This dissertation examines growth of platinum nanoparticles from vapor deposition on SrTiO3 using a characterization approach that combines imaging techniques and X-ray methods. The primary suite of characterization probes includes atomic force microscopy (AFM), grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray absorption spectroscopy...
ZnO is a member of the unique class of materials known as transparent conducting oxides (TCOs). TCOs are currently used for many applications including flat panel displays, solar cells, and energy efficient windows. Of particular interest is the possibility of developing materials that have high electron mobilities, such that conductivities...
The research reported in this dissertation covers the development of two high-performance concrete materials, Very-High-Strength Concrete (VHSC) and Frangible Concrete, and the philosophy of engineering the microstructure of these materials to produce their specific beneficial traits. The underlying problem addressed was how to optimize their design to maximize their desirable...
This thesis focuses on resource allocation in wireless communication and networking. Resource allocation has been studied widely, for example, to maximize the system-wide throughput or to minimize the average delay per user. Moreover, the utility-based framework is becoming an important tool for addressing fairness and Quality-of-Service (QoS) for individual users....
Recent assessment of material property requirements for blast resistant applications, especially for the naval ship hulls, has defined the need to design steels with high stretch ductility and fragment penetration resistance, along with high strength and adequate toughness. Using a system based computational materials design approach, two series of austenitic...
A critical challenge in improving the quality of life for spinal cord injury survivors is to restore the capacity to grasp and manipulate objects. While progress has been made to restore hand function by using functional electrical stimulation (FES) to activate muscles, providing the means to control the multiple degrees...
Tissue engineering offers a promising approach for the replacement of diseased or injured tissues, and is based upon the premise that cells can be induced to form new tissues when presented with the appropriate set of environmental cues. Polymer scaffolds play a central role in most tissue engineering strategies by...
A multicomponent bimodal poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) polymer composite has been scientifically designed to increase biaxial plastic flow stabilization for the achievement of large biaxial deformations. For this, a systems-based approach was used for the computational materials design of a high performance bubblegum whose mean in-vivo bubble diameter exceeds that of...
As device sizes decrease, more functionality can be placed in an integrated circuit. Therefore, the design complexity of these circuits increases. To deal with complexity, designers move to higher abstraction levels. Currently, the highest abstraction level is the system-level. In our work we investigate the synthesis and verification problem at...
Recent work points out the importance of the solid-solid interface in explaining the high photoactivity of mixed phase TiO2 catalysts. The goal of this research was to probe the synthesis-structure-function relationships of the solid-solid interfaces created by the reactive direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering of titanium dioxide. I hypothesize that...