth Gola Sparsh Gola Mr. Brad Gray Ms. Susan Griffin Mr. Frank Gulla Dr. Frank Gupton Dr. Rebecca Heise Mr. Sean Higgins Dr. Brian Hinderliter Prof. Amy Hutton Mr. Daniel Hutton Dr. Jonathan Isaacs Bikash Kanungo Sreekar Karnati Mr. Graham Kelly Mr. Gregory Kieper Dr. Robert Klenke Mr. Rudy Krack Dr. Victoria Kuester Dr. C.S. Kumar Prof. S.C. Kundu Mr. Chris Lacroix Mr. Cary Laore Mr. Mike Laprise Dr. Christopher Lemmon Dr. Martin Lenhardt Dr. P. Worth Longest Ms. Cynthia Lovelace Dr. Charles McDowell Dr. James McLeskey, Jr. Mr. Hector Medina Dr. Gerald Miller Dr. Karla Mossi Dr. Yuichi Motai Dr. mit zgr Wuqiong Pan Dr. Dianne Pawluk Dr. Dmitry Pestov Mr. Michael Pfaffenberger Dr. Ramana Pidaparti Ms. Grace Pigott Santanu Pradham Pallavi Ramnarain Dr. Raj Rao Dr. Paul Ratz Dr. Robert Sexton Dr. Singletary Mr. Boris Solomonov Dr. John Speich Mr. Joshua Starliper Dr. Vishnu Sundaresan Mr. Robert Szabo Dr. Hooman Tafreshi Mr. Charles Taylor Dr. Gary Tepper Dr. Amy Throckmorton Mr. David Tomlinson Mr. Brian Wakeman Mr. Jason Wang Mr. Garrett Ward Dr. Kevin Ward Mr. Chris Wash Dr. Jennifer Wayne Dr. Paul Wetzel Mr. Tom Woodburn Dr. Kenneth Wynne Dr. Vamsi Yadavalli Dr. Hu Yang Dr. Meng Yu Dr. Wanyu Zang Dr. Wilhelm Zuelzer
2012 Senior Design Expo Judges

Additionally, the VCU School of Engineering would like to thank the judges for their support and participation in the 2012 Senior Design Expo. 2012 SENIOR DESIGN EXPO JUDGES* Salame Amr Richmond Joint Engineers Council Steven Beccia Clark Nexsen, Inc. Bill Lamp Engineers Plus Geoff Mann VA Army National Guard Chad Poultney Clark Nexsen, Inc. Kris Redinger Thomas & Betts Power Solutions Joseph Roos Afton Chemical Ralph Russell, II eDiscoveri, LLC Tony Saunders H&A Architects and Engineers Huifang Shao Afton Chemical Tim Sperr Micron Technology Steven Wagner Richmond Joint Engineers Council Shelly Williams Shelly Williams Co.
*As of April 10, 2012
Charles Bush Off Grid Green Living Center Robert Chandler Richmond Joint Engineers Council Larry Cunningham Afton Chemical
Erika McClure Dominion Samer Meshreki Richmond Joint Engineers Council Jennie Monette Engineers Plus
Shahrzad Grami
Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc.
Joe Montague Dominion Behnam Moradi Micron Technology Forrest Morgan Clark Nexsen, Inc.
Michael Gurganus Dominion Jason Hayden Engineers Plus
Kevin Jones Flexicell, Inc. Don Koonce Dominion
Geoffrey Parnell Flexicell, Inc. Melissa Peskin Dominion
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BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
A Synthetic Small Diameter Vascular Graft
Project Member
Alayna Anhalt
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Gary Bowlin
Department
Biomedical Engineering
Small diameter vascular grafts, those less than 5mm in diameter, are needed in bypass surgeries and for treating common vascular diseases like arteriosclerosis and peripheral vascular disease. As of now, aside from the gold standard autologous saphenous vein, there does not exist a suitable small diameter vascular graft replacement. Finite supply of autologous blood vessels and projected increases in vascular diseases mean demand for a small diameter vascular graft will only increase. This project puts forth a design of a synthetic, non-tissue engineered, small diameter vascular graft. Biocompatibility and thromboresistance of the material are the foremost considerations with mechanical matching of the graft to native tissue, leak resistance, and burst strength also as main design concerns. Off-the-shelf availability, compatibility with multiple recipients, costeffectiveness, and manufacturability will also be discussed. A functional small diameter vascular graft could help hundreds of thousands of people a year recover from vascular ailments.
Quantifying Rigidity in Patients with Neurological Movement Disorders

Project Members
David Archer Alisha Smith
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Paul Wetzel
Department
Physicians currently use a qualitative system for analyzing muscle rigidity in patients with neurological movement disorders. Scales have been developed to help diagnose and analyze rigidity; however these scales are highly subjective and are based on the physicians perception of the patients resistance to joint movement. Quantifying the rigidity experienced by patients with neurological disorders could help in the diagnosis and treatment of various neurological disorders. This project was focused on improving a previously designed apparatus, which was developed to quantitatively measure muscle rigidity. When obtained, the apparatus was could measure rigidity in patients arm. However, there were considerable problems with the safety and portability of the device. Improvements were made to the device through the implementation of additional electrical safety features. An electrical safety circuit was successfully developed to prevent from forceful hyperextension. A new base design was developed and implemented to decrease the weight and size of the original frame. In addition, the electrical connections from the motor to the electrical box were bundled into a single connector to facilitate set up of the device. Aluminum plates were machined and implemented with the device to allow for bi-planar testing of the patients arm. While considerable improvements were made to the device, continued advancement is needed with the device before it is clinically ready. Possible future improvements to the device include the implementation of mechanical and additional electrical safety stops to emphasize safety redundancy, and development of an adjustable and more comfortable arm rest. Additional improvements may include the implementation of a data collection system. Acknowledgements: Funding provided by the School of Engineering-Senior Design Project Grant Funding 2012. In addition, we would like to thank Charles Taylor for all of his support and assistance.
Transparent Temperature-Controlled Cell Stretching Attachment for Live Cell Imaging

Project Members
Elyse Anderson Hiral Patel Maria Rojos
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Rebecca Heise
Department
The objective of this project is to enhance the Flexcell Tension Plus System and Flexcell StageFlexer by creating a temperature-controlled imaging attachment. The purpose is to observe the mechanical stretching of lung cells hoping that this device can be used more broadly among mechanobiology laboratories. The current problem is that there is no device that allows simultaneous temperature control and viewing of cells under mechanical load in a six-well culture plate. The three major components of the design are an incubator, a six-well plate, and a plate with six transparent loading posts for uniform stretching of the cells. The device will be compatible with the current Flexcell System and the Olympus microscope dimensions. All materials and dimensions were chosen based on optical clarity, heat resistance, rigidity, and vacuum maintenance ability. The original design was meant to observe one well under the microscope, but it was decided that a device adapted to a six-well plate was more practical for lab use. Research was conducted to include necessary dimensions and materials in a SolidWorks design. The entire functioning device may be used with up to 20x magnification while the culture plate may be sterilized and viewed with up to 40x. Validations may be made via regular temperature and loading measurements. The success of this device would improve mechanobiology labs by allowing researchers to observe cells under stretch in a more relevant environment. Ideally this device will be used by labs with various stretching systems, cells, and microscopes. Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Mike Benini of Maxum Machine and Drs. Hu Yang and Jennifer Wayne of the VCU Dept. of BME for their assistance.
Non-Invasive Measurement of the Arterial Pulse Waveform

Project Member
Hiren Mistry
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Paul Wetzel
Department
Although physicians use vital signs such as peripheral blood pressure to provide insight into the patients health status, limitations emerge as the full pulse pressure waveform is not examined. Examination of aspects of the peripheral arterial pulse waveform (APW), including shape, amplitude, and duration can provide physicians with information on the central pressure waveform and more insight into the patients cardiovascular status. This project aims to develop a method for detection and analysis of the APW with a noninvasive sensor. This sensor element will be fabricated for placement on a pulse location on patients to obtain a clear APW signal. A piezoelectric material will be utilized to monitor the signal in order to analyze the mechanical properties of the vessel walls. A basic understanding of the APW and its clinical significance was researched. Analysis of the pulse wave velocity, the reflected waveform and other unique APW aspects can provide insight into the patients disease and volumetric state. The PVDF piezoelectric material was chosen over other materials as the sensing element. The finger and wrist were identified as the most feasible pulse point locations and securing mechanism prototypes were created. Capture of the APW from the sensor element was performed through signal processing via a differential amplifier circuit. Obtaining the arterial pulse waveform would provide insight into the cardiovascular status. Piezoelectric materials, pulse point locations, and securing mechanisms for the sensor have been considered. Future work includes further clarification of the signal, refinement of securing mechanism, and examination of unique sensor shapes for signal enhancement. Acknowledgements: Dr. Paul A. Wetzel, Dr. Kevin R. Ward, School of Engineering Foundation Senior Design Grant Committee, and Charles Taylor
Tympanometry
Project Members
Lance Cheng Keri Davis
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Martin Lenhardt
Department
Tympanometry is a diagnostic technique to examine middle ear conditions. The usage of the device has declined and is now presently used mostly in audiology clinics and has limited usage in developing countries. Older model tympanometers are commonly used in audiology clinics and are absent in pediatric offices due to the high costs of the device. Pediatricians also lack the training to operate the tympanometer. There is also an inherent fear in some children of the device, especially handheld tympanometers, which arises from the exterior resemblance to a gun. Disassembly of an old tympanometer was done followed by analysis of the manual. Shadowing audiologists at the Nelson Clinic provided experience to clinical issues concerning tympanometry and practitioner feedback tympanometers commonly used. To solve for the problems encountered during preliminary research and analysis, a novel design to improve existing tympanometers to an affordable, child-friendly handheld tympanometer was developed, which will also be a simplified version of current devices to enable more widespread usage. Rather than displaying a tympanogram, similar to current devices on the market, it will be a simple pass or fail test that could be performed by people of varying degrees of experience. Literature reviews and shadowing led to a concrete design idea. To develop a prototype of the design, a microcontroller was programmed to determine compliance of the eardrum from an input pressure. The compliance value is then evaluated within the microcontroller to determine a pass or fail test result that will display on the device. The use of a probe tone in the tympanometer to measure acoustic reflex was eliminated in the design to simplify the device. Reinvigorating the current tympanometer design to a cheaper, more child-friendly and simplistic device has the potential to increase the applications of the device, specifically in the pediatric environment and in developing countries. Acknowledgements: Dr. Christine Eubanks
Extendable Membrane Bioreactor with an Air Liquid Interface

Project Members
Kevin Lessard Jiten Narang
Faculty Advisors
Dr. Rebecca Heise Dr. Christopher Lemmon
Department
Currently it is impossible to culture bronchial epithelial tissue in an environment that mimics what cells experience in vivo on a tissue sized scale. The environment is characterized by cyclic stretch, and an air-liquid interface (ALI) at human body temperature. While there are systems that mimic these conditions individually, none do both together that are commercially available. The approach was to combine the capabilities of the Transwell and Flexcell systems yielding an extendable porous membrane at an ALI. The device should have a capacity of to 1 million cells per well. The design should allow for 6 wells. Cells should be cyclically elongated up to 33% on a membrane with .3-4um pore diameters. A porous membrane will be constructed using a mold made from photolithography. This design will be validated using a MTS for material data, and cell culture comparisons to current systems. A linear actuator was selected to create the stretch force instead of a vacuum, like the Flexcell, because the membrane is porous. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was selected for the membrane due to its ease of molding and biocompatibility. Using the VCU Wright Microelectronics Lab photolithography equipment, a mold for the PDMS membrane was designed. The device will have a base plate with the actuator, a well plate, and membrane plate and a cover plate all of which were machined. This design stretches a membrane with three .7in diameter cell growth areas with 5um pores spaced 15um apart at an ALI by pressing the media wells below into the membrane plate which is constrained to the base. This device will allow for better replication of in vivo lung conditions and potentially skin and ocular cultures. Despite some fabrication limitations, this design can easily be upgraded or modified to allow for more or less wells. Acknowledgements: Joshua Starliper
Non-invasive Therapeutic Hypothermia

Project Members
Dilawar S. Khokhar Zachary M. Zemore
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Gary L. Bowlin
Department
This project is aimed at designing and constructing a novel device to cool patients suffering from a variety of conditions such as myocardial infarction, stroke, malignant hyperthermia and many other afflictions. By cooling the human body one can mitigate damage at the cellular level by decreasing cerebral metabolism, reducing apoptosis, and inhibiting free oxygen radical production among other mechanisms. The current technology uses either invasive means or an uncontrolled method that utilizes large surface areas. No current device is either easy to use or apply. The unique design of this device allows cooling in a rapid, non-invasive manner that minimizes the risk of over cooling while monitoring patient temperature. The size and features of this apparatus are specifically designed to be used by first responders in emergency response vehicles. The use of this device will allow hypothermia induction at the earliest stages of treatment leading to significantly improved patient care and recovery. Acknowledgements: Our thanks go to Dr. Gerald Miller, Dr. Afroditi Filippas, and Michael Pfaffenberger for funding assistance and aid in this project.
Evaluative Eye-Tracking System

