The Scholarly Role of Faculty Advisors in Student Engineering Competition Projects

Engineering faculty advisors at Cedarville University work closely with senior engineering students on the Solar Boat team to improve the boat’s performance each year and continue the team’s legacy of 7 wins in the last 10 years at the Solar Splash Competition. The faculty-student relationships are at times similar to that of a mentor and apprentice, and at other times similar to that of an engineering manager and a team of engineers. This mentor/manager approach allows us to maintain technical continuity from year to year between student teams, develop and maintain an increasingly sophisticated team knowledge base, coach the students through design issues beyond the scope of their classroom instruction, and model the diligence, effort, and attention to detail that are essential for success at the international level in student engineering competitions. Each year, the students on the Solar Boat Team seek to improve several aspects of the boat’s hull, electronics or drive system. They follow a design process that includes background research, developing a proposal, designing and modelling components and circuits for in-house manufacture or purchase from vendors. The unique nature of the project often leads to design solutions that are not commercially available and requires the students to work with potential vendors in a guided development process to produce something that does not currently exist. In this process, the students develop practical communication strategies with busy vendors, learn to assess the technical validity of potential solutions, and develop expertise in specific details of the project; areas that are sometimes beyond the experience or expertise of their advisors

Using Computational Fluid Dynamics to Predict Drag on a Boat Hull

For many years Cedarville University’s Solar Boat team has been designing and creating boat hulls. One of the key elements in designing a hull is to decrease the amount of drag or resistance the boat has when moving through the water. Previous mechanical engineering seniors at Cedarville University have attempted to use computational fluid dynamics or CFD to predict the drag on the Solar Boat hull with software called Fluent produced by Ansys. However, they have been unsuccessful due to the complexity when trying to model two phases of flow, e.g. air and water. The project however, was successful in predicting the hull drag of our current Solar Boat design using Fluent. To approach this problem I first needed to create a model of the boat in another program also produced by Ansys called ICEM. This software allowed me to import the 3D model of the Solar Boat from SolidWorks 2013 and create a mesh around it. This mesh is crucial for Fluent to simulate the fluid flow of both the air and water as it interacts with the Solar Boat. Using a two phase volume of fluid, VOF, and k-omega viscous model I was able to reproduce the fluid flow experienced by the boat in real life conditions. The implications of my work are that future Solar Boat teams will be able to use my CFD work to accurately predict hull drag on the Solar Boat before having to create the actual boat which can be very costly. With a little bit of work and time the Solar Boat team will now be able to design a new hull and predict hull drag to check for improvements. Additional gains have been made in the way of modeling two phase flow in Fluent which will be critical when analyzing hydrofoils which may be used on the Solar Boat in the future

Addressing global ruminant agricultural challenges through understanding the rumen microbiome::Past, present and future

The rumen is a complex ecosystem composed of anaerobic bacteria, protozoa, fungi, methanogenic archaea and phages. These microbes interact closely to breakdown plant material that cannot be digested by humans, whilst providing metabolic energy to the host and, in the case of archaea, producing methane. Consequently, ruminants produce meat and milk, which are rich in high-quality protein, vitamins and minerals, and therefore contribute to food security. As the world population is predicted to reach approximately 9.7 billion by 2050, an increase in ruminant production to satisfy global protein demand is necessary, despite limited land availability, and whilst ensuring environmental impact is minimized. Although challenging, these goals can be met, but depend on our understanding of the rumen microbiome. Attempts to manipulate the rumen microbiome to benefit global agricultural challenges have been ongoing for decades with limited success, mostly due to the lack of a detailed understanding of this microbiome and our limited ability to culture most of these microbes outside the rumen. The potential to manipulate the rumen microbiome and meet global livestock challenges through animal breeding and introduction of dietary interventions during early life have recently emerged as promising new technologies. Our inability to phenotype ruminants in a high-throughput manner has also hampered progress, although the recent increase in “omic” data may allow further development of mathematical models and rumen microbial gene biomarkers as proxies. Advances in computational tools, high-throughput sequencing technologies and cultivation-independent “omics” approaches continue to revolutionize our understanding of the rumen microbiome. This will ultimately provide the knowledge framework needed to solve current and future ruminant livestock challenges

GWAS meta-analysis of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy implicates multiple hepatic genes and regulatory elements

Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a pregnancy-specific liver disorder affecting 0.5–2% of pregnancies. The majority of cases present in the third trimester with pruritus, elevated serum bile acids and abnormal serum liver tests. ICP is associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes, including spontaneous preterm birth and stillbirth. Whilst rare mutations affecting hepatobiliary transporters contribute to the aetiology of ICP, the role of common genetic variation in ICP has not been systematically characterised to date. Here, we perform genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and meta-analyses for ICP across three studies including 1138 cases and 153,642 controls. Eleven loci achieve genome-wide significance and have been further investigated and fine-mapped using functional genomics approaches. Our results pinpoint common sequence variation in liver-enriched genes and liver-specific cis-regulatory elements as contributing mechanisms to ICP susceptibility

Bi-allelic Loss-of-Function CACNA1B Mutations in Progressive Epilepsy-Dyskinesia.

The occurrence of non-epileptic hyperkinetic movements in the context of developmental epileptic encephalopathies is an increasingly recognized phenomenon. Identification of causative mutations provides an important insight into common pathogenic mechanisms that cause both seizures and abnormal motor control. We report bi-allelic loss-of-function CACNA1B variants in six children from three unrelated families whose affected members present with a complex and progressive neurological syndrome. All affected individuals presented with epileptic encephalopathy, severe neurodevelopmental delay (often with regression), and a hyperkinetic movement disorder. Additional neurological features included postnatal microcephaly and hypotonia. Five children died in childhood or adolescence (mean age of death: 9 years), mainly as a result of secondary respiratory complications. CACNA1B encodes the pore-forming subunit of the pre-synaptic neuronal voltage-gated calcium channel Cav2.2/N-type, crucial for SNARE-mediated neurotransmission, particularly in the early postnatal period. Bi-allelic loss-of-function variants in CACNA1B are predicted to cause disruption of Ca2+ influx, leading to impaired synaptic neurotransmission. The resultant effect on neuronal function is likely to be important in the development of involuntary movements and epilepsy. Overall, our findings provide further evidence for the key role of Cav2.2 in normal human neurodevelopment.MAK is funded by an NIHR Research Professorship and receives funding from the Wellcome Trust, Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital Charity, and Rosetrees Trust. E.M. received funding from the Rosetrees Trust (CD-A53) and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. K.G. received funding from Temple Street Foundation. A.M. is funded by Great Ormond Street Hospital, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), and Biomedical Research Centre. F.L.R. and D.G. are funded by Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. K.C. and A.S.J. are funded by NIHR Bioresource for Rare Diseases. The DDD Study presents independent research commissioned by the Health Innovation Challenge Fund (grant number HICF-1009-003), a parallel funding partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Department of Health, and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (grant number WT098051). We acknowledge support from the UK Department of Health via the NIHR comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre award to Guy's and St. Thomas' National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust in partnership with King's College London. This research was also supported by the NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre. J.H.C. is in receipt of an NIHR Senior Investigator Award. The research team acknowledges the support of the NIHR through the Comprehensive Clinical Research Network. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, Department of Health, or Wellcome Trust. E.R.M. acknowledges support from NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, an NIHR Senior Investigator Award, and the University of Cambridge has received salary support in respect of E.R.M. from the NHS in the East of England through the Clinical Academic Reserve. I.E.S. is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (Program Grant and Practitioner Fellowship)