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Fall 2022 | Issue 7 | November 18
 

Turkey Bowl Success

Twenty-six teams participated on Tuesday night, raising $660.53 for the Mid-South Food Bank, which was a 32% increase over last year. The money will allow them to buy 1,980 meals for Mid-south families and the University of Memphis' Tiger Pantry. Congratulations to the winning team, Taylor's Version! Thanks to Billy Hardwick's All-Star Lanes for donating 2-$25 gift cards for the winners and bowling pins for the event.
 
RESEARCH NEWS

Herff students receive WIPS 2022 Awards

Congratulations to Herff students who placed and participated in the 2022 Works in Progress Symposium (WIPS). Students throughout the campus community compete in seven categories to win first or second place in each: Engineering; Physical and Applied Sciences, Math and Computer Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Education, Health and Life Sciences, and Liberal and Fine Arts.

WIPS provides undergraduates with an opportunity to share their research with peers as well as professors. Undergraduates who have conducted original research, scholarly, or creative projects under the guidance of a faculty mentor are invited to submit an application to WIPS. This symposium also welcomes presentations by students who are just beginning projects, and affords students the opportunity to present the background, rationale, plans and preliminary results from a project that is ongoing, rather than complete.

Herff 1st Place Winners

Krista Dyer, Mechanical Engineering
Fatigue of Additively Manufactured Ti-6Al4V Cellular Structures under Uniaxial, Torsional, and Multiaxial Stresses
Category: Engineering
Mentor: Dr. Reza Molaei, Mechanical Engineering

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a rising, largely applicable manufacturing procedure. The ability to build complex geometry components is one of the many advantages of AM. Included in these complex geometries are metallic cellular structures. These structures have a variety of applications in fields such as biomedical, automotive, and aerospace engineering. To ensure the full range of applications can be utilized, it is vital to understand the fatigue behaviors of the porous structures. Fatigue is the result of cyclic loading and may cause components to fail at much lower stresses than their ultimate or yield strengths. There is a major gap in the information with regards to loadings outside of compression-compression. The purpose of this study is to model and predict the fatigue properties and behavior of Ti-6Al-4V cellular structures, under uniaxial, torsional, and multiaxial loadings. This research is divided into three stages: manufacturing, testing, and modeling. For this project, all components are built using the Laser Powder Bed Fusion AM technique. Analysis of the test results will lead to a single numerical model to predict the fatigue behavior for different porosities under any combination of loading.

Sophie Wood, Mechanical Engineering
Sub-grid Scale Characteristics of Godunovbased Schemes for Cavitating Two-Phase Flows
Category: Physical and Applied Sciences
Mentor: Dr. Daniel Foti, Mechanical Engineering

Numerical accuracy of large-eddy simulations for cavitating flows decreases near discontinuities such as shock waves generated by vapor-bubble collapse, vapor-liquid phase boundaries, and complexities of solid boundaries. The errors can often be attributed to explicit sub-grid scale models. An alternative methodology, implicit large-eddy simulation, leverages the numerical discretization error of monotone, sharp-interface capturing schemes to mimic the physical dissipation rate. The characteristics of the numerical dissipation rate and implicit sub-grid scale are detailed for a class of Godunov-based schemes for cavitating flows discretized in generalized curvilinear coordinates. Because the variable reconstruction is performed locally, the scheme can capture both discontinuities and low Mach number features. Leading terms of modified equation analysis confirm the dissipation behaviors. A series of cases are undertaken including two-phase shock tube, homogeneous isotropic turbulence, and cavitating flow over a cylinder, which employs a sharp-interface immersed boundary method for compressible flow. The turbulence spectra, statistics and void fraction profiles show good agreement with direct numerical simulation.

Herff 2nd Place Winners

Jada Sandridge, Biomedical Engineering
Touch-spinning Polydioxanone and Polycaprolactone to Develop Small Diameter Vascular Grafts
Category: Engineering
Mentor: Dr. Gary Bowlin, Biomedical Engineering

Cardiovascular diseases are common conditions that affect the heart or blood vessels. These diseases can affect blood flow due to blood clots or narrowing of the blood vessels in a process known as atherosclerosis. Due to its prevalence, it is important to develop a vascular graft that can be used to replace or bypass a damaged vessel when there is a limited supply of autologous vessels. A current treatment is a synthetic vascular graft made from either ePTFE® or Dacron®. While these grafts have had high success in diameters larger than 6 mm, there has been low success in diameters smaller than 6 mm due to rapid occlusion and thrombosis. To develop resorbable vascular grafts, spinning techniques, such as touch spinning, can be used. Touch spinning is a process that mechanically draws out fibers. Using this technique, the aim of this study will be to develop resorbable, small diameter vascular grafts that can be used as an alternative to autologous vessels in surgical procedures. Both polydioxanone (PDO) and polycaprolactone (PCL) will be dissolved in HFP separately. PDO will be used due to its high flexibility, mechanical strength, and degradation rate. PCL will be used due to high flexibility, elasticity, and degradation rate. The two types of grafts will be examined under a scanning electron microscope to further examine and validate the pattern of the fibers. Mechanical characterization will also be performed to determine their potential use as a vascular graft.

Riley Morris, Electrical Engineering
Introduction to Ciphers in Cryptography
Category: Math and Computer Sciences
Mentor: Dr. James McGinnis, Engineering Technology

Security is a major deal in today’s culture due to the accessibility of information over the internet. The internet provides a vast space to exchange private information such as social security numbers, credit cards, and health care information. This information is typically protected using encryption. Cryptography was created out of the need to conceal information and is simply the means by which one is able to encrypt information through codes or ciphers and then decrypt these encrypted messages utilizing keys. Cryptography takes unencrypted data also known as plaintext and applies an encryption method that transforms the data into ciphertext. One can then apply a key to this ciphertext in order to decrypt the data. A huge aspect of this process is authentication. One needs to ensure that they are receiving the message from the right person and that the right person is able to interpret the message. One huge way cryptography can authenticate is utilizing a key system. Just like how one needs to have a key to enter a locked house, one must have a key to decrypt a “locked” message. In cryptography, there are public and private key algorithms both helping decrypt and encrypt secret messages.
More Information
CAREER CORNER
Career Corner provides news and information related to internships, co-ops and careers. If you have any questions about career services at Herff, contact Shelia Moses, Engineering Co-Op & Internship Coordinator.

Employers focus on GPA fading, seeking key skills

Information for this blurb was gathered from an article by Kevin Gray, NACE. Read the full article online.

College students can better attract the attention of employers via their resume by highlighting the skills they developed, such as problem-solving and teamwork, through their various experiences, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers' Job Outlook 2023 report. 

According to more than 60% of employers responding to NACE's survey, they are seeking evidence of the ability to solve problems and work in a team. They are also looking for strong work ethic, analytical/quantitative skills, written communication skills, and technical skills on the resumes of the job candidates they consider. 

Internship experience is also critical. When two equally qualified candidates are competing for a job, employers use internship experience as the deciding factor. 

The importance of GPA to screen candidates is on the decline. In NACE's 2019 survey, 73% of respondents screened by GPA. In this year's survey, that number is down to 37%. According to NACE, the competition for talent has employers rethinking their screening process and screening based on GPA could weaken inclusivity and diversity efforts. 
 

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