Project Members
Laura Deal Andrea Elkovich Dimitri Karles
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Paul Wetzel
Department
Between 40% and 60% of soldiers returning from overseas have some form of traumatic brain injury resulting from a blast. Often, this diagnosis is based off of self-reported symptoms in the weeks and months after their return. Since current diagnostic methods for this condition are most often qualitative or unreasonably expensive, there is a need for a cheap and quantitative evaluative tool. A limbus eye-tracking system was chosen as an inexpensive option for collecting oculomotor data, and for its sufficient precision for this application. The system is small and can be easily mounted onto a pair of safety glasses. The tracker is positioned using a projected crosshair onto the subjects pupil. The entire system is portable, and can be housed in a single enclosure. In limbus eye-tracking systems, two phototransistors are positioned on the sclera. The eye is flooded with IR light, which is picked up by the two phototransistors as voltages. The built-in bridge circuit subtracts these voltages and the output corresponds to the eyes position relative to the calibrated origin. An inexpensive limbus eye-tracking system can provide insight into cognitive function through measurement of horizontal eye movements. The system has been mounted on a pair of stabilized safety glasses so that it remains relative to the head for accurate data acquisition. An enclosure element serves multiple purposes. The boxs display includes 7 LEDs functioning as calibration points, as well as a surface for reading prompts. The enclosure also safely houses the all project components. The project design proved to be effective. During simulation, the system properly monitored and recorded horizontal eye movements, indicating the system is capable of detecting characteristic abnormalities of mTBI. Acknowledgements: Our team would like to thank the Mark Sternheimer Senior Design Award Grant Committee
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Longitudinal Hand Traction System

Project Members
Kirubel Feleke Paolo Erico Gimeno Jae Kim
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Jennifer Wayne
Department
Surgical procedures of the hand, wrist and forearm often require application of longitudinal traction to stabilize the limb for such needs as arthroscopy or facilitating reduction during fracture repair. A hand traction device would provide a mechanical alternative to manual manipulation which can be inefficient and cumbersome. The purpose of the project is to design an effective hand traction system to provide longitudinal traction of the hand for use in treatment. The team designed a tensile applying mechanism across the hand using a set of wedges, which pulls the hand by locking between proximal phalanges of the fingers. This wedge component attaches to the tensile applying component of the frame. A counter traction strap on the upper arm maintains a fixed elbow flexion position. Various mechanisms and techniques of applying precise tension were implemented throughout development. Through consultations with orthopedic practitioners and viewing OR/ER environments, the team concluded that a stand-alone and lightweight design is needed. By simplifying the initial frame design and mechanisms in SolidWorks, the team developed a more ideal traction model for which a prototype was built. Tension in this model is controlled via a scoping mechanism at the arm. By using anthropometric arm/forearm average lengths, the team was able to optimize material usage and reduce weight. Implementation of an effective longitudinal traction system can ultimately reduce risks of vascular and neurological complications that result from manual manipulation of the forearm. Based on evaluation of the prototype models, lighter and user friendly tractions models are deemed suitable for clinical use. Acknowledgements: Drs. Charles McDowell, Wilhelm Zuelzer, Jonathan Isaacs, and Victoria Kuester of the VCU Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
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Reducing Action Tremors during Laparoscopic Surgery

Project Members
Khoa Le Steven Kaplan
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Dianne Pawluk
Department
Laparoscopic surgery presents many benefits to patients ever since it was first developed in the early 1900s. However, one problem that plagues most surgeons is action tremor, the onset of which occurs by holding their arm in a position for a period of time against gravity. This negatively affects the surgery as the action tremor results in shaking of the laparoscopic instrument. Since laparoscopic surgery is free standing, surgeon fatigue is a major issue for long surgeries. Fatigue causes the surgeons arms and hands to be less stable and hinders the outcome of the surgery. The goal of this project is to design a device to reduce the negative effects of these tremors during laparoscopic surgery. The solution we are proposing is the use of articulating arm rests. The arm rests theoretically stabilize a surgeons forearm by providing an additional support system. By providing range of motion in 3 degrees of freedom the surgeon can use the arm rests while performing the surgery. In addition, they are designed to not interfere with other instruments in the O.R. and all parts are safe for use in the autoclave. To verify the functionality of the arm rests a testing procedure has been devised. Using a motion monitoring system and a simulated laparoscopic surgery environment the tip of the laparoscopic instrument will be tracked. The subject is given specific directions to perform a pick and place activity using and not using the arm rests. Multiple trials and subjects will be used to test the device and its applicability in the O.R. Initial experiments were performed to determine baseline frequency responses for both project members performing the pick and place activity. Both group members were tested and completed 3 trials each. The power spectrums produced from the tests concur with the background research on normal and active tremor frequency ranges. To validate the testing algorithm a 9Hz sine wave was input and a spike in magnitude at 9Hz indicated that the program is working correctly. Once the arm rests have been machined the group members will test as many subjects as possible and present the results at the symposium. The proposed design is currently in the process of being machined, so no testing has taken place yet. Hypothetically, the results will show a decrease in frequency from the power spectrum which indicates suppression of hand tremors when the subjects use the articulating arm rests to perform the pick and place activity.
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Minus the Mouse: Hands-Free Device for Function of a Computer Mouse
Project Members
Shawn Joshi Soorya Namboodiri
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Paul Wetzel
Department
This device is targeted toward patients that only have mobility of their head. Using this device, patients will be able to interface with any computer containing a USB port, to access complete mouse function without needing the use of their limbs. The design goals for this project were to integrate the existing technologies of the eye-blink interface with a head-movement detection gyroscope circuit. Integration of these yielded the ultimate design goal of creating a device that uses gestures (namely eye blinks and head movements) to mimic the functions of a computer mouse, hands-free. The investigators have integrated the eye-blink detection circuit with the head-gesture gyroscope circuit and are eager to see the design compacted for general use. With respect to the eye-blink hardware, the technology was reworked to enhance simplicity and effectiveness of the design. Regarding the head-gesture design, the investigators made key decisions on finding technologies that would better enhance accuracy of the cursor. Several approaches were considered including webcam detection and other software detection of movements. Considering all variables in the design, gyroscope hardware was chosen due its economic feasibility and features. Since integration has been completed, making the device more compact is the next step toward putting this product on the market. The design process undertaken so far has set considerable groundwork toward the ultimate product. The investigators have attempted the complete integration of the two functions of the device and ultimately look to manufacture and package the device for the target market. Acknowledgements: The investigators would like to thank Dr. Fei, Dr. Bai, Ms. Pallavi Ramnarain, Mr. Charles E. Taylor, and Ms. Grace Pigott for their invaluable support during our design process.
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Redesigning Prescription Bottles for a Geriatric Population

Project Members
Victoria Hribar Chelsea Powell
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Jennifer Wayne
Department
Opening the child resistant medication closures can be difficult for many older adults, and this can lead to the use of non-child resistant closures or improper use by failing to close the lids completely. Efforts to make medications easier to access can compromise the safety of children and cause accidental child poisonings. In order to reduce the amount of accidental poisonings, prescription bottles must be redesigned to meet the needs of elderly adults and also meet the government standards for child resistant packaging. Opening and closing a child resistant medication bottle is comprised of visual, cognitive, and manual components. All three of these functions deteriorate due to aging and other conditions, and this must be considered when redesigning a bottle. The primary difficulty for older adults is applying the two dissimilar forces required to open the child resistant caps currently used in prescription packaging. The focus of this project is to create a new bottle design which relies less on strength and will incorporate several features that will meet the needs of the elder adult population. The bottle has been designed in SolidWorks and constructed in acrylic using a laser cutter. The user unlocks the bottle by twisting a child safety ring. To dispense medication, the user then twists the upper half of the bottle and a diaphragm mechanism opens giving access to medication. This new design is expected to meet the needs of older adults since they no longer need to apply two dissimilar forces simultaneously to open the bottle. In the future, an IRB approved study will be conducted to compare this design with several child resistant bottle caps currently in use. Acknowledgements: Thanks to Charles Taylor, Graham Kelly, and Sean Higgins for their assistance on this project.
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AHL: Variable Cracking Pressure Swing Check Valve

Project Members
Cameron Grover Samantha Leach
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Gerald Miller
Department
Our project was to create a variable pressure swing check valve. The purpose of this project was to accurately model aortic valve sclerosis using Dr Millers mock circulatory loop. Aortic valve sclerosis is a condition where the valve leaflets begin to become calcified, making them less compliant and more difficult to open. The normal cracking force for a healthy aortic valve is about .3N, which increases in patients with a sclerotic valve up to about 1.0N. We have designed a valve to model this by using a strong rare earth magnet and a piece of ferromagnetic metal. With the metal attached to the valve, the proximity of the magnet determines the cracking force. Using a motor driven linear actuator being controlled using a step promoter, will allow us to very precisely control the required force to open the valve. When we run tests, we expect that the flow velocity will range from normal levels up to about 2m/s when the cracking force is at its maximum.
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Micro-Bead Maker
Project Member
Faisal Savaya
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Gary Bowlin
Department
Alginate gels are used as a cell delivery vehicle due to their biocompatibility, gelation, and stabilization. Their water retaining properties and structure plays a big role as well. The ambient gelation preserve the bioactivity of the cells and growth factors by allowing the passage of liquids and minerals through its pores, while at the same time acting as a capsule to keep large particles from contact to the cells and growth factors. Sodium alginate capsules are prepared by dripping alginate gel fine droplets into calcium chloride solution which will solidify the gel into a hard shell that form micro sized spherical beads which act as a cell delivery vehicles. Electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) or electro spray is used to fabricate micro sized alginate beads. However in cell microencapsulation for therapy treatments, the biggest challenge is making a large number of beads in a small amount of time. The EHDA is a slow process that take hours to spray few milliliters; cells and growth factors should not be bathed in calcium chloride bath for a long time. This design project aims to solve this problem by designing a multi nozzle system that increases the production rate of alginate micro beads. The multi nozzle device increases the production and it is very cost effective.
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CHEMICAL AND LIFE SCIENCE ENGINEERING
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18
Production of Biobutanol as a Source of Alternative Energy

Project Members
Sean Cunningham Antonio Johnson Jillian Stemmle
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Stephen Fong
Department
Chemical and Life Science Engineering
Worldwide, there is an increasing need to develop an alternative energy source to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Butanol is a more ideal substitute than other alcohols, such as ethanol, that are currently used because it has a more similar energy output to that of gasoline in an engine. This means butanol can be blended at a higher ratio than ethanol, or it could be used as a complete substitute for gasoline. The problem addressed is producing butanol on a mass scale while still remaining profitable. Ordinarily, the yield of butanol from glucose using the selected bacteria is approximately 22%. The pathways within the cell must be modified to potentially increase the yield of butanol during the fermentation process. A chemical plant model was designed and the profitability was calculated using a theoretical model developed by analyzing the current methods available. Pathway modifications within the cell will be modified at first by using simulation software. This software gives the theoretical output of butanol with each change of the cell, and the yield of butanol produced is measured. Any change that will increase the yield of butanol to above 22% is considered an improvement. The amount of butanol maintained in the bioreactor during the scale-up production must be controlled to create optimal conditions for the bacteria to reach maximum conversion. If considerable progress can be made in creating a more efficient process to producing butanol, a significant change in the field of fuel sources is possible. By producing a means of creating butanol at mass quantities, the world could have a new option for a clean and reliable source of energy.
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Cobalt Nickel Extraction and Emulsion Separation Utilizing an Expanded Polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) Membrane
Project Members
Nhat Minh Bui Joseph Clatterbuck Aaron Crumpler Karan Sharma
Faculty Advisor
Dr. B. Frank Gupton
Department
In many chemical processes, such as metal extraction, a separation method is needed to separate the liquid products in an emulsion. Typically this is done using a settling tank, allowing gravity to slowly separate the emulsion into distinct product and effluent phases. This solution is appealing because it demands virtually no energy; however, it can be slow depending on the stability of the emulsion, is often batch only, and traditional settling tanks can occupy large amounts of space depending on desired product volumes. Therefore a faster, continuous, low space requirement, low energy alternative for emulsion separation is desired to enhance the results of simple gravity separation. In the designed system, an ePTFE membrane is used to take advantage of interfacial tension between product (organic) and effluent (aqueous) phases within the emulsion, selectively allowing the passage of a large portion of the product phase through the membrane, while leaving the effluent phase and some residual product on the feed side of the ePTFE barrier. Since the organic phase must wet the ePTFE surface and also have a high interfacial tension with water, only a narrow range of substances can be used. In our demonstrative incorporation of the ePTFE phase separator into a metal extraction system, hydrocarbon extraction solvents such as Kerosene can be separated because of their high interfacial tension and ability to wet the surface of the ePTFE. In addition, many organic solvents which posses a high interfacial tension with water separate sufficiently quick while settling as not to warrant a design such as ours necessary. The exception to this rule is when emulsion droplet size is extremely small, effectively stabilizing the emulsion.
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Surface Tension Confined Microfluidics (STCM) as a Platform for Medical Diagnostics

