The following report documents the evolution of the script The Other Side of Shadow and the effects that extensive rewriting, character work, and story restructuring have had on the author. / text

This report offers a comparative valuation of two bitumen production technologies, using real options analysis (ROA) techniques to incorporate strategic flexibility into the investment scenario. By integrating a probabilistic cost model into a real options framework, the value of an oil recovery facility is modeled to reflect the realistic alternatives available to decision-makers, where the course of the investment can be altered as new information becomes available. This approach represents a distinct advantage to traditional discounted cash flow (DCF) estimation, which is unable to capture operational adaptability, including the ability to expand, delay, or abandon a project. The analysis focuses on the energy inputs required for the recovery of heavy oil bitumen from Alberta, Canada, and examines both natural gas and nuclear steam plants as heat sources. The ACR-1000 reactor is highlighted as a substitute for conventional natural gas-fueled means of production, in light of the recent volatility of natural gas prices and the potential for emissions compliance charges. The methodology includes a levelized cost assessment per barrel of bitumen and estimation of cost ranges for each component. A mean-reversion stochastic price model was also derived for the both natural gas and oil price. By incorporating cost ranges into a ROA framework, the benefit of retaining project flexibility is included in its valuation. Formulated as a decision tree, built-in options include the initial selection to pursue nuclear or natural gas, site selection and licensing, the ability to switch heat source in the planning stage, and the final commitment to construct. Each decision is influenced by uncertainties, including the course of bitumen and natural gas price, as well as emissions policy. By structuring the investment scenario to include these options, the overall value of the project increases by over $150 million. The ability to switch technology type allows for an assessment of the viability of nuclear steam, which becomes economically favorable given high natural gas prices or high emissions taxes. Given an initial selection of natural gas SAGD, there is a 25% probability that a switch to nuclear steam will occur, as evolving financial conditions make nuclear the optimal technology. / text

This report documents the making of the short film Post-Racial, through the eyes of its filmmaker. Post-Racial was produced as my third year thesis film, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Austin. / text

This paper investigates the role of end-effects in superhydrophobic microchannels for frictional reduction through COMSOL based modeling. Two precursor derivations, the Kim & Hidrovo and Enright model are discussed and expanded upon through analytical and numerical simulations. The author performed numerical models on superhydrophobic microchannels with planar, stationary and finite separation distance of surface roughness element with perfect Cassie-Baxter air-layers. The simulations indicate an asymptotic limit for the flow-rate, indicating an optimum air-layer thickness. Numerical post processing reveals that this phenomenon is due to the recirculation end-effects that are relevant when the surface roughness separation distance is on order of magnitude of the channel width. These results are the first that identify end-effects as inducing a plateauing flow-rate and can serve as a benchmark for future studies. / text

June 22, 1918, Alonzo Sergent fell asleep while conducting a train that plowed into another train killing 86 passengers and injuring another 187. 17 days later, July 9, 1918, two passenger trains collided head on in what became known as The Great Train Wreck of 1918, killing 101 people and injuring 171 people. The investigations and analysis of failure in both accidents can be attributed to a single person. During this month, the single person failed to operate the company’s train properly, which lead to a colossal disaster which affected numerous lives, loss of business revenue, loss of credibility, and had a huge social impact. Similar to an analysis of a colossal train wreck, this report focuses on the complexities behind colossal business failures, analyzes the reasons for failure and the role of the CEO, and proposes recommendations that can be used to guard future businesses against colossal failure. / text

This report examines the legacy of “mirrors for princes” literature, or advice literature for kings, in Iranian political thought, particularly in the modern period. While most scholars have studied ‘mirrors’ literature as a predominantly medieval phenomenon, this report argues that the genre and the ideals of kingship it articulates continued to flourish well into the modern period in Iran. Through an analysis of themes found both in the medieval Persian texts and the ‘mirrors’ composed in the Safavid and Qajar periods, this report demonstrates a remarkable continuity in the genre and in the ideology of kingship throughout centuries of dynastic and structural changes in Iran. Moreover, although the genre of ‘mirrors’ appears to have faded with the Qajar dynasty, this report shows how its ideology of kingship continued to influence the rhetoric of political legitimacy in the Pahlavi period. Muhammad Reza Shah in particular relied on the office of the king and his duties of executing justice and protecting Islam to justify both the necessity of the monarchy and his right to the throne. / text

