IIT's 4/1997 2nd Annual
Undergraduate Research Conference Abstracts

A hologram is a thin-film optical device that alters an incident wavefront. Typically, holograms are constructed from transparent glass-like material by etching a relief pattern into the surface. A hologram can be used to generate a prescribed image in the far-field observation plane by illuminating it with a monochromatic laser source. The quality of the image is critically dependent on the hologram design technique.

In this research, we have developed a systematic procedure for designing efficient pure-phase diffraction holograms subject to far-field image constraints using the method of generalized projections. Performance is demonstrated with objective measures (error, efficiency and variance), as well as with subjective comparison of images. Test images include a photographic quality image of Lena, a uniform intensity spot array, and a binary amplitude block text image. Far-field image quality using our quantized pure-phase hologram designs degrades as the number of quantization levels fall below eight. Image quality can be substantially improved by constraining the energy in mutually exclusive cliques (groups of image-plane pixels) instead of constraining the intensity of each individual pixel. Even for the binary phase case, acceptable images are generated with the clique energy algorithm.

The hydrothermal reaction mixture of Na₂WO₄.2H₂O, MoO₃, Mo, (C₂H₅)₄NCl, and H₂0 at 160^oC gives bluish-purple crystals of [(C₂H₅)₄N]₃[W^VW₅^VIO₁₉].0.5H₂O (1) in yield 60%. Under analogous reaction conditions a mixture of Na₂WO₄.2H₂O, V, H₂N(CH₂)₂NH₂. 2HCl and H₂0 yields orange-brown crystals of [H₃N(CH₂)₂NH₃]₂[W^VW₅^VIO₁₉], [H₂N(CH₂)₂NH₂]Cl.8H₂O (2). 1 and 2 are the first one electron reduced mived-valance hexatungstates to be crystallized and fully characterized. The crystal structures of 1 and 2 consist of discrete anion, [W₆O₁₉]^3- , cations, and water molecule of crystallization. The cations and water molecules of crystallization are hydrogen bonded to the doubly-bridging and terminal oxo groups in [W₆O₁₉]^3- to generate extensive chains. The complete delocalization of the odd electron over the six tungsten centers is supported by X-Ray structure and IR spectroscopic data and valance-sum calculation results. C:rystal data 1: Orthorhombic space group Pbcn (No. 60), a = 19.063(4), b = 22.257(5), c = 19.631(4)Å, V = 8329(3)ų, Z = 8, R = 0.0834, Data 2: Monoclinic, space group C2/m (No. 12), a = 15.7339(10), b = 11.4970(9), c = 9.0934(5) Å, ß= 100.855(4)^o, V= 1615.5(2) ų, Z = 2, R = 0.060. The structures were solved by direct methods.

Several experiments were conducted using laminar jet diffusion flames to elaborate any differences that may occur in emission indices for fuel-diluted flames (fuel is taken as N₂ diluted CH₄, and is referred to as CH₄(N₂)) and air-diluted flames over the range of diluent fractions Z=0.20 to Z=0.30. High temperatures trigger and influence the rate of NOx production. NOx emission indices were found to be the same for air and fuel dilution consistent with same peak temperatures measured for fuel and air dilution. All the soot was eliminated from the fuel prior to dilution. Measurements of flame, heights for different diluent fractions were performed to show that there was no significant difference in residence times for fuel dilution and air dilution.

It was speculated prior to experiments that radial temperature profiles for air- and fuel-diluted Dames would show resemblance and that the peak temperatures for both cases would coincide or be very close. The main idea that led to this speculation was that, after all the soot has been eliminated from flame the peak temperature differences between fuel and air dilution at different heights would be minimal because the NOx emission indices were identical

Also, experiments with propane fuel were conducted. Results obtained were in agreement with speculations prior to experiments.

undergraduate Research

Educational software have been available to consumers for many years. Although software is available for all grade levels, the majority of the software manufacturers produce educational software for young children. The focus of this research is to develop interactive tutorials for students at all levels of education. Students at the college level, can benefit from a self-paced multimedia learning tool in the areas of Physics and Engineering. The research involves creating, and applying various media to produce an effective teaching framework which can be easily applied to all areas of study. The bulk of the research and testing is done through a prototyping software with easy-to-apply multimedia capabilities, similar to the web. The initial development and design will be on a Macintosh platform and will move eventually to a multi-platform Web environment. These tutorials will allow students to view topics at many levels as well as to cross reference between different subjects. The hope is to develop an educational tool that will serve students at all academic levels via the World Wide Web.

