Research Title: BLIND COLOR USER INTERFACE REQUIREMENTS: A UML SPECIFICATION

Author: Said Ahmad Ammar Ghoul, Published Year: 2022

Proceedings of ICSIC2022 {Scopus), Arab Amman University

Faculty: Information Technology

Abstract: Color blindness, or color vision deficiency, is an inability to see the difference between certain colors. Men are more likely to be born with color blindness. Most people with color blindness can't distinguish between certain shades of red and green. Less commonly, people with color blindness can't distinguish between shades of blue and yellow. For that it’s a significant barrier to effective computer use. Several research works dealing with blind color user interfaces are currently conducted. However, requirements engineering for such interfaces is still missing. The work presented in this paper is part of an automated blind color user interface generation project which explores suitable input requirements document notations, simplifies the generating process, and outputs generated color blind user interface. It aims to define functional and nonfunctional requirements for powerful color blind user interface and their UML specification. Thus, different recent techniques that deal with these interfaces are selected according to their relevance and up to date, then they are analyzed, the lack of requirements engineering for these interface was stated, and a solution is proposed. It consists of requirements elicitation and specification with UML notations. A case study evaluating the proposed approach is presented. The obtained results confirm the power and positive impact of such requirements engineering on researches in this domain.

Keywords: color vision deficiency (CVD), color blindness requirements, color blindness user interface

Research Title: Automatically Generated Feature Model from Requirements: Toward an Enhanced Formalism

Author: Said Ahmad Ammar Ghoul, Published Year: 2022

Proceedings of ICICS2022, IEEE, scopus, Jordan University of Technology

Faculty: Information Technology

Abstract: The feature model is one of the most important concepts in software product line development process, as it helps to represent commonalities and variabilities among software products. Several research works are currently conducted to generate a feature model of a software product line from its requirements document. However, the generated feature models do not include data and actors aspects which are essential parts of any software product line. The work presented in this paper is part of an automated feature model generating project which explores suitable input requirements document notations, simplifies the generating process, and outputs generated feature model formalism. It aims to propose a powerful feature model that should be the target of any automated process generating a feature model. Thus, in this work, different recent techniques that automatically generate feature models are analyzed. The lack of data and actors in these generated feature models was stated, and a feature model, aimed to be a good generated target, integrating data and actors with other conventional features is proposed. A case study evaluating the proposed target feature model formalism is presented.

Keywords: feature model (FM), software product line (SPL), unified modeling language (UML), FM automatic generation

Research Title: Automatically Generated Goal Model from Requirements: Toward an Enhanced Formalism

Author: Said Ahmad Ammar Ghoul, Published Year: 2022

Proceedings of ICSIC2022 {Scopus), Arab Amman University

Faculty: Information Technology

Abstract: The Goal Model (GM) of software is one of the important concepts in the software requirements specification, as it helps in representing the software goals and the relationships between them. Several research works were conducted to generate GM of software from its requirements document. However, the generated GMs merge behavior and soft goals aspects. This merging leaded to tangled and complex generated GMs that are difficult to maintain. The work presented in this paper proposes a GM formalism handling this insufficiency. It is part of an automated GM generating project where it focuses on the target GM. Thus, in this work, different recent techniques that automatically generate GMs are analyzed, their merging, tangling, and complexity of maintenance were stated, and a GM formalism facing these challenges is proposed. It separates goals clearly into behavior goals, soft goals, and constraints aspects. An evaluating case study, which is a partial concrete and real word domain requirements specification, is presented. This separation of concerns leaded to valuable results: complexity reduction, improvement of the understandability, simplicity of maintenance, and raising up the expressiveness power.

Keywords: Goal Model (GM), Behavior goal, Soft goal, Requirement specification, Automated goal model generation, Aspect separation, maintenance

Research Title: Feature Model Configuration Reuse Scheme for Self-Adaptive Systems

Author: Said Ahmad Ammar Ghoul, Published Year: 2022

Computers, Materials & Continua (‎Scopus, Q1), 71 No 1

Faculty: Information Technology

Abstract: Most large-scale systems including self-adaptive systems utilize feature models (FMs) to represent their complex architectures and benefit from the reuse of commonalities and variability information. Self-adaptive systems (SASs) are capable of reconfiguring themselves during the run time to satisfy the scenarios of the requisite contexts. However, reconfiguration of SASs corresponding to each adaptation of the system requires significant computational time and resources. The process of configuration reuse can be a better alternative to some contexts to reduce computational time, effort and error-prone. Nevertheless, systems’ complexity can be reduced while the development process of systems by reusing elements or components. FMs are considered one of the new ways of reuse process that are able to introduce new opportunities for the reuse process beyond the conventional system components. While current FM-based modelling techniques represent, manage, and reuse elementary features to model SASs concepts, modeling and reusing configurations have not yet been considered. In this context, this study presents an extension to FMs by introducing and managing configuration features and their reuse process. Evaluation results demonstrate that reusing configuration features reduces the effort and time required by a reconfiguration process during the run time to meet the required scenario according to the current context.

