In an innovative junior-senior engineering clinic course1-2 four Rowan University undergraduate students worked on a multidisciplinary project to learn first hand what sustainability challenges are and what it means to be a professional energy auditor. Their task was to find out why Rowan University led a group of 20 peer universities and colleges in energy consumption per square foot and to assist the university in meeting its sustainability commitment to the Governor's Office and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. This is not easy given the exponential growth this southern New Jersey University has been experiencing in student population, energy use and building square feet. With the assistance of their professor and a professional energy auditor the team learned the basics of building energy analysis, how to perform lighting surveys and energy audits and developed recommendations to the University's Energy Review Panel. Their recommendations could save the University thousands of energy dollars, over a million kilowatt hours and Btu's, and tons of greenhouse gas emissions when implemented. This team of electrical, civil/environmental and mechanical engineers completed two comprehensive energy audits and began sub-metering analysis to prioritize which buildings on campus should be investigated first based upon their energy consumption. As is true of many large campus facilities served by a single primary electric account not all buildings are sub-metered and just where all the power is being used on campus is unknown without detailed investigation and analysis. The team rapidly began to identify potential sources of data for their analysis and proposed inexpensive sub-metering for those locations where no equipment was available. The result of their work was the saving of significant money on external consultants and the ability of the Energy Review Panel to rapidly prioritize where it would focus its energy conservation efforts. They have become familiar with many industrial and commercial energy conservation techniques as part of this innovative laboratory experience. The results they have generated are creating motivation for a broader introduction of these concepts into the engineering curriculum. Background

The shear properties of natural granular particles such as sand are significantly dependent on the shapes of the particles in the mixture. This is important from a practical viewpoint, because a measurement and characterization technique for the 3-D shapes of such particles can lead to an improved understanding of soil stability and influence the design of structural foundations. Previous techniques that have been developed for this purpose have proven to be complex, and the associated instrumentation has proven to be expensive. Furthermore, conventional 2-D shape measurement and description methods do not readily lend themselves to parsimonious 3-D representations. The situation is further complicated by the fact that, to parameterize the relationship between shape and shear characteristics, a single numerical descriptor is required to model the 3-D shapes of multiple particles in a natural sand particle mixture. This paper describes an optical tomography technique for the measurement of particle data that is then characterized using statistical 3-D shape descriptors. The algebraic reconstruction technique (ART) is used to synthesize 3-D particle shapes from 2-D tomography projections. It is shown that the measurement and characterization techniques used can provide distinct features for differently shaped particle mixtures and can be used to synthesize 3-D composite particles representative of the entire mix. The novelty of the technique described in this paper is that numerical shape descriptors can be obtained for not only a single 3-D object but also an entire collection of 3-D objects. Furthermore, the statistical nature of the 3-D shape descriptor of a particle mixture can be used to synthesize a mixture containing an arbitrary number of particles that have similar but not identical shapes. Results demonstrating the efficacy of the method on a set of natural sand particle mixtures are presented.

This paper documents a methodology for characterizing granular materials in three dimensions using two-dimensional shape descriptors. This paper demonstrates that Fourier-based three-dimensional shape descriptors can be constructed for sands having a common geologic origin, using a statistical combination of two-dimensional projections. A skeletonization algorithm is developed in this study to model irregular particle shape for discrete element simulation. The two-dimensional and three-dimensional particle shapes are then implemented within discrete element modeling software to evaluate the influence of grain morphology on shear strength response of granular soil by using discrete simulation of direct shear test.

