Title: Co-design for Multi-subsystem and Vehicle Routing-and-Control Problems
Author: Tianchen Liu
Date & Time:Friday, May 15, 2020 – 2:00PM.
Committee:
Professor Shapour Azarm, Chair/Advisor
Professor Nikhil Chopra, Co-advisor
Professor Balakumar Balachandran
Professor Jin-Oh Hahn
Professor Nuno Martins
Professor Miao Yu
Abstract:Co-design refers to the process of integrating optimization of the physical design with a controller for a system. The challenge in co-design is that the optimization is simultaneously applied to both time-invariant (design) and time-variant (state and control) variables, which can be coupled with each other.
The objective of this dissertation is to explore new formulations and approaches in co-design for multi-subsystem and vehicle routing-and-control problems. Specically, four research questions are considered and resolved. In Research Question 1 (RQ1), the critical issue is how to formulate a class of multi-subsystem co-design problems with convexphysical design subproblems and linear quadratic regulator control subproblems, and construct a decentralized solution approach for such problems. In Research Question 2 (RQ2), solution methods for a broader class of multi-subsystem co-design problems than those considered in RQ1 are investigated. In Research Question 3 (RQ3), the question is whether, in the context of co-design, the combined routing and control costs of a feet of vehicles can be improved if optimal control is introduced into the routing. Finally, an extension of RQ3 is considered in Research Question 4 (RQ4), where the possibility of constructing an integrated vehicle routing-and-control problem with load-dependent dynamics is investigated.
Beyond the articles published by the author of this dissertation, the proposed research questions, models and methods presented have not been considered elsewhere in the literature.
Title: “Energy Audit and Modeling of High Energy-consuming Buildings in the University of Maryland.”
Date/Time: Friday May 8, 2020; 3-5pm
Committee Members:
Dr. Michael Ohadi (Chair),
Dr. Yunho Hwang,
Dr. Bao Yang
Abstract: The goal of this thesis project is to analyze and optimize energy usage in the Biopsychology building and Gossett Football House building. Both buildings are located on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park. The process of energy audit and modeling was applied to both buildings to render them more energy-efficient and sustainable. The first step of the project included a comprehensive study of the buildings including the HVAC systems and other loads, followed by energy consumption analysis which led to the detection of various issues. The second step was to model the energy system of the building and analyze it to optimize the energy consumption of the building. Several benchmarking methods were also analyzed to evaluate building performance. Using the developed 3D model, the performances of the buildings were simulated to determine various Energy Conservation Measures. The Energy Conservation Measures were detected, researched in detail, and simulated to evaluate the possible savings in energy and utilities. Projected savings of $99,920 and 3,843.3 MMBtu per annum were projected for the two buildings. In addition to the energy savings, a total of 511.3 MT per annum CO2 emission reductions and 787,290-gal water savings were estimated, which can both contribute to the Campus sustainability goals.
With 189 member countries, staff from more than 170 countries, and offices in over 130 locations, the World Bank Group is a unique global partnership: five institutions working for sustainable solutions that reduce poverty and build shared prosperity in developing countries.
Panel Description: This panel features three World Bank staff members, who will share valuable information about the work that they do and how they landed at the World Bank. Join us via Zoom to hear their stories and advice about pursuing work that you love and navigating the job search.
Panelists: Benoit Bosquet, Ph.D., Özgül Calicioglu, PhD, and Mr. Steven Jay Silverstein.
Registration: You can register for for the workshop’s Zoom session, here.
Doctoral students and postdocs at all stages of their training should participate in free in-person and online workshops to learn more about important career and professional development topics. The 2019-2020 workshops are posted in the events calendars of both The Graduate School and The University Career Center & The President’s Promise. Students and postdocs must pre-register for online workshops.
PhD Career Development Workshops will be offered as webinars via Zoom and WebEx. All Maryland students, faculty and staff have access to Zoom and WebEx using CAS authentication. Please log into the webinars 15 minutes before the start time.
PhD Career Navigator Meet Ups are a dedicated time and space for PhD students across campus to gather and support each other in their career and professional development. Drop in to get your career and job search questions answered by fellow doctoral students. No question is too small, too big, or off-limits. We meet weekly on Fridays 1:00-2:00pm via Zoom. Sign up below!
