This dissertation is split into two objectives: (1) to better understand the effect of relative humidity (RH) on charge transfer between metal electrodes and water droplets and (2) to assess the impact of The Design of Coffee, a general education, introductory chemical engineering course, on non-STEM students' ability to understand fundamental…

We developed an introductory chemical engineering design laboratory course coupling traditional, hands-on, and virtual learning techniques. The course is centered on a set of interactive, online simulations mimicking laboratory experimentation, which the students complete for homework prior to completing a corresponding hands-on experiment as a…

The laboratory course is one of the most critical classes in any engineering program. Engineering by its very nature is a practical discipline, and the laboratory course is usually the first and only class where students are given the opportunity to apply the knowledge they are gaining in lecture courses to real-world equipment. As chemical…

Energetic materials (EMs) are substances with a high amount of stored energy and the ability to release that energy at a rapid rate. Nanothermites and green organic energetics are two classes of EMs which have gained significant interest as they each have desirable properties over traditional explosives. These systems also possess downfalls, which…

Roughly half of all doctoral students who begin a program do not continue through graduation, and many of them face significant financial losses and emotional burdens as a result. Although this completion rate has stayed fairly constant for the past few decades, it has recently gained attention on a national level. In 2011, the National Research…

Reverse osmosis/nanofiltration (RO/NF) membranes are capable to provide an effective barrier for a wide range of contaminants (including disinfection by-products precursors) in a single treatment step. However, solute rejection mechanisms by RO/NF membranes are not well understood. The lack of mechanistic information arises from experimental…

Selective catalytic reduction or SCR is coming into worldwide use for diesel engine emissions reduction for on- and off-highway vehicles. These applications are characterized by broad operating range as well as rapid and unpredictable changes in operating conditions. Significant nonlinearity, input and output constraints, and stringent performance…

The purpose of this thesis is to introduce a new idea: using biological mimics in the detection of toxic compounds. Biological mimics imitate the active site of a given enzyme or have catalytic chemistry similar to enzymes and can be used in place of biological molecules to provide longer stability and simpler operation. In the following text the…

Ion implantation is widely used in the microelectronics industry for fabrication of source and drain transistor regions. Unfortunately, implantation causes considerable damage to the substrate lattice rendering most of the implanted dopant electrically inactive. Rapid thermal annealing (RTA) heals the damage by rapidly heating the substrate with a…

Developments in analytical chemistry were made using acoustically levitated small volumes of liquid to study enzyme reaction kinetics and by detecting volatile organic compounds in the gas phase using single-walled carbon nanotubes. Experience gained in engineering, electronics, automation, and software development from the design and…

In order to address some of the challenges facing engineering education, namely the demand that students be better prepared to practice professional as well as technical skills, we have developed an intervention consisting of equipment, assessments and a novel pedagogy. The equipment consists of desktop-scale replicas of common industrial…