Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, Computer Science and Engineering

A maze is a puzzle in which a player finds a path from the starting point to the ending point. These days, maze is not only used as a puzzle but also adopted in many different fields. In the field of computer games, it can be used as a basic structure for a game level. In the field of robotics, it can be used as a platform to demonstrate the robot's learning ability. Also, in the field of architecture, its pattern can be used to decorate a building. Maze users in different fields may have different purposes to use a maze and need different properties of the maze. For example, a user may want a maze with numerous turns and branches in a robot contest, while others may want a maze with long straight passages and fewer dead-ends in building decoration. Thus, our research focuses on developing a method which can generate a maze based on the desired properties. Our research domain is perfect maze. Perfect maze is one type of a maze that has neither loops nor inaccessible areas. To generate a perfect maze satisfying given desired properties, our research applies a search-based procedural content generation (SBPCG) approach. SBPCG is one approach to procedurally generate game content like weapons and terrains via a searching mechanism. In our research domain, the perfect maze, SBPCG searches/generates perfect mazes until either a satisfactory maze is found or a termination criteria is met. Since a perfect maze has a structure of a spanning tree, spanning tree generation algorithms, such as Prim's algorithm and Kruskal's algorithm, can be used. This research aims to investigate whether these spanning tree generation algorithms are capable of generating the desired mazes using SBPCG approach. Since they search mazes randomly in the space of spanning trees, mazes with some desired properties could result in infinite searching. Thus, our research also provides new method, which applies intelligent searching mechanism in SBPCG approach. In this new method, from a space of spann (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, Computer Science and Engineering

Procedural content generation for video games (PCGG) is a growing field due to its benefits of reducing development costs and adding replayability. While there are many different approaches to PCGG, I developed a body of research around tile-based approaches. Tiles are versatile and can be used for materials, 2D game content, or 3D game content. They may be seamless such that a game player cannot perceive that game content was created with tiles. Tile-based approaches allow localized content and semantics while being able to generate infinite worlds. Using techniques such as aperiodic tiling and spatially varying tiling, we can guarantee these infinite worlds are rich playable experiences. My research into tile-based PCGG has led to results in four areas: 1) development of a tile-based framework for PCGG, 2) development of tile-based bandwidth limited noise, 3) development of a complete tile-based game, and 4) application of formal languages to generation and evaluation models in PCGG.

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2015, Educational Leadership

One in six students at American four-year universities is a first-generation student. First-generation students, defined in this study as those whose parents did not attend a four-year university, encounter unique tensions as they navigate the disparate worlds of home and school. This constructivist narrative study of first-generation student experiences explores the success stories of eight diverse first-generation seniors at Miami University – a selective, four-year, residential institution in Oxford, Ohio. The study resists a deficient perspective on first-generation students, instead telling the stories of participants who have successfully navigated tension between the worlds of home and school, and accomplished their goal of graduating from college. Though nearly all research in this area focuses on first-generation students' transitions to college, this study found that tension between home and school persisted throughout participants' college experiences. This persistent tension is identified and described in three non-linear realms: tension of transition, tension of identity, and tension of success. The study describes how participants experienced a temporal dimension of tension between their past and future worlds within these realms, and identifies participants' commitment to a college future as a powerful source of motivation for persistence amidst home/school tension. Implications for practice underscore the importance of validation for first-generation students from campus peers, faculty, and staff; the value of safe space for building authentic connections with others in their college world; and the responsibility of four-year institutions to transform institutional culture in order to provide such validation and support for first-generation students as they negotiate tension between the worlds of home and school. Particular implications for practice include targeted outreach for first-generation students in the areas of pre-semes (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (M.S.), University of Dayton, 2013, Mechanical Engineering