Register Now for Upcoming PhD Career Online Webinars
Friday
4/24/20
1-2pm
PhD Career Navigator Meet Up (Zoom)It’s the end of the academic year! Come create or update your CVs and resumes with all your accomplishments. Have an application due soon? Come receive feedback on your cover letter and materials from your peers.
PhD Career Navigator Meet Up (Zoom)That’s a wrap! Come share, discuss, and reflect on the academic year with fellow PhDs and celebrate all your accomplishments!
The CRESST II Graduate Student Interaction Day is an annual event that brings together NASA scientists and graduate students to discuss opportunities to collaborate. Under normal conditions, the event would be held at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and include presentations about current NASA research projects and a poster session to allow students and scientists to talk one-on-one about specific research opportunities. Though the COVID-19 pandemic has made an in-person event no longer feasible, CRESST II has collaborated with NASA scientists to organize several research opportunities available to highly-talented and skilled graduate students looking to gain research experience or contribute to their thesis/dissertation research.
Available opportunities span a variety of research areas and are described in more detail below. Each opportunity description includes the NASA scientist who will serve as the mentor, the sponsor’s areas of expertise, details about the work the graduate student would be performing, skills required for the position, and the general timeframe when a graduate student could start. Preliminarily, work may start virtually but could transition to more onsite work at NASA/GSFC based on each mentors needs and the status of the GSFC campus. Funding is available for most of the opportunities and will be discussed during the offer process.
Application Details: If you are interested in applying to any of the opportunities listed below, complete and submit the official application form along with the following documents: curriculum vitae, essay, college transcript, and the contact information for two references.
Applications should be sent via email to the CRESST II Program Associate, Katherine McKee (katherine.s.mckee@nasa.gov), and are due by May 15th. After May 15th, mentors will review all applications and then contact a shortlist of candidates to discuss the opportunity in more detail. Offers will be made on a rolling basis at the mentors discretion. Any questions should be directed to the CRESST II Program Associate.
Deadline: The Deadline to apply for the program is May 31, 2020
For more information regarding this opportunity, as well as detailed descriptions of the opportunities, please visit the posting’s webpage.
Would you like to make some money while sitting at home? Engineering students are invited to participate in an online study examining use of computer software through the design of drones and their operation. This 1.5 hour study is engaging and fun, and you will earn a $20 Amazon gift card for participating! Here is how you sign up (and if slots are filled check back again soon because more will open up once these fill):
The name of the study is “Online Distributed Interactive Drone Design Study”. You can access the study here.
Study Information
Description: In this online study, participants will participate in the design of one or more drones to meet certain requirements. Participants will use computer design software augmented with various assistive tools to enable and augment the design process. Designs may consider drone configuration, business and/or operations.
Preparation & Compensation: Participants need to login study website (www.hyform.org) on time. Login information will be sent to each participant before the study via email. Each participant will get a $20 amazon.com gift card for this 90 minute study.
Eligibility Requirements: Participants must be a current undergraduate or graduate student in Engineering or Computer Science. Prior knowledge of drone design is NOT required.
For any questions regarding this opportunity, please contact the study’s principal investigators:
Dr. Jonathan Cagan, Carnegie Mellon University; cagan@cmu.edu
Dr. Chris McComb, Penn. State University; uum209@psu.edu
Greetings meGRAD! Thank you to everyone who was able to login to our virtual student check-in via Zoom on Friday (4/17/20). There were many questions, feedback, and updates shared with grad students regarding navigating through the current crisis. We’ve created an FAQ list containing the information shared during the meeting. If you have any questions about the information listed, or for any other inquiries, please feel free to contact our program administrative specialist, Darius I. Craig, at dcraig12@umd.edu
Q = Question A = Answer I = Information F = Feedback
I: University resources during COVID-19.
As we navigate through the COVID-19 crisis, it’s important that you have access to university resources that contain updates and information regarding the crisis and the university response. The University is actively monitoring COVID-19 cases within the State of Maryland and the University community. Please reference the meGRAD website for the list of resources.
