Inexperienced Professor Improvement

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Analyzing Economic and Social Impacts of NFPA 101 Life Safety Code in Costa Rica

The purpose of this project was to investigate how adhering to NFPA 101 Life Safety Code impacts building professionals and the percent increase it has on the cost of construction. We accomplished this by analyzing construction budgets and interviewing industry professionals to obtain a holistic view of NFPA 101 knowledge. The project determined that NFPA code compliance increases cost by 3%-6%. This project also resulted in recommendations for improving NFPA knowledge, clarifying NFPA regulation and improving inspection processes

Rapid, General-Purpose Patterning of Silicon Nitride Thin Films Under Ambient Conditions for Applications Including Fluid Channel and SERS Substrate Formation

Silicon nitride thin films are useful as etch-stop masks in micro- and nanofabrication. As structural elements, they are prevalent in applications as diverse as single-molecule sensing, transmission electron microscopy, ultrafast spectroscopy, superfluidity studies, and high flux liquid filtering. A hand-held “flameless” Tesla-coil lighter was used to create vias through 200 nm silicon nitride (SiNx) films coating silicon wafers. The processing allowed spatially directed KOH etching of the underlying Si. Patterning could be achieved with a hard mask or rastering of the spatially confined discharge, offering—with low barriers to rapid use—particular capabilities that might otherwise be out of reach to researchers without access to conventional, instrumentation-intensive micro- and nanofabrication workflows. General patterning capabilities were demonstrated, followed by the formation of a trench suitable for microfluidic applications. Finally, a discharge-treated thin film surface was sputter coated with gold to create a surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrate that was then used to detect a test analyte at ppm concentration

New Stormwater Management System Design for the EcoTarium Museum of Science and Nature in Worcester, MA

This project quantified the contaminants in stormwater runoff flowing into two on-site ponds at the EcoTarium museum in Worcester, MA in order to design effective Best Management Practices (BMPs). Samples from various locations were collected and tested over multiple rain events. It was found that the contaminants of greatest concern in the stormwater runoff were total phosphorus and pathogens. BMPs for the EcoTarium were designed to primarily treat these contaminants with minimal site impact