This thesis develops techniques that address the design of planar four-bar linkages for tasks common to pick-and-place devices, used in assembly and manufacturing operations. The analysis approaches relate to two common kinematic synthesis tasks, motion generation and path-point generation. Motion generation is a task that guides a rigid body through prescribed task positions which include position and orientation. Path-point generation is a task that requires guiding a reference point on a rigid body to move along a prescribed trajectory. Pick-and-place tasks often require the exact position and orientation of an object (motion generation) at the end points of the task. Within the range of movement, the motion restrictions are less rigorous with only the position of the object (path generation) being specified to either avoid obstacles or provide direction for a suitable path. Established synthesis theory has been developed for either motion generation or path-point generation tasks. This thesis presents four-bar linkage synthesis methods for tasks that include a combination of motion and path-point generation. This synthesis challenge is addressed via two approaches: Geometric Constraint Programming (GCP) and numerical solutions to synthesis equations. Using GCP, a step-by-step methodology has been established to find solutions to these synthesis challenges. This technique provides a synthesis process that is intuitive, visual, and avoids the need for the designer to engage in solving complex equations, The drawback to kinematic synthesis using GCP, however, is that only one linkage solution is obtained and sketched by the designer. Using numerical methods, techniques are presented to formulate the kinematic chain constraint equations and solve for the appropriate link lengths and pivot locations. Numerical solutions are generated by the Bertini software package, a program that supports the calculation of large polynomial equations set. Examples of various combina (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Leadership Studies

Higher education, like most charitable organizations, is dependent on alumni funding as donors pour a tremendous amount of dollars into these organizations. However, the nature of donor involvement in higher education institutions has evolved over the last four centuries. The generational change of the donor base from the Boomers to the Millennials in the wake of a generational wealth transfer has placed the future of philanthropy in higher education in the hands of the Millennial generation. This technology-centered generation of alumni donors continues to challenge the traditional view of philanthropy held by the previous generations and demands a donor-centered relationship that is based on engagement with their alma mater. This non-experimental quantitative research study explored whether there was a relationship between alumni giving and alumni attitudes regarding Feelings of Connectedness, College Experience, Perceptions about Student Loans, and Perceptions about Institutional Mission. Findings within this study indicated that alumni attitudes regarding Perception about Student Loans and Feeling of Connectedness had a non-significant relationship to alumni giving. Significant differences were reported between students who donated and those who did not donate when groups were compared. Women and First-generation alumni reported their attitudes regarding College Experience were significantly related to their decision to donate or not donate. Implications of the study highlighted the need for higher education administrators and fundraising professionals to maximize alumni engagement, thus resulting in sustainable alumni-institutional relationships that are donor-central.

Master of Science, Miami University, 2024, Computer Science

Causal maps are graphical models that are well-understood in small scales. When created through a participatory modeling process, they become a strong asset in decision making. Furthermore, those who participate in the modeling process may seek to understand the problem from various perspectives. However, as causal maps increase in size, the information they contain becomes clouded, which results in the map being unusable. In this thesis, we transform causal maps into various mediums to improve the usability and accessibility of large causal models; our proposed algorithms can also be applied to small-scale causal maps. In particular, we transform causal maps into meaningful paragraphs using GPT and network traversal algorithms to attain full-coverage of the map. Then, we compare automatic text summarization models with graph reduction algorithms to reduce the amount of text to a more approachable size. Finally, we combine our algorithms into a visual analytics environment to provide details-on-demand for the user by displaying the summarized text, and interacting with summaries to display the detailed text, causal map, and even generate images in an appropriate manner. We hope this research provides more tools for decision-makers and allows modelers to give back to participants the final result of their work.

PHD, Kent State University, 2024, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