Project Members
Eleni Galanopoulos Daniel Henke Afton Trent
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Kenneth Wynne
Department
The purpose of the device is to measure blood clotting time and to serve as an indicator for anticoagulant therapy and medical diagnosis. The design is differentiated from current hemostasis measurements by its design. The STCM device is projected to have low production cost and is targeted for settings where electric power is not readily available. Overall device design has the ability to capture a broader user base due to simple use and test result interpretation. A handheld, disposable device is being designed where fluid flow is driven by capillary action rather than pumps. Device assembly is being implemented utilizing a novel reactive ink patterning technology through inexpensive, readily available starting materials. Electricity is not required for device operation since the test result is assessed visually. The technology employed is STCM, which utilizes hydrophilic and hydrophobic material properties to produce pathways for liquid flow. The device consists of a hydrophilic path stamped onto a hydrophobic surface to produce a micro-scale blood flow track. A stamping process for transferring a reactive ink onto a hydrophobic surface generated a hydrophilic path. Initial tests were performed with water due to its shared hydrophilic properties with blood. Prototype devices were created with mirror image pathways separated by spacers. Dyed water, introduced into the system, monitored prototype functionality. Working prototypes have been fabricated; process standardization is underway. After successful prototyping, a blood coagulant may be incorporated into the pathway entry and tested with blood. Acknowledgements: Dr. Kenneth Wynne, VCU School of Engineering Foundation Senior Design Award, Topas Advanced Polymers
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Functional Drug Delivery System Constructed with a Silk Biopolymer

Project Members
Adam Lisbeth Carl Najdyszak Priyanka Ramsinghani
Faculty Advisors
Dr. Raj Rao Dr. Vamsi Yadavalli
Department
A drug delivery device that could be used with minimal sideeffects to the person would be a very desirable device in the biomedical field. Our goal is to create a flexible drug delivery device made solely out of the silk protein-fibroin. Silk has a long history as biological polymer that is biocompatible, biodegradable, non-toxic and non-inflammatory in the human body. However, to date, complex patterns and architectures have rarely been made with silk proteins. These would allow us to fabricate precise patterns for releasing drug molecules in a controlled fashion. Using techniques including photolithography, microcontact printing and silk film development techniques, we have attempted to fabricate drug delivery devices made of pure silk and silk in combination with a flexible silicone polymer polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS). We have developed many analytical models and prototypes to control the thickness of the film and calculate the diffusion rates of different molecular weight dyes through the silk films. The different molecular weight dyes will imitate the different molecular weight pharmaceuticals that may be used in the medical field and will give us a better understanding of silk fibroin as a drug delivery device. Significant challenges in the difficulty of fabricating pure silk delivery devices include the brittleness of the silk films and the fact that there are steps in the development phase that require more flexibility. We believe that with more extensive research and development on silk drug systems, a pure silk fibroin micro patterned device without a PDMS backing is possible. Acknowledgements: Dr. Vamsi Yadavalli, Dr. Raj Rao, Professor S. C. Kundu (Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur), Mr. Rudy Krack, Ms. Cynthia Lovelace
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COMPUTER ENGINEERING
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24
Biometric Home Security System

Project Members
Fallon Cooper Nathaniel Moore John Spauls
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Robert H. Klenke
Department
Computer Engineering
In typical modern day security systems for the average home the users of the system are required to have a pass code to gain entry to their home. The system being developed by this project will solve the problem of consumers forgetting their pass codes or pass codes being unknowingly distributed to outside parties. Instead of a pass code this system will stores fingerprints to allow the home owners to scan their finger to gain entry to their home. The Biometric Home Security System is based off of a Virtex-4 FX12 MM single-board computer and its main component is a compact, self-contained fingerprint scanner developed by NITGEN. This fingerprint scanner is used to authenticate persons who wish to enter the house. There are several other sensors as well that monitor the state of the house, including a motion detector and proximity sensor, these sensors will send signals to the Security System when someone is detected entering the house. The fingerprint scanner is then used to verify whether or not the person entering the house is an intruder or a person who lives in the house. A model house was created with a working door and window in order to effectively demonstrate how the Biometric Home Security System functions.
25
Remote Controlled 3-Axis Camera Gimbal

Project Members
Joel Elmore Hussien Hussien Chris Manns Viktor Mirzoyan
Faculty Advisor
Department
When controlling a camera from a moving platform i.e. an aircraft, keeping the desired orientation becomes an arduous task. An aircraft moves in 3-dimensions, requiring the user to manage 3-axis to maintain a target heading. This project is developing a camera gimbal system that will stabilize the camera and assist the user with tracking targets on the ground. To overcome the unexpected movements of the aircraft in any direction, the gimbal uses 3-axis for control. The gimbal takes initial measurements to compare its actual position with its point of reference. Based on this error, proportional integral derivative (PID) loops adjust the system to achieve its desired orientation. 3D models were drawn up for the hardware design and ensure maximum flexibility for whatever device needed to be mounted to the gimbal. A servo controlled pan/tilt prototype camera mount allowed for test implementation of control software. Control theory for PID loops involves extensive testing of the parameters to fine tune the system in order to achieve a desired steady state. Using these control loops, allows the servos to adjust for any discrepancy between the current position and the target. The servo stabilized gimbal allows for a board spectrum of uses not only limited to photography. The applications range to any situation where the host platform fluctuates. For us, the purpose to pursue such a device is to provide steady images for aerial photography where oscillations are unpredictable and uncontrollable. Acknowledgments: Our thanks to Tim Bakker, Thomas W. Carnes, and Garrett L. Ward for their assistance in setting up the development board and guidance in the project.
26
Smart Lighting
Project Members
Adam DeVine Cameron White Joshua Willman
Faculty Advisor
Department
Concerns for the environment and the increasing cost of energy have led homeowners to seek out ways to make their homes more energy efficient. Lighting is one of the major uses of energy in the home. The goal of this project is to develop an efficient, automated lighting control system, called Smart Lighting, for home use. Smart Lighting is an Android controllable lighting system that automatically adapts to the environment. The lighting system uses energy efficient LEDs which use a fraction of the electricity of normal incandescent light bulbs. When sunlight enters the room, or a lamp is turned on, the lights controlled by the system automatically dim. As sunlight leaves the room, the lights brighten back up. The lights automatically turn on when one enters the room, and turn off shortly after they leave. The Android app allows it's user to remotely turn lights on and off, adjust the brightness of the lights, and configure the motion sensor. Lighting configurations can be saved for later use. Dimming the lights to a desired brightness can be done simply by the press of a button on the phone.
27
Universal Home Controller

Project Members
Tuan Anh Cao Timothy Nguyen Stanley Pan
Faculty Advisor
Department
Modern homes contain a myriad of electronic devices, many of which have a remote control. The typical home has a number of these remote control devices, each of which is different and difficult to use, or occasionally, even find. This project is aimed at developing a system that takes advantage of current technological innovations, such as wireless networks and smart phones, to improve daily interactions with these common household devices. The system is based on a mobile smart phone application that allow the user to consolidate control over multiple devices into a single program. Developing this application will produce several noticeable benefits. The first is the elimination of reliance on multiple physical controllers. The second is easing the control and management of these devices by condensing their controllers into a single, easy-to-use application with a common interface for all devices. The ease of use would be able to allow anyone to use the app. Even those with accessibility issues or the technology challenged. There exists some commercial systems that are similar to this project. These other systems are very expensive, and require your home to be embedded with smart home technology, or an abundance of physical modifications to your home. The concept here is to create a low cost alternative that would allow the simplest of functions. This system is targeted towards simple applications that would only require the purchase of one small unit that can control and monitor electronics that are in the room. This project would turn a room into a plug and play type system that would not require the user to commit their homes to extensive remodeling.
28
Household Energy Enumeration Logger (H.E.E.L.)

Project Members
Karl Daman David Koslow Bao Nguyen
Faculty Advisor
Department
The rising cost of energy and concern for the environment have given rise to the need for the average homeowner to better monitor and control the power usage of their household. The Household Energy Enumeration Logger (H.E.E.L.) system is designed to allow the user to monitor the power usage and control the operation of electrical systems in their house using a simple graphic user interface on their personal home network. Given the limited choice and prohibitive costs of current consumer level household power monitors, our project is an attempt to consolidate the primary functions of such products into a scaled down and affordable package by designing and implementing a multi-circuit power monitor using the provided Virtex-4 FX-12 FPGA hardware platform. The H.E.E.L. system allows the user to monitor the power usage of up to eight separate circuits and access that information in graphical form over the web. Additionally, the user is given the option to directly break or energize the circuit under observation through the use of digital relays connected to the H.E.E.L. system as well as the option to schedule the relays to connect the circuit at the user's discretion throughout the day. It is our hope to facilitate energy conservative behaviors from the user by making his or her real time energy usage evident and easily accessible. The device is designed from the ground up with minimal hardware to cut expenses while maintaining functionality and ease of installation on home circuit terminals. The completion of this device will demonstrate the feasibility of an affordable household power monitor for energy-conscious consumers.
29
Alarm System Internet Module

Project Members
Travis Debus Varun Ghatge Kadrienne Johnson Kentrell Wilkins
Faculty Advisor
Department
The goal of this project is to develop an internet-enabled alarm system for home security. The Alarm System Internet Module provides increased security by using a biometric fingerprint scanner to authenticate users in addition to traditional motion detectors to detect unauthorized access to the home. The system uses a fingerprint scanner, motion detector, proximity sensor, video camera and LCD for user friendliness. If motion is detected, the network camera will automatically begin recording video and the fingerprint scanner will be ready to accept a fingerprint scan. The proximity sensor can be used on windows and doors and will report if a breach occurs. End users will be comfortable using our system, since the LCD will display the status of the alarm system. The LCD will also indicate to users when to scan their fingerprint on the scanner. Our system polls continuously for any sensor changes and acts accordingly. If a breach occurs, a speaker will sound and the user will be alerted via email and/or text message. The user will be able to view captured video to ascertain the nature of the threat.
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COMPUTER SCIENCE
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32
Project Flipbooks
Project Members
Brent Amrhein James Brooks Aaron Flick John McConnell
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Wanyu Zang
Computer Science
Department
Have you ever had a video and wished that you had a high quality, customizable, personalized flip-book to commemorate it? The answer is myflipski.com. Upload your video, and in a few simple clicks a flip-book will be printed and on its way to your door. Our goal was to create an easy-touse, web-commerce front that can be maintained without a substantial amount of technical knowledge. The website we had in mind needed to have a database for storing user information, and possess the ability to accept large video uploads so that the back-end could select groupings of individual frames for printing. Myflipski.com exists as a location for users to register an account, log-in, and upload personal videos. Once uploaded, the video file is converted using open source software such as ffmpeg to a format that the client browser can display using HTML5. Using the same software, our back-end system splits a video into a series of image files once the user chooses a start and end time. With developer setup limitations and cross-browser compatibility issues, we ended up deciding to eschew struggling with using Flash to support outdated browsers. Instead, we base most of the client-side functionality on more modern web technologies like HTML5 and Javascript. As a result, users will need a modern web browser to utilize myflipski.com. This project illustrates some of the niceties that the evolving web technologies have in store for us all. Acknowledgements: Daniel Hutton - Mailing Services Inc.
33
Chat Bot to Expose Services Across Boundaries