I: Graduate School Resources during COVID-19
The Graduate School has provided a wide variety of information and updates for students during the crisis. Please be sure to visit the Graduate School’s website and take advantage of the information provided.
I: Information regarding UMD mental health services
We understand that the current environment can be mentally challenging, especially coupled with the stress of completing graduate studies. The university counseling center is providing virtual sessions for those in need. Please visit the counseling center’s website for more information.
The University has moved towards a Pass/Fail (P/F) grading system for the Spring 2020 semester. Students will be able to earn a P/F grade for undergraduate courses, and a Satisfactory/Fail (S/F) for graduate courses. Students will earn graduate credit with an S but not with an F. An S will not affect a student’s GPA, but an F will. There are no limits on S/F credits for graduate students. S/F is an appropriate grading scale for F1/J1 students to maintain status, so long as they also maintain appropriate enrollment status. Students do have the option to opt out of the P/F method and earn a traditional letter grade. To opt out of the P/F system, please visit: app.testudo.umd.edu/main/gradeoptions?termId=202001. The deadline to opt out is May 12, 2020. To understand the impact of your selection, please review pertinent details about Spring 2020 grading:
Questions or problems with the website should be directed to Keeplearning@umd.edu.
F: Feedback regarding potential impact of S/F grades – Dr. DeVoe
Do not use the P/F as an opportunity to slack. There’s a possibility that institutions may be able to extract the numerical/letter grade from the system at some point. It’s still unknown how these grades will appear on transcripts (and how/if the justifications will appear on the transcript as well). Continue putting in your best effort in your courses!
I: Where will departmental packages be delivered? How will I get paid?
The ME Business office has provided the following link for information regarding academic, finance, IT, personnel, purchasing, and travel during the COVID-19 crisis.
Q: When is the deadline for proposal presentations?
A: There is no set deadline to present your proposal, however be sure to meet all departmental milestones!
Q: How will proposals/defenses be defended in the current environment?
A: Proposals and defenses will continue to be held fully online in the virtual Zoom environment until further notice.
Q: Are there any updates on research?
A:As we are currently under severe research restrictions, you must have explicit permission from the Office of the Vice President of Research to be on campus. No undergraduate students will be given exemptions to return to campus. Any request for a grad student to return to campus must be submitted by their advisor. For more information on this process, advisors can reach out to the meGRAD office at megrad@umd.edu
Q: Will campus closures (full or partial) affect availability or assignment of Teaching Assistantships in the Summer and Fall?
A: TA’s will continue to be assigned normally. Faculty should continue to submit TA nominations to the meGRAD office.. Please keep an eye on your emails and the meGRad internal website.
Q. What’s the status of summer classes? Will they continue to be virtual, in-person, or blended?
A: Per the Office of the Provost, all Summer Session 1 courses will be delivered through remote or online instruction. There has not been an official decision on Summer Session 2. A decision on the status of Summer Session 2 will be announced on or before June 15. Summer Session 1 in-person camps, and other on-campus activities that follow the summer session I schedule are hereby cancelled. For more information on summer sessions, please visit the Office of Extended Studies’ website.
Q: Is meGRAD restricting new students from joining the department’s payroll?
A:The University is currently in a hiring freeze, so any new appointments need additional permissions before being approved and processed. Please continue following all proper procedures and filling out all appropriate forms.
Q: Has UMD come to an agreement on exam policy?
A:Details regarding the administration of final exams are to be determined by individual instructors. For any questions regarding your final exam, please contact your instructor.
F: Suggestions for passing the time when not in the research lab?
“I am a Writing Fellow at the Graduate School and I saw many students come to me with their Review paper. This is some feedback that I can give. Researchers can think of writing a review. It helps them get a broader perspective too”
“Everyone should write at least 1 review paper before you graduate” – Dr. Devoe
Take some online courses/certifications you’ve been pushing off!
Try LinkedIN Learning’s free online professional development courses.
As we navigate through the COVID-19 crisis, it’s important that you have access to university resources, that contain updates and information regarding the crisis and the university response. The University is actively monitoring COVID-19 cases within the State of Maryland and the University community. Please reference the following links for more information.
