Particle methods are a class of computational algorithms used to estimate potential outcomes of a system or process. Although popular for their simplicity and scalability, the use of fixed sized "particle ensembles" renders the simulations unable to provide performance guarantees in quan…

Valves are essential components of engines that regulate intake of fuel and air and removal of combustion products. Solid valves conduct a significant amount of heat, which reduces the efficiency of the combustion process. Previous hollow valve designs fill the inner chamber with low-melting metal…

As the world becomes more and more connected, our systems become more and more vulnerable. If cyber security can become more automated, risk-based decisions can be made more quickly and rationally. Organizations can then leverage this decision-making to improve their security without increasing co…

Transportation infrastructure depends on a robust and well-maintained system of bridges. In the U.S., federal law requires that bridges be inspected once every two years. Some states, including Ohio, require bridges to be inspected every year. One problem with these inspections is that for several…

Tractor-trailers are essential to the United States (U.S.) economy. The annual value of freight transported in the U.S. in 2013 was $18 trillion. Of the $18 trillion1, $11 trillion (64%) was transported by the trucking industry. Tractor-trailers consumed 109 billion liters (29 billion gallons) of …

Cyber security is an important facet of many major corporations and government entities. The implementation of effective cyber security protocols is an arduous process because the most targeted individuals, C-suite and boardroom level personnel, understand the protocols the least. A lack of adhere…

America's air traffic control infrastructure has not been updated in decades and lags behind the rest of world. In lieu of a complete rebuild using GPS and digital messaging, other upgrades could be made to optimize the efficiency of flight routing. These types of upgrades would be software ba…

Dies and molds are used in the manufacturing industry for producing high quantity pats from metals, plastics, and composites. These dies and molds are expensive to manufacture and have long lead times. In the automotive industry, a die set for something like a front fender can cost several million…

For a diesel engine to produce a combustion process which results in a desired trade-off between emissions and fuel economy, the fuel injection parameters must account for the state of the air path system. This is typically accomplished by simultaneously determining the desired air path set point …

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was first used to characterize properties of a sample, including physical, material, electromechanical and chemical properties. For most of these multi-physical characterization schemes, an AFM tip scans over a sample while the tip is in contact with the surface. At t…