Sample Research Topics

Proposed projects are based on ongoing research activities from multiple engineering disciplines including electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, industrial engineering, and manufacturing and industrial technology. Teachers as individuals or collaborative pairs will select research topics from those available based on personal interest and potential alignment with curriculum standards.

Sample 1: Sensing and Control Research in Metal Casting

Research in-process sensing, modeling, and control of manufacturing processes, such as metal casting, to improve overall quality.

Research Topic	Example Curriculum Concepts
Vibrations for Non-Destructive Testing	Waves, Wave Propagation, Sound, Data Analysis
Electrostatic Metal Fill Sensor Design	Electric Charge, Electric Fields, Capacitors, Dielectrics, Shielding
Tomography & Data Analysis	Matrices, Calculus, Statistics
Modeling & Intelligent Control	Calculus, Set Theory, Problem Solving, Critical Thinking

Sample 2: Manufacturing of Concrete

Concrete can be produced in a variety of “recipes” and including a variety of additives to strengthen, form easier, or utilize previously unwanted waste streams such as fly ash. The impact of the recipe and the additives is a topic of significant research.

Research Topic	Example Curriculum Concepts
Hydration	Physical and Chemical Change, Reaction Rates and Kinetics, Thermodynamic and Calorimetric Concepts, Acid-Base Chemistry, Crystallography and Solid State
Physical Property Development	Hooke’s Law (stress and strain)

Sample 3: Fabrication of High-Temperature Protective Coatings

Protective coatings are used as part of an overall “material system” to strengthen or protect a metal substrate in harsh environments, such as boiler tubes for power generation or aircraft turbine blades.

Research Topic	Example Curriculum Concepts
Pack Cementation, Coating Design, Synthesis, and Characterization	Gas Phase Transportation and Solid-State Diffusion, Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer, Materials Systems, Interaction of Matter

Sample 4: Nanoparticle Deposition on a Surface

The focus of this research is to understand the particle-substrate-solvent interactions, which govern the pattern formation of nanoparticles at a polymer surface. These nanoparticles are introduced to enhance a material’s ability to prevent erosion and for fire resistance.

Research Topic	Example Curriculum Concepts
Nanoparticle Deposition on a Surface, Analysis of Surface Roughness Effects	Thermodynamics, Interactions of Matter, Atoms, Molecules and Ions, Atomic and Molecular Motion

Sample 5: Water Distribution in a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell

Fuel cells hold the key for future distributed energy applications; however, there remain a number of technological barriers. One of which is the entrapment of water within the catalyst membrane when operating temperatures outside of the fuel cell fall below freezing.

Research Topic	Example Curriculum Concepts
Water Distribution in a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell	Physical and Chemical Changes, Reaction Rates and Kinetics, Thermodynamics Concepts, Geometry, Heat/Mass Transfer, Materials, Problem Solving

Sample 6: Linkages and Manipulators in Manufacturing

Axis linkages determine the angle and reach of robotic “arms”, used in manufacturing. Research in this area seeks to determine optimal mobility of single and complex linkages.

Research Topic	Example Curriculum Concepts
Analysis and Design of Rotatability of Linkages and Manipulators	Geometry, Analytical Geometry, Trigonometry and Algebra, Problem Solving, Critical Thinking

Sample 7: Signal Processing

The next generation of wireless communications will take advantage of unused frequency spectrum by dynamically sensing when a particular frequency is available. This requires statistical techniques for sampling frequency spectrum and then analyzing the signal.

Research Topic	Example Curriculum Concepts
Signal Processing Analysis	Discrete Mathematics with Statistics and Probability, Problem Solving and Reasoning, Critical Thinking

Sample 8: Discrete Event Simulation Optimization Using Genetic Algorithms

Production flow, traffic flow, and hospital operating rooms can all be simulated by dissecting the system into discrete events. These discrete events that make up the system follow statistical distributions and different operating policies or decisions can be optimized based on measurement of key random variables.