This study will explore midlife development gender differences in the Class of 1957 of a Midwestern public high school. These analyses will contribute to the growing body of knowledge about how adults continue their growth and development throughout the lifespan. Variables measured include life satisfaction, health, wealth, work, education, mature kinship ties, living arrangements, and adjustment to aging. We will compare patterns from the high school sample to a previously completed 1996 study of alumnae from an elite women's college, Class of 1961. The sample includes 90 high school and 120 college graduates.

Hypothesis l. Current life satisfaction will be higher than life satisfaction at high school graduation.<
Hypothesis 2. There will be different factors contributing to well being between men and women.
2a. Friends will be more important to women than to men.
2b. Perceived income adequacy will be more important to men than to women.

We have developed a methodology to implement customer satisfaction surveys on the World Wide Web as well as store and retrieve data from them for analysis. First, we completed a literature review of existing surveys to examine proper format and content for a customer satisfaction survey. We also conducted focus group discussions with potential survey users. During the focus groups, we asked some of the survey questions and recorded responses. We also asked about the types of surveys users prefer to complete and what could induce them to complete a survey. Based on the results of the survey responses and the literature review, we were able to design an effective format for a survey with a customized content. Our Web survey was able to obtain critical feedback on customer satisfaction. A process to collect and store user responses from the survey was also designed. Unlike many existing surveys that e-mail the responses to a survey administrator, our approach stores the responses to a single data file, allowing an administrator to quickly download the file for analysis. We used this methodology to develop a pilot survey that will be posted on the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) web site. This poster session will discuss the scope of the design and collection processes for the IIT pilot survey.

An electrochemical cell offers a controllable method for growth of an insulating oxide on a metal surface. This technique is useful in a variety of applications, but one poorly studied area is the fabrication of Metal-Insulator-Metal (M-I-M) sandwich structures. Tunnel junctions are formed when the insulating layer is very thin (30 Å), such that electron transport takes place through the process of quantum tunneling. When one metal is superconducting, the current versus voltage characteristics of such a tunnel junction provides useful information about the superconducting electrode.

The process of fabrication of the tunnel junction is as follows. The superconductor, a thin film or foil of niobium, is oxidized by making it the positive electrode in a 0.5 molar solution of H₂SO₄ for five minutes. This forms a thin insulating layer (Nb₂O₅) on the surface of the niobium. Following the oxidation process, the sample is rinsed in deionized water and methanol, and the junction area is defined by painting collodion on to the surface to form a thin strip of exposed oxide. Finally, the tuned junction is completed by evaporating thin strips of indium across the exposed oxide area.

Through this process af oxide formation for the fabrication of tunnel junctions, the following results were obtained. First, the energy gap of superconducting niobium was clearly observed, i.e., the I-V characteristic indicating that elastic tunneling was taking pace. Second, anomalous characteristics were sometimes observed, such as a sharp zero-bias conductance peak and a strong linear increase in background conductance, which would indcate that an electron transport mechanism other than elastic tunneling was taking place as well. It is suspected that the growth of the insulating oxide Nb₂O₅ is inhomogeneous.

Ever wonder how you can chat over the Internet phone for the price of a local call? Or how come your web browser brings you sophisticated graphics over a network designed 50 years ago by physicists for their research papers? Both these questions share in common the use of open systems protocols designed to exploit the fundamentals of client-server architecture. The ILLINET Online (IO) Library Network can be used to investigate how and why this is possible. IO is a statewide consortium of libraries that allow online access to their collections over the Internet via a mainframe based at the University of Illinois at Urbana Chamspaign (UIUC). You can now remotely search for, charge and renew literature using a menu-based text interface by connecting from your home or office. This project aims at converting the inconvenient text-based system to a graphical one, providing greater functionality and accessibility. One method of adapting Illinet to this philosophy is to redesign the server at UIUC, a capital intensive project meaning days, weeks, or months of system unavailability. The better alternative is to develop a client that communicates with the server in a manner mimicking today's text clients, while presenting itself to the user graphically. Our solution taps into operating system networking, multi-threading, and modern interface design and is well into its development phase targeting Windows95/NT workstations using the WinSock 1.1 specification over the TCP/IP protocol suite. It is scheduled for release in May 1997.