This basic qualitative study explored the experiences of 12 higher education and/or student affairs (HESA) faculty members to understand how their equity, diversity, and inclusion-related courses prepared emerging HESA professionals to support first-generation college students from an anti-deficit perspective. Eligible participants taught in full-time HESA master's programs and were leaders in diversity work based on their equity, diversity, and inclusion-related grant funding, professional awards, and/or diversity-related publications. This research was guided by Perez et al.'s (2017) anti-deficit achievement framework. Data were collected from prescreening questionnaires, pre-interview journals, semistructured interviews, course syllabi, and other participant-shared resources. Generational status was not found to be an independent factor in anti-deficit course content as participants talked about their experiences with intersecting identities, such as first-generation plus Students of Color. Data analysis led to themes about participants' course content which established a foundation of respect and for lifelong learning, integrated anti-deficit pedagogy and empowered advocacy. Themes formed a student development process that promotes emerging HESA professionals' anti-deficit understanding. This study holds important implications for researchers to focus on anti-deficit systems-based approaches to college success. Stakeholders should ask questions with anti-deficit-minded prompts to institutional leadership and as part of institutional self-assessment; encourage syllabus audits and offer anti-deficit-focused faculty development; and prioritize equity, diversity, and inclusion-related teaching as an advantage to tenure, promotion, and course load. Future research should consider the sociological and K–12 educational literature, a case study approach, invite early career HESA professionals as participants, or explore the impact of policies on HESA programs.

Bachelor of Arts, Walsh University, 2023, Honors

“Agency theory has been one of the most important theoretical paradigms in accounting during the last 25 years” (Lambert, 2006, p. 260). Lambert writes that agency theory in the accounting profession focuses on the client-business relationship, specifically how incentives affect information, accounting, and compensation designs and structures. The present work examines “agency” in the accounting profession from a different perspective—as a psychological concept relating to accountants' perceptions of their own control over one's mind, body, and immediate environment, known as “Sense of Agency” (SoA) (Synofzik et al., 2013; Tapal et al., 2017). This concept is further divided into the sub-constructs of sense of positive agency (SoPA) and sense of negative agency (SoNA) with sense of positive agency referring to a sense that respondents believe they can successfully enact desired outcomes and sense of negative agency being they believe they cannot. An online survey administration organization was used to collect data from 90 professionally active accountants living throughout the United States on the variables of gender, generation (age), and Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification. In addition to collecting responses on Sense of Agency (SoA), the Big Five personality concept of Agreeableness was also included because of its documented connection (Alderotti et al., 2023; Donald et al., 2017; Jejeebhoy et al., 2010). Descriptive statistics and factor analysis were used to examine the relationship between SoPA and SoNA and the variables of gender, generation, CPA certification, and agreeableness. Results indicated partial support of the proposed hypotheses, most specifically a relationship between SoA, both positive (SoPA) and negative (SoNA), of accountants and generation (age). The results of this research add to the body of knowledge and can be compared to initial studies on Sense of Agency in Israel (Tapal et al., 2017 (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Professional Studies (D.P.S.) in Instructional Design Leadership, Franklin University, 2022, International Institute for Innovative Instruction

Over the years, the forms of communication have changed drastically due to always changing technology. Where face-to-face or phone interactions used to be the only way to communicate with one another, workplaces now can email, post communications on a company-wide portal, or hold virtual meetings. With four generations currently in the workplace, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z, research shows there are differences in the way all generations prefer to communicate. The objective of this study was to determine whether there is a statistical difference in preferred communication methods, what the preferred channel is, if there is a difference in preference based on the context of what is being delivered, if there is a preference in the technology used for workplace trainings, and whether the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions caused a change in preferences among generations. A quantitative study was performed to analyze the research questions. All participants filled out a survey and questionnaire through SurveyMonkey. ANOVA analysis and comparisons of means and standard deviations were used to analyze the results. While differences were found among the means and standard deviations, only two statistically significant differences were found. This study found valuable information organizations can use to better the communication for all employees. Organizations can utilize this information to create effective communication and trainings across the workplace. Creating a more effective communication method will help keep employees motivated and engaged.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Sociology

