Two introductory chapters have been used to give the necessary background to the main subject-matter of the thesis. The first of these chronologizes the significant steps in the development of aerial photographic interpretation from the first recorded aerial photograph to the present day respected position of the art in both military and civilian professional circles. The second introductory chapter deals with the fundamental principles involved in airphoto interpretation and of their specific application to soil engineering mapping for road projects in Southern Africa. This is followed by the major theme of the thesis, which concerns the direct location by aerial photographic interpretation of the various classes of material used in the construction of a modern day road. Although aerial photographs have been employed in recent years for direct interpretation and interpolation of certain specific road building materials, their use in this manner has been limited to a few special cases. This thesis sets out to show that under certain conditions, which pertain in many regions of the world, airphoto interpretation can be used for the direct location of 1materials possessing particular engineering characteristics. Further, it sets out to show, that this can be done for the full range of engineering properties required of materials for all the significant layers of construction, despite the fact that the materials involved may be of widely differing composition and geological origin. The actual interpretation is based on the fundamental recognition of the elements of form, tone, and texture making up the total photographic pattern. Similar features reflected on photographs are shown to be comprised of similar materials, not merely geologically speaking, but more especially in respect of their significant engineering characteristics; it is still further demonstrated that this is applicable even when such features are situated some considerable distance apart. Variations of notable engineering importance within one and the same geological occurrence, are also shown to be identifiable on the aerial photographs. For major road projects in areas subjected to certain environmental conditions, these possibilities form the basis of a new prospecting technique, which incorporates the full use of the science or art of interpretation. The basic concept governing the applicability of this technique and the steps necessary to ensure the development of the full potential of aerial photography in its application, are discussed and illustrated by detailed accounts of a number of specific projects. These projects incorporate both materials appraisals of wide strips of country for route location purposes and intensive prospecting along chosen routes. The techniques thus developed, constitute a new approach to materials investigations for major road projects and in this respect contribute to knowledge in this field. Finally, conclusions are drawn on the relative merits of materials investigation methods in current use in South West Africa and on how these methods affect the different organisations involved in the planning and construction of major road projects. The use made of airphoto interpretation for similar engineering works in other countries, as well as the possible future scope for the application of the particular method of materials investigation described in this thesis, are also covered.

In wireless digital communications, the designer is constantly trying to minimize the probability of bit error rates within certain constraints, most notably signal power limits. One method of compensating for bit errors is the use of error control coding that provides sufficient structure to the signal to provide the location of the error. Error control coding requires circuits capable of performing matrix multiplication and comparing the result of various binary numbers. Although the concepts are relatively simple, the implementation becomes rapidly complex as the length of the code word and the uncoded message increase. As a result, most coding theory uses a (7,4) code in which the code word has seven bits of which four bits contain the information.2 The code results in a manageable number of 128 code words of which only 16 form valid codes. The redundancy is used for error correction. Now suppose a (15,7) code is used allowing 32,768 possible code words for which only 128 are valid information codes. This complexity can be reduced by using several functions in the Matlab Communications Toolbox, providing a unique learning opportunity for the engineering technology student.

As one of the most powerful DSP products of Texas Instruments, the TMS320C6x DSPs have been used in a variety of areas in industries for real-time signal processing applications (e.g., communication, radar system, hearing aid etc.), and in research agencies for developing advanced algorithms and prototyping of a DSP system for specific applications. In education, the C6x DSPs were also widely used as a tool for bridging the gap between the digital signal processing theory and practical applications. The hardware-based laboratories have been successfully integrated into the digital signal processing course at many universities. However, most labs were designed only for very common signal processing problems such as the FIR/IIR filter design, FFT and so on. In this paper, a system for real-time EEG (electroencephalograph) signal acquisition, processing and presentation was proposed and will be implemented with the Texas Instrument's TMS320C6713 DSK being used as the hardware platform. As a practical application of C6713 DSK in biomedical signal processing, this project is designed as a complement of the current DSP laboratories of the Digital Signal Processors course for senior level undergraduates/graduates in Biomedical Engineering Technology Program (BMET) at the university. After the completion of the project, students are expected to be able to understand the scheme of a real world DSP system, process EEG signals for specific applications and gain the experience in processing the real world signals. In addition, this project is also intended for preparing the motivated high level students for future career in biomedical signal processing areas.

