Center for Engineering Concepts Development (CECD) 20th Anniversary Celebration and Middleton Luncheon

Remarks, presentation slides, program, CECD overview, and pictures from the April 17th 2019 CECD 20th Anniversary Celebration and Middleton Luncheon.The Center for Engineering Concepts Development (CECD) celebrated its distinguished history and two decades of accomplishments with the 20th Anniversary and Middleton Luncheon on April 17, 2019. The event opened with welcoming remarks from CECD director, Dr. Davinder Anand, and hosted guest speakers U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Maryland State Senator Thomas “Mac” Middleton (D-Charles Co.), who were early supporters of the research center. Included are remarks, presentation slides, program and CECD overview, and pictures from the April 17th 2019 CECD 20th Anniversary Celebration and Middleton Luncheon

High efficiency magnetic bearings

Research activities concerning high efficiency permanent magnet plus electromagnet (PM/EM) pancake magnetic bearings at the University of Maryland are reported. A description of the construction and working of the magnetic bearing is provided. Next, parameters needed to describe the bearing are explained. Then, methods developed for the design and testing of magnetic bearings are summarized. Finally, a new magnetic bearing which allows active torque control in the off axes directions is discussed

Atypical Presentation of Disseminated Zoster in a Patient with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have 2-fold increased risk of herpes zoster. In literature, limited information exists about disseminated cutaneous zoster in RA patients. An 83-year-old African-American female with RA presented with generalized and widespread vesicular rash covering her entire body. Comorbidities include hypertension, type II diabetes, and dyslipidemia. Patient was on methotrexate 12.5 mg and was not receiving any corticosteroids, anti-TNF therapy, or other biological agents. The patient was afebrile (98 F) with no SIRS criteria. Multiple vesicular lesions were present covering patient’s entire body including face. Lesions were in different stages, some umbilicated with diameter of 2–7 cm. Many lesions have a rim of erythema with no discharge. On admission, patient was also pancytopenic with leukocyte count of 1.70 k/mm3. Biopsies of lesions were performed, which were positive for Varicella antigen. Subsequently, patient was started on Acyclovir. The patient’s clinical status improved and rash resolved. Our patient presented with “atypical” clinical picture of disseminated cutaneous zoster with no obvious dermatome involvement. Disseminated zoster is a potentially serious infection that can have an atypical presentation in patients with immunocompromised status. High index of suspicion is needed to make the diagnosis promptly and to initiate therapy to decrease mortality and morbidity

Neural network controller development for a magnetically suspended flywheel energy storage system

A neural network controller has been developed to accommodate disturbances and nonlinearities and improve the robustness of a magnetically suspended flywheel energy storage system. The controller is trained using the back propagation-through-time technique incorporated with a time-averaging scheme. The resulting nonlinear neural network controller improves system performance by adapting flywheel stiffness and damping based on operating speed. In addition, a hybrid multi-layered neural network controller is developed off-line which is capable of improving system performance even further. All of the research presented in this paper was implemented via a magnetic bearing computer simulation. However, careful attention was paid to developing a practical methodology which will make future application to the actual bearing system fairly straightforward

METHODS FOR PREDICTING THE REMAINING LIFE OF ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLIES WITH CARBON NANOTUBES AND AN OPTICAL TRANSDUCTION TECHNIQUE

ABSTRACT Life consumption monitoring is a method of quantifying the degradation of a system by monitoring the life cycle environment. With current research demonstrating the value of nanotubes as sensors, they may prove to be an inexpensive, compact, and reliable means to monitor not only system environments, but also physical signs of degradation. Life consumption monitoring of electronic assemblies can be cost-effectively done using optical strain measurement techniques. In this study, current output from an optical sensor can be used to interpret combined temperature and vibration histories. This may be accomplished by passing monofrequency light through optical fibers in a peripheral arrangement on a dummy chip. Any deviation from the null condition results in misalignment of the fibers, and hence reduction in intensity and current output. With appropriate failure data at different stress levels, it is possible to determine damage and estimate the remaining life. The key challenges are to determine whether such an optical health monitoring scheme can be sufficiently accurate and robust, and whether the results can be applied to a variety of packages at any location on a circuit assembly