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This paper describes the use of axiomatic design to create an academic program which targets the needs of the automotive industry-especially local industry. Creative and innovative engineers and technicians are needed to design, develop, and maintain the vehicles and transportation systems of the future. The design of a new program is presented using axiomatic design to establish multiple levels of customer needs, functional requirements (FRs), associated design parameters (DPs), and resulting design matrices (DMs) that clearly define the program. The curriculum for a two-year automotive technology program is enhanced by partnering with a four-year mechanical engineering program, local and national industries, and local secondary school programs. The paper also discusses potential complexities of the proposed program design and implementation and mitigation strategies.

Long-duration space travel will require improvements in exercise countermeasures so that astronauts are able to maintain cardiovascular fitness, bone mass and the ability to perform coordinated movements in a terrestrial environment following extended periods of “near weightlessness” encountered during transit to and/or obit of the Moon, Mars, and Earth. In such gravitational transitions feedback and feedforward postural control strategies must be recalibrated to ensure optimal locomotion performance. Current data suggests that specific, short duration musculoskeletal loading, following running in simulated Martian gravity using a vertical suspension type simulator, reduces the time required for re-adapting to steady-state performance of the postural control system during a novel, treadmill based precision stepping task. Possible enhancements to the current exercise countermeasures program are suggested.

The Advanced Integration Matrix (AIM) project at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) was chartered to study and solve systems-level integration issues for exploration missions. One of the first issues identified was an inability to conduct trade studies on control system architectures due to the absence of mature evaluation criteria. Such architectures are necessary to enable integration of regenerative life support systems. A team was formed to address issues concerning software and hardware architectures and system controls.. The team has investigated what is required to integrate controls for the types of non-linear dynamic systems encountered in advanced life support. To this end, a water processing bioreactor testbed is being developed which will enable prototyping and testing of integration strategies and technologies.

NASA's mission statement includes the protection of the home planet and a goal to inspire the next generation of explorers. NASA's current vision also includes human exploration of the Moon and Mars. Typically, residents of low-income communities are not directly involved in the space exploration process. Parents of children in low-income communities are inclined to be more interested in the educational components of NASA's activities rather than the technological accomplishments. This paper describes the approach taken to start and support a space and science club in a colonia near the U.S. - Mexico border in South Texas. The club provided a new organizational structure for linking NASA's goals with a low-income community. The structure of the club evolved over the course of three years to reflect the interests and resources of the youth that lived in the colonia.

The concept that plants and humans in a living system are mutually beneficial was communicated to 2nd - 12th grade students in science educational and outreach programs at Texas Tech University's Center for Space Science. Students traveled to the TTU horticulture greenhouse for a live program, which focused on research in the Engineering Development Unit. The research is funded by NASA's Advanced Life Support. During the program students were presented with the science of growing plants, how plants benefit humans in space, and baseline science vocabulary. A survey instrument was developed to assess student level of understanding of sciences, and their comprehension of living cycles, which work together to support manned space missions. The survey consisted of multiple-choice questions covering topics presented during the program. Likert questions were used to assess student's desire to travel in space, be an astronaut or a scientist, and their enjoyment of science and growing plants.

From 1997 to 2001, the third author worked with a team of engineers at JSC to develop the requirements and basic design for the Bioregenerative Planetary Life Support Systems Test Complex, or BIO-Plex. Under the Advanced Integration Matrix (AIM) Project, this earlier effort is extended to an investigation of methods and approaches for Advanced Systems Integration and Control. The intent is to understand and validate the use of software as an integrating function for complex heterogeneous systems, particularly for Advanced Life Support (ALS), in the context of support of mission operations. Preliminary investigations undertaken in the summer of 2004 indicate that integration of controls for the type of dynamic, non-linear, closed-loop biological systems under investigation for ALS systems require a different systems engineering approach than that required for traditional avionics systems.

Texas colonias are unincorporated subdivisions characterized by inadequate water and wastewater infrastructure, inadequate drainage and road infrastructure, substandard housing, and poverty. Since 1989 the Texas Legislature has implemented policies to halt further development of colonias and to address water and wastewater infrastructure needs in existing and new colonias along the border with Mexico. Government programs and non-government and private organization projects aim to address these infrastructure needs. Texas Tech University's Water Resources Center demonstrated the use of alternative on-site wastewater treatment in the Green Valley Farms colonia, San Benito, Texas. The work in Green Valley Farms was a component of a NASA-funded project entitled “Evaluation of NASA's Advanced Life Support Integrated Water Recovery System for Non-Optimal Conditions and Terrestrial Applications.” Two households within the colonia were demonstration sites for the constructed wetlands.

The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of membrane-aerated bioreactors as long term microgravity compatible nitrifying biological water processors (BWP). A small-scale (1/20th) replica of the water recovery system (WRS) at JSC has been operated and extensively analyzed at Texas Tech University (TTU) for the last 3 years. The current nitrifying tubular reactor at JSC and TTU has experienced difficulty in maintaining efficiency and low maintenance. In an attempt to increase the efficiency of the biological portion of the WRS, a membrane-aerated bioreactor (MABR) was constructed and operated using the same parameters as the TTU-WRS in August 2003. The MABR is downstream of an anaerobic packed bed and is designed to promote nitrification (NH4 → NOx). The MABR achieved a percent nitrification of 61% and 55% for recycle ratios of 10 and 20, respectively.

Machine learning methods, such as decision trees and deep neural networks, are becoming increasingly important and useful for data analysis in various scientific fields including dynamics and control, signal processing, pattern recognition, fluid mechanics, and chemical synthesis, etc. For future engine design and performance optimization, there is an urgent need for a robust predictive model which could capture the major combustion properties such as autoignition and flame propagation of multicomponent fuels under a wide range of engine operating conditions, without massive experimental measurement or computational efforts. It will be shown that these long-held limitations and challenges related to complex fuel combustion and engine research could be readily solved by implementing machine learning methods.

With the depletion of petroleum resources around the world, the need to have fuel-efficient mobility solutions and sustainable alternative fuels for automobiles has become prominent. Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) and Battery Electric Vehicles have recently gained attention in terms of fuel-efficient mobility solutions. Recent research work by the authors of these articles and many other research groups have demonstrated the suitability of ammonia as a sustainable alternative power for automobiles [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 18]. Ammonia has been used for a long period of time mainly as an agricultural chemical and as a sustainable and carbon-free fuel and has substantial potential as a liquid fuel for mobile applications [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Ammonia-rich fuels can be used to run HEVs equipped with an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) as the primary power source and a battery as the secondary energy source.

Understanding the fundamental details of drop/wall interactions is important to improving engine performance. Most of the drop-wall interactions studies are based on the impact of a single drop on the wall. To accurately mimic and model the real engine conditions, it is necessary to characterize spray/wall interactions with different impingement frequencies at a wide range of wall temperatures. In this study, a numerical method, based on Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH), is used to simulate consecutive droplet impacts on a heated wall both below and above the Leidenfrost temperature. Impact regimes are identified for various impact conditions by analyzing the time evolution of the post-impingement process of n-heptane drops at different impingement frequencies and wall surface temperatures. For wall temperature below the Leidenfrost temperature, the recoiled film does not leave the surface.