Staff Reporter
SIX research projects are underway or slated to begin soon at Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ) with grants received from the Qatar National Research Fund’s Undergraduate Research Experience Programme (QNRF UREP).
Each of the six awards includes TAMUQ faculty researchers as well as Texas A&M students and one of the projects is a collaborative effort with Qatar University (QU).
The projects range in topics from solar energy applications in Qatar to machinery fault diagnosis to the characterisation of Qatari oil. “The research knowledge and experience gained from the studies will have practical applications within the country or region,” an official said yesterday.
Mechanical engineering faculty member Houshang Masudi is leading an effort to research the geometrical and chemical properties of sand particles in Qatar.
The study of erosion is described as a serious matter for Qatar due to the presence of high amounts of dust and sand particles in the air. Sand particles in the air during high wind or sandstorms cause the erosion of the surfaces and removal of surface coating and paint, which causes the degradation of materials and changes in surface properties, resulting in destruction and failure of the structure.
This study is also under the direction of Dr Richard Griffin from the main campus of TAMU in the US and two TAMUQ students.
TAMUQ’s mechanical engineering faculty members Reza Langari and Reza Tafreshi, along with three students, are to initiate the development of an approach to machinery fault diagnostics via the emerging notion of computational intelligence.
This concept has its roots in modeling human intelligence via computational algorithms, and can potentially lead to more efficient means of diagnosing machinery failure (much as an expert diagnostician would if he or she was constantly monitoring the equipment).
Rotary machinery is used in many different systems such as on aircraft as turbo-gas engines, in power generation and natural gas compression systems in the form of turbines and pumps, and in residential and commercial thermal management systems as compressors and mixing fans.
“Expertise in the area of machinery diagnostics is of great interest to Qatari industry, which is in need of engineers with a specific background in the field of machinery diagnostics,” the official observed.
Maya Aziz, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student, participating in the rotary machinery study, pointed out that mechanical failures such as micro-cracks tend to occur very frequently in rotating machines, which are under constant motion.
“Our role as undergraduate researchers will be to gather and develop the model rotary machinery with our faculty researchers to develop software that would be needed for collecting and analysing data where the model would also be set under different conditions,” she said.
Hassan Moghbelli and Khaled Ellithy, faculty members at TAMUQ and QU, respectively, are conducting a joint research study focused on energy saving in electrical power systems.
One undergraduate student from each university will work with the faculty researchers to find ways to apply energy savings by power factor correction to industries in Qatar.
TAMUQ’s associate dean for research and graduate studies, Dr James Holste stated that the QNRF UREP programme provides an excellent vehicle for undergraduate students to experience research.
QNRF was created in 2006 by Qatar Foundation as a part of its ongoing commitment to establish Qatar as a knowledge-based economy.  This is the second cycle of grants awarded by QNRF since its inception.