Project Members
Kyle Hedie Dillon Jason Daniel Tanner Jon Willis
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Wanyu Zang
Computer Science
Department
CapTech uses web applications to access services like Unanet (timesheet management). Employees already use instant messaging to communicate across client boundaries. Combining CapTechs services into one ubiquitously available service would increase the productivity of employees at client sites. A instant messenger (XMPP) chat bot can provide this service. The bot will be issued commands, much like in a terminal. For example, the user can send the bot a command such as unanet list to list timesheet information. The server Kernel daemon will be running and listening for incoming messages obtained from an XMPP library. These messages will be parsed into Command objects, and then dispatched to a Google Guava EventBus. The EventBus will trigger an Event, which any number of Handlers may be listening for. Each Handler may be responsible for communicating with REST services, cleaning up files, etc. With the completion of the chat bot CapTech employees are able to maintain their Unanet timesheets at client locations. Since timesheet information is often lengthy and cumbersome to input, the bot allows the user to enter timesheet information in a conversational style. In the future, CapTech needs to be able to expand our chat bot to interface with other services. To lend our codebase to further extensions and changes, we designed a simple service called MeetBot. MeetBot forced our code to held to a certain level of modularity and complexity that surpassed the requirements for exposing Unanet alone. The chat bot solves CapTechs problem of not being able to access some services at client sites. However, there is a learning curve for the users: they must learn the text based commands and how to navigate a timesheet using a text based service. From the start we knew that the chat bot was probably not going to be widely used, but acts as a stopgap solution to a nagging problem. Acknowledgements: Industry Advisors: Chris Wash, Justin Bleach, Chris Lacroix and Robert Szabo
34
MWV IT Authorizations for Expenditure Google Application

Project Members
Karim Abouzaki Erica Absetz Tim Edwards Rahul Patel
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Wanyu Zang
Department
Computer Science
In 2009, MeadWestvaco (MWV) deployed Google Apps (mail, chat, calendar, contacts, docs, sites, groups, video) for all 10,000+ MWV users. Prior to the migration, Lotus Notes/Domino was used to build many applications throughout the company. MWV decided an appropriate solution was needed for replacing these apps, and asked our group to perform a proof of concept to see if these ideas were feasible. The particular application they were interested in porting is intended for company expenditure authorizations. No IT capital is to be spent without a request in the application, which goes through a specific workflow for proper approval (or rejection). Our team evaluated different options and implemented the application using Google App Engine, JavaScript and Google Web Toolkit. The basic functionality includes being able to create, retrieve, update/edit an AFE, view summaries of the AFEs, and the workflow process to get approval of an AFE. Our work has led us to believe that it indeed would be feasible to deploy this app using the Google App Engine infrastructure. While there are deficiencies in areas such as Google Web Toolkit, the technology is still quite young and continues to improve as it matures. Acknowledgements: Gregory Kieper, Susan Griffin, Jeff Boyett, and Wietze de Vries
35
Cloud Computing Security

Project Members
Alex Bara Chris Carpenter Andrew Curcie Jacqueline Murrell Trevor Page
Faculty Advisors
Dr. Meng Yu Dr. Wanyu Zang
Department
Computer Science
Cloud computing is quickly becoming the platform of choice for many web services. Virtualization is the key underlying technology enabling provider host services for a large number of customers. Unfortunately, virtualization software is large and complex which produces a considerable attack surface. This project modifies OpenSPARC, an open source hardware project, by adding a module to the existing code in an attempt to eliminate a common security vulnerability. In order to make cloud computing more secure, an extra layer of information verification is added between the CPU and memory management system. This additional verification checks the users ID against the list of permitted users for the particular memory location the user is attempting to access. A correctly implemented module will modify the data flows within OpenSPARC. Data with proper permissions will be handled as before. If appropriate permissions are not found, the data movement is halted and an error is produced. As use of cloud computing increases worldwide, so does the need to maintain a secure environment. This module, when implemented properly, will eliminate the most common security weakness. Acknowledgements: Wuqiong Pan, a Ph.D. student and research assistant for the Computer and Network Security Lab, was an invaluable source of knowledge and support.
36
Virginia Rest Area Advertising

Project Members
Darius Bullock Andy Domin John Donna
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Wanyu Zang
Department
Computer Science
In Virginia there are over 40 different rest areas and welcome centers at which all possess many different forms of advertisement. As of now, all of these locations advertisement space is being managed by old fashioned pen and paper. With this being said, we have an immediate need for a purchasing and management system for the various forms of advertising. Our teams goal is to design and create an eCommerce site to sell advertising space in the Virginia Welcome Centers and Rest Areas. This site should have a user friendly interface and be an outfacing website to allow clients to purchase and place their advertisements in as many locations as they wish. Our team and advisor felt that the project scope was very large once we actually began working on the site. Therefore, we scaled the project down to be an inward facing site where orders could be taken and data could be input and managed. The site is currently up and running and in its final stages of development. This site will be put to use upon its completion in May. Acknowledgements: Daniel Hutton, Mailing Services Inc.
37
ATSC MyPBA Web Application

Project Members
John Emanuel Justin Moulton Brendan Slezak Brian Todd
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Wanyu Zang
Department
Computer Science
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), a federal corporation, protects and manages the pensions of over 44 million American workers and retirees. PBGC currently has a web application in place to help retiree, or plan participants manage their pension plans, apply for benefits, designate beneficiaries, change tax, personal or bank information. Although satisfactory, the current web application does not make use of current social or mobile technologies to help plan participants collaborate ideas and questions with other customers or with PBGC. ATSC has been tasked with doing a re-write of their current web application with the use of Oracle WebCenter. With the broad guidance of Mr. Atreya of ATSC, the VCU MyPBA team has been using the Oracle Jdeveloper with WebCenter integration platform to design and program a prototype web application. This project is a foray into technologies and programming paradigms not covered in the undergraduate curriculum for Computer Science at VCU. The web application makes full use of a model-view-controller architectural ideology and relies heavily on Oracles WebCenter webserver technologies. Webcenter uses a combination of Java, Javascript, XML/HTML, SQL programming languages and Oracles own proprietary programming components. The VCU MyPBA team has employed the agile programming methodology with bi-weekly scrum meetings, weekly phone conferences with Mr. Atreya and monthly sprints. The goals of this project is to create a j2ee web application that allows access from not just a desktop web browser but also mobile devices and create a social web 2.0 application that allows users to collaborate and interact with other users or administrators at PBGC. The learning curve for this has been very demanding and without any technical help from ATSC (as they do not have anyone there that knows the WebCenter/web application part of Jdeveloper), progress on this project has been steadily moving forward. Acknowledgements: Mr. Sudhir Atreya
38
Jazz Studies Ensemble and Orchestra Scheduling and Reporting

Project Members
David Hia Ryan McEvoy Matthew Robichaux
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Wanyu Zang
Department
Computer Science
Small jazz ensembles and orchestras are an integral part of all jazz studies majors in the School of the Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University. With around 60 to 80 students auditioning for these ensembles and orchestras every semester, it can be tough to place all these students of varying abilities and schedules into like groups. These students need to be placed into groups within a reasonable amount of time after they audition. The current system is a paper based system that takes hours to complete and sometimes needs to be repeated multiple times until a best fit is reached. Our system will be a digital solution that will speed up the placement process and take only a fraction of the time. It will allow the user to make decisions regarding placement of students based on student schedules, professor schedules, room availability, and skill level. Our software will also provide several reporting features to include listing the ensembles and orchestras and the students assigned to them. Overall our product will allow the jazz studies department to efficiently manage an essential part of many students academic careers. Our product provides specific scheduling and reporting to a particular case, the jazz studies program at Virginia Commonwealth University. Acknowledgments: Professor Antonio Garcia, Director Jazz Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University
39
Identifying and Predicting Fraud, Waste and Abuse in Medicare Claims

Project Members
Andrew Arms Justin Dewes Varun Oswal
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Wanyu Zang
Department
Computer Science
The United States health care system is growing and evolving at a rapid rate with technological advancements and improved medical standards. However, people who seek to exploit the system for personal profit have kept up with the health care system. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) spends billions of dollars each year on fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid claims. The fraudulent claims submitted by perpetrators charge CMS for goods and services that are never really received by their beneficiaries. The goal of the project Identifying and Predicting Fraud, Waste and Abuse in Medicare Claims is to create a time and cost effective solution for analyzing high volumes of medical claims and identifying fraud potential by using Microsofts SQL Server 2008 and its predictive analysis tools. Even sanitized medical claims data is difficult to obtain without permission of the CMS and as such, an objective of the project was to create a random data generator that populated a dataset of random claims. Queries were developed to infiltrate the dataset of claims with cases of fraud that matched our research on the nature of fraudulent claims as closely as possible. The ratio of fraudulent data to normal data was controlled and varied to achieve optimal results from SQLs algorithms. Supervised statistical strategies such as clustering and classification were employed to detect instances of fraud in the dataset. The results of these strategies are probabilities assigned to health care providers that help determine how fraudulent the claims by the provider are. The results obtained with the random generations of claim were accurate but the designed methodology could not be validated due to lack of a realistic claims data set. Through research, implementation, and derived results it can be inferred that SQL Server 2008 and its predictive analysis tools can be used to identify potential fraud in datasets that can be verified by experienced personnel. Acknowledgements: Mr. Sudhir Atreya, Sr. Technical Director at ATSC
40
Theater Stage Management System

Project Members
Christopher Ackley Jeffrey Honnold Vladislav Sorkin Jonathan Taylor
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Wanyu Zang
Department
Computer Science
The stage management field is mostly hard-copies and manual note taking and is slow as a direct result in most meaningful ways. The idea is to present a system in which the manual maintenance of these records is automated in some forms to facilitate speed and ease of accounting brought about by an organized, paperless environment. Our approach required a Client-Server organization that made it simple in terms of storing, editing, and using required information. Our application suite in our approach was needed to have a way to conveniently access the production material, edit, and archive that material. Our application suite also needed to include mobile versions on the more popular platforms. Our most recent demonstration to the client resulted in positive criticism and several new designs that need to be constructed to enable easy access to sensitive data by non-computer savvy individuals while maintaining integrity. There is much refinement to be done and two whole new development areas to contend with (tablets). In closing, the Stage Management System holds the potential to change the Theater Management field for the better by providing a compact, swifter solution to an otherwise cluttered system. Acknowledgments: Professor Amy Hutton and Daniel Hutton
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42
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
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44
Surface Micromachined Accelerometers

Project Members
Alex Richard Ravi Shah Richard Tuck
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Gary Atkinson
Department
Electrical Engineering
The mission of this project is to fabricate accelerometers (such as those found in air bag deployment systems) using surface micromachining techniques. Surface micromachined accelerometers have never been fabricated in the Virginia Microelectronic Center Cleanroom. The problem faced with surface micromachining is the stress on the cantilever beams (shown in figure below) and the adhesive properties of the deposited films. This project focused on obtaining a process that can successfully fabricate a structure that would experience a sudden acceleration using surface micromachining techniques. After intensively researching existing processes for surface micromachined accelerometers and analyzing the limitations of the VMC cleanroom, a preliminary procedure was developed. This procedure factored in the adhesive properties of deposited metals, the stress of the metal after each step, and the proper release of the overall structure. In theory, the preliminary procedure developed appeared to have no complicated issues. As the process was carried out, issues arose that required the re-evaluation of the procedure. The majority of the problems encountered arrived from the adhesion and thicknesses of the deposited layers. After altering these parameters, successful accelerometers were fabricated and tested. Considering that the VMC cleanroom has yet to attempt surface micromachining, the success of this project has the potential to enhance the capabilities of the School of Engineering cleanroom. The VMC now has a preliminary procedure to fabricate surface micromachined devices. This will allow future students to improve this process and advance the VMCs abilities to make more surface micromachined devices. As the accelerometers experience a force, the constructed structures bend. Once the force stops acting on it, the accelerometer vibrates until it returns to its original position. This is similar to how a diving board acts when a person jumps off of it. Acknowledgements: Josh Starliper, VMC Lab Technician, Will Clavijo, Graduate Student/Former VMC Intern, and Dr. Michael Cabral, Associate Professor
45
Solar Cell Efficiency Improvement Methods

