Employer Highlight: Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is one of the U.S. Department of Energy's largest research centers. It is also the nation's first national laboratory, chartered in 1946.
Today, the laboratory has about 2,900 employees, including about 1,000 scientists and engineers, of whom about 750 hold doctorate degrees. Argonne's annual operating budget of about $475 million supports upwards of 200 research projects, ranging from studies of the atomic nucleus to global climate change research. Since 1990, Argonne has worked with more than 600 companies and numerous federal agencies and other organizations.
Our undergraduates are required to submit a senior thesis. It is a document describing the culmination
of their co-op work. Below are the most recent non-private theses.
Implementation of Transreflective Fims for Automotive Lighting Applications
Automotive reflex reflectors are subject to specific federal regulations in order to ensure public safety. For this reason reflex reflectors must meet specific photometric requirements.
Most reflex reflectors are composed of many corner cubes. These corner cubes reflect the light of a vehicle?s headlights so the driver can see other cars at night, even if the car is parked or the lights are off.
As an alternative to standard corner cube reflex, 3M has developed transreflective films that behave in a similar fashion to corner cubes. Transreflective films allow for better transmission of rear light functions by reducing internal reflection and provide new options for inserting reflex into automotive lamps. Establishing functional parameters for this film could provide Hella North America with an alternative to standard reflex, encouraging new projects to utilize transreflective films.
Measurement of Surface Contour and Determination of Refractive Index Distribution Quality of Thick Plastic Lenses
Future headlamps will require more complex projector lenses requiring plastic. These lenses show undesirable photometric results. Results may be attributed to inhomogeneous refractive index, geometrical inconsistency, or birefringence. Laser ray-tracing, beam-plane, and Abbe refractometer methods show that inhomogeneous refractive index and birefringence are not significant. Surface contour analysis with optical simulation shows that plastic shrinkage is the major problem. Therefore, methods to reduce shrinkage can be developed without concern for inhomogeneous refractive index or birefringence.
Detecting Automotive Seat Chuck Using Operating Deflection Shape Data
Lear Corporation customers specify static and dynamic measurement methods to quantify chuck, or looseness, in a seat. Neither measurement is an accurate indicator of seat chuck. Therefore, a better method is needed for identifying chuck. Analyzing operating deflection shape data is a promising opportunity for developing a method for seat chuck detection.
Advanced Spectroscopic Sensors for Prevention of Proliferation in Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Techniques
There is a high risk of nuclear material proliferation in current waste reprocessing techniques. Given that nuclear energy has gained much attention recently due to the increase in the global demand for energy. This paper examines ways to increase materials accountability in waste processing. TARIS, quantum dots, nucleus activation analysis and MXRF are examined according to thier characteristics desirable to the task of waste stream monitoring.
Simulation and Modeling of Annealing Twin Microstructures
