Economic and Environmental Justification of a Thermoelectric Waste Heat Recovery System

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John Christiansen and Dr. Matthew Jones, Mechanical Engineering Department Introduction In recent years, the concepts of energy, energy production, effects of energy consumption on the environment, and sustainable development have become increasingly significant as members of society become more aware of their level of energy consumption. However, in energy production for home, commercial, or industrial […]

High-Speed Full-Spectrum Interrogation of Fiber Bragg Gratings for Composite Impact Sensing

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Spencer Chadderdon and Dr. Richard Selfridge, Electrical and Computer Engineering Fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) sensors are useful for static and dynamic event monitoring which make then suitable for a wide variety of applications. Dynamic interrogation of FBG sensors has primarily been performed using peak-tracking methods that have repetition rates approaching the megahertz range. However, tracking […]

Dynamic Loading on Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Blades

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Christopher Brinkerhoff and Professor Julie Vanderhoff, Mechanical Engineering Introduction Currently, there is much interest involving technologies dealing with clean and renewable energy sources. The current goal in the United States is to produce 20% of its electrical needs by wind power by the year 2030. Wind energy is seen as a viable option for further research […]

High Temperature Water Gas Shift Catalyst Kinetic Evaluation

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Rupak Bajagain and Dr. Morris Argyle, Chemical Engineering Introduction The purpose of this project was to develop water gas shift catalysts that are more stable and active than the existing ones. Stable catalysts last longer and are more efficient, which is important to economics and to gain widespread application. Currently the demand for hydrogen as […]

Peru Wind Turbine: Electrical

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Devin Athey and Dr. Randy Lewis, Chemical Engineering Main Text This project focused on the design of electrical components for a low-cost, low-speed wind turbine in Peru. The electrical components include the charge controller and the three-phase AC rectifier. These parts, if purchased from retailers, cost $100 and $30 USD respectively. The wind turbine was […]

Nature of Instruction and Physical Environment that Support Process Writing in Elementary Classrooms and Further Research

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Elizabeth Yates and Professor Bradley Wilcox, Teacher Education Purpose The purpose of this project was data analysis for a study on elementary writing instruction, specifically this aspect of the project examined the connection between the physical environment of the elementary classroom and the quality and occurrence of writing instruction. The project as a whole was directed […]

Heritage Language Speakers: Developing an Important Resource

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Elise Williams and Professor Ray Graham, TELL Department The goal of this project was to begin to create a curriculum which will enable Spanish teachers to help heritage language speakers (those who grew up speaking Spanish in their homes) to develop academically in their native language (L1). The secondary goal of this project is to […]

Spanish Vocabulary Online Profiler (SVOP): A Linguistic Tool for Literacy and Second Language Acquisition

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Maria Sanchez Wals, Katherine Washburn, Nathan Glenn, and Professor Ray Graham, McKay School of Education Main Text According to research, a reader needs to understand at least 95% of running words in a text in order to comprehend the text and to learn new words from context (Hu & Nation, 2000; Nation 2006). In an effective […]

Testing the Validity of the BYU Taiwan Mandarin Speech Materials

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Briana Rae and Dr. Richard Harris, Communication Disorders Main Text This study adds to the ongoing work of creating a system capable of administering accurate speech recognition threshold (SRT) tests to non-native English speakers. The SRT test helps in determining the brain’s ability to hear and understand speech. Bedke-Slade (2006) developed a SRT word list […]

Teacher Self Reflection: It’s Affect on a Teacher’s Understanding of Students

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Erika Peterson and Dr. Stefinee Pinnegar, McKay School of Education Main Text In the field of education, self-reflection is an important skill to help teachers assess and enhance their own teaching. As stated by Samaras and Freese, “When teachers critically reflect on their practice, they makes sense of the complexities of teaching and participate consciously […]