Please be sure to stay up-to-date with updates and newly released information about the virus and the university response. Also be sure to practice safe and healthy prevention practices. You’re encouraged to email healthconcerns@umd.edu if you have questions specific to UMD and coronavirus. If you have a medical question or concern, please contact your physician.
Title: Droplet and Bubble Measurements in Turbulent Free-Surface Flows
Defense Date and Time: Friday, April 17 starting at 10:00 am.
Important Note about Connectivity: If any prospective audience member is having issues connecting to the Zoom Meeting via the link provided, please email Professor James Duncan (duncan@umd.edu), who can send you a personal invitation link.
Committee Members:
Professor James H. Duncan, Chair/Advisor
Professor Kenneth Kiger
Associate Professor Johan Larsson
Emeritus Professor Peter Bernard
Associate Professor Anya Jones, Dean’s Representative
Abstract:
In this dissertation, the generation and dynamics of drops and bubbles in breaking waves and turbulent free-surface boundary layer shear flows, respectively, are studied in laboratory scale experiments. In the drop experiment, breaking waves are generated by a programmable wavemaker and measurements of breaker profile evolution and spatio-temporal distribution of drops are reported. The drop and breaking profile measurements are used synergistically to relate drop production to breaker characteristics and sub-processes in two related studies. In the first study, spray generation mechanisms by a weak plunging breaker are explored. Three distinct time zones of drop production are found, first when the jet impacts the free surface, second when the large air bubbles trapped by the plunging jet impact reach the surface and pop, and third when smaller bubbles reach the surface later in the breaking process and pop. In the second study, drop production by three plunging breakers is correlated to mean wave characteristics such as surface features, plunging jet impact velocity, and wave crest speed. The number of drops produced per breaking event is found to increase with breaker intensity. The relative importance of breaker intensity on breaking sub-processes, identified in the first study, is reported.
In the bubble experiment, air entrainment in a turbulent free-surface boundary layer shear flow is studied in a laboratory-scale experimental facility. The boundary layer is created by a horizontally moving surface-piercing stainless steel belt that travels in a loop between two rollers. One length of the belt between the two vertically oriented rollers is exposed to water (with a free surface). The belt accelerates suddenly from rest until reaching constant speed and creates a temporally evolving free-surface boundary layer analogous to the spatially evolving boundary layer that would exist along a surface-piercing towed flat plate. Air entrainment mechanisms and bubble statistics like bubble size, number, and speed, are reported and qualitatively compared to direct numerical simulations of a similar problem conducted by a different research group.
You are passionate and invested in wind energy. You believe in the importance of renewable energy for our present and our future. You’ve decided to make the commitment to innovation, excellence, and technological advancement. Whether you’re climbing wind turbines or developing better software monitoring systems for renewable resources, we want you to have every possible opportunity to further your education and become a leader in the energy evolution. The recipients of this scholarship will have the utmost expectations of pushing their peers, professors, and programs to continuously improve and accelerate the advancements in wind.
SCHOLARSHIP GUIDELINES
Our ideal candidate will have enthusiasm, strong leadership skills, integrity, and a demonstrated commitment of growing Renewable Energy in their communities. High school students, college students, and non-traditional students from anywhere within the U.S. that have been accepted or enrolled in an accredited university are free to apply. We want you to be rewarded for the tremendous work you’re willing to invest in wind and renewable energy.
To be eligible, you must be studying within the Renewable Energy field and have at least a 3.0 GPA. Must also be currently enrolled as a rising sophomore (junior or senior for 2+ year programs), or a graduate student. Additionally, this scholarship is open to those enrolled in specific technical certification programs.
HOW TO ENTER
Submit a video (up to one minute) answering the question:What does Renewable Energy mean to you? Our scholarship deadline is May 15, 2021.
To submit your application, fill out the application submission form by clicking below along with uploading your video. (Hint: We also love hearing about your long-term career goals!). Also, feel free to post to your Instagram or Facebook and tagging Kurz Industrial Solutions. Find our Facebook page and our Instagram page here.
In the beginning of your video, each contestant must state his or her name, what their field of study is, and what school they attend before answering the question. Kurz will select two scholarship winners, which will be announced June 1, 2021 via our social media platforms and we’ll also email the winners to let them know.
