Diya Abdeljabbar, Senior Student in Chemical Engineering, "The Preparation and Characterization of Polylactic Acid/Bioactive Filter Composites", (nominated by Prof. Angelo Perna, advisor Prof. Marinos Xanthos)

 Polylactic Acid (PLA) is a biodegradable polyester that is available in semicrystalline and amorphous forms. The polymer in this study is a commercial PLA, known as polylactide 4060D; it is selected because of its amorphous structure that may lead to accelerated degradation. In order to be utilized in bone regeneration, Bioglass 45S5 and Calcium Silicate fillers were integrated into PLA using batch melt mixing. These fillers will promote the bioactivity in the composite when exposed to simulated body fluid (SBF), which is used to mimic the conditions of the human body. The composites will be characterized and analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDX), Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AA) and UV-Visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis) in order to monitor the formation of an apatite layer that is present on real bone tissue. Such layer growth is crucial in regenerating bone in vivo. Changes in morphology, water uptake, weight and pH will be examined periodically. Apatite layer formation and degradation rate data will be useful in formulating composites for long term tissue engineering applications.

Ge Bai, PhD Student in Chemical Engineering, “Numerical Simulation and Experimental Validation of Fluid Dynamic and Mass Transfer Phenomena in a Dissolution Test Apparatus”, (nominated by Prof. Piero M. Armenante, Chemical Engineering)

Dissolution testing of solid dosage forms is typically conducted in the pharmaceutical industry using the USP Apparatus II, a standard piece of equipment described in the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP).  This test is routinely conducted to assist with formulation design, process development, and the demonstration of batch-to-batch reproducibility in production.  In this work, the velocity distribution inside a USP Apparatus II was experimentally determined via Laser-Doppler Velocimetry (LDV).  In addition, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to predict not only the velocity components at any location within the vessel, but also other variable of important to the dissolution process, such as the local strain rate.  Results were obtained for the typical operating conditions mandated by the dissolution test procedure as well as under those conditions that could be involuntarily introduced by the operator, such as small changes in the off-center location of the shaft or in the off-bottom impeller clearance.  In general, good agreement between the velocity distributions experimentally obtained via LDV and those predicted through CFD was found.  The results of this work will help elucidate some of the phenomena observed during dissolution testing, and provide guidelines for the operation and development of future testing procedures and apparatuses.

Kanchana Malini Balakrishnan, PhD Student in Transportation Engineering, (with Kitae Kim and Feng-Ming Tsai), “A Bi-Level Optimization Model for Transit Network Route Design Problem”, (nominated by Prof. Steven Chien, Civil and Environmental Engineering)

In this project a bi-level non-linear non-convex optimization model was developed to determine the optimal route structure and their associated service frequencies for a transit network with a symmetric O-D matrix by minimizing both the transit supplier cost and user cost. The results obtained indicated consistency with respect to real world situations and this model will help in developing an efficient transit network for a city with an ability to account for the practical situations in a real-world transit system.

Aparajita Bandyopadhyay, PhD Student in Applied Physics, “Application of THz Imaging in Security Screening”, (nominated by Prof. Robert Barat)

Non–contact detection of concealed lethal agents using THz radiation is described. Applying interferometric techniques, synthetic images are reconstructed at different frequencies and aspects affecting image identification are considered for successful design of the imaging system.

Joannie Bautista, Senior Student in Electrical Engineering, "Optimizing the Power-Efficiency of the Register File: A Data Width Exploitation", (nominated by Prof. Angelo Perna, advisor Prof. Jie Hu)

In this ever growing technological society we are consuming more and more power everyday with electronic devices that have become a necessity to use in everyday life. Small families to large corporations are seeking ways to reduce power consumption in order to reduce the amount of money used for energy. In this project we will be first studying the datawidth distribution of generated register values for general purpose applications. Based on the datawidth analysis, we will propose optimized register file designs to exploit narrow-width values for reducing the dynamic power consumption in register file. We plan to implement the new designs of the register file using the execution-driven microprocessor simulator, SimpleScalar, and the architectural-level power simulator, Wattch. The performance and power efficiency of our designs will be evaluated using a set of SPEC2000 benchmarks. The end result of this project will be to gain a better understaing of the power issues in a microprocessor and how to develop solutions for power-efficient microarchitectures, as well as the research experience in using microprocessor simulators for implementing, simulating, and evaluating new architectural designs.

Theresa Benony, Junior Student in BioMedical Engineering, "Nanofiber Scaffolds for Tissue Regeneration using Electrospinning Techniques", (nominated by Prof. Angelo Perna, advisor Prof. Treena Livingston-Arinzeh)

Electrospun nanofibers have been used in filtration applications for more than twenty years. Nanofibers are now being explored to advance tissue engineering and tissue regeneration and can be applied in the field of medicine to improve our quality of life.

