BiSSL MS student Samuel Blair has had his first, first-authored conference paper accepted to the American Society of Engineering Education 2021 annual conference! The conference was to be held in Long Beach, CA but unfortunately has since shifted to an entirely virtual format. The paper is titled “Bipartite Network Analysis Utilizing Survey Data to Determine Student and Tool Interactions in a Makerspace” and is a collaborative work with our partners at Georgia Institute of Technology, Dr. Julie Linsey and her MS student Henry Banks. The conference will take place July 26-29, 2021.

Abstract: “Engineering makerspaces are a powerful new tool in the educators’ toolbox. A growing body of empirical data demonstrates their benefits to student learning, but more needs to be done to ensure they meet their full potential. Analyzing the design of these spaces to maximize student tool interactions and identify barriers to entry supports goals for these spaces to be inclusive environments were all students are comfortable. The representation of student interactions with tools in a graph form enables analysis on the tools by mapping combinations between tools and shared student. The bipartite model of the network allows for students to be the “actors” while the tools are the “events” that students interact with. Using the one way interaction allows for a matrix simplifying the complex interactions in the space. The matrix can then be manipulated to yield important information about makerspaces. The results of this ongoing research propose advice regarding what tools and tool types are the most accessible to students, primarily high interaction tools such as basic 3D printers and handheld tools. Utilizing the analysis can also reveal how tools depend on higher interaction tools such as the advanced forms of 3D printing, as well as what student groups have may need extra support or outreach to increase their inclusion.”

Blair, S., Banks, H., Linsey, J., & Layton, A. (2021). Ecosystem Modularity as a Guide for Makerspaces Evaluations. Paper presented at the ASEE 2021 Conference & Exposition, virtual.

BiSSL alum Tirth Dave gave a presentation on his conference paper “Extending the Use of Bio-inspiration for Water Distribution Networks to Urban Settings” in IDETC’s DTM division.

BiSSL Ph.D. student Abheek Chatterjee presented his paper, written in collaboration with Dr. Richard Malak, in CIE’s SEIKM division titled “Exploring a Bio-Inspired System of Systems Resilience vs. Affordability Tradespace.” The paper was presented in the Complex Systems Engineering and Design session.

Exciting work done by MS alum Colton Brehm, in collaboration with Dr. Julie Linsey at Georgia Tech, was presented at the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) 2020 conference virtually. Colton’s conference paper that was presented and discussed is titled: “Using a Modularity Analysis to Determine Tool and Student Roles within Makerspaces.” We’re really excited to continue this work with new A&M BiSSL PhD student Samuel Blair! The conference continues all week! https://www.asee.org/annual-conference/2020

Two BiSSL students, PhD student Abheek Chatterjee and recent MS graduate Colton Brehm, had their first authored peer-reviewed publications presented at the 2020 CIRP Life Cycle Engineering conference. The conference, originally meant to be in Grenoble, France was entirely virtual due to COVID-19.

Abstract: “Supply chain design has traditionally focused on using the shortest path or the minimum number of paths to reduce operational costs. This approach, however, fails to account for a system’s response to external disruptions. A novel supply chain design is proposed that mimics the optimal balance of efficient and redundant pathways found in nature’s resilient ecosystems. A comparison of traditional and bio-inspired supply chain designs are done using a disruption scenario, showing that the bio-inspiration significantly reduces the supply chain’s vulnerability to cascading failures.”Chatterjee, A., & Layton, A. (2020). Bio-inspired Design for Sustainable and Resilient Supply Chains. Paper presented at the 27th CIRP Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) Conference, Grenoble, France.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/-djMmo7RRiU?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&start=14146&wmode=transparentYou can see the 10 minute presentation from Day 2 (May 14) of the CIRP LCE 2020, Circular Economy track, given by Abheek Chatterjee, here on YouTube (start 2:55:47).

