The leading edge of a sub-orbital, sounding rocket dictates an aerodynamically optimal profile which is difficult to manufacture. The university level offers no current standard to produce rocket nose cones made with pre-impregnated composites. Of particular interest is the molding technique used to fabricate a nose cone. The focus of...
Chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs) like trichloroethene (TCE) were mostly used to replace drying cleaning fluids which contained hydrocarbons like benzene, and were highly flammable. Through improper disposal, storage, and spills, TCE and its downstream products, like cis-dichloroethene (cDCE) and vinyl chloride (VC), leached into groundwater and threaten human and environmental...
Modern product development is a complex combination of multidisciplinary processes ranging from market research to design, engineering analysis, and logistics. The product development process has a significant impact on the success or failure of new product launches. The majority of consumer product launches fail, resulting in significant sunk cost in...
The sustainable use of wood for rail ties requires chemical treatment to increase service life and maintain structural integrity. Treatment can only be applied after lengthy air-seasoning to reduce moisture content in wood, but seasoning leaves ties exposed to attack by decay fungi for up to a year. One factor...
Western Saudi Arabia hosts a number of young volcanic fields, known as “Harrats”. Harrats cover a significant proportion of western Saudi Arabia and are associated with significant volcanic hazards. However, the ultimate cause of volcanic activity remains unclear. Younger volcanism (<12 Ma) is clearly represented by the north-south-trending region known...
The fuzzy front end of engineering design can present a difficult challenge, and as such, recent engineering design research has focused on guiding and influencing the way a designer ideates. Early ideation can be especially difficult when attempting to integrate specific design objectives in product design, called Design for X...
Knowledge of the mean recharge elevation (MRE) of water resources is
important for informing conservation and protection practices where water security is threatened by population growth, urban expansion, and land and climate changes. In this study a Bayesian approach was developed and applied to determine the MRE of 682 surface...
When treating highly infectious diseases, patient compliance with caregiver recommendations is crucial. Many patients who contract Ebola Virus Disease have symptoms including vomiting and severe diarrhea and die from the resulting dehydration if they do not drink enough fluids. Telepresence robots are useful in the context of Ebola treatment for...
Unmanned aerial systems (UASs), more commonly known as drones, have recently achieved commercial success for many public and private applications. As with all emerging technologies, new safety concerns and conflicts with existing paradigms are likely to arise. Many potential applications of UASs will result in their operation near roadway infrastructure,...
With ever-increasing number of vehicles actively using the state and national roadway network, transportation-related fuel consumption and consequent pavement structural damage rises. In this dissertation, the impact of material-induced dissipated energy mechanisms in asphalt and concrete pavements were analyzed using field measurements in California and finite element modeling of pavement...
Connections in mass timber structural systems dissipate energy and transfer lateral forces from mass timber elements such as shear walls and diaphragms, providing critical load paths. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a prominent mass timber material used to manufacture wall and floor assemblies. Fire performance research of CLT walls and floors...
This research presents a methodology to identify and analyze human-system interactions, and their potential failure modes using a functional decomposition approach during the early system design stage.
The fundamental research contribution of this work is the development of a framework to identify associations between physical user-product interactions, generic human errors...
One fundamental concern in conservation biology is species abundance. For many taxa, however, these data are costly to obtain via direct observation and thus limited in geographic or temporal scope. Very high-resolution satellite imagery provides a means to address these limitations and provide remotely-sensed counts of large, colonial species. We...
My study of universal healthcare was motivated by the juxtaposition of social welfare and self-interest in the United States. Unlike most other industrialized countries—whom have adopted either a multi-payer or single-payer system of universal healthcare—the United States is situated uniquely, from both a philosophical and political standpoint. Among others, it...
The goal of my thesis is to (a) help reveal to the Corvallis community who comprises this local population and (b) to share with local resource agencies what potential gaps are present from the perspectives of the homeless individuals who call Corvallis home. We interviewed eight (8) individuals who have...
In 2011 Oregon enacted a public education open enrollment policy that gives students and families the choice of what school to attend, regardless of district lines. Despite the lack of public information, this policy will sunset this school year unless it is further extended during legislative session. This paper attempts...
Coastal hazards are the result of numerous physical processes cumulatively causing water levels to flood and erode the land. The waves, storm surges, tides, and run-off contributing to elevated water levels are each the product of chaotic and random weather patterns. These stochastic weather patterns dissipate energy in Earth's climate...
Managing wildlands to protect species and ecosystem services in response to climate change is challenging. To develop effective long-term strategies, natural resource managers need to account for the projected effects of climate change as well as the uncertainty inherent in those projections. Vegetation models are one important source of projected...
The western purple martin (Progne subis arboricola) is a species of conservation concern throughout the Pacific Northwest. In western Oregon, the purple martin nests in three major ecosystem types: inland open-water, coastal, and upland forest. The availability of suitable breeding habitat is a major limiting factor for western purple martin...
The construction industry is a key contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of many countries around the world and is valued at more than $10 trillion globally. Schedule, cost and quality are the main performance measures of construction projects. The primary goal for project stakeholders in the construction industry...