The application of tissue regeneration includes the use of artifical skin, regeneration of tissues to stimulate healing and counteract infection and medical implants. Regenerating tissue will be achieved by using nanofiber scaffolds made out of biomaterials. The scaffolds act as a framework for developing tissues and are designed to encourage specific tissue cells to multiply.

The electrospinning technique is used to create the biomaterial scaffolds on a nano-scale. The grooves in the nano-scale scaffold are no wider than the cells themselves, therefore, acting as templates causing the cells to line up. The results of this proejcts are not yet available for analysis, however, by using the biomaterial scaffolds, cels are expected to proliferate and form muscle or bone tissue. Through intense research it is expected that new applications will arise such as major wound repair and even growing of whole organs.

Thipnakarin Boonfueng, PhD student in Environmental Engineering, “Sorption Mechanisms on Biogenic Mn oxide Sheathed Leptothrix discophora SP-6”, (nominated by Prof. Lisa Axe, Civil and Environmental Engineering)

Biogenic Mn oxides play an important role in metal contaminant distribution in soils and sediments. Both macroscopic and spectroscopic studies were conducted to elucidate the sorption mechanism.

Jose Carpintero, Senior Student in Electrical Engineering, “Prosthesis Sensory Feedback Control”, (nominated by Prof. Angelo Perna, advisor Prof. Richard Foulds)

My research project is to create a prosthesis which will mimic the senses of a natural limb. The purpose of this research is to further develop prosthetics by creating a feedback signal that will let the user and prosthesis know about changes to its surrounding environment. As a result the prosthesis will have the capability of mimicking the senses of the body to prevent harm from external sources (i.e. heat, pressure, moisture, vibration, etc.) to the artificial limbs. The goal is to have the prosthetic react to its surrounding just as a natural limb would, and still provide the user with control.

Carlos A. Castillo, Senior Student in BioMedical Engineering, “Impact of Vergence Adaptive Process on Progressive Lens Acceptability”, (nominated by Prof. Angelo Perna, advisor Prof. Tara Alvarez)

Presbyopia, a degenerative condition, which decreases accommodation, sets in approximately at the age of forty.  One approach to correct presbyopia is the use of bifocal or progressive lenses.  Naturally, some people are more prone to adapt  to wearing progressive lenses than others.  The vergence system, which controls the inward and outward turning of the eyes, is a system which supports viewing in depth. Identifying the two components (transient and sustained components) of a pure vergence eye movement is possible with ICA (Independent Component Analysis).  Preliminary results suggest a correlation with the magnitude of the transient component and whether or not a person can adapt to wearing progressive lenses or not.  Furthermore, the transient component of vergence is hypothesized to be an index of how flexible the vergence system is in adapting to new environments.

Yuhong Chen, PhD Student in Chemistry (with Mahesh Karwa), “Microwave Assisted Synthesis of Water Soluble Carbon Nanotubes”, (nominated by Prof. Somenath Mitra)

We demonstrate microwave induced rapid functionalization of CNTs, and the reaction time is reduced to the order of minutes. This is a novel, cost-effective and environmental-friendly method producing highly water-soluble CNTs with solubility close to: SWNTs of 10mg/ml and MWNTs of 1 mg/ml in aqueous and polar solvents.

Yiming Cheng, PhD Student in Math Biology, “Analysis of Equivalent Distorted Ratchet Potentials”, (nominated by Prof. Michael Booty, advisor Prof. Robert Miura)

Analytical proof has been tried and is discussed for a physical phenomena that has been discovered numerically.

Naser A. Chowdhury, PhD Student in Electrical Engineering, “Trapping in Deep Defects Under Substrate Hot Electron Stress in TiN/Hf-Silicate Based Gate Stacks”, (nominated by Prof. Durga Misra)

Deep defect energy levels are experimentally observed in Hf-silicate based high-? gate stacks, which are considered to be the leading candidates to replace SiO2 in low-power complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) applications, using electrical characterization techniques. Application of substrate hot electron stress on Hf-silicate based MOS devices show that stress-induced deep defects are responsible for stable trapping and carrier transport, which are potentially the ultimate limiting factors for their long-term reliability and performance respectively.

Christopher Cosenza, Masters Student in Infrastructure Planning (with David Downs), “Paterson Research Initiative”, (nominated by Prof. Darius Sollohub)

The Grant’s goal is to develop a long range plan focusing on three areas: transportation, housing and cultural assets. The grant has influenced the city’s future plans; including redevelopment plans, parking structures, housing, light rail stations, and the initiation of a national design competition.