Project Members
Samuel Elzarian Chris Sheffler Anthony Timok
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Gary Atkinson
Department
Solar energy has steadily become a more viable and renewable power source over the past several decades. It has been projected in the near future that solar energy will be economically competitive with other forms of power generation. Price is presently one of the major setbacks in the solar market. Constant research and experimentation is being undergone in order to improve the power generation (efficiency) as well as lower the cost of solar cells. For our project, we aim to pinpoint some major design techniques in order to test and compare what types of processing can improve a standard solar cell and to what extent these steps affect standard solar cell design. In order to increase our generation through solar exposure, we have implemented a variety of texturing techniques to our surface. The basic principle is that light reflect at an angle will come into contact with the solar cell surface more often, increasing the amount of light absorbed, and thus energy produced. We are also implementing a coating technique using a thin film layer of indium-tin oxide, a transparent conductor, over the surface in order to improve the amount of power being pulled from the cell once it is exposed to light. This thin film is being used to replace a standard anti-reflective coating that is often used. It is our goal to take results from these various techniques on the finished solar cells to prove which techniques are more beneficial than others in improving the devices efficiency. Our findings will tell us which methods could be worthwhile as alternatives or additions to industry standards.
46
GreenMen
Project Members
Abdulaziz Alkhalil Faisal Arab Hashim Ben Selim
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Gary Atkinson
Department
The goal of the GreenMen project is to fabricate a solar cell in the C. Kenneth and Dianne Harris-Wright Virginia Microelectronics Technology Center (W-VMC) that can convert sunlight into electrical energy with a higher efficiency rate. The solar cell is a photovoltaic semiconductor device that is composed of a p-n junction with an n-type (Phosphorous) and ptype (Boron) diffusions into a ptype silicon wafer. When a solar cell is exposed to sun light, carriers get excited in the p-n junction and the electric field at the p-n junction induces a current. Our design consists of a p-n junction doped on the front side of a wafer, and the back side consists of etched cavity exactly behind each solar cell. Our intent is to improve the overall efficiency of the solar cell by forming an antireflective coat to prevent reflection of light which decreases efficiency, and we will vary the antireflective coatings on different wafers of different chemical compounds, one being magnesium fluoride, titaniumsilicafilm and silicon dioxide. We also want to achieve a higher efficiency rate by thinning our wafers to reduce the loss of light traveling through the silicon substrate. Using the antireflective coatings and wafer thinning, we hope to achieve an efficiency rate of 20%.
47
Capturing Motion
Project Members
Mazen Jaroudi Sadik Nabil
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Yuichi Motai
Department
The purpose of this project is to compile a library of facial animation movements and project these movements onto a human face, so that any synthetic emotion stages can be fully contribute using facial simulation in real times. The goal is to capture facial expression motion using an array of motion capture cameras to capture facial animation movements and process this data with the Vicon IQ software. Vicon IQ is software program that able to take live data collected by the Vicon MX system a live motion character on Maaya or Motion Builder. Our progress will allow for future applications such as gait analysis, animation and other applicable fields. We were also got the chance to be familiar with motion capture fundamentals, system setup, calibration, capture in workstation, and Vicon iQ 2.5 user interface, pipeline, and post-processing functionality. The following processes have been developed to make the goal achieve how Vicon works to create live streaming files using a third party. 1) To program such as Motion Builder that would fit into our character onto the raw using data. 2) To make a VSK file specifically format a specific character. 3) Transfer the data to third party to make it as exact possible as we can to accept the live stream from Vicon which should correctly apply the character onto the data cloud. These facial stimulations will be later implemented by future design teams towards the advancement of several fields. Moreover this technology has been used in big budget movies to make the animation character as real as possible.
48
Human Tracking Robot

Project Members
Faleh Alghamdi Homood Al-rowais Hassan Batt
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Yuichi Motai
Department
Advancement in tracking has proved to be a milestone in the project. The proposed human tracking makes use of the existing kinect sensors from Microsoft and the thermal vision 360 degree from RemoteReality. The unpredictable nature of humans makes this study very important and challenging at the same time. We look at the complete dimension for the tracking purpose, employing sensor at distinct location which give as the motion tracking in different direction. Instead of reinventing the wheel, we make use of the kinect technology from Microsoft which provides the sensing capability. We make use of this device in our system design to embed with the mobile robot. This gives the robot the ability to sense the motion and to be able to track it down using the distance as a parameter. To improve speed, we introduce multiple kinect devices that add flexibility to our proposed system. The images are captures by three cameras and thermal vision which cover 360 degree motion. The kinect sensing is displayed on the screen to observe the details which turn out to be well established. Image processing is carried out by an efficient tool which provides maximum efficiency, limiting the amount of resources of the device. The application and the software used for the simulation are tested regarding the successful performance. It is seen that in the real time environment, how the system behaves and what are the weak points are addressed. The tracking produces great results and shows that the system works as per design. Distance image
Thermal vision 360 camera
49
RFID Tracking System for Animal Care Facilities

Project Members
Jason Phillips Jonathan Stelter
Faculty Advisor
Department
Efficient and effective service is crucial to the success of any business. Animal care facilities such as doggy day cares process many customer check in and check outs on a daily basis, usually in very short periods of time. These rush hours magnify the need for quick and accurate record keeping to achieve a high level of customer service while ensuring the business does not lose money through accounting errors. By providing an automated tracking system the processing time and record keeping errors can be greatly reduced, saving both time and money. Our design utilizes Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags to quickly and wirelessly identify the customer information and animal needs. During arrival and departure of the pet to the facility, the tag is read using a customized 13.56MHz antenna and receiver system coupled with a data processing unit that provides a display of pertinent customer information, client management software interfacing, and event tracking. The implementation of such a system allows for improved customer satisfaction by reducing the customer wait times and increases revenue by reducing accounting errors and the man-hours required for record keeping. The demand for such systems has been expressed in the pet care industry due to a current lack of adequate solutions and the ease of implementation. Acknowledgments: The design team would like to thank Dr. mit zgr in addition to the teams advisor for his assistance to this project.
50
Earthquake Sensor
Project Members
Hussani Jaafaru Alok Singh Kumelachew Tadesse
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Gary Atkinson
Department
The intent of this project is to design and build Earthquake Sensor to detect low frequency acceleration. The earthquake sensor will be based on MEMS (micro electromechanical systems) technology. The device will be designed and fabricated in the Universitys C. Kenneth and Dianne Harris-Wright Virginia Microelectronics Center. To build the earthquake sensor, a unique front to-back alignment scheme was used for precise positioning of the sensing structures using a bulk micromachined fabrication technique. The physical and electrical features will be processed on both sides of the silicon wafer. The main focus of this project is to perfect the front to back alignment to place the sensor at the desired location in order to get a maximum sensitivity when the device is accelerated. The goal for our device will be to get sensitivity as low as 1G. Although this project is centered around earthquake sensing application, MEMS accelerometers are widely used for other applications such as airbag deployment, GPS, Cell phones, and video game controllers.
51
VCU Electromagnetic Launch Apparatus (VELA)

Project Members
Charles Cross John Moody Duane Taylor
Faculty Advisors
Dr. Afroditi Filippas Dr. mit zgr
Department
properties, control systems, and manufacturing.
The purpose of this project is to design and implement a fully functional smallscale electromagnetic launch mechanism, known as a Railgun. Railgun technology is currently being researched across the globe for potential use as a military application and as a means of launching air and space craft. Working on this project required a thorough understanding of electromagnetic theory, material
Our project uses pneumatic injection to propel an armature along a multi-staged rail system, with each stage powered by a bank of four 450 V capacitors. The armature and rails carry high amplitude, short duration bursts of current during each stage, giving rise to a Lorentz force which propels the armature forward. The targeted velocity for the 10 g projectile was 200 m/s upon exiting the apparatus. Our design approach involved first modeling the operation of and optimizing the design in Matlab. The physical prototype was visualized in SolidWorks, and its construction was performed in the VCU machine shop. The control system was implemented through a virtual control panel using National Instruments LabView with a series of Programmable Logic Controllers. We demonstrate a fully functional electromagnetic launch apparatus, which is able to propel a conductive projectile at high speeds. We acknowledge the help from many specialists and funding from Mr. Sternheimer, each of whom helped to raise the awareness of the project as a whole. In the future, further studies can be conducted here at VCU with the potential of improving the design and operation of the device through: different rail and projectile geometries/materials, additional rail stages, alternative power supplies, and real time monitoring. Acknowledgements: Specialists: Dr. Karla M. Mossi, Mr. Boris Solomonov, Mr. Anil Chatterji, Ms. Ginni Goole, Mr. Chase Farkas, Mr. Justin Osborn, High Tech Machine MFG, Spectrum Metal Fabricators
52
MECHANICAL AND NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
53
54
Organic Solar Cells Using PTCDI-C8 Nanorods

Project Members
Richard Pinson Joseph Redwine
Faculty Advisor
Dr. James McLeskey, Jr.
Department
Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering
determined and implemented into the device.
Photovoltaic devices utilizing organic semiconductors have shown great potential in bringing the age of cheap and flexible solar cells to the consumer market. The goal of this project is to design a higher efficiency organic photovoltaic device (OPV) by extending the research done by S. Karak, V.S. Reddy, S.K. Ray, and A. Dhar at the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur (IIT-KGP is a VCU partner university). The device, using PTCDIC8 nanorods, is in the form of a bilayer solar cell whose efficiency is increased by optimizing the architecture and orientation of the nanorods. By using this nanostructure, we hope to alleviate the short exciton diffusion length problems that are commonly associated with OPVs. Some advantages to using PTCDI-C8 are that the polymer has greater light absorption properties in the 400-600 nm wavelength range, and high electron mobility as compared to other common electron acceptors. Our improvements in IIT-KGPs device are achieved through active layer design and optimization. The method that is implemented in creating the improved device will be the application of a seed layer through chemical vapor deposition and the use of methanol treatment to induce the growth of nanorods. Using an iterative design process, the optimal size and spacing of the nanorods will be
Acknowledgements: Mr. Mark Sternheimer, Dr. Dhar, Santanu Pradham, VCU Global Education Office, Dr. Gary Atkinson, and Dr. Dmitry Pestov
55
Drag Reduction Using Synthetic Jet Actuators

Project Members
Matt Friberg Andrew Gibb Sharjeel A. Tahir Robert Molnar
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Karla Mossi
Department
In the past decade, streamlining in airplanes and submarines has led to a significant drag reduction due to pressure-drag component attributed to separation which in turn has lead to significant energy savings. Other techniques using active flow control have been applied in airplanes and submarines such as the use of vortex generators, suction and tangential injection. However, despite all these advances in aerospace industry, land vehicles continue to be blunt bodies with some exceptions. It seems that the most logical approach would be to extend these flow control techniques to everyday vehicles used by us. A method to reduce drag is active suction to reduce momentum from boundary layer and delaying separation by using synthetic jets. Synthetic jets consist of a cavity with an oscillating diaphragm. When the diaphragm oscillates, air is pushed out of an orifice, forming a jet. The interaction of the jets with an external flow leads to the formation of closed recirculating flow regimes near the surface which act as virtual surfaces causing an apparent modification of the boundary. One of the sources of drag on a car is the separation bubble behind the rear windshield. As the name implies, this separation bubble causes the boundary layer to separate, resulting in increasing drag on the car. Using CFD, we studied the effect of the synthetic jet on the separation bubble. This synthetic jet was placed on the trunk of car, right below the separation bubble. The amplitude/frequency of the diaphragm and inlet velocity of the wind tunnel were the main variables in our study. From the data collected, we observed the changes in the pressure coefficient along the length of the car due to changing these variables. Additional work was done to design a power source for these synthetic jets using an energy efficient concept.
56
RC Unmanned Aircraft
Project Members
David Cooke Elmo Garrido Derek McCullough Trifon Mirtchev Semir Selimovic
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Jayasimha Atulasimha
Department
Students have been given the opportunity to design and construct an unmanned aircraft and compete on behalf of VCU. Various constraints are given in which each competitor must upkeep, including but not limited to weight and wing span limitations. The objective is to create an unmanned remote controlled aircraft that is capable of transporting a certain load from point A to point B. The team goal was to be able to successfully fly the plane and compete against other schools. The aircraft crashed while in flight when the team in 2009/2010 worked on it. Last year, the team did the majority of the repairs on the airplane but never had the opportunity for test flight. Dr. Atulasimha had the team go through various designs of the aircraft and verify if the optimum design was constructed. The team has successfully reconstructed and repaired the damages from previous years. Various recalculations were performed to optimize the aircrafts capabilities to ensure safe flight. Test flights have been conducted but due to the lack of monetary funding, the team was not able to compete. A detailed 3D design has been constructed to assist further students, adopting the project, with any potential reconstruction or fabrication. The team has been truly inspired and enjoyed every moment working on the aircraft. We have successfully repaired everything on the aircraft and that the optimum design has been obtained. Unfortunately we were not able to enter the competition due to funding issues. Acknowledgements: Frank Gulla, Robert Klenke, and Mike Laprise
57
Designing of Methods and Devices to Measure the Inplane Shear Modulus of High-strength Fiber-reinforced Plastics including Analysis of Epoxy Binder in High Humidity Environs
Project Members
Ameet Brar Jerrod Davis Anthony Pham David Roberts
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Brian Hinderliter
Department
such as fiber-reinforced plastics in service environments.
This project deals with the characterization of the change in the mechanical properties of epoxy coatings based on humidity environs and the development of a device to measure the in-plane shear modulus of fiberreinforced composites. The characterization of the mechanical properties of the epoxy is utilized to calibrate molecular dynamics simulations being conducted by research partners at IIT-Kharagpur. The effects of humidity on the mechanical properties of epoxy binder are important to know for the performance of composite materials
One of the goals of this project is to develop a device and method for measuring for this property. The nanoscale testing of the mechanical properties of the epoxy as they vary with water content has been conducted using an Ubi1 Nanochemical Test. The design of the prototype of the device for the measuring of the in-plane shear modulus was based on the twist-plate method. Simulation was conducted using Ansys and Solidworks. Calibration by 3-point bending was conducted. A prototype is being constructed utilizing steel frame components, a micrometer, and force compression gauges integrated into the loading pins. The designed prototype creates a feasible solution for measuring the in-plane shear modulus in a non-destructive manner; however, finetuning the prototype in order to create a more stable and automated device could further this project. The results from the nanoindentation provide a consistent representation for the change in mechanical properties of the epoxy binder. Acknowledgements: Dr. Baidurya Bhattacharya, Dr. Singletary, Bikash Kanungo, Sreekar Karnati, Hector Medina, and Jason Wang
58
The Design and Characterization of A MagneticallyDriven Needle-Less Medicine Injection System
Project Members
Molly Hagy Tyler Lewis Andrew Morgan
Faculty Advisors
Dr. Hooman Tafreshi Dr. Jayasimha Atulasimha
Department
The Department of Health and Human Services states that just in America, over half of the population receives daily medical treatment. This treatment comes in many different forms, including needle injection. Micro-jets and droplets are used in surgery, dentistry, and medicine injection. Introducing an injection device that can be as effective while being quicker, easier, and pain free can help change the way we receive medicine. The proposed design consists of three main parts: fluid reservoir, a pressure chamber, and a magnetic drive coil. The fluid reservoir will be connected via tubing to the pressure chamber and nozzle. When the fluid ejects from the nozzle, a jet stream should penetrate the skin, and deliver medicine to the blood stream. The pressure chamber consists of three aluminum sleeves that are connected together by threading. The smallest sleeve contains the hole where the fluid will enter the chamber. It also contains an Iron Gallium strip. When under a magnetic field supplied by the magnetic drive coil, the magnetostrictive effect causes the strip to expand and in turn buckle, thus creating a displacement that causes a drop to eject from the nozzle. The medium-sized sleeve has an O-ring groove to prevent any leakage and pressure drop. Between the medium and large sleeves, lies the nozzle plate, where the pressurized fluid will eject. This design may not change the future but may open innovation for future applications. A prototype has been created and is currently being optimized and improved to achieve its main goal. Thus far, further experimentation will include perfecting parameters such as working pressure, fluid velocity and mobility throughout the remainder of the project. Acknowledgements: A special thanks to Dr. Hooman Tafreshi, Dr. Jayasimha Atulasimha, Mark Sternheimer, Sr., and the VCU School of Engineering Foundation for providing us with such a great opportunity to further our education and research experience.
59
Dry Cask Storage Inspection

