Digital Systems Teaching and Research (DSTR) Robot: A Flexible Platform for Education and Applied Research

The DSTR (pronounced “Disaster”) robot has a strong history of being adaptable to different user’s needs, and there are many opportunities ahead that indicate that the sky, quite literally, is not the limit for this robust platform. This paper provides a historical perspective on the development of the DSTR robot as a collaborative design developed by the Mobile Integrated Solutions Laboratory (MISL) at Texas A&M University and ASEP 4X4 Inc. Texas Instruments has been a major partner in the integration of the control electronics, and Texas Space Technology Applications and Research (T STAR) LLC has played a significant role in the propagation of the DSTR robot as an adaptable applied research/education/STEM outreach platform. The paper will present examples of the strong industry-academic relationships that allow the DSTR robot to be utilized in a multitude of experiential learning environments. In addition to a number of STEM outreach activities, the DSTR robots are being used in the Introduction to Engineering course at Blinn College and in the Freshman Engineering curriculum at Texas A&M University. DSTRs have also been selected by NASA scientists as a low-cost lunar sample collector. The paper will also discuss the newly developed DSTR-E (DSTR Engineering) unit which requires students to perform several engineering tasks during the build process. The paper will also include the lessons learned from initial design through its transfer to the private sector for commercialization and future plans.Cockrell School of Engineerin

Options and Experiences for Online Chemistry Laboratory Instruction

While online course offerings have been on the rise for many years, there was a rapid transition to online courses due to campus closures and social distancing protocols associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. This has caused significant disruption in traditional chemistry laboratory activities. In this chapter, features of various distance laboratory approaches options are presented, including wet chemistry and dry laboratory options. Because the existing research comparing effectiveness of these strategies is scarce, no attempt is made to argue the effectiveness of one modality over the other, but rather advantages and disadvantages of each method are presented and discussed. The best fit for a specific institution will depend on many factors that must be considered

Horizontal Mergers of Online Firms: Structural Estimation and Competitive Effects

This paper (1) presents a general model of online price competition, (2) shows how to structurally estimate the underlying parameters of the model when the number of competing firms is unknown or in dispute, (3) estimates these parameters based on UK data for personal digital assistants, and (4) uses these estimates to simulate the competitive effects of horizontal mergers. Our results suggest that competitive effects in this online market are more closely aligned with the simple homogeneous product Bertrand model than might be expected given the observed price dispersion and number of firms. Our estimates indicate that so long as two firms remain in the market post merger, the average transaction price is roughly unaffected by horizontal mergers. However, there are potential distributional effects; our estimates indicate that a three-to-two merger raises the average transaction price paid by price sensitive "shoppers" by 2.88 percent, while lowering the average transaction price paid by consumers "loyal" to a particular firm by 1.37 percent.

K-12 Project Management Education: NASA Hunch Projects

To increase the interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) among high school students, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) created the “High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware” (HUNCH) program. To enhance the experience of the students, NASA sponsored two additional projects that require universities to design and implement educational modules to be delivered over two (fall and spring) semesters to the six high schools in the area of project management. These modules exposed the students to project management concepts and tools that can be applied in their HUNCH projects. The benefits of the project management modules are: 1) acquiring knowledge in project management, 2) timely, cost- effective execution of the HUNCH projects, and most important, 3) increased student interest in STEM. This article discusses the details of Texas A&M University’s design and implementation of the project management modules. The faculty members involved in the sponsored research projects designed and taught the educational modules. The educational modules were reviewed by the Project Management Institute-Clear Lake (PMI-CL) to ensure consistency with PMI’s project management standards. Texas A&M University partnered with three high schools during this project. Undergraduate students at Texas A&M University who were enrolled in a project management course using project management techniques to complete their capstone design projects mentored the high school students. The interactions between the undergraduate and high school students proved beneficial to both parties. Pre- and post- tests in project management were designed and conducted in each high school. The data are used to analyze the effectiveness of student learning.

Training Livestock to Avoid Specific Forage

This fact sheet provides the basics of aversion training for livestock

Self-Healing of Ionomeric Polymers with Carbon Fibers from Medium-Velocity Impact and Resistive Heating

Self-healing materials science has seen significant advances in the last decade. Recent efforts have demonstrated healing in polymeric materials through chemical reaction, thermal treatment, and ultraviolet irradiation. The existing technology for healing polymeric materials through the aforementioned mechanisms produces an irreversible change in the material and makes it unsuitable for subsequent healing cycles. To overcome these disadvantages, we demonstrate a new composite self-healing material made from an ionomer (Surlyn) and carbon fiber that can sustain damage from medium-velocity impact and heal from the energy of the impact. Furthermore, the carbon fiber embedded in the polymer matrix results in resistive heating of the polymer matrix locally, melts the ionomer matrix around the damage, and heals the material at the damaged location. This paper presents methods to melt-process Surlyn with carbon fiber and demonstrates healing in the material through medium-velocity impact tests, resistive heating, and imaging through electron and optical microscopy. A new metric for quantifying self-healing in the sample, called width-heal ratio, is developed, and we report that the Surlyn-carbon fiber-based material under an optimal rate of heating and at the correct temperature has a width-heal ratio of \u3e0.9, thereby demonstrating complete recovery from the damage

The Modern Andromeda.

Engraved cartoon from the Victorian-era publication Fun. The cartoon depicts an image of Columbia chained to a rock labeled WAR POLICY. A monster rises from a body of water and makes to grab Columbia. Its pupils bear the a profile image of Abraham Lincoln and another unidentified man.https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/fvw-artifacts/2522/thumbnail.jp

DuckDuckGo

Review of DuckDuckGo, Reviewed February 2015 by Matt Morgan, President Concrete Computing [email protected]