David Downs, Masters Student in City and Regional Planning and also in Infrastructure Planning (with Christopher Cosenza), “Paterson Research Initiative”, (nominated by Prof. Darius Sollohub)

The Grant’s goal is to develop a long range plan focusing on three areas: transportation, housing and cultural assets. The grant has influenced the city’s future plans; including redevelopment plans, parking structures, housing, light rail stations, and the initiation of a national design competition.

Aysegul Ergin, PhD Student in BioMedical Engineering and Physics, "Development of an Artificial Pancreas to Eliminate Complications of Diabetes" (nominated by Prof. Gordon Thomas)

We are developing the key missing component in an artificial pancreas: a device that measures the blood sugar level nearly continuously and painlessly. This glucometer uses a laser to measure the glucose level in the eye using a spectroscopic process called Raman scattering.

Ryan Fernandez, Junior Student in BioMedical Engineering, “Assesment of neuromuscular spasticity using an electromagnetic tracking device to accurately trace angular trajectories”, (nominated by Prof. Angelo Perna, advisor prof. Richard Foulds)

The use of magnetic motion tracking in recent years has set a new path in the study of human motion and biomechanics. The purpose of this study is to measure induced angular trajectories using magnetic tracking to provide an insight into the level of neuromuscular spasticity. Current methods involve the alignment of the rotational aces of an electrogoniometer and the joint to be co-linear, presenting difficulties because they require reasonably precise placement to obtain accurate results. Other potential weaknesses of electrogoniometers are due to the knee not being a perfect hinge joint, as well as the deformation of soft tissue of the thigh and shank. The use of magnetic sensors to measure angle trajectories minimizes the effect of misalignment of the sensor with respect to the plane of movement. The magnetic tracking system used is Ascension’s Flock of Birds (FOB) device. The FOB device will be attached to a non-metallic pendulum as well as a potentiometer with its shaft acting as the axis of rotation for the pendulum. This setup is adopted to resemble the Wartenberg Pendulum Knee Drop Test commonly used in both clinical and research studies to assess neuromuscular spasticity. Another aspect of the research is to explore and correct any measurement latencies associated with the FOB magnetic tracking device. Any latency must be corrected due to the need for precise and accurate data, which is the most important factor in the development of measuring equipment. Results from this study will conclude the advantages of using magnetic motion tracking systems in feedback, rehabilitation, and performance assessment purposes.

Daniel Fong, Senior Student in Computer Science, “Evaluating Programming Environments for LEGO MindStorms, The First Step to Develop Interest in Engineering and Programming”, (nominated by Prof. Angelo Perna, advisor Prof. Ziming Ji)

There is a lack of interest of young students in science and engineering, which is very important for the future development of societies. It is known that building robots and programming them to work develops an interest of students for science and engineering fields. LEGO MindStorms, Robotics Invention System (RIS), is a very good method to enable students to experience engineering and programming. The Robotic Command Explorer (RCX) is the brain of the RIS. The included graphical programming environment in RIS can be used to write programs in RCX code, which is very easy to use. This enables beginners to start without any major problem but it is very limited in functionality. Therefore, a number of programming environments have replaced this graphical programming environment with standard languages and more powerful graphical programming languages, such as Not Quite C (NQC) and ROBOLAB etc. to improve functionality. NQC Is a subset of the C programming language, a more traditional, text-based computer language that can also be used to program the RCX. ROBOLAB is a graphical programming environment that is based on an industry-standard graphical programming language, LabVIEW. There will be numerous observations on different kinds of robot systems with the same features but created in different programming environments. This study will compare their building time complexity and will determine the ability to meet all the requirements.

Abhijit Gokhale, PhD Student in Mechanical Engineering, “Supercritical Fluids Assisted Nanoparticles Formation and Nanocoatings”, (nominated by Prof. Boris Khusid)

Nanoparticles are having increasing demand from the pharmaceutical, neutraceutical and food process industry. Disadvantages from traditional can be eliminated by Supercritical Fluids Assisted Nanoparticles and Nanocoatings Processing.

Elizabeth Avery Gomez, PhD Student in Information Systems, “Toward Active Team-Based Learning: An Online Instructional Strategy”, (nominated by Prof. Roxanne Hiltz)

Empowering students in active learning is the premise of team-based learning. This research extends the traditional team-based learning instructional strategy into the computer-mediated classroom.

Maribeth Gregory, PhD Student in Urban Systems (health), “Heart Failure: An Urban Crisis”

This was both a Poster presentation and a paper providing information regarding the increased morbidity and mortality associated with Congestive Heart Failure (chf).  This paper outlines the etiology of the disease as well as symptoms, diagnosis and management of chf.  The main objective is to inform the general population of mechanisms against self care prevention.