An increasing portion of the U.S. population is interested in and enrolling in higher education, and colleges and universities across the country are responding and actively recruiting a wider variety of students than in the past to maintain if not increase enrollment (Holland 2015; Irlbeck et al. 2014). Many of these students are considered first-generation students – i.e., students for whom neither parent has earned a baccalaureate degree (Chen 2005; Irlbeck et al. 2014). For decades, these students have been relatively invisible in the higher education literature; however, scholars have begun to argue and highlight the ways that first-generation students encounter multiple obstacles in their collegiate journeys – e.g., limited financial resources, few social connections and sometimes limited academic preparation, at least compared to their continuing-generation counterparts (Holland 2015; Perna 2015; Tabitha G. Wilbur and Roscigno 2016). In an effort to attain upward intergenerational mobility, many first-generation students enroll in college even when vulnerable to financial, social, and academic hardships. Education scholarship has examined these vulnerabilities and how they influence higher educational enrollment and retention (Holland 2015; Irlbeck et al. 2014; Perna 2015; Radunzel 2021; Rendon 1995) but analyses have mostly been limited to either elite higher education institutions or cross-sectional snapshots. This project builds on prior work, employs qualitative longitudinal data on first-generation students over time, and examines specifically how vulnerabilities may shift over the college years, how race and first-generation status intersect in meaningful ways, and the extent to which first-generation students experience some efficacy in higher education and relative to university resources and scholarship programming. My findings highlight some of the key vulnerabilities (i.e., lack of social integration, financial insecurity, and academic prec (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2021, Higher Education Administration

Student affairs is a field compromised of employees representing several generations, each of which has different experiences, preferences, and expectations for the workplace. With these differences comes the potential for misaligned expectations between colleagues and supervisors. Employers need to consider how to understand these differing workplace expectations in order to reasonably manage expectations while balancing the needs of all employees, regardless of generational status. The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics and expectations of Generation Z student affairs employees, understand their experiences as student affairs employees, and examine how those characteristics, expectations, and experiences compare with those of their non-Generation Z colleagues. Generation Z includes individuals born between 1995 and 2010. This general inductive qualitative study was situated at a mid-sized, public university and participants were student affairs professionals currently employed at the institution. Ten participants completed two semi-structured interviews intended to better understand the individual experiences of employees of different generations in the workplace. Participants ranged in age from 23 to 66 years old and represented Generation Z, Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers. The following themes emerged from the study: Generation Z employees are seeking to balance their individualism with clear expectations. Generation Z, Millennial, and Generation X employees would all prefer to see increased opportunities for professional development throughout their career. Employees of all four represented generations are willing to learn from employees of other generations and to share their own experiences and expertise with their colleagues. There are several implications for practice, including the need for supervisors within student affairs to be prepared to exp (open full item for complete abstract)

Specialist in Education (Ed.S.), University of Dayton, 0, School Psychology

Culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students may experience stress related to acculturation experiences, specifically in balancing the tension between conforming to mainstream cultural pressures and maintaining the values and traditions of their culture of origin. This qualitative study will share results from a focus group conducted with first- and second-generation American students regarding experiences of acculturative stress. Nine first and second generation CLD students were interviewed over Zoom and Google Meets meetings about their acculturative experiences. Students described their experiences as difficult and sometimes burdensome, rather than stressful. Included in this research exploration is a discussion of effective strategies students employ to manage acculturative stress at home and in school and how educators and school-based mental health providers can provide support.

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2021, Environmental Studies

“You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you?” Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg said this at the U.N.'s 2019 Climate Action Summit, and a video of her speech went viral across the internet. Her strong words and young age sparked a series of climate protests involving young people, called “School Strikes 4 Climate,” in 2018. Thousands of members of Generation Z participated in a worldwide school strike, joining Thunberg in her mission to thwart climate change, hold world leaders and polluters accountable, and create a global movement for change. Every young climate activist has a story that deserves to be listened to and learned from, in order to ensure their climate future is secure. Generation Z's climate activism is an important new phenomenon that is changing the landscape of climate activism and has the potential to change or influence policy across many scales. This project characterizes and analyzes climate activists to identify what is necessary to ensure that they have a secure climate future. Results of this thesis suggest that listening to the lived experiences of Generation Z will be crucial in looking towards a stable climate future. Their personal connections to visible effects of climate change, the uncertainty of their futures, their sense of community, their surprising view of older generations, their prioritization of intersectionality and social justice, and their unique sense of empowerment characterize them as a force that cannot be ignored.