A hemoglobin plasmid (VtHb) found in the bacteria Vitreoscilla increases its ability to bind oxygen for aerobic respiration, and also improves it's growth. Certain i bacteria, used in bioremediation, has the ability to degrade toxic compounds like Trinitro toluene (explosive), or Dicamba (pesticide). Recombinant forms of these bacteria containing the VtHb plasmid will also show increased growth. The structure of VtHb is unknown. This study attempts to determine the structure of VtHb in order to give more insight on it's ability to act as a oxygen transport.

Escherichia cold pUC8: 15 will be grown in Terrific broth, then extracted with a lysozyme. Purification of VtHb can be done using a DEAE cellulose chromatography, column coupled with a Sephadex column. VtHb can be identified using a spectrophotometer, absorbing at 410 nm and using gel electrophoresis. Once purified, the structure can be determined by X-ray crystallography.

The role of genes in human disease is currently a topic of great interest to scientists today. With the rapid progression of technology, scientists are able to elucidate how genes are involved with the development and clinical manifestations of certain diseases. In this project a cDNA clone involved in Wolf Hirschhorn Syndrome was identified, sequenced, and analyzed. Wolf Hirschhorn Syndrome is associated with a partial deletion of the end of the short arm of chromosome 4. There are multiple clinical manifestations including severe growth and mental retardation, Greek helmet facies (abnormal width between eyes, broad nose, prominent glabella), onset of convulsions at age 2, and eye and hand defects. The identification of the cDNA clone was verified through a dot blot. The clone was sequenced several times in both the 5' and 3' directions using the ABI automated system. The analysis entailed using several computer programs to yield a contig, consensus sequence and open reading fiame (ORF). If this cDNA clone corresponds to a real gene, the ORF should code for a protein. Further verification would be demonstrated through a zoo blot for conservation across species and hybridization to human Northerns.

The two main obstacles to overcome in conventional titanium powder metallurgy processing are achieving adequate mechanical properties and the delamination of the green part on ejection from die. Pure titanium, titanium hydride, and titanium containing a lubricant, Acrawax were the three different powders that were compacted and sintered at different compaction pressures while keeping sintering conditions constant. Titanium hydride was chosen to deal with the high oxygen content which is a problem common in regular titanium processing. Acrawax, was used to prevent green part delamination and it was experimentally found that the inclusion of Acrawax increases the green density of the powder compact. The compaction pressure was varied to observe the effects on delamination and sintered density. Therefore, the two main variables are titanium hydride content and the compaction pressure. The green density was found experimentally to increase as the compaction pressure increased. The other properties that were measured are ultimate tensile strength, strain to failure, and the sintered and green densities. Observations were also made by Scanning Electron Microscopy and optical metallography.

The properties and processing of microalloyed steels makes this class of relatively new materials attractive in preference to standard quenched-and-tempered steels. The goal of this work is to examine in detail the microstructure and behavior of a Nb-V-C-N containing microalloyed steel versus heat treatment. Particular emphasis is put on the size and copmposition of the microalloyed precipitates formed in a medium-carbon forging steel. The compositions of the precipitates formed while heat treating (austenitizing) are compared with predicted compositions obtained from a multicomponent thermodynamic model. Particle compositions and size distributions were characterized in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) using extraction techniques. Systematic changes in composition and particle size distribution are examined as a function of austenitizing temperature. The findings show that the predicted results support the experimental observations that the Nb and N fraction in the precipitates increase with reheat temperature. These observations should help steel makers and steel consumers better utilize this class of materials.

The goal of this project is to analyze the fluctuating pressure around an oscillating cylinder in cross flow and relate it to vortex shedding effects. The effects to be analyzed include the changes in unsteady lift and drag. Power spectral analysis of the fluctuating components of lift and drag were used to understand these effects. To analyze the pressure, several hearing aid microphones were placed on the circumference of the cylinder and a potentiometer was employed to measure the amplitude of oscillation.

The experiment used a 1.5 inch outside diameter aluminum cylinder. In the middle of the cylinder’s length is an aluminum insert that contains the microphones. At the ends of the cylinder lies a plate that is used to counteract the boundary layer and end effects. The cylinder is going to move perpendicular to the flow. This motion is produced by using a servo motor linked to the cylinder. The cylinder is supported by two rails that are located outside of the wind tunnel. These two rails permit an almost frictionless motion in the direction perpendicular to the flow.