Construction risks such as cost and schedule overruns, technology failure, force majeure etc. are common in most construction projects. However, risks in secondary nature should not be ignored. For quality assurance (QA) of construction materials most state highway agencies and contractors use statistical methods which assume normal distribution of data. However, data analysis from several states identified highly skewed and kurtosis induced i.e. nonnormal data for asphalt content, material density and concrete compressive strength. High nonnormality can result falsely penalizing acceptable products, and rewarding bad products which can easily upset the relative profit margins of the contractor. A robust method named Box-Cox transformation with golden section search algorithm is developed that can correct nonnormality in such datasets.

This paper provides an overview of the engineering modifications and the regulatory requirements to convert a U.S. registered aircraft for European operations as a freighter. The paper outlines the steps taken and the equipment installed to meet Joint Airworthiness Regulations (JAR) and German Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA) regulations by the author.

As one of the most powerful DSP products of Texas Instruments, the TMS320C6x DSPs have been used in a variety of areas in industries for real-time signal processing applications (e.g., communication, radar system, hearing aid etc.), and in research agencies for developing advanced algorithms and prototyping of a DSP system for specific applications. In education, the C6x DSPs were also widely used as a tool for bridging the gap between the digital signal processing theory and practical applications. The hardware-based laboratories have been successfully integrated into the digital signal processing course at many universities. However, most labs were designed only for very common signal processing problems such as the FIR/IIR filter design, FFT and so on. In this paper, a system for real-time EEG (electroencephalograph) signal acquisition, processing and presentation was proposed and will be implemented with the Texas Instrument's TMS320C6713 DSK being used as the hardware platform. As a practical application of C6713 DSK in biomedical signal processing, this project is designed as a complement of the current DSP laboratories of the Digital Signal Processors course for senior level undergraduates/graduates in Biomedical Engineering Technology Program (BMET) at the university. After the completion of the project, students are expected to be able to understand the scheme of a real world DSP system, process EEG signals for specific applications and gain the experience in processing the real world signals. In addition, this project is also intended for preparing the motivated high level students for future career in biomedical signal processing areas.

Construction risks such as cost and schedule overruns, technology failure, force majeure etc. are common in most construction projects. However, risks in secondary nature should not be ignored. For quality assurance (QA) of construction materials most state highway agencies and contractors use statistical methods which assume normal distribution of data. However, data analysis from several states identified highly skewed and kurtosis induced i.e. nonnormal data for asphalt content, material density and concrete compressive strength. High nonnormality can result falsely penalizing acceptable products, and rewarding bad products which can easily upset the relative profit margins of the contractor. A robust method named Box-Cox transformation with golden section search algorithm is developed that can correct nonnormality in such datasets.

In 2014, 41% of total U.S. energy consumption was consumed in residential and commercial buildings, or about 40 quadrillion British thermal units according to Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey. As the number of commercial buildings and floor space increasing, business, industry and government organizations are under tremendous economic and environmental pressures to reduce energy consumption and dollar savings. Building "Envelope" generally refers to those building components (walls, doors, windows and roof) that enclose conditioned spaces and through which thermal energy is transferred to or from the outdoor environment and are significant sources of heat loss. A building envelope study provides a good qualitative and analytical understanding of the thermal performance of major building envelope components, identifies major deficiencies, and helps developing appropriate energy management project to improve performance. In this building envelope study, infrared thermography is used to assess envelope performance of five buildings on East Tennessee State University Campus. Infrared thermography provides a simple, fast, non-destructive, realistic, and reliable technology in determining the spatial temperature distributions of building envelope surfaces. An ArduCopter 3DR Hexa-C Drone and Fluke TI25 infrared hand held camera were used for rapid data collection. The camera was automated to take an image every 2 sec and a 10 minute drone flight captured 300 images covering whole building envelope. Data analysis and reports were carried out with the use of Smartview software and FLIR Reporter pro software. High quality infrared images and the data analysis reveal various insulation defects and heat loss issues through building envelopes. Cost-effective solutions are recommended to all problems detected which will potentially improve long term energy efficiency of the buildings and contribute to sustainable campus infrastructure development.