Project Members
Joshua Bell Sheridan Harvey Greg Kontos Donald Northam Alexandria Slayton
Faculty Advisors
Dr. Brian Hinderliter Dr. Sama Bilbao y Leon Dr. Robert Sexton
Department
Dry cask storage was developed to meet the growing storage needs of spent nuclear fuel until a permanent storage solution has be developed. Mainly due to political disputes, a decision on the construction of a permanent storage facility has been delayed indefinitely. Thus, the required lifetime of the dry cask storage units currently in use will probably need to be extended beyond the original license. Rigorous inspection of these storage facilities is required to ensure their safety and to allow the extension of the license period. Some of the existing configurations for dry cask storage are not conducive to easy inspection. The goal of this project is to design a prototype robot that will be able to enter these confined environments and collect pertinent data to aid in the evaluation of the integrity of the casks. Several technical specifications were required. First, the robot had to be able to fit within the relatively small opening of the cask. This criterion gave it its low profile design, sitting less than six inches high and under twelve inches wide. In order to successfully perform an inspection, the robot had to be able to see and navigate within a dark space. To achieve this, a high power lighting array was attached and works in conjunction with a small camera mounted on a custom built mount to provide 3 degrees of freedom for imaging a variety of angles with a minimum of movement. The team has developed software that associates these images to the location and orientation of the robot and its camera mount. Acknowledgments: We would like to thank Mr. Mark Sternheimer of School of Engineering Foundation - Senior Design Project Grant, Machinery Analysts Incorporated, Dr. Vennie Filippas, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, and the office of the Dean and Dr. Gary Tepper. We would also like to recognize Dominions Spent Nuclear Fuel Group, in particular Mr. Brian Wakeman, Mr. Cary Laore, and Mr. David Tomlinson.
60
Device for Removal of Seeds from Jamun Fruit

Project Members
Matthew Donaldson Robert Edgeworth Harrison Gentry Chris Hockaday Kevin Lohr
Faculty Advisor
Dr. James McLeskey
Department
The Jamun fruit is a small, seed bearing fruit indigenous to several Middle Eastern nations including India. For both economic and cultural purposes, the Jamun fruit is an important part of local society in these nations, serving as a source of nutrition, medicinal remedy, as well as a religious icon. The pits from the Jamun are ground up and used in treatment of diabetes. Utilization of the pit requires that it be removed, typically by hand. This project aims to construct a low-cost mechanical device to improve the efficiency of pitting the fruit. The design of this device aims to benefit the local cultures of India and several Middle Eastern nations that utilize the Jamun fruit in everyday society. This device is going to be fully mechanical, operated by hand via a plunger, and is designed to separate the fruit and its seed with the option of making juice and vinegar from the remainder of the fruit. The total cost of the design is to not exceed $100, making use of materials that are readily available for both construction and repair within the rural villages of India. The final design strives for simplicity and ease of use. The Jamun fruit fall into position and are then pitted via the hand operated plunger. Once the pit is removed, the excess skin is then removed from the plunger. The design of the Jamun pitting device combines a mechanical design and a philanthropic effort to benefit the rural cultures of India and other Middle Eastern nations. Finalized device design offers increased efficiency and safety.
61
Drag Reduction Device on Semi-Trailer Trucks

Project Members
Will Buchanan Rory Heim Tilghman Marden Ghassan Saroor
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Karla Mossi
Department
Class 8 tractor trailers are notorious for their high fuel consumption, and aerodynamic drag accounts for 65% of energy expenditure. Annual savings of $900 per truck can be achieved through a one percent (1%) improvement in fuel economy. Many designs are in development, but very few have been implemented. The main drawback of these proposed devices is functional integration. One promising study places rear-end nozzles on the corners of the truck, and has been subjected to rigorous analysis, showing an overall drag coefficient improvement of 15-17 %. The design, however, lacks interfacing hardware, which is a significant hurdle in bringing this breakthrough research to the market. It is important for this hardware to satisfy the requirements of a commercial trailer without sacrificing the performance of the device. The design consists of vertical tracks mounted on the rear of the truck, with the top of the nozzle sliding vertically within the channel. As the nozzle slides down the track, the nozzle will swing away from the truck, similar to the motion of a ladder sliding down a wall. When the top of the nozzle reaches the bottom of the track, it will be detachable from the truck. A fully functional 1/8th scale model will be 3D printed, as a physical demonstration of the ease of use, and will demonstrate the mounting advantages. A design has been rendered in Solidworks, and a small scale prototype is being constructed using 3D printing. There are no conclusions as to how viable this design is, as it lacks real world testing. However, it shows a lot of potential. The design is promising, and needs real-world testing to verify its functionality. The design is specifically geared towards real-world application, and could have a potentially large impact on tractor trailer aerodynamics. Acknowledgements: Karla Mossi, Afroditi Filippas, and Boris Solomonov
62
Garden Guard Design

Project Members
Ranbir Chaggar Akhil Gogia Patrick Spoth
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Ramana Pidaparti
Department
The recent economic downturn has sparked renewed interest in home and organic gardening across the United States. The estimated value of the domestic homebased food growth market is $2.5-$3 billion, with 43 million households spending an average of $70 per year on materials for their gardens. This projects objective is to create a multi-season, protective garden structure for the home gardener. The approach was to design a structure which would encompass a medium garden of 96 square feet (8x 12); which would protect against small animals and harsh weather. The structure material allows for sunlight to easily enter along with air circulation which also allows for the
garden.
Based on several conceptual designs, a final design was developed meeting most of the requirements. A prototype model and design analysis utilizing Solidworks and ANSYS software, a successful design model was produced, specifically to protect against animals and weather. Weight as well as handling was taken into account to design a structure that could be constructed by two people. A prototype model was developed based on final design reviews to meet the required specifications. The developed design demonstrates that the design is feasible and helps many middle-aged consumers who want to easily construct a sustainable device to guard gardens. Finally, the design in consultation with sponsors will eventually be a successful product. Acknowledgements: Brad Gray and Tim Baumgartner for sponsoring the project.
63
Design and Construction of a Formula SAE Race Car Suspension

Project Members
Paul Chaplin Tate Cooper Kendall Humphries Andrew Jenkins
Faculty Advisor
Department
Formula SAE is a student design competition hosted by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) in which a fictional company hires student teams to design and build a race car. The challenge as students consists of developing a small open-wheel, open-cockpit vehicle and competing each teams design against others from across the country. The cars are evaluated for their performance and their potential as mass-produced vehicles. Each student team designs, builds, and tests a prototype constructed using specifics laid out in the Formula SAE rulebook for the purpose of promoting clever problem solving. The Formula SAE VCU chapter, which all four seniors are members of, is in the process of developing its first vehicle for competition and was in need of a suspension system. Due to the unique size and specifications of the vehicle, this suspension system could not be bought or fabricated from existing components. As a solution, a custom-designed and custom-built suspension became the focus of this Senior Design team. The team began by following the design process in creating a three dimensional model of the entire vehicle using 3-D modeling and simulation software. Sketches were created outlining the geometry of the desired suspension links, which were then analyzed for structural soundness and correct flexion angles. Using CAE analysis, the team put the suspension through a series of stress tests to determine what size tubing would be needed to construct the links. Once the team had a design that could withstand all the elements of a Formula SAE race, construction began. The control arms, pushrods, bell cranks, uprights and most of the connectors were all designed and fabricated by the team. The pieces were assembled and installed onto the chassis, which was completed alongside the work of last years Formula SAE Senior Design team. The finished product is a full suspension for a vehicle that is ready for the next stage in the Formula SAE clubs project.
64
Engineering Design Strategy Board Game

Project Members
Matt Proietti Alex Tatom Ben White
Faculty Advisor
Department
The intent of this project was to create a board game that would teach middle school students the engineering design process and get them excited about a possible future career in engineering. It was essential to make the game fun and appealing to students and serve as a teaching aid. The design challenge is making the game playable by the average middle school student while keeping it replayable by incorporating a strategy. Also, make a board game that would be different each time played, so there wouldnt be the same best design solution for each game. Players will answer simple questions that are related to the mission and are designed to teach students about that particular engineering challenge. The game was designed to have multiple playable missions or design objectives for the players. Using a certain strategy, each player is challenged to build a best design for a particular sub-mission using the various part options provided. For example, the mission created for the prototype was to build a Mars rover. Players can choose between different types of bodies, wings, power sources, landing gear, and propulsion systems to build a design that can best be used to meet the design criteria. Currently, the prototype is being produced and will be tested to evaluate the overall strategy board game. Due to many components involved in the design, it will be cost effective if injection molding processes were adopted and the game was mass produced. Acknowledgements: The School of Engineering Deans Office Grant
65
Human-Powered Moonbuggy Redesign for Better Handling Characteristics

Project Members
Rob Ahmed Chase Farkas Dale Farkas Bobby Ferguson
Faculty Advisor
Department
The Human-Powered Moonbuggy is a continuing design project with the goal of building a moonbuggy capable of competing at the annual NASA Great Moonbuggy Race at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The competition required us to design a vehicle to address a series of engineering problems similar to those faced by the original Moon Lander. This years main objective was to improve on last years successful design with new subsystems including suspension, drivetrain and seating arrangement. Using last years design as a baseline, several subsystems were redesigned to create a better overall design capable of handling the challenges of the race course with ease. These developed redesigns will be implemented and tested to demonstrate the handling characteristics of the moonbuggy and can be showcased for School of Engineering open houses.
66
Updating History: A Design of a HVAC and Power Generation System for the Byrd Theatre
Project Members
Tyler Berry Corey Beyke Andy Hobson Seth Graydon Alyssa Migliore
Faculty Advisor
Department
The purpose of this project was design solve a real problem within our own community. The historic Byrd Theatre was built in 1928, and a full redesign of the HVAC system has not taken place since that time. Our team has designed a new HVAC and power generation system that reduces the energy usage by thousands of dollars per year. Our team developed an accurate energy model of the Byrd Theatre to determine accurate loads that must be satisfied by the new system. Several upgrades in the equipment include a new modular boiler and chiller, cooling tower, pumps, and air handling unit. Along with selecting new energy efficient equipment to replace the old system, we also specified additional advanced equipment. A chemical treatment system was specified for the evaporator-water loop to reduce microbial and sediment buildup. Renewable energy in the form of grid-tie-in photovoltaic devices and micro-wind turbine systems also reduce energy consumption. An advanced building automation system was also specified to control several processes of the building system. These upgrades were also modeled in Trace 700 to show the energy savings between the old system and new design. These energy savings provide an economic analysis of the two systems over a 20 year period, and with the budgets of the equipment also determined through vendors, an accurate comparison between the two alternatives can be made. CAD drawings and schedules were also made, to give plans for construction documents to implement the design. To further enhance our design, a physical three-dimensional model of the building was built to scale and shows the design implementation and airflow schematic of the new system. This project represents the best of engineering by solving a problem within the community, and also shows our desire to create sustainability through design.
67
Smooth Muscle Biomechanics Characterization Device

