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Graduate Research Innovation Exchange Poster Competition
The annual Graduate Research Innovation Exchange (GRIE) is a poster celebration and competition that highlights the breadth, diversity, and quality of WPI's graduate research. Sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Dean of Graduate Studies, it is a two-part event consisting of an Open Poster Exhibition and Celebration and Poster Finals and Awards.Two graduate students below competed in the Open Poster Exhibition in February. The finals take place this spring on April 9th, 2019. Zahra Noori has been asked to present in the finals.
Abstract Fundamental Understanding of Bound Water Removal in Paper-Making Process
Zahra Noori
 In the structure of paper, there are two different types of water: free water and bound water. Free water is inside the big pores (macroscale) and it can be removed easily. But removing bound water, which is inside the small pores (microscale), consumes a large portion of energy during the process. This research strives to understand the different possible physical mechanisms in fiber scale for bound water removal in a paper drying process. Therefore, using the results of this research and by controlling the studied parameters on the evaporation of the thin liquid film, the related industries will be able to control the drying of bound water in the final stages of drying processes in order to increase the efficiency of paper-making.
Lossy mode Resonance Optical Fiber Sensors for Relative Humidity and Moisture Content Measurement
Yundong Ren
Relative humidity and moisture content are important in many industrial applications, including food processing, pharmaceutical packaging, and environment monitoring. For example, moisture in food products are not only important for the texture and shelf life but also essential parameters for the drying process control. However, the widely used electrical sensors are large, limited in resolution, and incompatible with microwave drying.
In this poster, we present an optical fiber relative humidity sensor based on lossy mode resonances. Compared to the electrical sensors, our optical fiber sensors have much smaller foot prints, immunity to electromagnetic interference, wide temperature range, and high resolution. We experimentally characterized the sensors and used them to measure relative humidity and moisture content changes of both cookies and Cheetos. Research is underway to develop optical fiber strain sensors to enable multiphysical sensing for food industry
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