Abstract TCNJ ADVANCE Program (TAP): Assessment and Faculty Development Initiatives for Fostering Career Advancement Within a PUI EnvironmentThe scarcity of women at the full professor level of academia in STEM disciplines is a well-known problem experienced by colleges and universities nationwide. Primarily undergraduateinstitutions (PUI) like The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) are no exception to this trend.Furthermore, female faculty here face unique challenges including a short tenure clock (4 years),promotion to Associate Professor being a separate application process from tenure, and highteaching and service loads with no graduate student support.In September 2009, TCNJ was awarded an ADVANCE PAID award to address the issues offemale faculty advancement and stalling in rank in the STEM disciplines. The TCNJAdvancement Program (TAP) was created with the support of the ADVANCE award. TAPcombines both equity assessment and faculty development initiatives in order to understandbarriers to career advancement within TCNJ’s PUI environment and to create programs to fosterthem. In the equity assessment initiatives, a comprehensive faculty database has been createdwhich can identify differences among STEM and non-STEM disciplines in the amount of timefaculty spend at rank. Qualitative interviews were also conducted to identify potential barriersfaced by women. The faculty development initiatives encompass a broad spectrum ofmentorship, professional development, and family friendly practices. Both external mentorshipand internal mentorship programs were developed and implemented to provide a circle ofmentors for female faculty. A multi-facet approach was taken for the professional developmentinitiatives including organizing workshops, travel grant program, and formal and informalnetworking activities. The Family Friendly Initiatives focus on two areas: a Modified DutiesPolicy and the recruitment and retention of dual career couples. Current family friendly policiesat TCNJ were reviewed by an ad hoc committee and the process of developing a formalModified Duties Policy was initiated through the College governance process.
The pollen grains of several gymnosperm groups consist of a main body and one to three air-filled bladders, or sacci. Although sacci may serve a buoyancy function to orient the grain on the ovular pollination droplet in some taxa, sacci have also been shown to increase pollen volume while adding minimal mass, thus decreasing density and thereby increasing the aerodynamic efficiency of wind pollination. However, no published studies have quantitatively addressed the effects of grain geometry or surface ornamentation at the low Reynolds numbers that pollen grains demonstrate. The objectives of this study were to empirically investigate the effects of varying geometries and surface ornamentation on the aerodynamic properties of saccate pollen grains through the experimental determination of drag coefficients and shape factors. Structurally different grains of two extant conifers (Pinus and Falcatifolium) were studied, and using electron microscopy, mathematical modeling, and solid modeling, we created scaled-up physical models of the pollen types. Models were produced with and without sacci, as well as with and without surface texture on the main body. Sacci increased the shape factor, or resistance coefficient, in all pollen types studied, compared to the same types that had been modeled without sacci. The presence of surface ornamentation also decreased the drag coefficients for saccate pollen grains of Pinus. This study is the first to experimentally demonstrate the effect of surface texture on drag for any biological or nonbiological particle at low Reynolds numbers. This study also provides additional empirical evidence for the aerodynamic role of sacci, supporting their adaptive significance for anemophily.
The use of fuel cells as an alternative to traditional small scale power producing devices such as internal combustion engines or disposable batteries has continued to gain widespread acceptance. Flow maldistribution within cells in a stack continues to be an issue in fuel cell design and can adversely affect performance and longevity. Current research in this field has focused on effects of inlet configurations (plug flow versus circular inlet, for example) on the flow in a rectangular manifold and the resulting distribution into individual cells in the stack. In a typical small scale application, the piping which transports the reactant will contain bends in it. As these bends can introduce Dean vortices and flow asymmetries within the pipe flow, such conditions should be examined to determine whether they will affect the manifold flow and further impact cell maldistribution. A simplified scaled up model of a PEM fuel cell was fitted with different inlet flow configurations, including straight piping and piping containing a 90 degree bend prior to entering the manifold. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was used to obtain mean and fluctuating velocity statistics within the manifold and in individual cells. These distributions will be compared with previous results obtained from this apparatus corresponding to a partially developed square inlet profile, as well as available experimental and computational data in the literature.
Detailed measurements of flow through a model of a fuel cell stack were made using particle image velocimetry (PIV). The objective was to obtain high caliber sets of velocity fields in both the inlet manifold and within the cells over a range of Reynolds numbers in order to provide a benchmark for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) data and to demonstrate relationships between flow distributions in the manifold and those along the cells of the stack. A scaled up model was built and placed in a wind tunnel under uniform inlet flow conditions. Using the PIV technique, instantaneous flowfields were captured which were then averaged to obtain mean and fluctuating velocity statistics. Based on analysis of the data, relationships were found between manifold and cell flow distributions. Within the inlet manifold, magnitudes of normalized streamwise velocities were found to increase towards the aft of the manifold with Reynolds number. This was believed to be associated with the more severe cell flow maldistributions which were found to exist with increasing Reynolds numbers. Examination of instantaneous velocity distributions in the manifold demonstrated the existence of discrete vortical structures and complex fluid motions towards the aft, resulting in increased velocity fluctuations in this region. Velocity fluctuations within the cells were also found to increase towards the aft of the stack, leading to higher flow unsteadiness in these cells.
Abstract An experimental investigation was conducted which addressed noise generation mechanisms due to turbulent boundary layer flow over a series of surface slots. The objectives of the experiment were to identify localized radiated noise sources from the slots and to relate these noise sources to interactions between near-wall turbulent boundary layer fluid and the slots. Radiated noise from an assembly of angled slats mounted in a flat plate was measured under various inflow boundary layer conditions, which were quantified from mean streamwise velocity measurements. In addition, higher order turbulence statistics were provided by high resolution DPIV measurements made at Rutgers University. Results of the radiated noise studies indicated that noise generated due to turbulent flow over the slats scaled with outer flow variables and that this noise was predominantly produced from the forward half of the slat assembly. Based on the flow measurements, it is believed that this effect is due to increased near-wall velocities in the forward half of the slat assembly, resulting in stronger interactions between near-wall fluid and the slats and ultimately increased Reynolds stress gradients.