Project Members
Brian Arrington Stephen Clifford Nivesh Dommaraju (IITKGP, India) Samuel Everett
Faculty Advisor
Dr. John E. Speich
Department
Millions of people suffer from overactive bladder; however, in many cases the cause is unknown and effective treatments are limited. The objective of this project is to design an apparatus for testing the mechanical properties of bladder tissue so that researchers may understand and develop treatments for bladder disorders. The initial design was developed as a prior senior project and the goal of this years project was to improve the design to enable a broader range of experiments. This was a collaborative project with the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur and the team included three VCU and one IIT-KGP student. The device uses a motor to stretch a strip of bladder smooth muscle while a force transducer measures the tension generated by the muscle as it is incubated in physiological salt solution. The apparatus is controlled using LabVIEW software. The foremost goal of this project was to overhaul the LabVIEW control system. The updated system allows the user to run custom subroutines while varying the muscle stretch length, stretch rate, and intervals between stretches. Another goal was to clean up the user interface and enable real-time graphing of the stretch protocol and the muscle tension as it is being stretched. A second goal was to upgrade the motor and redesign the mechanical linkage system between the motor and the muscle strip. The new control system provides the researcher with greater control and flexibility over the bladder-stretching protocol. The upgraded motor provides greater position resolution and mechanical stability and simplifies the mechanical linkage system. Overall, the improvements made in this two-semester project will provide researchers with an intuitive, versatile tool with which to conduct their experiments. Future work on this device could include the addition of multiple motors controlled by a single LabVIEW system that would enable simultaneous testing of multiple muscle tissues. Acknowledgements: Dr. C.S. Kumar, Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur, Dr. Paul Ratz, VCU Department of Biochemistry, and Samarth and Sparsh Gola, 2011 BME Senior Design Team
68
Boiler Flue Inspection Robot

Project Members
Marc Dickinson Andrew Goode Zachary Jackson
Faculty Advisor
Dr. John E. Speich
Department
For more than fifty years, the steam locomotive provided the muscle to move man and cargo around the world. Daily use of steam locomotives ended in the 1950s with the coming of the diesel locomotive, however many are operated by organizations for historical preservation and excursion service to this day. One of the main components of the steam locomotive is the boiler, which generates steam from the heat of burning coal or oil. The heat exchange from the fuel to the water occurs through flue tubes, which also expel exhaust gasses from the locomotive. These flue tubes must be inspected frequently to ensure there are no defects present. The current inspection process, which is performed visually, leaves a possibility of overlooking a flaw in the flue. The flaw(s) could cause the flue tube to fail and result in a boiler explosion that could destroy the equipment and lead to injuries or loss of life. The goal of our senior project is to design a flue inspection robot that uses a remote field testing sensor to detect flaws and enables a more thorough inspection of boiler flue tubes.
69
AWD Electric Vehicle Drive Train: Design and Integration

Project Members
Kyle Blank Milton Herrera Ching Pang Wong Himen Patel Eric Sears Surya Sharma
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Vishnu Sundaresan
Department
Emphasis this semester for the electric drive train capstone project will be placed on integration and simulation of the drive train to an actual physical car. Our approach to this integration was to first verify the sizing calculations and their validity. Next, we tasked ourselves with finding a suitable ECU module that could run our engine control program. After an appropriate ECU was selected, the program was written to control the drive train and electrical components to provide the car with the maximum amount of longevity and ride comfort. Finally, a car will be chosen to integrate the drive train on to. An ECU was chosen and the control diagram for the drive train has been started and is showing signs of completion. Hardware has been purchased, such as foot pedals, to begin integration as soon as possible to an automobile frame. Finding a suitable frame has proven troublesome due to strict requirements that must be fulfilled. It is the overall goal of this team for this project to have a working electric vehicle by Senior Design Expo. Having the opportunity to receive the hands-on experience of working on an electric vehicle from design to prototype was a high priority for this team.
70
Small Aircraft Seat Safety System

Project Members
James McCarson Brian Mullsteff Casey Sipe
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Amy Throckmorton
Department
This project seeks to develop a sophisticated small aircraft seat system that will reduce the number of fatalities which occur in FAA classified, survivable crashes, which accounts for approximately 85% of the total number of crashes. Approximately 86% of small aircraft fatalities are due to cranial impact and spinal compression as a result of crash forces exceeding the limits of human tolerability (Eiband Curves) during a crash sequence. The new seat is designed to reduce the forces imparted on the body during an impact to allow for a higher survival rate for crashes that fall in the survivable range. A conceptual design, which attenuates the load transferred to the body, was developed and evaluated by numerical analysis using SolidWorks DDS and ANSYS finite element software. These studies enabled the identification of deficiencies that were subsequently optimized. An effective seat design is currently being optimized to determine the strongest and lightest structure that can be built and that is capable of performing its design function of reducing the accelerations imposed on the human body during a postulated accident. A prototype is being designed which is intended to be used for future full scale testing. Analytical results confirm that our design is capable of effectively reducing the crash forces transmitted to the occupant; however, additional evaluation is required to validate analytical predictions. This novel seat design could be implemented on a multinational basis for generations of small aircraft. The incorporation of this unique seat design and approach is expected to realize a 20% decrease in small aircraft fatalities annually in the United States. Acknowledgments: We would like to thank Tom Woodburn and the Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society for their generous donation and assistance.
71
Seed Planting Device for Individuals with Disabilities and Limited Motor Skills
Project Members
John Kertis Louis Lim Marcus Renshaw Brandon Sparks
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Karla Mossi
Department
People with disabilities make up about 6.5% of all workingage individuals who are employed in the United States [Smith]. According to 2006 American Community Survey (ACS), this 6.5% makes up only 36% of people with disabilities as a whole. The goal is to contribute to the increase of the 6.5 percentage. The aim of this project is to design a mechanism that allows individuals with disabilities and limited motor skills to plant seeds easier in a greenhouse or home garden environment. The mechanism will consist of a row of four individual seeders, equal length apart, that are mechanically driven by a lever that is pushed down by the user. There is also a conveyer belt that the germination tray can sit on that is also driven mechanically. When the lever is pulled down, the seeders lower and a seed is released into the soil. As the lever goes back up and returns to its original position, the seeder closes and rises into its original position. An added benefit to the proposed design is Therapeutic Horticulture. According to Jean Larson, a Horticultural Therapist at the University of Minnesota, Therapeutic Horticulture is the purposeful use of plants and plant-related activities to promote health and wellness for an individual or group. In order to promote these qualities of life, our senior design group has designed a seeding mechanism that will help in the empowerment of individuals with disabilities and individuals with limited motor skills. Our idea for empowerment is to design this mechanical device that will not take the place of the individual, but give them greater range of motion and ease when planting seeds.
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Generation of Nanoaerosols from Conventional Nebulizers for Optimal Respiratory Drug Delivery
Project Members
Sulaiman Alfaifi Ryan Coon Chad Rupe Joseph Saenz
Faculty Advisor
Dr. P. Worth Longest
Department
Conventional respiratory drug delivery devices deliver medicine to the lungs of patients through the inhalation of aerosols. It has been found that when the aerosol is heated to form a nanoaerosol, it is more effectively absorbed by the lungs of the user compared with the conventional size of 2-7 m. The addition of heated and saturated water vapor also improves lung delivery because the water vapor causes the medicine particulates to increase in size once inside the airway. Also, the conventional device tends to constantly deliver medicine, even while the user is not inhaling. The goals of this project are to design a device that is actuated by inhalation and that heats the aerosol to form nanoparticles in order to reduce the amount of medicine wasted in the process of medicine delivery and increase the effectiveness of the device. The main challenges are determining how much heat is needed to evaporate the initially 2-7 m droplets and allow the nanoaerosol to reach the optimum temperature, as well as determining the length and thickness of the tube needed to allow and maintain the proper temperature. The factors were determined through a series of calculations involving heat transfer and fluid dynamics. Also, the device has to ensure the safety of the user, so the tube through which the heated nanoaerosol is flowing has to be insulated. In summary, this device produces heated nanoaerosols for the optimization of respiratory drug delivery to users. The device decreases the amount of medicine wasted by conventional means of respiratory drug delivery.
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INTERDISCIPLINARY
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VCU Visible Reactor

Project Members
Mikhail Egorov Shantoya Evans Scott Harris Estelle Kwindja Jerry Rij Jonathan Snyder Gregory Toussaint
Faculty Advisors
Dr. Ross C. Anderson Dr. Afroditi Filippas Dr. Sama Bilbao y Leon
Department
Electrical Engineering & Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering
year.
The VCU Visible Reactor is a small 3kW thermal reactor inspired by the Dominion Power SeeThrough reactors used for training nuclear power plant operators and community outreach. All the components in the Visible Reactor are made of transparent materials that allow the visualization of all the thermalhydraulic phenomena taking place within the system. The systems use electric heating elements in place of the nuclear fuel in the reactor. The Visible Nuclear Reactor team has taken the challenge to upgrade this nuclear plant simulator for use as a teaching tool and for community education and outreach as well as student recruitment. This project has been in the design and modification process since 2008 and has seen significant improvements each
The Visible Reactors primary side includes a reactor vessel, pressurizer, primary pump and piping, and a steam generator. Its secondary side interfaces with the steam generator and includes steam piping, a condenser, a feedwater pump and feedwater piping. The tertiary side includes hoses for condenser cooling. The electrical system provides power to the reactor core and pressurizer heaters pumps and relief valves in all systems. A Human-Machine Interface controls the operation of all the components in the Visible Reactor and monitors temperatures, primary pressure and power levels during all phases of operation. Our major objective this year has been to improve the overall design and configuration of the Visible Reactor to achieve secondary steam. We have also revised and improved the design and operational manuals for the project. Acknowledgments: We would like to thank the school of engineering and faculty advisors for providing us with funding for our project as well as Dave Sanderson (retired nuclear plant operator from Dominion) who has been a continuous support and industry advisor to our team this year.
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Distal Touch
Project Members
Nicole Clark Grady Fields Brittany Posey Jack Vo
Faculty Advisors
Dr. Robert H. Klenke Dr. Robert Sexton
Department
Manual work often occurs in unsafe environments. People who work in these places are exposed to heavy machinery and/or noxious materials. Data shows that 7% to 43% of orthopedic visits were work related injuries. Some solutions are to wear gloves, but the best solution would be to remove people from theses situations by allowing them to remotely operate a robotic version of an extremity, like a hand, and to control it using the natural motion of their own extremity. Our project is engineering a robot hand that is controlled via sensor glove system to keep a safe distance between workers and dangerous conditions without sacrificing strength, dexterity, and precision. The plan is to create a prototype of a robot hand, and control its motion with the glove through software and hardware interfacing. The glove is embedded with flex sensors, which measures the flex of the individuals fingers. A small microcontroller measures the response of the flex sensor to movement of the users fingers and sends this data wirelessly to a processor that controls the robot hand. This wireless link is important because the worker can stay a safe distance away from the hand during operation. After the robot hand system gets the message, it will control the servos to move the robot similar to the motion of the glove. Communication between the components will happen quickly so that the glove and the robot hand move at the same time. In summary, this glove-robot system will make it safer for workers by keeping them a safe distance away from potential hazards while allowing them to preform regular functions in a natural way. Acknowledgements: We thank Mark Sternheimer for his support in funding this project. Thanks to our advisers for helping us ensure that the project completed so we could graduate.
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Nuclear Reactor Simulator

