The objective of this thesis project is to build a robot that can clearly demonstrate its
potential to solve standard jigsaw puzzles. This robot must be capable of picking up
and reorienting puzzle pieces to the precision required for completing…

This paper considers Aristotle’s account of technē (craft-knowledge) and the relationship it bears to phronesis (the capacity for excellent ethical deliberation). Neither techne nor phronesis are exclusively intellectual: both require practice and an evaluative capacity. Phronesis, however, structures a person’s…

This paper discusses the motivation, design, implementation, and evaluation of a
new electronic beat sequencing system called HMM Beats. HMM Beats is inspired
by recent work in machine learning on user drum beat prediction. HMM Beats is
an interactive system…

This research explores the metabolic role of the gut microbiota in the global
obesity crisis and rising threat of global warming. Enteric microbiota in the rumen emit
methane as a by-product of metabolite degradation. Experiments – primarily on mice –

The antimicrobial effects of copper have been well established and may prove to be an effective means of reducing nosocomial or hospital-acquired infections. However, discussions surrounding the antimicrobial properties of copper-containing surfaces rarely address the effect of such materials on…

Conflicting reports have emerged as to whether entry of alpha-herpesvirus particles occurs by receptor-mediated membrane fusion or pH-dependent endocytosis, and whether the method of entry differs by cell type. At the other end of the virus replication cycle, it is…

The current state of science education in the United States is evolving to building a skills-based, rather than content-based, knowledge in its students, grades K-12. To this end, I have integrated my experience and understanding of molecular biology and educational…

A goal of fisheries management is to predict the probability of successful
establishment of invasive fish species. To address this goal, species distribution models
are used to project species distribution under different climate-change scenarios. In this
study, the geographic distribution…

The analysis of noisy consensus dynamics in networks is of great interest to both
advance the fundamental understanding of multi-agent systems in nature as well as
create robust decentralized engineering systems. We develop a protocol that heuristically attempts to optimize…

In this dissertation I examine the conceptions of opinion (<italic>doxa</italic>}), knowledge (<italic>gnosis</italic>), and understanding (<italic>episteme</italic>) that are presented by the character Socrates in Plato's <italic>Meno</italic> and <italic>Republic</italic>. A central claim I make, and one that sets my interpretation apart from…