Thesis (M.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 55-57).

Thesis (M.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1988. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-178).

Thesis--Lund Institute of Technology, 1993.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Princeton University, 1983. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 286-296).

Thesis--Lund Institute of Technology, 1993.

Thesis (M. S.)--Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007. / Rosen, David, Committee Chair ; O'Connor, Jerry, Committee Member ; Fedorov, Andrei, Committee Member.

abstract: This thesis elaborates the application of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and it is discussed in two parts. In the first part of the thesis, two types of CNTs inks for inkjet materials printer are prepared. They are both chemical stable and printable, effective and easily made. The sheet resistance of printed films decreases exponentially as the number of layers increases. In the second part of this study, CNTs/ZnO composite structures are fabricated to understand the electronic and optical properties. The materials were deposited by two different methods: drop-drying and RF magnetic sputtering system on flexible polymer substrates. To further increase the conductivity of the various layers of deposited CNTs films, electrical and optical characterizations are also done. This study establishes CNTs as a multi-functional semitransparent conductor, which can be deposited at room-temperature with other transparent conductive oxide (TCO) composites for application in flexible electronics and printed circuit and sensors. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Materials Science and Engineering 2012

The necessity of elemental analysis techniques to solve forensic problems continues to expand as the samples collected from crime scenes grow in complexity. Laser ablation ICP-MS (LA-ICP-MS) has been shown to provide a high degree of discrimination between samples that originate from different sources. In the first part of this research, two laser ablation ICP-MS systems were compared, one using a nanosecond laser and another a femtosecond laser source for the forensic analysis of glass. The results showed that femtosecond LA-ICP-MS did not provide significant improvements in terms of accuracy, precision and discrimination, however femtosecond LA-ICP-MS did provide lower detection limits. In addition, it was determined that even for femtosecond LA-ICP-MS an internal standard should be utilized to obtain accurate analytical results for glass analyses. In the second part, a method using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for the forensic analysis of glass was shown to provide excellent discrimination for a glass set consisting of 41 automotive fragments. The discrimination power was compared to two of the leading elemental analysis techniques, µXRF and LA-ICP-MS, and the results were similar; all methods generated >99% discrimination and the pairs found indistinguishable were similar. An extensive data analysis approach for LIBS glass analyses was developed to minimize Type I and II errors en route to a recommendation of 10 ratios to be used for glass comparisons. Finally, a LA-ICP-MS method for the qualitative analysis and discrimination of gel ink sources was developed and tested for a set of ink samples. In the first discrimination study, qualitative analysis was used to obtain 95.6% discrimination for a blind study consisting of 45 black gel ink samples provided by the United States Secret Service. A 0.4% false exclusion (Type I) error rate and a 3.9% false inclusion (Type II) error rate was obtained for this discrimination study. In the second discrimination study, 99% discrimination power was achieved for a black gel ink pen set consisting of 24 self collected samples. The two pairs found to be indistinguishable came from the same source of origin (the same manufacturer and type of pen purchased in different locations). It was also found that gel ink from the same pen, regardless of the age, was indistinguishable as were gel ink pens (four pens) originating from the same pack.

Teachers who want to assess student learning and provide quality feedback are faced with a challenge when trying to grade assignments quickly. There is currently no system which will provide both a fast-to-grade quiz and a rich testing experience. Previous attempts to speed up grading time include NLP-based text analysis to automate grading and scanning in documents for manual grading with recyclable feedback. However, automated NLP systems all focus solely on text-based problems, and manual grading is still linear in the number of students. Machine learning algorithms exist which can interactively train a computer quickly classify digital ink strokes. We used stroke recognition and interactive machine learning concepts to build a grading interface for digital ink quizzes, to allow non-text open-ended questions that can then be semiautomatically graded. We tested this system on a Computer Science class with 361 students using a set of quiz questions which their teacher provided, evaluated its effectiveness, and determined some of its limitations. Adaptations to the interface and the training process as well as further work to resolve intrinsic stroke perversity are required to make this a truly effective system. However, using the system we were able to reduce grading time by as much as 10x for open-ended responses.

Recent advancements in corrosion-resistance coating technology has reduce the use of environmentally harmful compounds such as Hexavalent Chromium by replacing Hexavalent Chromium in primers and topcoat. However, marking inks were neglected in the process. Products such as Enthone 50 series are still widely used, which contain compounds such as lead, hexavalent chromium, bisphenol A (BPA), Cadmium Sulfide, and more. Excluding catalyst compositions in Enthone, the chemicals in the ink alone contained three reproductive toxicant and numerous carcinogens. Therefore, it was essential to search and validate the performance of potential marking ink that would meet the standards in military applications. Eleven products were tested, and two products were recommended for use: Sherwin Williams MIL-PRF-22750 Type I and Union Ink Uniglaze. Both products contain at most one carcinogen ingredient and no reproductive toxicant. Both products passed MIL-STD 202G Method 215K solvent test, MIL-STD 202G Method 107G thermal shock test, MIL-STD-810G, Method 507.5 humidity test, cleaning system test, ASTM D3359, measure adhesion by tape test.