Shear behavior and liquefaction susceptibility of geomaterial aggregates have been determined to be dependent on particle shape and angularity. However, quantification of this dependence is a challenging task owing to a dearth of quantitative models for particle shape and the difficulty of modeling angular particle assemblies. The situation becomes more complex when the quantitative models are required to synthesize arbitrary 3-D particle shapes that are representative of specific sand mixtures. The authors have recently described a method for quantitative identification of 3-D particle morphology estimated from projective two-dimensional representations. This paper extends prior work and describes the design and development of an automated three-dimensional particle synthesis algorithm using tomographic reconstruction techniques. A database of 2-D and 3-D images has been generated by optical and X-ray scans of the following sands: #1 Dry Sand, Daytona Beach, Standard Melt, Rhode Island, Hawaii Kahala Beach, Michigan Dune and Hawaii Ala Wai Surfer’s Beach. The algebraic reconstruction technique (ART) has been used to characterize 3-D particle shapes from this database. This paper demonstrates the consistency, separability, and uniqueness of the 3-D shape descriptor algorithm as well as its ability to synthesize 3-D particle shapes representative of the respective aggregate mixtures.

The properties of geomaterial aggregates, mainly flow and shear characteristics, are significantly dependent on the shapes of the particles in the mixture. 3D particle models that have beer previously developed to quantify, this dependence have proved complex and expensive. This paper describes an optical tomography technique for the acquisition of real particle data that can be characterized using 3D shape descriptors. The algebraic reconstruction technique (ART) is used to synthesize 3D particle shapes from ID tomography projections. Results demonstrating the efficacy of the method on a set of sand mixtures are presented.

It has been shown that properties of geomaterial aggregates, mainly flow and shear characteristics, are significantly dependent on the shapes of the particles in the mixture. 3D particle models that have been previously developed to quantify this dependence have proved complex and expensive. This paper describes an optical tomography technique for the acquisition of real particle data that can be characterized using 3D shape descriptors. The algebraic reconstruction technique (ART) is used to synthesize 3D particle shapes from 2D tomography projections. Results demonstrating the efficacy of the method on a set of sand mixtures are presented.

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Undergraduate Research on Sustainability: Campus Energy Analysis and Building Energy Audits Peter Jansson, James Blanck, Patrick Giordano, Dona Johnson, Sara Ross Rowan University Abstract In an innovative junior-senior engineering clinic course1-2 four Rowan University undergraduate students worked on a multidisciplinary project to learn first hand what sustainability challenges are and what it means to be a professional energy auditor. Their task was to find out why Rowan University led a group of 20 peer universities and colleges in energy consumption per square foot and to assist the university in meeting its sustainability commitment to the Governor's Office and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. This is not easy given the exponential growth this southern New Jersey University has been experiencing in student population, energy use and building square feet. With the assistance of their professor and a professional energy auditor the team learned the basics of building energy analysis, how to perform lighting surveys and energy audits and developed recommendations to the University's Energy Review Panel. Their recommendations could save the University thousands of energy dollars, over a million kilowatt hours and Btu’s, and tons of greenhouse gas emissions when implemented. This team of electrical, civil/environmental and mechanical engineers completed two comprehensive energy audits and began sub-metering analysis to prioritize which buildings on campus should be investigated first based upon their energy consumption. As is true of many large campus facilities served by a single primary electric account not all buildings are sub-metered and just where all the power is being used on campus is unknown without detailed investigation and analysis. The team rapidly began to identify potential sources of data for their analysis and proposed inexpensive sub-metering for those locations where no equipment was available. The result of their work was the saving of significant money on external consultants and the ability of the Energy Review Panel to rapidly prioritize where it would focus its energy conservation efforts. They have become familiar with many industrial and commercial energy conservation techniques as part of this innovative laboratory experience. The results they have generated are creating motivation for a broader introduction of these concepts into the engineering curriculum. Background As our university's enrollment grows, new buildings are constructed and we increase our use of technology, we create a significant increase in our use of energy. In 2001 our university administration joined 46 other colleges and universities across New Jersey in endorsing a Sustainability Greenhouse Gas Action Plan for the state that calls for a 3.5% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 20053. This commitment as well as ongoing priorities to keep student tuition costs low spawned an increasing need to conserve energy, and to cutback on energy costs across the Rowan University campus. A recent benchmark study that Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition Copyright 2004, American Society for Engineering Education