Journal of Undergraduate Research

Charles G. Brown and Dr. David G. Long, Electrical and Computer Engineering BACKGROUND Since near-surface ocean winds affect global climate, several space-borne instruments have been deployed to measure ocean winds. The most widely known of these instruments are the satellite scatterometers, such as the Seasat Scatterometer (SASS), the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT), and the Active Microwave […]

Michael Owen and Dr. David Long, Electrical Engineering The SeaWinds scatterometer aboard the QuikSCAT satellite has been functioning to measure radar backscatter over the ocean since its launch in 1999. The backscatter data from the scatterometer is used to infer wind speeds over the ocean and is vital to ocean wind measurement as the satellite […]

Brett Hansen and Dr. Stephen Schultz, Electrical and Computer Engineering There are various applications for shock sensors, ranging from cell phones, to postal packaging, to automobile safety designs. These devices are designed to indicate when a predetermined threshold of impact force has been experienced. The designs of these sensors are varied. Some employ electrical stimuli […]

John D. Gordon and Dr. Stephen Schultz, Electrical and Computer Engineering Volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) are valuable throughout many industrial and academic settings. These chemicals, however, often raise environmental and health related concerns. For example, chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHC’s) are often used as cleaning solvents but have significant ozone depleting potential. In addition, many CHC’s are […]

Daniel Evans and Dr. Aaron Hawkins, Electrical and Computer Engineering At the current time, the most sensitive detection methods for biological molecules are based on fluorescent tags. This requires the use of optical sources and detectors as well as the introduction of a fluorophore that can be attached to a molecule of interest. In light […]

Thomas Wall and Dr. Aaron Hawkins, Electrical Engineering Introduction Rubidium vapor has certain physical properties that allow it to be optically probed in order to produce many interesting quantum effects; however, due to its reactive nature rubidium can be very difficult to encapsulate. Historically bulk rubidium vapor cells have been used, which rely on high […]

Nathan Ives and Dr. Aaron Hawkins, Electrical Engineering Introduction The purpose of this project is to test a new design for low voltage microfluidic pumps. Mechanical pumps are sometimes too large, unreliable, or difficult to integrate in lab-on-a-chip applications. DC electro-osmosis is unsuitable for many biomedical and portable applications due to the high voltages needed. […]

Douglas Bailey and Dr. Stephen Schultz, Electrical and Computer Engineering Introduction Shape sensing is useful in a variety of applications including medicine, health monitoring of structures such as offshore oil vessels, windmills, spacecrafts, etc. Knowing an object’s shape allows evaluation of its condition during stress or its position in relation to other objects. One common […]

Christopher Carron and Dr. Aaron Hawkins, Electrical Engineering Dept. There are currently two basic ways to make microfluidic devices: sacrificial etching and wafer bonding. Each method has both advantages and disadvantages. Sacrificial etching is more consistent than wafer bonding and results in finer and more uniform microfluidic devices, but it is also much slower than […]

Nicholas Vrvilo and Dr. Dah-Jye Lee, Electrical and Computer Engineering Doing family history in Chinese has many unique challenges. The Chinese writing system is not readable by the average person, which means only the small number of individuals who both hold temple recommends and are familiar with Chinese characters would be able to perform all […]