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2020, Engineering and Applied Science: Computer Engineering

Many Logic Encryption methods have been proposed for thwarting supply chain threats. Logic locking techniques can hide the design functionality from miscreants along the VLSI supply chain and hence thwart IC reverse engineering as well as other attacks. Traditional logic encryption strategies lock the original design with a key inputs (known only to the designer) which prevents the circuit from functioning as required unless a correct key value is applied. Applying incorrect key values lead to functional corruption of the circuit outputs. These encryption strategies were susceptible to a Boolean satisfiability based attack (abbreviated as SAT attack) which could iteratively eliminate incorrect classes of keys to quickly discover the correct key values. Subsequently, encryption schemes based on point functions and cyclic methods were introduced to defeat the SAT attack. Recently, logic encryption for sequential circuits has been proposed utilizing the dynamic nature of sequential circuits to increase security. However, they may be susceptible to sequential satisifiability or incremental bounded model checking based attacks. In this thesis, a novel sequential logic locking technique which necessitates the applications of dynamically changing key values to allow the correct operation of the locked design is proposed. This technique works in contrary to the previous methods which use fixed key values to corrupt the payload. Applying a logic value from the correct dynamic key sequence as a static key would still corrupt the signal in the circuit. This would force the attacker to spend more time to find the complete dynamic sequence for larger circuits. A technique to generate dynamic keys from traditional static memory using concepts based on pseudo random generators [Linear Feedback-Shift Registers and Cellular Automata] is presented in this thesis. Various sequential circuits are obfuscated to evaluate the effectiveness of this scheme against oracle-based (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2019, Psychology/Clinical

Research on the experiences of students with marginalized identities has primarily focused on one marginalized identity at a time. Intersectional frameworks provide a context for centering the experiences of students with multiple marginalized identities. Few studies exist that examine the experiences of low-income, first-generation, sexual minority students. The present qualitative study examined first-person accounts of 16 undergraduate and graduate low-income, first-generation, sexual minority students. Participants completed individual semi-structured interviews in which they described the development of their sexual orientation identity, their first-generation college status, their adjustment and integration into the university community, and nature of their relationships with family, friends, and members of the university community. Using a grounded theory framework, student accounts described a variety of ways that they felt different from peers and family as they navigated the university with limited economic, social, and cultural capital. Students described institutional barriers related to their struggle to find a sense of belonging that stemmed from both their first-generation status and their LGBTQ identities. Students identified pride in their personal growth and accomplishments as students and identified people who have supported them throughout their academic journeys. Implications of study findings for research, clinical practice, and academic institutional change are discussed.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2018, American Culture Studies

This dissertation examines the experiences of the final Cold War generation. I define this cohort as a subset of Generation X born between 1965 and 1971. The primary focus of this dissertation is to study the ways this cohort interacted with the three messages found embedded within the Cold War us vs. them binary. These messages included an emphasis on American exceptionalism, a manufactured and heightened fear of World War III, as well as the othering of the Soviet Union and its people. I begin the dissertation in the 1970s, - during the period of detente- where I examine the cohort's experiences in elementary school. There they learned who was important within the American mythos and the rituals associated with being an American. This is followed by an examination of 1976's bicentennial celebration, which focuses on not only the planning for the celebration but also specific events designed to fulfill the two prime directives of the celebration. As the 1980s came around not only did the Cold War change but also the cohort entered high school. Within this stage of this cohorts education, where I focus on the textbooks used by the cohort and the ways these textbooks reinforced notions of patriotism and being an American citizen. The dissertation ends with a textual analysis of the various popular television, film and music that reinforce the three messages found within the us vs. them binary, and the ways these texts served to continue this cohort's socialization.