An important conclusion derived from this project is that there is a correlation between lift and displacement, indicating lock-in. This lock-in condition was present when the cylinder was excited at the vortex shedding frequency.

An understanding of the characteristics of high speed boundary layers is critical to the development of hypersonic aircraft. This is a design of an experiment to improve the understanding of stability of supersonic and hypersonic boundary layers. The central point of this work is the input of controlled disturbances in to the flow, and accurately measuring the resulting growth in 3D. A method of introducing disturbances is by using glow discharges, with electrodes exposed in a gas. When a sufficiently high voltage potential is applied between the electrodes, the gas "breaks down". A high-energy corona forms between the electrodes, which changes the velocity profile. Trials were conducted at various pressures with different geometric configurations of the actuators. A right-circular cone, with a half-angle of 7^o is placed in a Mach 3.5 Supersonic Low Disturbance Tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center. The angles of attack are 0^o to 10^o, and the stagnation temperatures range from 70 to 120^o F. The set of glow actuators is placed near the tip of the cone. In this design, the flow is perturbed by 12 glow discharges, over 120^o, which introduce controlled disturbances. The growth of the amplified modes is studied. The phase and the amplitude of the actuators are controlled individually. Thus, the set can be driven by a periodic time series with a phase difference. A hot-wire mounted on the cone measures the disturbance field produced by the actuators at various streamwise locations in the boundary layer.

Neuronal mechanisms which regulate breathing are poorly understood and, in fact, the morphology of the pneumotaxic center in the brain remains an active area of research. The control system which comprises the highly complex neural network responsible for, the regulation of breathing can be modeled in a highly simplified manner using an open-loop block diagram which takes into account only the basic mechanical aspects of the ventilatory apparatus. A closed-loop feedback system which utilizes such control mechanisms as the Hering-Breuer Reflex further enhances the model of ventilation. Research has provided models which incorporate several factors including lung dynamics, chemoreceptors, metabolism, and heart rate. However, there is no definitive model currently available that integrates all factors into a system which closely resembles that of humans. Most models focus exclusively on biochemical feedback, that is, the partial pressures of blood gasses, while not adequately emphasizing the mechanical aspects of air flow during ventilation. The purpose of this project, then, is to derive a fairly accurate mechanical model of the respiratory system beginning with ventilation. The development of closed-loop ventilation allows for the manipulation of important variables which may be affected by aging and/or various diseases. By using this model, it may be possible to predict the influences of certain disease states on the respiratory system.

A new method that allows one to normalize the current observed at electrocatalytic rotating disk electodes (RDEs), based on coulometric analysis of hydrogen desorption waves, is presented. Current-voltage curves for methanol oxidation, using a variety of platinum alloy compositions and application methods, were analyzed by this method. Mass-normalized I-V curves showed considerable scatter among similiar alloys (Pt, Pt-Ru, and Pt-Ru-Os) applied by different methods and in different degrees of dispersion. The same curves normalized coulometrically are grouped more closely with respect to composition. Since the coulometric normalization procedure gives a measure of the electrochemically accessible catalyst area, it is argued that this procedure is more relevant than mass normalized to the performance of a fuel cell anode under actual operating conditions. Comparison of normalized RDE currents, at 25^o C and 50^oC clearly shows that a ternary Pt-Ru-Os (65:25:10) composition is a better anode catalyst than Pt-Ru (50:50) when both are prepared by borohydride reduction.