“The sustainability of industrial practices is a growing point of emphasis in the research and business communities demanding effective systems-level solutions. Eco-Industrial Parks (EIPs), networks of co-located industries connected through mutually beneficial collaborations are a popular systems-level solution but have experienced highly variable degrees of success. Nestedness, a structure prevalent in mutualistic networks found in nature is our design focus for improved outcomes. This paper investigates how ecologically-similar nestedness values in EIPs relate to reductions of freshwater imports. The results indicate a range of nestedness values that support water conservation and critical thresholds for maximizing capital investments.”Brehm, C., Chatterjee, A., & Layton, A. (2020). Mimicking the nested structures of ecosystems in the design of industrial water networks. Paper presented at the 27th CIRP Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) Conference, Grenoble, France.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/dpAxPXpEymc?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&start=7725&wmode=transparentYou can see the 10 minute presentation from Day 1 (May 13) of the CIRP LCE 2020, Eco-Design track, given by Colton Brehm, here on YouTube (start 2:08:47).

Congratulations to BiSSL MS student Colton Brehm for his American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)​ paper, in collaboration with Dr. Julie Linsey at Georgia Tech’s George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering,​ being accepted! He’s done some really interesting work applying our bio-inspired system modeling and design methods to engineering makerspaces!

Two BiSSL students, PhD student Abheek Chatterjee and MS almuni Tirth Dave, have had their “International Design Engineering Technical Conference & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference” (IDETC-CIE) papers accepted to the 2020 conference, to be held in St. Louis, MO August 16-19, 2020.

Abheek’s paper was accepted to the CIE sub-conference on Systems Engineering Information Knowledge Management (SEIKM):

Chatterjee, A., Malak, R., & Layton, A. (2020). Exploring a Bio-Inspired System of Systems Resilience vs. Affordability Tradespace. ASME 2020 Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, St. Louis, MO.

Tirth’s paper was accepted to the IDETC sub-conference on Design Theory and Methodology (DTM):

Dave, T., & Layton, A. (2020). Extending the Use of Bio-Inspiration for Water Distribution Networks to Urban Settings. ASME 2020 International Design Engineering Technical Conference, St. Louis, MO.

BiSSL is looking forward to representing our bio-inspired systems of systems (SoS) design work at this year’s 18th Annual Conference on Systems Engineering Research in Redondo Beach, CA. The conference this year is focused on “Recent Trends and Advances in Model-based Systems” and will be going on from March 19-21, 2020. PhD student Abheek Chatterjee is first author on a paper with our collaborator Dr. Richard Malak titled: “A Bio-inspired Framework for Analyzing and Predicting the Trade-off between System of Systems Attributes.” We hope to see you all there!

Two BiSSL students, MS student Colton Brehm and PhD student Abheek Chatterjee, have had full papers accepted to 2020’s CIRP LCE conference! The 2020 conference focuses on “the role that engineering must play in the achievement of the sustainable future that people wish.” The conference this year is hosted by Grenoble INP – Institut d’Ingénierie Univ. Grenoble Alpes and will be held in Grenoble, France May 13-15, 2020.

• Abheek Chatterjee, Colton Brehm, and Astrid Layton (2020) “Mimicking the nested structures of ecosystems in the design of industrial water networks.”
• Abheek Chatterjee and Astrid Layton (2020) “Bio-inspired Design for Sustainable and Resilient Supply Chains.”

PhD student Hao Huang from the Power Systems group in Electrical Engineering will be presenting our Bio-Inspired Power Grid design work at the Fourth Annual TEXAS A&M CONFERENCE ON ENERGY on September 23-25, 2019. The event is sponsored by the Texas A&M Energy Research Society in partnership with the Texas A&M Energy Institute. The presentations will include a poster presentation in the “Seed Grant Poster Session” on Monday 23td 3:30-4:30pm as well as an oral presentation in the “Energy-Efficiency, Economics, Sustainability, and Policies” session on Wednesday 25th from 11:05-11:20am.