An Engineering Program Built Around Work

The College of the Ozarks began a four-year general engineering program in the fall of 2016. This is the first four-year engineering program at a federally-recognized work college. At the College of the Ozarks, all full-time students work in exchange for tuition. The campus is built with student labor, and college functions are largely conducted by students. The College work component provides challenges in areas such as student schedules and workload. However, the graded work experiences also provide opportunities to increase work maturity and ties between the program and the campus community. The regional and economic improvement focus of the College, as well as its mission to provide a Christian education for those found worthy who could not otherwise afford it, results in a unique student population. This paper addresses the implementation of the engineering program and rationale behind it. A desire to minimize impact on other College programs, to align with the College goals, and accommodate desires from regional employers shaped both program content and overall structure. Comparisons to other programs highlight both the challenges and the value of the two-part approach taken to accommodate the general education component, while providing both breadth and opportunities for engineering discipline specific concentrations

An Approach to Ground Moving Target Indication Using Multiple Resolutions of Multilook Synthetic Aperture Radar Images

Ground moving target indication (GMTI) using multiple resolutions of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images to estimate the clutter scattering statistics is shown to outperform conventional sample matrix inversion space-time adaptive processing GMTI techniques when jamming is not present. A SAR image provides an estimate of scattering from nonmoving targets in the form of a clutter scattering covariance matrix for the GMTI optimum processor. Since the homogeneity of the scattering statistics are unknown, using SAR images at multiple spatial resolutions to estimate the clutter scattering statistics results in more confidence in the final detection decision. Two approaches to calculating the multiple SAR resolutions are investigated. Multiple resolution filter bank smoothing of the full-resolution SAR image is shown to outperform an innovative approach to multilook SAR imaging. The multilook SAR images are calculated from a single measurement vector partitioned base on synthetic sensor locations determined via eigenanalysis of the radar measurement parameters

Acoustic Engineering Workstation at the College of the Ozarks

The College of the Ozarks is developing the ability to provide acoustic engineering services to customers on and off-campus. The College is the only federally recognized work college with an undergraduate engineering program, which means students do not pay tuition and are assigned workstations on campus to help defray expenses and to generate income for the College. This paper addresses the purpose and administration of the workstation and how it is unique from other service-learning programs, the perceived benefits to the student workers and the engineering program, recent workstation accomplishments, lessons learned, and future plans

Control of Synchrotron Radiation Effects During Recirculation With Bunch Compression

Studies of beam quality preservation during recirculation * have been extended to generate a design of a compact arc providing bunch compression with positive momentum compaction ** and control of both incoherent and coherent synchrotron radiation (ISR and CSR) effects using the optics balance methods of diMitri et al.***. In addition, the arc/compressor generates very little micro-bunching gain. We detail the beam dynamical basis for the design, discuss the design process, give an example solution, and provide simulations of ISR and CSR effects. Reference will be made to a complete analysis of micro-bunching effects ****

Range-wide experiment to investigate nutrient and soil moisture interactions in loblolly pine plantations

The future climate of the southeastern USA is predicted to be warmer, drier and more variable in rainfall, which may increase drought frequency and intensity. Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) is the most important commercial tree species in the world and is planted on ~11 million ha within its native range in the southeastern USA. A regional study was installed to evaluate effects of decreased rainfall and nutrient additions on loblolly pine plantation productivity and physiology. Four locations were established to capture the range-wide variability of soil and climate. Treatments were initiated in 2012 and consisted of a factorial combination of throughfall reduction (approximate 30% reduction) and fertilization (complete suite of nutrients). Tree and stand growth were measured at each site. Results after two growing seasons indicate a positive but variable response of fertilization on stand volume increment at all four sites and a negative effect of throughfall reduction at two sites. Data will be used to produce robust process model parameterizations useful for simulating loblolly pine growth and function under future, novel climate and management scenarios. The resulting improved models will provide support for developing management strategies to increase pine plantation productivity and carbon sequestration under a changing climate.Peer reviewedNatural Resource Ecology and Managemen

The antihypertensive profile of the angiotensin AT(1) receptor antagonist, GR138950, and the influence of potential homeostatic compensatory mechanisms in renal hypertensive rats

1. The cardiovascular profile of the angiotensin AT(1) receptor antagonist, GR138950, and the influence of potential compensatory homeostatic mechanisms on this profile, were investigated in renal artery ligated hypertensive (RALH) rats. 2. GR138950 caused a marked reduction in blood pressure associated with immediate tachycardia in conscious RALH rats. The antihypertensive action of GR138950 appeared biphasic; an immediate fall in blood pressure, which plateaued within 1 h, and which was followed by a further slow decline that reached maximum between 5–7 h after administration. 3. The tachycardia caused by GR138950 was attenuated by atenolol and was abolished by combined pretreatment with atenolol and atropine methyl nitrate. However, the antihypertensive profile of GR138950 was unchanged by these pretreatments. 4. The resting blood pressure and the antihypertensive effect of GR138950, in RALH rats, were unaffected by the vasopressin V(1) receptor antagonist, [β-mercapto-β,β-cyclopentamethylene propionyl(1)-O-Me-Tyr(2),Arg(8)]-vasopressin. Thus, vasopressinergic mechanisms are not involved in either maintaining blood pressure in RALH rats, or in compensating for the fall in blood pressure caused by GR138950. 5. In anaesthetized RALH rats, GR138950 caused a marked fall in blood pressure that was accompanied by an increase in heart rate along with sustained increases in renal and splanchnic sympathetic nerve activity. 6. In summary, the biphasic fall in blood pressure evoked by GR138950 in RALH rats can not be explained on the basis of changes in autonomic control of the heart, alteration of vasopressin-mediated vasoconstrictor mechanisms or overall suppression of central sympathetic outflow. Rather, increased vasoconstrictor tone might serve to oppose the initial fall in blood pressure