“Surviving ‘Maleficium’: the Perils of Writing Fantasy Horror” examines the creation and development of Lydia M. Harter’s feature length script and the personal impact of the process on the writer. / text

We present experimentally determined photodisruption enhancement of 50 nm gold spheres irradiated with 780 nm 180 fs pulses using a pump-probe scattering system. Our results indicate a 300 nm cavitation bubble threshold reduction of 31 times when compared to an ultra-pure water base control solution. We utilize a method of matching time between bubble initiation in a continually circulated nanoparticle solution with theoretical focal volume size dependent time between particle-focal volume collision events based on simple particle kinetics. We propose the observed photodisruption is due to electrostatic particle ablation kinetics due to electron photoemission. We apply the Fowler-Dubridge theory for photoemission to nanospheres experiencing strong near-field enhancement to describe particle electric fields induced by non-zero particle charge densities resulting from emitted electrons. An apparent ultra-energy efficient photodisruption mechanism results from multiphoton emission processes in the sub 100 femtosecond pulse regime exceeding typical methods utilizing explosive boiling. In the process of explaining experimental results, we develop a near complete picture of nanoparticle mediated photodisruption as a function of identified relevant system non-dimensional groups and particle enhancement. These results may be used to guide the selection of laser and particle parameters for imaging and different photodisruption regimes. / text

General control of atoms and molecules has long been a goal for atomic physicists and physical chemists. Techniques such as laser cooling have been a huge breakthrough in studying ultra cold atoms and BECs. Although laser cooling has been a remarkable tool, it is limited to small group of atoms on the periodic table. A general technique to control and manipulate the entire periodic table has been out of reach until now. In this thesis I describe two methods of general control of atoms in the contexts of stopping supersonic beams and of isotope separation. Both these methods take advantage of high flux supersonic beams and the fact that every atom has a magnetic moment in the ground state or a long-lived excited state which can be manipulated using magnetic field gradients. The first method uses a series of pulsed electomagnetic coils to slow and stop a supersonic beam of paramagnetic atoms and molecules. We have demonstrated the slowing of metastable neon and molecular oxygen using 64 coils from 446.5 m/s to 55.8 m/s for metastable neon, and from 389 m/s to 83 m/s for molecular oxygen respectively. The second method is a novel and efficient approach to isotope separation which utilizes the concept of Maxwell's Demon. We call this technique Single-Photon Atomic Sorting as it is closely related to Single-Photon Cooling, a cooling technique developed in our laboratory. Our method uses a laser beam to change the magnetic moment to mass ratio in such a way that the desired isotopes are guided through a multi-pole magnetic field and collected. We show simulation results for various test cases which highlight the general applicability of this method. / text

Three sheet materials, including high purity aluminum, commercial purity aluminum, and an aluminum-magnesium alloy with 3 wt% magnesium, were produced into single-crystals in the solid-state. The method, developed in 1939 by T. Fujiwara at Hiroshima University, involves straining a fully recrystallized material then passing it into a furnace with a high temperature gradient at a specific rate. This method preserves composition and particulate distributions that melt-solidification methods do not. Large single crystals were measured for their orientation preferences and growth rates. The single-crystals were found to preferably orient their growth direction to the <120> to <110> directions, and <100> to <111> directions normal to the specimen surface. The grain boundary mobility of each material was found to be a function of impurity content. The mobility constants observed were similar to those reported in the literature, indicating that this method of crystal growth provides an estimate of grain boundary mobility. This is the first study the effect of impurities and alloying to this single-crystal production process, and to show this method’s applicability in determining grain boundary mobility information. / text