Over the past few decades, state transportation agencies (STAs) have outsourced various functional activities traditionally performed by in-house personnel in reaction to increasing workloads and diminishing staff. To cope with the situation, STAs have developed and implemented various tools and practices for management and oversight of construction engineering and inspection (CEI) services. A national CEI survey was conducted to provide detailed mapping of various tools and practices used for CEI services and to understand the primary advantages and disadvantages of using CEI consultants. The survey found that STAs used a wide variety of tools and practices to define the scope of work for CEI services, select consultants, and administer CEI consultant contracts. Statistical analyses of variance estimated that CEI consultant management and oversight practices varied significantly; this finding may imply multiple underlying factors in the choice of one practice over another. One of the most important findings of this survey was the value of CEI consultant services to STAs. The survey found that the CEI consultant services provided STAs with an improved ability to handle peak workloads, the flexibility of quickly adding or reducing staff, and specialized expertise that might not be available in house. However, the reported challenges of working with CEI consultants included developing and maintaining consultants' familiarity with in-house processes and procedures, ensuring that consultants held appropriate CEI qualifications, and the relative cost of CEI consultants versus in-house staff.

The discipline of engineering and technology is no longer an isolated field of human activities and the future role of engineering demands that social, ethical and cultural aspects should be added to the technical dimension of engineering education. In this age of globalization, engineers should have deeper concepts, wider views, more skills, and integrated tools to meet the challenges of the expanding spheres of knowledge and the challenges of globalization. Effective and transformative global learning offers students meaningful opportunities to analyze and explore complex global challenges, collaborate respectfully with diverse others, apply learning to take responsible action in contemporary global contexts, and evaluate the goals, methods, and consequences of that action. Global learning enhance students' sense of identity, community, ethics, and perspective-taking. Global learning is based on the principle that the world is a collection of interdependent yet inequitable systems and that engineering education has a vital role in expanding knowledge of human and natural systems, privilege and stratification, and sustainability and smart development to foster individuals' ability to advance technology application, equity and justice at home and abroad. ENTC 4600: Technical Practicum is a senior level required capstone design course offered by the department of engineering technology, surveying and digital media. This course is offered every semester and requires the student to synthesize and apply subject matter studies in previous required courses and apply them to a realistic problem solving effort. In the Fall 2013, the ENTC 4600 course's learning outcomes were modified to infuse global perspectives of engineering problems and solutions. In that semester, students explored international markets mainly developing countries, identified an engineering and technology related problem with the collaboration of a focus group (consists of international students), and then designed and developed a solution to mitigate the problem. It was anticipated that the students would learn about international business environment, cross cultural elements of engineering problems, and sustainable solutions. Students learning outcomes were evaluated using pre and post survey, focus group's evaluation, and peer evaluation. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted to justify effectiveness of new learning outcomes. All students agreed that the course project increased their knowledge and skills to solve engineering problems in global settings. About 92% students responded that the project increased their interest about different cultures and multi-perspective analysis, and 72% students, up 52% from pre-survey, said that the project was helpful understanding engineering and technology related practices, standards, specifications, safety outside USA. This paper presents effectiveness of proposed course modifications and engaging international students with American students as a method to teach global skills. The paper summarizes course preparation, organization, challenges, and opportunities to enhance global education experiences for engineering technology students which can be transmitted in other areas.