This article investigates the use micro-capsules, containing a gelling agent hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC), to alter flow paths in porous media. The aim is to preferentially block-off high permeability regions, thereby diverting the flow into adjacent un-swept low permeability regions. Micro-capsules with 2 – 7 μm in diameter, were made by polymer precipitation through solvent evaporation using...

Optical tweezers have emerged as a powerful tool for micro and nanomanipulation. Using optical tweezers to perform automated assembly requires on-line monitoring of components in the assembly workspace. This paper presents algorithms for estimating 3-dimensional positions of micro-spheres in the assembly workspace. Algorithms presented in this paper use images obtained by optical section micros...

Utilizing current Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technologies, a three-port micro-capillary pumped loop (micro-CPL) was designed, fabricated and tested to provide integral cooling to electronics or MEMS type devices. The two wafer design consists of one silicon and one borofloat glass wafer. An analytical study was used in determining the geometry of the device, including the evaporato...

Highly uniform hole spacing micro brushes were fabricated based on aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays synthesized by chemical vapor deposition method with the assistance of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template. Different micro brushes from CNT arrays were constructed on silicon, glass, and polyimide substrates, respectively. The micro brushes had highly uniform hole spacing originating from t...

This study evaluated the effect of macro steel fiber (SF), micro glass fiber (GF) and micro polypropylene fiber (PF) in lightweight aggregate concrete, (LWAC) beams reinforced with glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars. Firstly, concrete mixtures with different volume fractions of GF, PF and SF were tested up to compressive strength, then determine the optimum fiber content GF, PF and SF a...

Adherent mammalian cells dynamically interact with their extracellular matrix (ECM) and culture substrate. To accommodate this sensitivity, standard culture techniques typically utilize tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS), a treated polystyrene substrate that promotes cell attachment. However, TCPS cannot be easily integrated into microfluidic devices as it is incompatible with conventional fabri...

Transparent conductive oxide (TCO) thin films were removed from glass substrates using femtosecond laser pulses. Irradiating through the glass, the threshold for complete TCO ablation was much lower than for front-side irradiation. Additionally, the former method created almost rectangular crosssectional groove profiles despite the Gaussian laser beam. This indicates a non-thermal ultrafast abl...

Conventional material removal of BK7 optical glass will normally result in brittle fracture at the surface, generating severe subsurface damage and poor surface finish. Subsurface damages induced by grinding strongly influence the mechanical strength and optical quality of optical glasses. However, through ductile mode grinding it is possible to reduce the surface and subsurface cracks. It is m...

In a separate study, we were interested in understanding people’s Q&A habits on Twitter. Finding questions within Twitter turned out to be a difficult challenge, so we considered applying some traditional NLP approaches to the problem. On the one hand, Twitter is full of idiosyncrasies, which make processing it difficult. On the other it is very restricted in length and tends to employ simple s...