College of Engineering
College of Engineering
HIGH PERFORMANCE SIMULATION
Michael J. Conway Computer Science Dr. Jeffrey Johnson Faculty Mentor Computer Science
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It is impossible to analytically solve a gravitational system involving an arbitrary number of bodies; moreover, it is infeasible to conduct experiments on this scale. In order to study these n‐body systems, it is necessary for astrophysicists to design and run computer models based on the fundamental law of gravitation. Unfortunately, the computational load in performing such simulations grows quadratically with the number of particles, as each particle pair must be considered. Various techniques, ranging from approximation algorithms to hardware‐level parallelism, have been employed to make n‐body simulations faster. The Astrophysical Multipurpose Software Environment (AMUSE) gathers a wide range of astrophysical simulators written in several low‐level languages, such as FORTRAN and C, and provides a uniform high‐level Python interface. However, even this interface requires signi icant programming experience to operate properly. The main goal of this project was to continue the development of the GPUnit graphical interface for running AMUSE simulations. Pilot runs identi ied areas of the program requiring further development, such as support for running simulations on a remote cluster. Based on this preliminary information, numerous design improvements and additional features were implemented. The resulting program made the capabilities of the AMUSE framework more readily available to novice users. It is expected that these modi ications will allow researchers to take advantage of the full potential of the AMUSE software.
STAR Scholars Summer Showcase 2011
DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ANION EXCHANGE MEMBRANES FOR USE IN ALKALINE FUEL CELLS In the recent years, solid polymer electrolyte membranes have garnered much interest. Its wide range of applications in fuel cells and the ability to do away with the use of fossil fuels makes it a promising innovation of the 21st century. However, the Hydrogen‐Oxygen fuel cell that was developed makes use of proton exchange membranes (PEM) and platinum as a catalyst, thereby making it expensive. During the STAR program, I worked on developing and characterizing anion exchange membranes (AEM) for use in fuel cells, the major bene it of which is that AEMs can function with non‐precious metals as catalysts. My focus was primarily on AEM characterization. I performed dimensional analysis and water uptake measurements on the membranes to determine how the membranes behave in solvents such as war and methanol. Next, I used Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy to measure the ionic conductivity of these membranes. I then performed Differential Scanning Calorimetry on them to analyze how they behaved at varying temperatures. Lastly, I prepared Membrane Electrode Assemblies for the standard H2‐O2 fuel cell and performed fuel cell experiments, which served as a control for the AEMs. The above experiments were also performed on two different types of PEM’s so as to create a basis for comparison. Our results showed that while AEM’s are economically more ef icient, they do not perform as well as the standard PEMs that are being used. However, if AEMs are able to match the power output of standard H2‐O2fuel cells, they could prove to be a marvelous source of clean energy.
STAR Scholars Summer Showcase 2011
Rishon Benjamin Chemical Engineering
Dr. Yoseff Elabd Faculty Mentor Chemical & Biological Engineering
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