Projects in 1983–1984


General Dynamics: Electromagnetic Propulsion

Advisor
Joseph Mahaffy

This project studied the relatively new field of electromagnetic propulsion, developed and examined mathematical models for specific environments, attempted to derive analytical solutions in special cases, and developed numerical solvers for boundary value problems for Maxwell's partial differential equations for superconducting electromagnetic applications.

ITT Barton: Analysis of a Vibrating Densitometer

Advisor
Hedley Morris
College
CGU

This was a continuation into a second year of an existing project. The existing model of this device was extended to incorporate the effects of prestress, three dimensionality and viscosity.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Applications of Correlation Techniques for Battlefield Identification I

Advisor
Janet Myhre
College
CMC/CGU

This clinic developed mathematical techniques and simulation programs which generate multivariate normal, gamma, and lognormal distributions with a specified dependency between the vector components. Theoretical and sample multivariate skewness numbers of these distributions were also developed. The results indicate that the statistical tests are sensitive to skewness in the distributions but are not affected by slightly differing covariance matrices.

NASA Ames Research Center: Depiction of Simultaneous Maneuvering of Two Moving Aircraft

Advisor
Stavros Busenberg

When two flying objects are maneuvering relative to one another, the two-dimensional displays currently used to aid the pilot proved to be inadequate, and it was unclear which kind of three dimensional displays would be better. The project team analyzed geometries necessary to mathematically describe such moving objects, and developed algorithms and software for implementing appropriate displays on the computer.

Teledyne Microelectronics: Computerized Transient Thermal Analysis of Hybrid Circuits

Advisor
Robert Borrelli

This project continued the work of the the previous year's project team in which a computer program was developed for analyzing the transient thermal behavior of a hybrid microcircuit structure.

U.S. Forest Service: Modeling Heat and Moisture Transfer for Prescribed Fires in Southern California

Advisor
Richard Elderkin
College
POM/CGU

This project developed a mathematical model for the effect of forest fire on the underlying soil