Karen Hare, PhD Student in Information Systems, “Inhibitors To The Adoption Of Electronic Health Records And The Role of Information Technology”, (nominated by Prof. Roxanne Hiltz)

Healthcare information systems have historically been administrative systems, with responsibility for financial viability of the healthcare organization.  Currently there exists a distinction in the level of automation that has taken place on the administrative verses the clinical side of healthcare.  Information technology systems that are utilized for clinical healthcare have unique requirements as well as legislative mandates for patient privacy, confidentiality and security.  Coupled with these are the complex nature of the data and the way that it needs to be communicated.

A preliminary study has been conducted that suggests that there are non-monetary factors that contribute to the gaps in adoption of information technology on the clinical side of healthcare.  Inhibitors were identified that precluded clinicians from embracing the technology that could help them implement the technology solutions. These findings suggest that functionality, user-friendliness and system integration as well as faster system response time are major concerns retarding implementation of clinical information technology solutions. This continuing research will seek to identify information technology solutions for clinical healthcare practitioners that address agility and flexibility, while adhering to the construct that are necessary for secure and confidential data and electronic health records.

Mahesh K. Karwa, PhD Student in Chemistry (with Yiming Cheng), “Self Assembly of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Analytical Separations”, (nominated by Prof. Somenath Mitra)

SWCNT based open tubular GC separation media was self-assembled via catalytic CVD inside silica lined steel capillary columns. SWCNTs demonstrated high efficiency, classical chromatography behavior, and high-resolution separations and have the potential to be the high-performance separation media through nanoscale interactions.

Kitae Kim, PhD Student in Transportation (with Kanchana Malini Balakrishnan and Feng-Ming Tsai), "Cost and Benefit Analysis for Optimized Signal Timing - Case Study: New Jersey Route 23" and "Development of a Probabilistic Model to Optimize Disseminated Real-Time Bus Arrival Information for Pre-Trip Passengers", (nominated by Prof. Steven Chien)

This study develops a practical method to calculate costs and benefits associate with the implementation of optimal signal timing plans with SYNCHRO. Results show substantial benefit in reducing signal delay, fuel consumption, and vehicular emission. Analysis of re-optimization of the signal time under different rates of traffic is conducted.

Nickolas Kintos, PhD Student in Fluid Dynamics, “Comparing Neuromodulator and Projection Neuron-Elicited Oscillations”, (nominated by Prof. Michael Booty, advisor Prof. Farzan Nadim)

Uses mathematical modeling techniques to investigate possible mechanisms by which a neuromodulator elicits rhythmic network oscillations.  The predictions of the mathematical model are examined with a biophysically-detailed simulation.

Soumi Lahiri, PhD Student in Statistics, “Linear and Log-linear Models Based on Generalized Inverse Sampling Scheme”, (nominated by Prof. Michael Booty, advisor Prof. Sunil Dhar)

New methodologies to model rare events are developed especially when the frequency counts follow an extended negative multinomial distribution.  Such a situation arises during the generalized inverse sampling procedure in statistical examination of real examples in studying cancer, epidemiology and other health-related disciplines.

Chang Liu, PhD Student in Solar Physics, “Magnetic Fields and Flares”, (nominated by Prof. Haimin Wang)

Studies of core and large scale magnetic fields of flares and Coronal Mass Ejections, to understand the physics of them.

Sheng Liu, PhD Student in Physics, “Development of a Smart Shunt for Hydrocephalus and Head Injury Patients”, (nominated by Prof. Gordon Thomas)

We are developing a smart shunt so that babies with hydrocephalus and adults with head injuries can measure the flow of fluid inside their brain. This smart shunt uses a wireless flow and pressure sensor to tell a doctor how to treat a patient with much greater care and understanding of the condition, since the flow and pressure are now simply not known.

Takuya Matsunaga, PhD Student in Materials Science (with Victor Stepanov), “In Situ Characterization of RDX Nanoparticles Formed by Rapid Expansion of Supercritical Solutions (RESS)”, (nominated by Prof. Lev Krasnoperov)

Laser light scattering technique is used for in situ measurements of the evolution of the particle size distribution function of a nano-sized energetic material (RDX) produced by Rapid Expansion of Supercritical Solution (RESS) process. Conclusions on the mechanism of particle formation are derived.

Camila Modenese, Junior Student in Chemical Engineering, “Destruction of Freons in Corona Discharge”, (nominated by Prof. Angelo Perna, advisor Prof. Lev Krasnoperov)

Non-thermal plasma (such as in corona discharge, dielectric barrier discharge, etc) have been thought as a prospective technology for remediation of gas streams contaminated with VOCs, NOx, Sox, and other compounds. The project is directed towards further elucidation of the mechanism of chemical transformations in non-thermal plasmas.

