2008 Proceedings - St. Cloud State University

Abstracts
Session D Humanities North Voyageurs
What Does it Mean to be Deaf?
Deaf communication is vastly different from communication between the hearing. Research shows that hearing communities are not doing
a good job communicating with the deaf. From doctor‘s office visits to elementary schools, many deaf people face obstacles when trying to
communicate with hearing people. The hearing community often lacks compassion and patience for these obstacles, and there is a feeling
that it is acceptable to be ignorant to the communication needs of the deaf. As society becomes more interconnected, there is a greater
need to acknowledge people‘s different abilities and learn to respect them. Children, in particular, need to learn to comprehend differences
in order to become more tolerant as teenagers and later as adults. Our children‘s book was developed as part of a creative research
assignment for an interpersonal communication course and was further improved through consultations with education professionals. The
book was intended for eight to ten year olds and designed to stress the importance of recognizing the emotional states of deaf, as well as
the patience needed when communication between the deaf and the hearing. Also highlighted is the importance of family involvement in
the communication during this process. Our hope is that children will take away the importance of learning about the deaf co-culture and
strategies of improving the communication with its members.
Presentation Index: D4
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Department: Communication Studies
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Berrisford, Hayley; Kemp, Abby
Kramer, Jennifer
Session E Business and Design South Glacier
Air Bearing Design
Shrink wrapping processes are used extensively in the packaging industry in which various plastic films are used to unify single items of
products into sets of packages. This makes the distribution of products to various destinations more efficient and cost effective. The
feeding process of plastic film into the shrink-wrap systems can be done in various ways. One way of feeding the plastic film includes
having a roll of film positioned parallel to the film cutter. Another way requires the roll of plastic film to be positioned at a location
perpendicular to the film cutter. The latter way of feeding the plastic film is more ergonomic since it makes the replacing of the roll of film
easier for the operator. However, this way of feeding the plastic film requires a 45 degree turning bar to smoothly change the direction of
the plastic film by 45 degrees into the film cutter at high velocities. The current 45 degree turning bar used in a shrink-wrap system is
appropriate but not the most energy efficient. This has raised the necessity of an optimized turning bar that utilizes less air consumption
and reduces the effects of friction on the plastic film. In this research, the air distribution of the air bearing, air consumption, and frictional
effects is studied in order to optimize the current turning bar. Cost analysis is performed to provide quantitative data that gives proof that
the optimized design is more energy efficient than the current one.
Presentation Index: E1
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Department: Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Tamariz, Lyncol; Paez, Carlos
Byun, Jeongmin
Zonal Rumor Routing: Simulation Study
Zonal Rumor Routing (ZRR), a branch of Rumor Routing protocol, is a promising technique to save communication energy – the dominant
component of energy in a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). ZRR would extend the lifespan of energy-limited WSN nodes, and thereby of
the entire sensor network. ZRR breaks the sensor network into ―zones‖ and hops messages from zone-to-zone, as opposed node-to-node.
As an event is advertised in the network, ZRR also sets-up a path to the event source, so that an interested node can query along the
path, which leads to saved energy tracing the event source. The simulation study carried out on ZRR tested the behavior of the protocol
under a wide range of scenarios. Transmission energy, reception energy and delivery rate were the key parameters used to measure
performance of the protocol. The second phase of the simulation study apprehended security vulnerabilities of the protocol and showed
susceptibility to seven classes of attacks. The paper expects to bring out the experience gained developing the simulation platform and
present a number of security vulnerabilities realized.
Presentation Index: E2
Time: 9:50 a.m.
Department: Computer Science
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Bandara, Vidarshana
Herath, Jayantha
St. Cloud State University Student Research Colloquium 39
April 22, 2008