Various chemical strategies for controlling Dreissena polymorpha, the zebra mussel and the Asian freshwater clam, Corbicula fluminea have been instituted in water treatment facilities and power generating stations. These strategies depend primarily upon chlorine in various forms with exposure times ranging from 2 - 12 days. The use of chlorine generates trihalomethanes, which are potential human carcinogens. A 4.5 ppm aqueous benzalkonium chloride solution, results in approximately 100% mortality in 24 hours with no possibility of producing carcinogenic byproducts (LD 50=2ppm).). Alkylbenzyidimethylammonium chloride, commonly sold under the trade name, "Zephiran Chloride^®" is primarily suited to long runs of pipe blocked with zebra mussels, or Corbicula-contaminated stationary water holding ponds or tanks. The concentration of quatemary ammonium compound necessary to control these macrofoulers is relatively non-toxic to surrounding phyto- and zooplankton. In addition, this material can be removed from the water by adsorption by activated charcoal. H₂O₂ catalyzed with iron (III) chloride takes a larger concentration and a longer time to achieve mortality in zebra mussels, but it is specifically targeted at maintaining pipe integrity by selectively destroying the post-veliger colonizing stage. It is ideally suited to use in water treatment facilities pretreating water for human consumption. Concentrations of 0.33 ppt of iron (III) chloride with 0.5 ppt of hydrogen peroxide selectively removes over 60% of the post-veliger stage 0.5 cm or smaller.

Inter-Professional Projects

Special Doppler echocardiographic images show changes in the velocity of blood as a function of time. These images are used by cardiologists to assess the flow of blood between cardiac chambers, as well as, the flow from the heart into the body. At present, quantitative measurements of blood velocity and blood flow are based on manual tracings of the velocity envelope on a spectral Doppler image. Manual tracing is time-consuming and introduces observer variations into the resulting measurements. In this inter-professional project a team of UG students develop a program that automatically locates the border of the velocity envelope on a spectral Doppler image. The program first thresholds the image to distinguish signal from background. The threshold image is then analyzed to form the velocity envelope tracing. Special Doppler echocardiographic images show changes in the velocity of blood between cardiac chambers, as well as, the flow from the heart into the body. The user has the ability to change the threshold values and several other characteristics of the analysis process.

Post occupancy evaluation (POE) deals with assessing a building, after it is in use, in terms of how it works for those who use it. There are three aspects of a POE: structural, mechanical, and behavioral. All three parts must be taken into consideration in order to perform a successful POE

The specific POE performed involved Simpson Living and Learning Center at Loyola University's main campus. The evaluation of this college residency was performed in order to help the architects who will build IIT's new dormitories to design the best possible living facilities for IIT students. A civil engineering student, an architecture student, and two psychology students collaborated in order to sufficiently evaluate all three POE aspects of the building.

IIT's location makes it favorable site to demonstrate the feasibility of using Solar Energy (Photovoltaic panels) to power a small-scale, self-contained lighting system for billboard advertising. The electric power for the sign is generated by the panel during the day and stored for use at night. Electric storage will be accomplished first by means of commercially available batteries, but in the second stage of the project hydrogen generation and storage by means of a small-scale PEM (polymer electrolyte membrane) fuel cell will be pursued. Photovoltaic panels are expensive, but their price is no longer out-of-range for a demonstration project aimed at exploring self-contained electric power systems, which will become common technology in the next century. IIT's location near the Dan Ryan, two CTA lines and Comiskey Park, as well as IIT's many flat-roofed buildings, all work in favor of attempting a small-scale demonstration and securing funding from commercial sponsors. This IPRO will focus on the system design, compatibility with building architecture, assembly, operation, economics, and legal aspects of such a small independent-power-for-advertising project at IIT. We will also assess the feasibility of large-scale projects in the future.

The transmitter in this study employs AM (amplitude modulation) on a carrier at 390MHz to send out commands to control the function of a door opener. While the system performs according to specifications, there appears room for improvement, especially with the recent advent in wireless technology. Before specifics of the modifications can be made, a thorough understanding of the existing circuit design, the operating conditions of the main devices, and the characteristics and performance of the circuit as a whole, is essential. This presentation focuses on the efforts of this team in the analysis of the circuit, measurements made on the DC conditions, and the signals observed at key locations of the transmitter. A comparison of the measurement results to the specifications are made and their implications on the link performance are highlighted. Based on this investigation, a scheme to enhance the noise immunity of the communication system will be outlined.

IIT gives students at remote sites an opportunity to participate in classes taking place at the main campus by using the IITV television network. While the classes are beneficial and instructive remote students are often at a distinct disadvantage when compared with their counterparts on campus; students on campus can take notes at their leisure while remote students often need to race the Technical Director (TD) to the next board. The purpose of this project was to enable students from remote sites to access TV class notes quickly and easily by capturing the images on demand through the use of the Internet.