The experiments were design towards discrimination of the ion trapping mechanism, and other destruction mechanisms based on the initiation by free radicals, metastable excited states, and some others.  In the previous research it was shown, that in a series of chemically similar compounds (namely three choloroflurorocarbons CH2F2, CH2FCl and CH2Cl2); the first one CH2F2 has much lower efficiency of destruction compared to CH2FCl and CH2Cl2, in accord with the ionization transfer mechanisms.

Mixtures of CH2F2, CH2FCl and CH2Cl2 in the concentration range of 10-1000 ppm will be passed through a dielectric barrier discharge. The molecules have been chosen based on their ionization energy compared to the ionization energy of molecular oxygen (IP(O2) = 12.07 eV), which is below the ionization energy of CH2F2 (12.71 eV), and above the ionization energy of CH2FCl (11.71 eV) and CH2Cl2 (11.32 eV). The kinetics, efficiency and products of the destruction will be measured on line GC-MS.

These studies have also environmental importance in view of the destruction technologies for stockpiles of freons, as well as the destruction of freons in the stratosphere due to electrical phenomena. Chlorofluorocarbons represent well known danger for stratospheric ozone. All current atmospheric models are based only on neutral free radical chemistry and do not include freons destruction via electrical phenomena.

Deoraj Naraine, Junior Student In Mechanical Engineering, “Development of Gait Training Devices for Leg Rehabilitation”, (Nominated by Prof. Angelo Perna, advisor Prof. Ziming Ji)

Various pathologies, such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal cord injury (SCI), cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), cerebral palsy (CP), multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease, and orthopedic conditions affect patients’ ability to walk. Decreased activity has been shown to be associated with rapidly de-conditioning and other co-morbidities. Rehabilitation techniques that afford patients the ability to begin reconditioning through walking sooner may ultimately enhance their return to a better quality of life.

The overall goal of this study is to develop gait training devices for rehabilitation of paralyzed legs. We shall use gait data for clinical gait analysis, extracted from normative database, to define physiological movement of legs. Guidance mechanisms will be designed to produce the desired gait patterns. A healthy subject walked on a motor-driven treadmill at a self-selected speed and practiced on the gait trainer with the basic and limb-dependent cycle parameters set accordingly.

David Nare, Junior Student in Chemical Engineering, “Thermochemical Properties: Enthalpy, Entropy, Internal Rotation Potentials, Bond Energies Acetyl Mercaptans and Sulfides”, (nominated by Prof. Joseph Bozzelli)

This study uses computational chemistry and Density Functional Theory to obtain thermochemical properties of acetyl mercaptans and sulfides.  Structures, enthalpy (fHo298), enthropy (So298) and heat capacity [Cp(T)] are determined for several compounds using the density functional B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level of calculation in the Gaussian 03 program suite.  In this study, results from density functional B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) calculations in conjunction with three isodesmic working reactions are used to determine standard enthalpies of formation (fHo298) of sulfur-containing species using a set of known radical and stable species. Geometric structures, enthalpy (fHo298), entropy (So298) and heat capacity [Cp(T)] are also calculated at the same level.  Total translational, vibrational and external rotation contribution to S and Cp(T) was calculated with “SMCPS”, a program that combines vibration, translation, and external rotational contributions in a rigid-rotor-harmonic oscillator approximation based on structures and vibrational frequencies obtained from the density functional analysis.  Contributions to entropy (So298) and heat capacity [Cp(T)] from internal rotations is also included.  The average calculated ?fHo298 are as follows: CH3SCH2CH=O =-35.22 ± 0.38 kcal mole-1; CH3SC(CH3)=O  =–48.46 ± 0.58 kcal mole-1; CH3SCH=O =–38.03 ± 0.06 kcal mole-1; HSC(CH3)=O =–42.68 ± 0.21 kcal mole-1; HSCH2C(CH3)=O =   kcal mole-1; HSCH=O =–29.44 ± 0.35 kcal mole-1; HSCH2CH=O =–27.76 ± 0.8 kcal mole-1; CH3SCH2C(CH3)=O =–47.51 ± 1.44 kcal mole-1.

Sai Chaitanya Nudurupati, PhD Student in Mechanical Engineering, “Effect of Frequency and Electrode Configuration on Particles Subjected to Traveling Electric Fields”, (nominated by Prof. Pushpendra Singh)

My research consists in developing new techniques utilizing electric fields to manipulate micro and nano sized particles suspended in liquids. Simulations (for separation of particles) are done, using finite element code, for particle-fluid domain. The tools I am using include both experiments in MEMS devices, and direct numerical simulations.

