United States Naval Academy

Trident Scholar Program

A Parallel Implementation of Two-Dimensional
Lagrangian Shallow Water Equations

A new parallel code for solving the one and two-dimensional shallow water equations has been developed in MATLAB^® . The numerical method is Lagrangian-based and has been tested on variable-bottom bathymetry and various wind forcing.

Advisors:  Visiting Research Professor James M. Greenberg,
Professor Reza Malek-Madani and Associate Professor Christopher W. Brown 
 

A Mathematical Model for the Acoustic and Seismic Properties
 of the Landmine Detection Problem

The problem of detecting a buried landmine was modeled as a circular membrane
flush-mounted in a rigid substrate lying beneath atmospheric and soil layers and insonified by a point source. Eigenfunction expansions for pressure and velocity were derived and formulas for the resonant frequencies were found.

 Advisors:  Professor James L. Buchanan, Professor Murray S. Korman,
and Professor Reza Malek-Madani
 

Design, Synthesis and Testing of
Metabolically-stable Antimalarial Compounds

 This study developed a series of compounds designed to possess antimalarial activity and to be stable toward metabolizing enzymes. The novel compounds were synthesized by a four step process, characterized through nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and then submitted for in-vitro antimalarial testing. As such, the project is a contribution to the early stages in the development of an effective antimalarial medication.

Advisor:  Associate Professor Clare E. Gutteridge
 

Evolution in a Test Tube:
Exploring the Structure and Function of RNA Probes

Previously, RNA molecules that could detect the presence of a small target molecule were produced by in vitro selection (natural selection in a test tube). This project attempted to improve the function of these RNA probes by partially randomizing their sequences and repeating the selection. The progress of the selection was monitored
by examining how the function and the sequence of the RNAs changed with each
new “generation” of molecules.

Advisor:  Assistant Professor Daniel P. Morse

 

An Essential Protein Repair Enzyme:  Investigation of the Molecular Recognition Mechanism of Methionine Sulfoxide Reductase A

This project used spectroscopic techniques to investigate the mechanism by
which the oxidative repair enzyme MsrA recognizes and binds to biomolecules
in need of repair. Using both the intrinsic fluorescence of MsrA and the extrinsic fluorescence of the dye ANS, it was possible to observe and compare the
interactions of MsrA with a wide range of damaged and normal biomolecules. Complementary spectroscopic techniques revealed the conformation of the
MsrA protein backbone and the extent of oxidative repair.

Advisor:  Associate Professor Virginia F. Smith

 

Probing the Interaction of Ionic Liquids with CO₂ :
A Raman Spectroscopy and Ab Initio Study

Ionic liquids (ILs) are unique solvents that have been shown to selectively dissolve carbon dioxide from gaseous mixtures. We are using a combined experimental
and computational effort to gain a fundamental understanding of the chemistry underlying this selective dissolution. This knowledge will help guide the further improvement of ILs for carbon dioxide removal in applications ranging from sequestration of green house gas emissions to purification of submarine air.

Advisors:  Associate Professor Paul C. Trulove, Associate Professor Joseph J. Urban,
and Associate Professor Paul T. Mikulski

Structure of Quasar Continuum Emission Regions and Cosmology
from Optical and X-ray Microlensing in Gravitationally Lensed Quasars

 This project investigated the structure of quasars, the most luminous objects in the universe. Little is known about the structure of quasar continuum emission regions because their angular size is much smaller than the resolution limit of conventional telescopes. Circumventing this limitation, the general relativistic phenomenon
of gravitational lensing was exploited to probe the central engines
of five quasar systems at optical and X-ray wavelengths.

Advisor:  Lieutenant Commander Christopher W. Morgan, USNR

 

Investigation of the Current Turn-off Characteristics of a
GTO Thyristor in an Inductive Pulse Forming Network

This research investigated factors that influence the capability of a Gate-Turn-Off (GTO) thyristor semiconductor switch to interrupt current in an inductive-based Pulse Forming Network (PFN). A test fixture was developed and experimental data collected to facilitate evaluating three parameters of interest: gate turn-off pulse characteristics, snubber circuit values, and pulse repetition rate. The results provide guidance as to how to extend the operational capability of a GTO thyristor functioning as an opening switch
in a PFN rail gun application.

Advisors:  Associate Professor John G. Ciezki
and Assistant Professor Thomas E. Salem
 

Comparing Throughput and Power Consumption
in Sequential and Reconfigurable Processors

In this study, the processing speed and power consumption of both field programmable gate arrays and sequential processors were measured. A comparison of the results showed that a significant benefit could be gained by using field programmable gate arrays when implementing high-performance computing applications.

 Advisors:  Commander Charles B. Cameron, USN and Professor Antal A. Sarkady

 

Targeting Pod Effects on Weapons Release from the F-18C Hornet

This research uncovered the reasons that the addition of a small targeting pod on
the F/A-18C Hornet aircraft adversely affected the release of certain weapons from
a pylon station adjacent to the pod at speeds approaching Mach 1. Computational
fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to analyze the problem, and to suggest changes
to the pod geometry to alleviate the problem.

Advisor:  Assistant Professor Eric N. Hallberg

The Effect of Diameter on Dynamic Seabed Penetration

This project investigated the effect of body diameter on dynamic penetration into
 the seabed using a combined numerical and experimental approach. Penetration depths of shapes repeatedly dropped into the Chesapeake Bay were correlated
with behavior predicted both by an Alternating Lagrangian-Eulerian Finite Element
model and by the traditional quasi-static analysis.

  Advisor:  Commander Patrick J. Hudson, USN
 

Development and Implementation of Carbon Nanofoam Cathode Structures
for Magnesium - Hydrogen Peroxide Semi-fuel Cells

This project investigated the viability of using carbon nanofoams as the cathodes
in semi-fuel cell systems to improve performance. Three-dimensionally porous
carbon nanofoams functionalized with Pd nanoparticle electrocatalysts were synthesized and the nanoarchitectures electrochemical properties were analyzed.

Advisor:  Associate Professor Craig M. Whitaker

 

Capability Driven Robotic Swarms in Reconnaissance-based Operations

This project focused on new methodologies for improving the performance of a swarm
of robotic vehicles in reconnaissance-based operations. By having the individual units coordinate their movements based upon their specific abilities and the mission parameters, this project resulted in significant improvements in robot swarm control.

Advisor: Associate Professor Bradley E. Bishop

 

Stereocontrolled Additions to a Rigid Bicyclo [3.3.0] Octane Ring System

This project investigated several addition reactions to a highly hindered bicyclic compound. Depending on the groups being added and the reaction conditions,
the reactions were found to be highly stereoselective, giving single products.
The investigation resulted in three different types of stereoselective additions to
two different bicyclic substrates.

Advisor:  Associate Professor Debra K. Dillner

 An Experimental Study of Water Injection into
a Model 250-C20B Rolls-Royce Tuboshaft Gas Turbine

The effect of water ingestion on the thermal performance of a Rolls-Royce M250 C20B turboshaft engine was investigated. The engine was put through its design range of
40 to 420 SHP (shaft horsepower) at its design output shaft speed of 6016 rpm with
a water ingestion spray range from 0 to 1.4 gpm. The effects of water ingestion compared to no ingestion for SHP output showed increasing thermal performance
(higher SHP) to a limit and then no SHP increase was seen. For emissions
it was concluded that water ingestion significantly reduced NO_x emissions.

Advisors:  Professor Martin R. Cerza and Commander David D. Myre, USN