To accomplish that goal, two computers connected to the Internet were employed. Each of them was assigned a specific task. One was to service the interaction between the system and the user, while the other was given a live feed from the video source of the TV class. When a student at a remote site wanted to capture an image of the current board he/she would do so by using a computer with a Web browser that accessed an interactive user interface of the system. This would trigger a series of events on both of the computers, finishing with the delivery of the captured image sent back to the student.

Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) is essentially the last step in producing a successful building. It is the process of evaluating a building for three main categories: The technical, functional, and the behavioral aspects incorporating the use of three disciplines: Civil Engineering (Technical), Architecture (Functional), and Psychology (behavioral). Our group is doing a POE on the student resident halls at the University of Illinois at Chicago campus, which has been recently built within the last few years.

The means by which we are evaluating depends on the discipline. The technical information will be by means of taking samples of air quality, viewing of the structural integrity of the building, and by interviewing maintenance and janitorial staff for input. Functional aspects will be obtained by the viewing of blueprints, evaluation of space, and the answering of questions (why did they do this). The behavioral aspect will be in the form of questionnaires to all people involved in the study (students, resident advisors, faculty, maintenance etc.) and by reviewing their questionnaires in addition to personal interviews and the interaction of them in their environment.

The reasons for doing this research is for a better understanding of what the people living in the halls, whether it be students, faculty or maintenance, require and don't require out of the building. It also gives the designer of the complex feedback as to what to change should the situation arise again. The information to be gathered is to be used by IIT in their project of building new resident halls in the future.

Super-Regenerative receivers offer a high signal sensitivity at a very attractive manufacturing cost. For this reason, they have been employed for many years in wireless equipment control applications such as door openers. With the recent progress in wireless communication technology, it appears desirable to examine the super-regenerative receiver in its role as a cost-effective element in a wireless link. This investigation focuses on the circuit analysis, operating conditions, and signal characteristics of a UHF super-regenerative receiver currently in production. This receiver detects a 390 MHz carrier signal which is amplitude modulated by a pulse train representing the command to operate a door opener. In addition to demodulation, the receiver performs low-pass filtering and establishes a reference level for the post detection logic circuits. A comparison of the measurement results with the specifications are made and any discrepancy observed is explained. A proposal to enhance the noise immunity of the receiver will be made.

The premature failure of centrifugally cast spools in the coiling of thin metallic sheet presents a considerable problem to both the manufacturer and the purchaser of 410 stainless steel spools. This IPRO team is presently investigating the modes of failure and stress distributions in the stainless steel spool, along with the problems arising from the casting process. Microstructural observations established that cracking initiated at the end of the spool (beginning at the inner surface), and propagated longitudinally along the spool length. Crack initiation sites were identified at the inner surface, and comprised of shrinkage defects which occurred during solidification, MnS inclusions, and carbides.

Tensile tests showed that the inner surface material was of lower strength and significantly lower ductility than the external surface of the material. Finite element analysis confirmed that the position of the mandrel was critical to the hoop stresses developed, which doubled when the outer set of mandrel shoes extended 3/10ths of their length beyond the end of the spool. These results are leading to modifications of the casting process and also the spool and mandrel design, in order to extend the life of 410 stainless steel spools in service.

The imaging technique known as x-ray refraction imaging (XRI) which can be used to independently visualize the refraction and effective absorption of objects will be discussed. Effective absorption can be applied to thick, highly absorbing materials. It is not limited to materially thin samples or high x-ray imaging energies necessary in phase contrast imaging. This technique allows the separation of three effects; the absorption, extinction, and the refraction angle that the x-rays experience in traversing the object. These images are almost completely scatter free. Extinction is the loss of transmitted intensity due to scattering of the beam. These properties have produced images of mammography phantoms which have dramatically improved contrast and spatial resolution over standard imaging techniques. Diffraction enhanced imaging is not only applicable to mammography and other fields of medical x-ray imaging and to radiology in general, but also areas such as non-destructive testing and x-ray computed tomography. Pilot experimentation is planned at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratories. These experiments will incorporate non-destructive testing of engineering materials such as single crystal turbine blades and centrifugally cast structures. This revolutionary imaging process could possible expand to more diverse areas of materials imaging, leading to improvements in the overall quality of materials.