Vivian Ozoka, Junior student in Biomedical Engineering, “Speech to Text Conversion Using Commercial Speech Recognition Software”, (nominated by Prof. Angelo Perna; advisor Prof. Richard Foulds)

Old age and severe hearing impairment results in the brain’s inability to effectively interpret sounds; communication becomes difficult especially with absence of facial expressions.  

This research will create a box that splits the telephone signal between the phone and the computer without losing any information.  The phone signal will transfer as sound, whereas, the computer signal will convert the sound into written text, using commercial speech recognition software.  The computer will accept spoken words, analyze and match it with the best possible written text.  This combination would create a dynamic system that would allow everyone to communicate via the phone.

Deepangi Pandit, PhD Student in Chemistry, “Conformational Analysis of a GBR 12909 Analog”, (nominated by Prof. Carol Venanzi)

GBR 12909 analogs are an important class of dopamine reuptake inhibitor that appears to be useful in the treatment of cocaine abuse. This study focuses on a GBR 12909 analog  that has less flexibility and higher binding affinity for the dopamine transporter than the parent compound.

Ariel Ravell, Junior Student in Chemical engineering, “Thermochemical Properties of Mecaptans and Thio-Aldehydes using Computational Chemistry”, (nominated by Prof. Angelo Perna; advisor Prof. Joseph Bozzelli)

Oxidation and reaction of sulfur hydrocarbons and sulfur oxy hydro carbons in atmospheric chemistry, biological systems, combustion, and other thermal processes converts these species through many oxygen intermediates to reach final products such as sulfur and carbon oxides.  Because little information is known with regards to these compounds, little is also known about the reactions the compounds undergo, and what the product is as well as how much is obtained.  Thermo-chemical properties: standard enthalpy of formation of DfHo(298), entropy So(298), and heat capacity (Cp(T)) are determined using computational chemistry – density functional theory and work reaction analyses at the B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level.  Improved enthalpy values are found at the B3LYP/6-311++G(3df,2p) level. Thermodynamic parameters for radicals corresponding to H atoms and bond energies as well as groups for use in group-additivity are also determined, as well as rotational barriers of each species.  Sulfur compounds investigated in this study and their respective heat of formation, entropy, and heat capacity data obtained from the study are as follows: 2-thioacetaldehyde ethylene, CH2CHSC(CH3)=O (DfHo(298) = 45.53 kilo-calorie/mole, So(298) = 65.33 calorie/mole, and Cp(298) = 20.05 calorie/mole), 2-thioformaldehyde ethylene, CH2CHSCH=O (DfHo(298) = 37.89 kilo-calorie/mole, So(298) = 62.18 calorie/mole, and Cp(298) = 16.21 calorie/mole), and 2-thioformaldehyde isopropene, CH2C(CH3)SCH=O (DfHo(298) = 34.89 kilo-calorie/mole, So(298) = 65.33 calorie/mole, and Cp(298) = 19.82 calorie/mole).  Enthalpy (DfHo(298)), Entropy(So(298)), and Heat Capacity (Cp(T)) values are compared to limited literature values available.  The goal of this work is to provide more understanding of compounds like the aforementioned, allowing us to better understand the reactions they undergo and products they release.

Abraham Rosales, Junior Student in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, “Simulations to Support Online Learning and Experimentation”, (nominated by Prof. Angelo Perna; advisor Prof. David Mendonca)

Emergency situations are not frequent and there is a paucity of data to analyze and, therefore, enable improvements in emergency training programs.  The simulation of high risk events will allow people to get experience in dealing with such events. In order to achieve a low margin of error between a simulation and a real event, data from previous real events will be analyzed to find common points to enable standardization of the simulation and, hence, make the simulation as realistic as possible.  The events in the simulation will be random events and they will depend on the actions taken by the people testing it.  Simulations will help training people so that they will be better prepared in the case of an emergency event.

Satrajit Roychoudhury, PhD Student in Math Biology, “Class of Probability Generating Functions Induced by Shock Model”, (nominated by Prof. Michael Booty, advisor Prof. Manish Bhattacharjee)

This paper explores the necessary and sufficient condition for preserving a specific nonparametric aging property under a Poisson Shock Model.

