Abstract Book - Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering - Arizona State ...

Aneurysm Treatment with Polymer Gels
David Eaton, Bioengineering
Graduation: May 2011 Hometown: Houston, Texas
Mentor: Dr. Brent Vernon, Bioengineering
Grand Challenge: Engineer better medicine
The objective is to examine the properties of two gels to determine if they can be used to embolize brain aneurysms.
For the first gel, in vitro degradation tests were done to determine how the Young’s Modulus changed over time at
different temperatures and for different swelling amounts. The ultimate compressive strength was also measured
for some samples. For the second gel, rheology was performed in order to determine how several variables affect
the gelling reaction rate. Swine studies will have to be done on the first gel; compression and degradation studies
will be done on the second gel.
Analysis of Traffic Instabilities in Congested Traffic
Taylor Ehrick, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Graduation: May 2010 Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona
Mentor: Dr. Soyoung Ahn, Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering
Grand Challenge: Restore and improve urban infrastructure
The objective of this research is to analyze macroscopic traffic behavior of stop-and-go driving, including its lanespecific
characteristics and relation to freeway geometry. Vehicle count and speed data from State Route 99 near
Sacramento, California were analyzed by taking the second-order difference of the cumulative vehicle count and
speed with a moving time window to quantify the magnitude of stop-and-go oscillations. The preliminary findings
indicate that stop-and-go oscillations exhibit lane-specific behavior. Further research will verify the preliminary
findings at different freeway sites.
Prototyping of Patient-Specific Heat Models
Fariha Ejaz, Bioengineering
Graduation: May 2010 Hometown: Gilbert, Arizona
Mentor: Dr. David Frakes, Bioengineering
Grand Challenge: Advance personalized learning
Current tangible models for surgical education and planning are primarily limited to generic cases that are not
patient-specific. These are of limited value since every individual is different and the general models are not based
on real patient data. This project is designed to address current limitations through creation of patient-specific
cardiovascular models that include conventional color coding. These models will aid in surgical planning and
education. Recent advancements in rapid prototyping (RP) make it possible to prototype complex geometries
with embedded color-coding, which is important for this project. Ultimately, we expect that these tools will
improve surgical outcomes.
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