In May 1996, the CTA reopened the "Green Line" for public service. Despite improvements to the track structure by the three year renovation project, the noise level has been unacceptable to the IIT community. In order to shield the academic buildings from the El noise, the architects of the Master Plan for IIT are planning to build the new dormitories along the west side of the track. However, there was no quantitative sound level data available. This work has yielded highly accurate data of the resulting sound pressure levels, throughout the campus. They are illustrated in the form of contour maps of maximum sound levels on campus and in the real-time animation of sound propagation through the campus. It is believed that this knowledge could be used, not only for IIT but also for any such noise abatement plans around elevated trains anywhere. It was found that the noise levels produced, reaching 125 dB beneath the tracks, were far higher than the levels acceptable by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Prolonged exposure to noise of this magnitude may result in permanent hearing damage. An understanding of the propagation of noise was also obtained, which could help determine the effect of erecting new buildings, near the trains, on the noise levels in the rest of the campus. Knowledge from this work suggest possible solutions for noise reduction. The speed of the trains has a strong correlation with the noise, and it will be shown that reducing the speed is the most economical technique for noise reduction.

Recent years have seen a phenomenal growth in the production of microchips. Economic pressures resulting from this growth are forcing increasingly complex chip designs to be brought to market sooner. Companies wishing to remain competitive in this industry must continually seek more efficient and effective product life cycles.

There is an emerging understanding that significant productivity gains can arise from integrating digital design and testing processes. Unfortunately, current engineering training is negligent in focusing on this trend. Students mistakenly learn that design and testing are orthogonal processes.

In order to remedy this problem an integrated digital design and testing laboratory (IDDT) is being constructed. This laboratory, built from off the shelf components purchased through NSF funding, is an affordable and inventive solution for university engineering departments. It hosts a Virtual Automated Test Environment (VATE) where students can test and validate actual chips built from their designs. The laboratory effectively simulates the multi-million dollar testing environment currently used by industry.

The IPRO-x97-15 team will present a working prototype of the VATE. The prototype hardware has been generously made available by Hewlett-Packard. The hardware is operated through a user interface developed by students. In addition to the prototype, the IDDT website (http://www.iit.edu/~iddt) will be displayed to illustrate how the project results are being promoted to other universities for easy adoption into existing computer engineering programs.

Special Projects

It is well known that some crystals produce electric charge when mechanical force is exerted on their surface. Reverse action is also possible, namely applying voltage to the two opposite crystal surfaces it is possible to produce deformation in the crystal. Theses crystals are called piezoelectric and the phenomenon related to them is called piezoelectric effect.

The sensitivity to the applied force that the crystals have depends on the type of the crystal and its thickness. The thinner the crystal, the more sensitive it becomes to applied force. When voltage is applied to opposite crystal surfaces the crystal starts oscillating with certain natural frequency.

This project uses this latest characteristic of the crystal to measure minute mass deposits of gases coming from the outlet of the hydrogen fuel cell. The crystal with 5 MHz natural frequency is used to coupled with infrared spectroscopy. Infrared spectroscopy is used to detect what substance is measured (CO, CO₂) while the crystal measures minute mass deposits (nano grams).

Microsoft Corporation has recently released Office ’97 (newest versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.). There are many issues for a company to consider before undertaking any software upgrade. These issues can be classified as technical, functional, people (training, etc.), company strategy, and market related. The Spring 97 CS101 (Introduction to Professions) class as a whole, and the above students in particular, completed the following analyses:

1. researched and documented Office ’97
2. researched and documented a comprehensive list of generic software upgrade issues
3. organized these issues into a logical hierarchy
4. applied the list of generic software upgrade issues to Office ’97, giving examples of fictitious companies to clarify the issues

Created WWW pages for all documentation

The popularity of the WWW is creating many new electronic commerce opportunities. Electronic job search is one such area. As a group project we have developed a WWW CSAM Student Resume Search Page for Employers. This will allow students to register their WWW resume page(s) and allow employers to perform searches to locate prospective employees.

We will explore all tasks associated with designing, developing, implementing and maintaining the CSAM Resume Search Application. This will include user requirements study, technical research and training (i.e. advanced CGI scripting), maintenance issues, project documentation and tracking, etc.All of our design documentation will be published on the WWW.