Durgesh Sethi, Junior Student of Industrial Engineering, “The Improvement of Computing Accessibility in Industrial Robotics to Increase Overall Efficiency”, (nominated by Prof. Angelo Perna; advisor Prof. Kevin McDermott)

Many companies are adapting robots and automated manufacturing systems to reproduce products.  This evolution makes life easier and companies more efficient in producing their products.  However, programming and getting the response desired is a complicated process.  This research will be based on an Adept X-Y-Z coordinate robot whose process will be improved and printed in a small step-by-step manual.  In order to do this, the robot will first be examined to see what are its capabilities and then plan the different areas within the programming aspects that need to be modified.  Based on this research, students will be capable of manipulating this robot successfully in a timely manner.

Rina Shah, Senior Student in Biomedical Engineering, “Cellular & Molecular Characterization of Circulating Cancer Cells”, (nominated by Dr. David Reibstein)

Circulating Breast Carcinoma (BC), Lung Carcinoma (LC), and Thyroid Carcinoma (TC) cells were isolated and characterized from BC, LC, and TC patients respectively.  Thirty highly progressive metastatic BC patients, thirty-nine LC patients, and forty-six TC patients were analyzed.  Circulating BC, LC, and TC cells were isolated using a novel, sensitive, three-step Immunomagnetic Method from the mononuclear fraction isolated from blood. After epithelial cell enrichment, messenger RNA (mRNA) was isolated using Oligo (dT) attached to magnetic beads.  The Oligo(dT) attaches to the mRNA poly-A tail.  Isolated RNA was stored at -80ºC for further use.  Single tube, nested RT-PCR for Cytokeratin-19 (CK-19) mRNA of BC, TC, and LC patients was performed on isolated mRNA.  RT-PCR for Actin mRNA was performed to confirm the presence of amplifiable RNA.  Samples were confirmed on agarose gel electrophoresis.  Negative controls for PCR consisted of reaction mixtures without any template.  PCR amplified products were subjected to run on a 2% ethidium bromide agarose gel, which was observed under an ultraviolet transilluminator.  

Detectable levels of CK-19 mRNA were observed in 40% of BC cases, 20% of LC cases, and 21% of TC cases.  All samples were positive for Actin mRNA.  Mammoglobin was found in 13% of BC cases.  The novel Immunobead technique enables isolation of circulating cancer cells for microscopic evaluation by RT- PCR (patent filed).  Use of multiple markers greatly enhances the molecular detection of metastasis.  This technique can be used for the Molecular Characterization of CTC in ALL solid tumors.  This would help Assess, Stratify, & Design Targeted Therapy for the cancer patient.

Purushothaman Srinivasan, PhD Student in Electrical Engineering, “Characterization and Modeling of Low-Frenquency (1/f) Noise in High-κ Based Dielectrics”, (nominated by Prof. Durga Misra)

High-K dielectric materials will replace the conventional silicon dioxide (SiO2) as gate oxides in MOSFETs. Devices fabricated with Hf-based dielectric materials show promising results, though the reliability remains a cause of concern. For analog applications, the low-frequency (1/f) noise has to be within the critical limits. Several studies have pointed out that the noise spectral density is higher [1], due to its sensitive nature to gate stack processing. This work focuses on the impact of gate channel length (L) and gate oxide thickness (tox) scaling effect on low-frequency (1/f) noise in n- and p-MOSFET devices with Hafnium silicate (HfSiON) and metal (TiN/TaN) as gate electrode.

Independent of the oxide thickness and channel length, predominantly drain current spectra Sid are 1/f??like with ? between 0.9 ~ 1.05. Independent of tox, the normalized noise Sid/Id2 should be proportional to 1/L, but is seen to vary from 1/L (3nm) to 1/L3/2 (1nm). A slight dependence on normalized input-referred noise Svg for lower tox values are noticed, though the values vary within an order of magnitude and are higher by a decade compared to ITRS specs.  With respect to nMOSFET [2] tox values of 1 and 3nm, the difference ( value) in normalized noise is lower as the channel length reduces. For pMOSFETs the tox dependence is quite clearly visible. Deviation is noticed for nMOSFETs, where the dependency is found to be between tox and tox ½ as against tox 2. It will be shown from more experimental observations that the behavior of nMOSFET devices with high-k dielectric is different in high-k devices for <= 45 nm nodes.

Victor Stepanov, PhD Student in Chemical Engineering (with Takuya Matsunaga), “Production of Nanocrystalline RDX by Rapid Expansion of Supercritical Solutions”, (nominated by Prof. Lev Krasnoperov, Chemistry)

Nano-scale crystals of the explosive RDX were produced by recrystallization of RDX using supercritical carbon dioxide as solvent. The effects of process conditions on the particle size were investigated.

Naruemon Suwattananont, PhD Student in Materials Science and Engineering, “Advanced Multicomponent Nanostructured Boron Coatings”, (nominated by Prof. Roumiana Petrova)

Investigate microstructure, properties and performance of Boron Coating; Mechanism and diffusion coefficient for Boron; Kinetics of oxidation; Activation energy calculation; Lattice parameters prediction.

