Research

Laser Tissue Welding

 A prototype device has been developed to fuse septal tissue membranes as an alternative to sutures or staples through the controlled application of laser heating and pressure to induce protein denaturation and subsequent tissue fusion, through renaturation and intertwining, across the interface. The current research investigates light scattering absorption in tissue from a laser source and the subsequent effects of irradiation on protein structures within tissue with regards to cell necrosis. 

Remote Sensing

Hyperspectral Imaging (HI) is an extension of multispectral imaging, with which both spectral and spatial information from samples can be acquired simultaneously. It enables the acquisition of data in hundreds of spectral bands with narrow bandwidths and can provide detailed contiguous spectral curves that traditional multispectral sensors cannot offer. This results in a large data set, otherwise called a data cube, which facilitate a complete and reliable analysis of intrinsic properties and external characteristics of samples. 

High-resolution hyperspectral imaging provides an abundance of spectral information from which essential features are extracted for further analysis using image processing procedures.  This research seeks to make use of existing HI technology to investigate bacteria spikes in waterways, tissue damage due to laser irradiation and fruit ripening for commercial application.

Sustainable Housing

The aim of the research is to provide communities existing in a resources limited setting with a tool for sustainably constructing their own dwellings using local manpower combined with the natural resources available on site.  The technique is based on rammed earth principle in which the raw material for construction is the natural soil present at the targeted location.   The proposed solution involves the design and fabrication of a modular home construction kit utilizing rammed earth technology.  The modular component allows the end user to construct walls of various dimensions made from compacted (rammed) earth from the same basic kit. The compact design minimizes shipping volume and reduces transportation costs to the targeted site. The

Engineering Education

This research is focused on developing educations tools to enhance the senior design/capstone process.  Currently, low cost experimental test stations are being developed to allow students to take basic measurements of temperature, acceleration, force and strain. This project will allow students to gain a better understanding of the design process by having to incorporate experimental procedures and protocols in validating their numerical results.