Projects
Graduate Course Projects (Optics)
UV Cell Phone Camera for Crime Scene Scanning
A cell phone camera with near–UV imaging capability was designed in CODE V to capture the fluorescence from latent fingerprints in a crime scene. This was an f/4 lens with a 71.72° full field of view and a focal length of 4.15 mm. The starting point for this design was an f/8 Cooke Triplet having a 28° full field of view with a field lens added later to constrain distortion and telecentricity. The final design incorporated four elements with all aspheric surfaces (along with a window) and two moldable glass materials. The lens had very low distortion (≤ 1%) and provided good resolution with ≥ 30% MTF at 116 cycles/mm corresponding to 70% of the sensor Nyquist frequency for all fields. The designed camera lens met all the performance and packaging specifications compatible with a cell phone configuration. However, the manufacturing yield for all fields was very low which could be improved by loosening the MTF requirement. Such a cell phone camera with near–UV (330–400 nm) imaging capability provides more flexibility in crime scene investigation while making the search for evidence easier, faster, and more efficient.
Optical Design of a Terahertz Pharmaceutical Inspection Lens
A high-resolution custom adaptor lens for Terahertz imaging was designed in CODE V to assess the chemical composition of pills with a narrowed THz spectral band from 30 𝜇𝑚 to 90 𝜇𝑚. This was an f/1.94 lens with a focal length of 106.4 mm. The final design had only three elements, resulted in very low distortion (< 2%), and provided good resolution with ≥ 44% MTF at 3 cycles/mm corresponding to 50% of the sensor Nyquist frequency for all fields.
A Study on Improving Conductivity of CdS with Doping
The conducting properties of bulk CdS with a Zinc Blende crystal structure were investigated by tuning its bandgap with different types of dopants and their ratios. The band structures and the density of states of the modeled systems were analyzed using Yet Another Extended Hückel Molecular Orbital Package (YAeHMOP).
Bandgap Analysis of a Photonic Crystal in COMSOL
Wave propagation in a 2D photonic crystal consisting of circular GaAs pillars was investigated and dispersion characteristics were analyzed using COMSOL.
Graduate Course Projects (Technical Entrepreneurship and Management)
FLYWAGON – Expeditious Drone Delivery for Outdoor Enthusiasts
I was the team leader for this hypothetical product development project featuring long–distance expeditious drone delivery in a class setting where I gained firsthand experience with the tactical elements of engineering design practice and technical validation including portfolio alignment, requirements definition, verification plan, test method development, project management, and idea financials.
A Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) Repair
We worked as a team to develop a business plan for a technology that prevents re-herniation in CDH patients in a class setting.
New Product Failure Analysis
The reasons behind the failure of R. J. Reynolds Premier Smokeless Cigarettes were analyzed based on the 3C-STP framework, 4P tactics, and Porter’s 5 Forces while using tools like Perceptual Maps and the Multi-Attribute Model.
Undergraduate Course Projects
Eye-Blink Controlled Electric Wheel Chair
The goal of this project was to detect the eye blinking of a user via a webcam and control the motion of the wheelchair accordingly depending on different kinds of gestures. The facial recognition system of OpenCV (Open Source Computer Vision) was coordinated with Python to detect the images of eyes and appropriate commands were sent to Arduino Uno to control the motor drive. An ultrasonic sensor was used to detect any obstacle as well.
GSM-Based Smart Energy Meter
The prototype of a prepaid smart energy meter was proposed where a user could recharge the electricity balance by sending an SMS conveying a secret pin number obtained from the pre-purchased card. The pin number would be decoded in the central server and the corresponding amount of energy would be delivered until the balance ends. The proposed system had some additional features like critical alert and power saving mode in the event of low balance.
Barcode Reader and Scanner
A simple barcode encoding and decoding algorithm was developed with the help of the RGBW Color Image Method using MATLAB.