Feng-Ming (Chuck) Tsai, PhD Student in Transportation (with Kanchana Malini Balakrishnan and Kitae Kim), "Optimization of Multi-Route Feeder Bus Service - An Application of GIS"

A Genetic Algorithm (GA) is developed to optimize a bus transit system serving an irregularly shaped area with a grid street network. The developed objective total cost function is minimized subject to realistic demand distribution and street pattern. With the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the street network within the service area is obtained and applied. The developed method here can be applied to dynamic routing buses under various incident situations.

Dmitri Tseluiko, PhD Student in Statistics, “Mathematical Problems of Film Flows in the Presence of Electric Fields”, (nominated by Prof. Michael Booty, advisor Prof. Dmitri Papgeorgiou)

We study the evolution of thin liquid films which are additionally driven by electric fields.  A systematic asymptotic expansion is used to derive fully nonlinear long-wave model equations for the scaled interface position.  Both numerical and analytical methods are used to study the dynamics.

Xizhen Xu, PhD Student in Electrical Engineering, "Configurable Parallel Computing for Applications", (nominated by Prof. Sotirios G. Ziavras)

Most of the current FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) design tool use a design methodology that fits the ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) development model: HDL (Hardware Description Language) simulation, logic optimization, and finally placement and route on the vendor's FPGA architecture. Although the ability to program the configurable hardware in such a manner gives the user access to more functionality, it discourages the acceptance of configurable computing platforms due to more arduous design efforts that only a few application designers can deal with. Another challenge is to bridge bandwidth gaps between the various levels in configurable systems. Extrapolating from Amdahl's Law, the speedup benefits gained from a Configurable-System-on-a-Chip (CSOC) implementation can be significantly reduced or even removed if a bandwidth bottleneck exists.

This proposal presents a hierarchical single-instruction multiple-data (H-SIMD) configurable computing architecture to facilitate the efficient execution of data-intensive applications on FPGAs. Significant speedups have been achieved for matrix multiplication (MM), 2-dimensional fast Fourier transform (2D FFT) which are used widely in science and engineering.

Shuangquan Wang, PhD Student in Electrical Engineering, “MIMO Frequency-Selective Fading Channel Estimation Using Uncorrelated Complementary Sets of Sequences”, (nominated by Prof. Ali Abdi)

Some novel MIMO frequency-selective fading channel estimators are invented, which have the best estimation performance, ultra-low hardware and software implementation complexity, and low peak-to-average-power ratio (PAPR). They pave the way towards more successful and cost-effective deployment of all MIMO-based systems.

Fei Yang, PhD Student in Transportation, “Shared Use of Freight and Transit Operations”, (nominated by Dr. Rongfang Liu)

Passenger rail can be an attractive alternative for commuters frustrated with heavy traffic on the roadways. However, the availability of contiguous real estate corridors and high capital costs of constructing new track exclusively for passenger service is prohibitive. On the other hand, there are vast rail networks for freight services in the United States. Is it possible to introduce transit services to the freight network. What are the major concerns and obstacles. What can we learn from foreign experiences? What would be our first step. Three projects were initiated to look into the situation over the past two years and NJIT was proud to be involved in all of them. The presentation will give an overview and preliminary findings on this issue.

Hua Yang, Senior Student in Chemical Engineering, “Growth Kinetics of Polymer Films in Interfacial Polymerization”, (nominated by Prof. Angelo Perna; advisor Prof. Michael Huang),

Interfacial polymerization is commonly employed in micro-encapsulation, coating for controlled releases, or in the manufacture of polymer membranes where a polymer film is produced at the interface between two immiscible fluids.  As the polymer film is formed, it also becomes a barrier to diffusion of the monomers from each side of the immiscible phases.  In this study, the polymerization system will be investigated experimentally by varying the concentration of the reactants and measuring the rate of growth of the films.  The morphology of the films will be studied by SEM.  The results will be analyzed by comparing with a theoretical model.  

Chengdong Zhang, PhD Student in Environmental Science, “Bio-reduction of Uranium in presence of Ionic Liquids and Bio-degradation of Ionic Liquids”, (nominated by Prof. Sanjay Malhotra)

The focus of this research is on developing novel microbial process in the presence of Ionic Liquids for the reduction of actinides such as Uranium.  Chengdong’s has developed two ionic liquids which facilitate this process much better than organic molecules known in the literature. Additionally, she has identified bacteria which degrade such ionic liquids easily and effectively. Thus, it is the firstly truly environmentally friendly methodology with potential of treating the nuclear wastes with not harmful residue.