Doctoral Dissertations
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Statistical Analysis of Geolocation Fundamentals Using Stochastic Geometry
(Virginia Tech, 2021-01-22)The past two decades have seen a surge in the number of applications requiring precise positioning data. Modern cellular networks offer many services based on the user's location, such as emergency services (e.g., E911), ... -
University Comprehensive Internationalization (CI): Faculty Meaning-Making, Motivations, and Perceptions for Engaging Globally
(Virginia Tech, 2021)American universities have been internationalizing for decades, and their leaders often contend they must engage globally to stay relevant and prepare students adequately for a rapidly changing work environment. Faculty ... -
Making Community in the Wilderness: A Case Study of Women's Land's Throughout the United States
(Virginia Tech, 2021-01-19)Over the summer and fall of 2018, I spent time at nine of the lands and two women's-only music festivals and interviewed 39 women. This dissertation is the result of those interviews and my copious field notes. Chapter one ... -
Lee M. Waid: An Oral Historical Case Study of Students from an All-Black Rural Virginian School between 1963 and 1970
(Virginia Tech, 2021-01-19)This qualitative study reflects the researcher's aim to capture the oral histories of students who attended Lee M. Waid, an all-Black rural Virginian school, between 1963 and 1970. This purpose lies in the researcher's ... -
Particle Sensing in Gas Turbine Inlets Using Optical Measurements and Machine Learning
(Virginia Tech, 2021-01-19)Propulsion systems are exposed to a variety of foreign objects that can significantly damage or impact their performance. These threats can range from severe dangers such as sandstorms and volcanic eruptions, which can ... -
The Role of Actively Created Doppler shifts in Bats Behavioral Experiments and Biomimetic Reproductions
(Virginia Tech, 2021-01-19)Many animal species are known for their unparalleled abilities to encode sensory information that supports fast, reliable action in complex environments, but the mechanisms remain often unclear. Through fast ear motions, ... -
Inclusive and exclusive electron scattering data analysis from Jefferson Lab experiment E12-14-012
(Virginia Tech, 2021-01-19)Since the first observations of neutrino oscillation, neutrino experiments have come a long way toward precise measurements of the neutrino oscillation parameters, but some obstacles still remain. The next generation of ... -
Thin-Film Polymer Nanocomposites Composed of Two-Dimensional Plasmonic Nanoparticles and Graphene
(Virginia Tech, 2019-07-26)Plasmonic polymer nanocomposites contain plasmonic nanoparticles that are dispersed within a polymer. The polymer matrix strongly influences the optical properties of plasmonic nanoparticles. It is imperative to understand ... -
Refugee migration stress and family function: A phenomenological study of refugee mothers from East and Central Africa
(Virginia Tech, 2019-07-25)Refugee families who flee their homes as a result of conflict or persecution and face stressful migration experiences often struggle with trauma that may put them at increased risk for family discord and dysfunction. The ... -
Convergence of Kernel Methods for Modeling and Estimation of Dynamical Systems
(Virginia Tech, 2021-01-14)As data-driven modeling becomes more prevalent for representing the uncertain dynamical systems, concerns also arise regarding the reliability of these methods. Recent developments in approximation theory provide a new ... -
Advances in Radiation Heat Transfer and Applied Optics, Including Application of Machine Learning
(Virginia Tech, 2021-01-14)Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been widely used in many engineering applications. This dissertation applies ANNs in the field of radiation heat transfer and applied optics. The topics of interest in this dissertation ... -
Conical Intersections and Avoided Crossings of Electronic Energy Levels
(Virginia Tech, 2021-01-14)We study the unique phenomena which occur in certain systems characterized by the crossing or avoided crossing of two electronic eigenvalues. First, an example problem will be investigated for a given Hamiltonian resulting ... -
Essays on Development in Sub-Saharan African Countries
(Virginia Tech, 2021-01-14)As one of the fastest growing regions in the world, crop production and education remain two of the most important topics for the development of sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. This dissertation is composed of three ... -
Acoustic Waveguides and Sensors for High Temperature and Gamma Radiation Environment
(Virginia Tech, 2021-01-12)Sensing in harsh environments is always in great need. Although many sensors and sensing systems are reported, such as optical fiber sensors and acoustic sensors, they all have drawbacks. In this dissertation, fused ... -
A Geodynamic Investigation of Magma-Poor Rifting Processes and Melt Generation: A Case Study of the Malawi Rift and Rungwe Volcanic Province, East Africa
(Virginia Tech, 2021-01-12)Our understanding of how magma-poor rifts accommodate strain remains limited largely due to sparse geophysical observations from these rift systems. To better understand magma-poor rifting processes, chapter 1 of this ... -
Structural basis for sulfatide recognition by Disabled-2
(Virginia Tech, 2021-01-12)Disabled-2 (Dab2) is an adaptor protein that plays critical roles in various biological processes, including protein endocytosis, platelet activation and aggregation, tumor growth, and development. In platelets, Dab2 ... -
Optimizing the Use of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) in Hot Mix Asphalt Surface Mixes
(Virginia Tech, 2021-01-12)The most common use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) is in the lower layers of a pavement structure, where it has been proven as a valid substitute for virgin materials. Instead, the use of RAP in surface mixes is more ... -
Pore-scale Study of Flow and Transport in Energy Georeservoirs
(Virginia Tech, 2019-07-22)Optimizing proppant pack conductivity and proppant-transport and -deposition patterns in a hydraulic fracture is of critical importance to sustain effective and economical production of petroleum hydrocarbons. In this ... -
Real-Time Resource Optimization for Wireless Networks
(Virginia Tech, 2021-01-11)Resource allocation in modern wireless networks is constrained by increasingly stringent real-time requirements. Such real-time requirements typically come from, among others, the short coherence time on a wireless channel, ... -
Development of Molecular and Morphological Resources for Identification and Monitoring of Freshwater Mussel Species in the Genera Fusconaia and Pleurobema in the Green River, Kentucky
(Virginia Tech, 2021-01-11)Freshwater mussel species in the genera Fusconaia and Pleurobema are particularly challenging to identify in the field. In this study, mussels from these genera were collected from the Green River, Kentucky for genetic and ...
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