Silicon photonics has rapidly become one of the most promising photonic integration platforms. Especially, microring resonator (MRR) plays a pivotal role in silicon photonics and has been widely used for electro-optic (E-O) modulators and wavelength filters due to its small footprint, low energy consumption, and high quality factor (Q-factor). Recently,...
Nature is an inspirational source of silica structures that possess unique optical properties. A few classes of organisms fabricate metal oxides with nanoscale features by a bottom-up self assembly process. In particular, diatoms are a prolific class of single-celled algae that possess silica shells or “frustules” with intricate submicron scale...
This study was carried out to compare the effects of a quaternary
ammonium compound (QAC) upon strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
which were either sensitive or resistant to the germicide. The cationic
QAC used was alkyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride. The resistant
types were isolated from the sensitive population by selection
of mutants which...
The performance of a combined vapor-compression cycle/ORC is evaluated using waste-heat from a diesel generator. A flat plate microchannel heat exchanger is employed to provide energy exchange between the diesel exhaust stream and an oil loop, which provides energy to a boiler. This study finds an increased diesel duty corresponds...
While riding bicycles has been promoted for its health, economic, and environmental benefits, it also complements other modes to complete a safe, efficient, and reliable transportation system. However, the dramatic increase of bicycle usage in the U.S. is accompanied by a growth of bicycle crashes. The U.S. Department of Transportation,...
The need to detect trace amounts of target molecules is great, particularly when it comes to biosensing. With the early detection of a disease, the odds of the successful treatment of an individual increases significantly. To enhance the capability of biomolecular detection, we have created an optical biosensor capable of...
We explored an optofluidic sensing mechanism from inkjet-printed droplets on diatom biosilica using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Our study revealed a new biosensing strategy that combines the microscopic fluidic flow induced by the droplet evaporation and the photonic crystal effects of diatom frustules, which can provide an ultra-sensitive, cost-effective biosensing...
Highway capacity has traditionally been treated as deterministic. In reality, however, capacity can vary from time to time and location to location due to inclement weather, various driving behavior, traffic incident, bottleneck and workzone. This thesis aims to characterize the stochastic variations of highway capacity, and explore its applications.
The...
Increasingly congested surface transportation network in urban areas and grow-ing land values make underground transportation systems more attractive for high-ways (i.e., tunnels) and metro system compared to other options [1]. An underground transportation system can preserve the land above for recreational parks, commer-cial buildings, residential homes, or other purposes while...
Short-term freeway traffic speed prediction is essential to improving mobility and safety. It has been a challenging, yet unresolved issue. Traffic speed prediction can be applied to enhance the intelligent freeway traffic management and control for applications as operational and regulation planning. For example, with more reliable traffic speed prediction,...