Project Members
Matthew Hardy Garrett Howe Patrick Moore Nichole Nguyen Nathan Starliper
Faculty Advisors
Dr. Ross Anderson Dr. Sama Bilbao y Leon Dr. Afroditi Filippas Mr. James Miller
Department
The Nuclear Reactor Simulator is a multi-disciplinary project between mechanical and electrical engineers currently in its third year of development. Its purpose is to design a nuclear power plant control room simulator based off of the specifications of the North Anna Nuclear Power Plant located in Central Virginia. The simulator is run from two computers handling a total of 28 screens. LabVIEW 2010 is used to simulate both the controls of the plant as well as the plant behavior. The simulator presently models the primary and secondary sides of the plant for routine reactor operation including reactor start up and shutdown. Plant controls are displayed and operated using 15 touchscreen monitors. The simulator is currently used in many Nuclear Engineering classes to further student understanding of plant operation and reactor behavior as well as for community education and outreach. The 2011-2012 team has sought to improve the functionality, organization, and presentation of the simulator. Functionality was improved by ensuring a proper accounting of energy for the primary and secondary sides as well as correcting issues encountered when starting the model. Organization was improved by creating an updated operators manual, cleaning up and reorganizing the code, configuration management, creating benchmarking data, and creating a digital bug list for future teams. An animated visual was created to help visitors and students understand exactly how and what is being affected by the various controls of the simulator. In a project such as this, each year brings additional coding and complexity that must be easily understood by the next team so that progress may still be made within the time frame allowed for the project. We hope our work this year will provide a valuable foundation upon which future teams can continue to build the simulator into a professional product to be used in the classroom and beyond. Acknowledgements: Nathan Walker
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River Rush An Electronic Board Game

Project Members
Maha Al-Thani Nicole Hill Regginald Hollemon Kaylee Park Vladislav Sorkin Joshua Summers Lin Zheng
Faculty Advisor
Department
Computer Engineering & Mechanical Engineering
River Rush is an attempt to promote healthy and sustainable environments in the near future by merging the gap between entertainment and sustainability among school aged children. There is a need for an electronic game which promotes a more environmentally friendly lifestyle and brings awareness to the gamer in the forms of: sustainable engineering, ecology, urbanization and transportation. It proves necessary to bring life to a board game in an exciting yet cost effective manner, so that it may be reproduced and dispersed at no cost to local schools within the James River watershed. The initial hurdle was to understand that there is no need for an exact replication of the original game. New rules, concepts, and strategies, could be added or expanded upon in order to make for a more efficient game. With the collaboration of team mates a cohesive gaming experience was able to be drawn up along with added budget restraints and the attempt at keeping manufacturing costs low in order to keep production rates low, actual gaming pieces in combination with sensors were introduced, as well as snap closures to allow quick and cost efficient assemble. Once completed, simulation of the game could be started using Solidworks, where exact design dimensions, game pieces, assembly configurations of the push button sensors and user interface screens were created as well as computer programming for the die, questions and sensors. Finally weve created a concept, that is efficient, easy to manufacture, and educational, with a circular design so as to repeat sensors but randomized question and action squares done through programming. Check points which have to be completed before moving on ensure some educational value and snap closures, small LCD screens, and repetition of sensors allow for low cost manufacture.
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VCU School of Engineering
The VCU School of Engineering, located on the Monroe Park Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, opened in 1996. The School initially had four departments: Mechanical, Biomedical, Electrical and Computer, and Chemical and Life Science Engineering. Computer Science was transferred to the School of Engineering from the College of Humanities in 2001. The Mechanical Engineering Department became the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering in 2010. Each of these departments offers BS, MS, and PhD degrees. The founding class graduated in May of 2000. The VCU School of Engineering, housed in three state-of-the-art engineering facilities, boasts more than 300,000 square feet of the very highest quality classroom and laboratory space, including East and West Hall, the C. Kenneth and Dianne Harris Wright Virginia Microelectronics Center, and the Institute for Engineering and Medicine. In 2007, the School of Engineering partnered with the Schools of Business and the Arts to create the VCU da Vinci Center, a place where students learn to develop innovative products in an interdisciplinary team environment. The School is currently working with the School of Medicine and VCU Life Sciences to develop the VCU Institute for Engineering and Medicine. The School has also successfully partnered with the College of Humanities and Sciences to establish a $3.5 million Center for Nanomaterials and Characterization to serve faculty and students in engineering, chemistry, physics, and medicine. Since the founding class, enrollment has grown to over 1,300 total undergraduate students and approximately 246 graduate students. There are 66 members of the teaching and research faculty. Our goal is for VCU Engineering to be the national model for innovation in engineering and research.
VCU SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING SENIOR ADMINISTRATION AND DEPARTMENT CHAIRS Dr. J. Charles Jennett, Interim Dean, School of Engineering Dr. Afroditi Filippas, Associate Dean, School of Engineering Dr. Rosalyn Hobson-Hargraves, Associate Dean, School of Engineering Dr. Gerald Miller, Chair, Biomedical Engineering Dr. Frank Gupton, Chair, Chemical and Life Science Engineering Dr. Krzysztof Cios, Chair, Computer Science Dr. Ashok Iyer, Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering Dr. Gary Tepper, Chair, Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering
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VCU School of Engineering Foundation Board of Trustees

CHAIRMAN Mr. William H. Goodwin, Jr. Chairman, CCA Industries, Inc. VICE CHAIRMAN Mr. Bruce C. Gottwald Chairman, NewMarket Corporation PRESIDENT Mr. Arthur D. Hurtado Chairman and CEO Invertix Corporation VICE PRESIDENT Mr. Clifford A. Cutchins, IV Partner, McGuire Woods LLP Mr. Wayne L. Hunter Managing Partner Harbert Venture Partners Mr. Hugh A. Joyce President James River Air Conditioning Co. Mr. Bill Lamp Principal, Engineers Plus Mr. John A. Luke, Jr. Chairman, President & CEO, MWV Mr. Richard E. Posey Retired President & CEO Moen, Inc. Mr. E. Bryson Powell President, Midlothian Enterprises, Inc. Ms. Anne G. Rhodes Community Leader Mr. Paul F. Rocheleau Chairman, Cupron, Inc. Chairman, VA Life Science Investments Inc. Director, Applied NanoTechnology Mr. Richard L. Sharp Managing Director V10 Capital Partners Mr. John Sherman, Jr. Former Vice Chairman Scott & Stringfellow, Inc. Mr. Greg Sitkiewicz Cuff Business Manager GE Healthcare Patient Care Solutions Mr. Kirk E. Spitzer Retired President & CEO Alfa Laval, Inc.
SECRETARY Mr. Bradford A. Crosby 01 Contracting Officer, US Navy Mr. M. David Allen Principal Engineer, MITRE The Honorable George F. Allen President, George Allen Strategies Ms. Marguerite Davis Owner, The Davis Collection
Mr. Mark Sternheimer, Sr. President Sternheimer Brothers Inc. Mr. James E. Ukrop Chairman, First Market Bank Mr. Charles A. Williamson CEO, CapTech Ventures, Inc. Mr. Robert W. Woltz, Jr. Retired President Verizon Virginia Mr. Kenneth Wright Chairman Wright Properties, Inc.
Ms. Mary Doswell Sr. VP Alternative Energy Solutions Dominion
Mr. Gary R. Ruth Retired SVP Manufacturing Operations Philip Morris USA Mr. Thomas J. Seifert CFO & COO Advanced Micro Devices
Mr. Joseph C. Farrell Retired Chairman, CEO & President Pittston Company
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VCU School of Engineering Foundation Board of Trustees

FOUNDING & EMERITI TRUSTEES Mr. William W. Berry Retired President Vepco Mr. James C. Cherry Retired Chairman, Mid-Atlantic Banking, Wachovia Bank, N.A. Mr. William S. Cooper, Jr. VP & Deputy Director Diversity & Inclusion Federal Reserve Bank Mr. Thomas D. Eilerson Chairman, EDC Mr. Thomas Farrell, II Chairman, President & CEO Dominion Mr. J. Carter Fox Retired President & CEO Chesapeake Corp. Mr. Robert M. Freeman* Former Chairman & CEO Signet Banking Corporation Mr. Malcolm S. McDonald Retired Chairman & CEO Signet Banking Corp. Mr. John L. McElroy, Jr. Chairman Emeritus Wheat First Union Mr. David L. Milby* Former Sr. VP of Operations & Procurement Services Philip Morris USA Mr. Wayne K. Nesbit Vice President, CREE Mr. S.F. Pauley Chairman & CEO Carpenter Company Mr. Robert E. Rigsby Retired President & COO Dominion Mr. Walter S. Robertson, III President & CEO Scott & Stringfellow, Inc. Mr. Richard G. Tilghman Retired Chairman, SunTrust Banks, Inc., Mid-Atlantic Mr. Hays T. Watkins Chairman Emeritus CSX Corporation Mr. Robert C. Williams Chairman Emeritus James River Corporation
EX-OFFICIO TRUSTEES Dr. Michael Rao President, VCU
Dr. J. Charles Jennett Interim Dean VCU School of Engineering Mr. R. Scott Rash, CFRE VP for Business Development VCU School of Engineering Foundation
Mr. Bruce A. Henderson* Former Chairman & CEO Imation Corporation Mr. Richard G. Holder* Retired Chairman & CEO Reynolds Metals Company Mr. Sean Hunkler Vice President, Manufacturing MEMC Mr. E. Morgan Massey Chairman, Evan Energy Company
Mr. E. Clairborne Robins* Former Chairman & Director Wyeth Consumer Healthcare Mr. Jeremiah J. Sheehan Retired Chairman & CEO Reynolds Metals Company Mr. Hugh R. Stallard Retired President & CEO Bell Atlantic-Virginia, Inc.
*Deceased
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FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SENIOR DESIGN PROGRAM OR VCU SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, PLEASE CONTACT: VCU School of Engineering 601 West Main Street P.O. Box 843068 Richmond, VA 23284-3068 Phone: (804) 828-3925 www.egr.vcu.edu
www.seniordesign.egr.vcu.edu

2012 VCU Engineering Senior Design Projects

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2012 VCU Engineering Senior Design Projects

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2012 SENIOR DESIGN PROJECTS

VCU School of Engineering

Cover Design courtesy of Lauren Hockaday

Acknowledgements from the Dean

J. Charles Jennett, Ph.D. Interim Dean

2012 Senior Committee

2012 SENIOR DESIGN EXPO SPONSORS

2012 Senior Design Expo Advisors

2012 Senior Design Expo Judges

Michael Gurganus Dominion Jason Hayden Engineers Plus

Kevin Jones Flexicell, Inc. Don Koonce Dominion

Geoffrey Parnell Flexicell, Inc. Melissa Peskin Dominion

A Synthetic Small Diameter Vascular Graft

Quantifying Rigidity in Patients with Neurological Movement Disorders

Transparent Temperature-Controlled Cell Stretching Attachment for Live Cell Imaging

Non-Invasive Measurement of the Arterial Pulse Waveform

Extendable Membrane Bioreactor with an Air Liquid Interface

Non-invasive Therapeutic Hypothermia

Evaluative Eye-Tracking System

Longitudinal Hand Traction System

Reducing Action Tremors during Laparoscopic Surgery

Minus the Mouse: Hands-Free Device for Function of a Computer Mouse

Redesigning Prescription Bottles for a Geriatric Population

AHL: Variable Cracking Pressure Swing Check Valve

CHEMICAL AND LIFE SCIENCE ENGINEERING

Production of Biobutanol as a Source of Alternative Energy

Surface Tension Confined Microfluidics (STCM) as a Platform for Medical Diagnostics

Functional Drug Delivery System Constructed with a Silk Biopolymer

Biometric Home Security System

Remote Controlled 3-Axis Camera Gimbal

Universal Home Controller

Household Energy Enumeration Logger (H.E.E.L.)

Alarm System Internet Module

Chat Bot to Expose Services Across Boundaries

MWV IT Authorizations for Expenditure Google Application

Cloud Computing Security

Virginia Rest Area Advertising

ATSC MyPBA Web Application

Jazz Studies Ensemble and Orchestra Scheduling and Reporting

Identifying and Predicting Fraud, Waste and Abuse in Medicare Claims

Theater Stage Management System

Surface Micromachined Accelerometers

Solar Cell Efficiency Improvement Methods

Human Tracking Robot

Thermal vision 360 camera

RFID Tracking System for Animal Care Facilities

VCU Electromagnetic Launch Apparatus (VELA)

properties, control systems, and manufacturing.

MECHANICAL AND NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

Organic Solar Cells Using PTCDI-C8 Nanorods

determined and implemented into the device.

Drag Reduction Using Synthetic Jet Actuators

such as fiber-reinforced plastics in service environments.

The Design and Characterization of A MagneticallyDriven Needle-Less Medicine Injection System

Dry Cask Storage Inspection

Device for Removal of Seeds from Jamun Fruit

Drag Reduction Device on Semi-Trailer Trucks

Garden Guard Design

Design and Construction of a Formula SAE Race Car Suspension

Engineering Design Strategy Board Game

Human-Powered Moonbuggy Redesign for Better Handling Characteristics

Smooth Muscle Biomechanics Characterization Device

Boiler Flue Inspection Robot