Multi-platform computing consists of software applications that have the ability to run on a variety of different computer systems with no change in the source code. One way to achieve this goal is the use of the Java Programming Language. Programs produced in Java can be run, using an interpreter, on a variety of machines. In this project, Java will be used to develop a multi-platform Windows-style graphical interface to the user, via an Internet connection. The interface will be used to execute software applications, such as an online word processor, spreadsheet, or other program. The use of the main server will be minimized, with most of the basic functionality downloaded to the client machine. The interface will be designed to work with a specific application, but if possible, it will be generalized to be an open interface that can be used with many software applications on the Internet.

One of the advantages of such a system, is in the upgrading of major software packages. If the software program can be executed online, a user does not have to purchase the whole package, he can then pay for the time/functionality used, during a session. The main server will be using the latest version of the software package, so the user does not have to worry about software upgrades. The pay for use service will be investigated further using technologies developed by existing companies.

The market for small business jet or turboprop aircraft, useful for transporting people and other equipment, has been steadily increasing. However, air traffic in major airports has been a major concern. In order to avoid the trouble of using major airports, there is a fairly high demand for helicopters. Helicopters have an advantage that they do not need runways and therefore can be used to gain access to a variety of sites. The helicopter, however, suffers from lack of range required by many consumers. Therefore, this Vertical Take-Off and Landing aircraft that can operate from standard heliports or other close-in sites could be of interest to many individuals and corporations. This aircraft would not only have a longer range than helicopters, but would also be faster. Moreover, its capability to operate from conventional airports too, with Ultra-Short Take-Off and Landing capabilities, would attract a wider market. A major drawback of VTOL aircrafts is that their T/W ratio has to be greater than 1, but for level-cruise the requirement is muh less. This leads to an inefficient cruise. This problem is avoided here by using separate engines for VTOL and level cruise. Thus, this aircraft will be capable of continuing level flight and will be capable of vertical landing, in the case of a failure of the main cruise engine.

Examples of scientific visualization are many: your meteorologist on the local news makes extensive use of scientific visualization with animations of weather systems covering the region in which you live. Information visualization is more difficult to conceptualize and to perform information design. How does one visualize a business? The metaphor is often not obvious, and may require detailed user and task analysis to establish the mental models that users employ to understand their business enterprise.

The overall goal of our project was to explore information visualization techniques used to derive business insights from large data sets. Our experiences with these tools and techniques allowed us define three major categories of information visualization techniques: High-powered Spreadsheet Graphics, Linked Graphs, and Advanced New Techniques and Paradigms.

We will evaluate various information visualization tools available on the market today, based on the following criteria: Hierarchy, Categorization, Relationships, Patterns, Rank, Outliers, Context, Visual Query, Large Data Volume, Ease of Use .

Recently there has been an uproar over the possible use of taggants to mark explosive and potentially explosive materials. The current question about the use of these marking materials is their safety, and true benefit. Taggants are commonly made of a highly cross-linked melamine polymer, marked in bands of bright colors to record such information as the distributor, batch number, and date of manufacture. All of this information would prove very useful to investigators trying to track down bombing suspects. This method of tracking has been used successfully in Switzerland for many years, without serious repercussions. In the United States however, there has been heated debate over the usefulness and implementation of taggants. The NRA is opposed to taggant additives because they claim that taggants lead to decreased stability of explosives, and that settling of taggant particles during shipping could have potentially deadly consequences. However, current research indicates that a new method of tagging materials could be accomplished without the possibility of these drawbacks by using isotopes of the chemicals already existing in the powders. The purpose of this project is to research this, and other alternative marking methods and to determine their viability.

Since that one crucial step in the evolution of gene therapy occurred in the early 1950s, when James Watson and Francis Crick elucidated the structure of DNA, scientists have identified more than 4,000 genetic defects linked to hundreds of diseases. Every year, many children are born and diagnosed with these genetic diseases. Often, these diseases occur because one or both parents carries a defect in the same gene. When the egg of the female and the sperm of the male fuse together, the fertilized egg, from which the child develops also contains a copy of this faulty information. If the gene is defective then the child may be born with a major clinical problem or it may even die during pregnancy. In simple terms, the cure is obvious. If the child is ill because it has a bad copy of a gene, it follows that the child can be given a good copy of the gene and therefore the child will then be like its parents, and at the same time -- healthy. Though this process may seem simple at first glance, there are many issues that have slowed down the advancement of gene therapy. In this research project such issues as process techniques, safety rocedures, economics, and ethics, were examined and evaluated.