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME), Wright State University, 2017, Mechanical Engineering

Next generation aircraft will incorporate more electrical power generation and storage for both a distributed electric propulsion system and onboard subsystems. The power generation in this type of aircraft will require orders of magnitude higher than today's commercial aircrafts, thus producing many challenges. For this reason, a unique, high-powered electric propulsion system primarily powered by a turbo-generator system with electrical storage is being considered. A Simulink/Matlab model has bee created for the electrical power system of the next generation blended wing commercial aircraft proposed by NASA. The components of the electrical system include turbo-generators, generators, battery banks, and electrical distribution systems. This thesis presents the development of the power generation, storage, and transmission of the electrical power required for typical commercial missions. All of the component models are integrated into an aircraft model and used to simulate typical flight profiles. The scalability of the model is demonstrated by developing the required distributed power system for a 50-passenger regional transport aircraft. The benefits of an all-electric aircraft are tremendous, but there are significant challenges in regard to the power generation and distribution requirements.

Master of Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 2016, EECS - Computer and Information Sciences

How can we design a system to efficiently generate realistic natural language text, such as in news articles from the Wall Street Journal? In this work, we make progress towards this question in three ways. First, we build a semantically-annotated compositional grammar with wide coverage of English, providing the building blocks for semantically directed language generation. Secondly, we build upon an existing sentence generation system, STRUCT, identifying computational bottlenecks. We design, implement, and evaluate algorithms that allow STRUCT to efficiently generate natural language sentences in real-world domains which have large grammars, worlds, and communicative goals. Finally, we build a machine learning discourse planner to split up and arrange a large semantic information set into sentence-level communicative goals which could be passed to a sentence generation system. In pushing forward these three areas, our work provides the groundwork for scalable natural language generation.

MA, Kent State University, 2016, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English

This thesis will demonstrate how Thomas Pynchon and Douglas Coupland use conspiracy theory in their novels not to characterize individuals as merely paranoid or suspicious, but as a helpful, logical response to dominant narratives in the respective cultures in which the characters live. These authors' use of conspiracy theory in their novels is representative of a cultural trend of the mapping of suspicion among various members of their increasingly anxious societies. Pynchon's treatment of conspiracy theory demonstrates the organization of a culture of suspicion, comprised of various, underground subcultures in 1960's California. The shared belief in the conspiracy theory of what the novel represents as the Trystero brings together numerous, otherwise unrelated characters in their attempts to negotiate the controlling narratives that influence them. By prompting this exploration of conspiracy theory, Pynchon also reveals that the act of engaging one's personal suspicions of larger nefarious plots in the form of educated, well hypothesized conspiracy theories can serve as a liberating force for characters both psychologically and socially. Coupland's use of conspiracy theory differs from Pynchon's primarily in terms of its proliferation on the level of plot. Coupland's novels are concerned mostly with the act of storytelling, but the most important stories told involve conspiracy theories, and in each novel, characters use conspiracy theory both to rationalize the confusing, postmodern worlds they inhabit and to transcend their former social and psychological adherences to the untenable idealization of history in the form of the demolished American Dream and other societal narratives.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2015, Physics

The amplitude and phase of the complex photoionization/photorecombination dipole matrix element of atoms and simple linear molecules is measured with sub-femtosecond time resolution and sub-electronvolt spectral resolution using High Harmonic Spectroscopy (HHS). The first known measurement of the dipole phase jump at a Cooper minimum is reported for the 3p orbital of argon. Also, the angle-dependent dipole of nitrogen is measured using rotationally-aligned molecular ensembles. In contrast with previous studies, which were limited by traditional shorter-wavelength near-infrared laser sources, only a single orbital is sufficient to explain the nitrogen results, which are in excellent agreement with accurate theoretical scattering-wave dipole calculations. All of these experiments benefit from the extended extreme-ultraviolet cutoff, and improved spectral resolution, afforded by the use of long-wavelength mid-infrared driving laser sources. This work extends our understanding of the interaction of light and matter on the timescale of the electron's motion, the attosecond (1 as = 10-18 s). The experimental results presented here lend credence to the methodology of molecular self-imaging by laser-induced ionization and recombination of a molecule's own electron. The successes and limitations of HHS as a tool for ultrafast atomic and molecular imaging are discussed. Finally, the feasibility is examined of using HHS to measure the temporal evolution of complicated chemical dynamics with attosecond precision.