Keywords: Self-adaptive system; feature model; system reuse; configuration management; variability modeling

Research Title: Development of Polymeric-Based Formulation as Potential Smart Colonic Drug Delivery System

Author: Mohammad Bayan, Published Year: 2022

Polymers, 14

Faculty: Pharmacy

Abstract: Conventional oral formulations are mainly absorbed in the small intestine. This limits their use in the treatment of some diseases associated with the colon, where the drug has to act topically at the inflammation site. This paved the way for the development of a smart colonic drug delivery system, thereby improving the therapeutic efficacy, reducing the dosing frequency and potential side effects, as well as improving patient acceptance, especially in cases where enemas or other topical preparations may not be effective alone in treating the inflammation. In healthy individuals, it takes an oral medication delivery system about 5 to 6 h to reach the colon. A colonic drug delivery system should delay or prohibit the medication release during these five to six hours while permitting its release afterward. The main aim of this study was to develop a smart drug delivery system based on pH-sensitive polymeric formulations, synthesized by a free-radical bulk polymerization method, using different monomer and crosslinker concentrations. The formulations were loaded with 5-amino salicylic acid as a model drug and Capmul MCM C8 as a bioavailability enhancer. The glass transition temperature (Tg), tensile strength, Young’s modulus, and tensile elongation at break were all measured as a part of the dried films’ characterization. In vitro swelling and release studies were performed to assess the behavior of the produced formulations. The in vitro swelling and release evaluation demonstrated the potential ability of the developed system to retard the drug release at conditions mimicking the stomach and small intestine while triggering its release at conditions mimicking the colon, which indicates its promising applicability as a potential smart colonic drug delivery system.

Keywords: 5-amino salicylic acid; smart delivery system; sustainable polymers; triggered drug delivery; ulcerative colitis

Research Title: Embedded control unit design for energy management in smart homes

Author: Kasim Mousa Al-Aubidy, Published Year: 2022

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Faculty: Engineering and Technology

Abstract: This paper deals with smart home energy management through load scheduling and optimal use of available energy sources. In this study, three energy sources were considered: the national electricity grid, photovoltaic (PV) energy, and the storage unit. The PV array can provide the maximum power to the load at a given operating point where the output power changes with temperature, radiation and load. Therefore, a real-time controller is proposed to track the maximum power. An energy management algorithm has been proposed in a smart home to achieve the main goal of making the electricity bill as low as possible. The algorithm involves scheduling loads by assigning a priority to each load. The loads are supplied with the required power according to their priorities and the available energy. The obtained results indicate that supplying the PV system with a fuzzy-based MPPT indicates an increase in system efficiency. The results also showed that the use of energy management based on load scheduling led to a significant reduction in the electricity bill.

Keywords: Energy management; Fuzzy logic control; Internet of thing (IoT); Smart home; Wireless sensor networks

Research Title: Green synthesis of Size-Controlled copper oxide nanoparticles as catalysts for H2 production from industrial waste aluminum

Author: Firas Abdullah Obeidat, Published Year: 2022

International Journal of Energy Research-Wiley,

Faculty: Engineering and Technology

Abstract: Extensive research and development in the processes of production and generation of hydrogen are needed to make renewable hydrogen cost-competitive with fossil hydrogen. As a result, developing hydrogen energy from low-cost components and synthesizing it from renewable resources is an important issue that can be considered a global challenge. The current research provided a continuous H2 energy production from waste aluminum in a water medium using copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) as catalysts in the reaction. CuO NPs have been prepared by a green, easy, inexpensive, and systematic method using Catha edulis L. (Khat) extract as reducing and capping agents. Separately, CuO NPs prepared in an alkaline media using the conventional hydrothermal process have been described and reported for comparison. Multidisciplinary tools were used to characterize the powders for structural, morphological, and surface aspects. CuO NPs were homogeneous, well-dispersed, and have fine diameters with an average of 6 nm, owing to the abundant biomolecules in the plant extract. The synthesized samples were utilized as catalysts for H2 production from industrial waste aluminum with a 1/0.02 ration of Al/CuO by weight. The primary results revealed a higher H2 production yield and rapid rate in alkaline than acidic mediums. Under all conditions, the CuO NPs prepared from the extract had better catalytic activity than those prepared by a conventional method. The results proved that the reaction temperature prompts the reaction kinetics more than other parameters. The optimum H2 yield could be optimized at a temperature of 70C, 1/50 ratio of CuO/waste Al, and near-neutral solutions. The above conditions are ideal for designing a continuous production reactor. The hydrogen generated using industrial waste aluminum in the present system is a cost-effective and sustainable approach.

Keywords: aluminum waste, catalysts, clean energy, copper oxide, hydrogen production, nanomaterials

Research Title: Solar Hot Water Heating and Electricity Generation Using PV/T Hybrid System

Author: Firas Abdullah Obeidat, Published Year: 2022

Journal of Ecological Engineering, 23(5):226–236

Faculty: Engineering and Technology

Abstract: Experimental work has been carried out to study the possibility of combining a conventional solar water collector with a hybrid device, developed previously and known as PV/T system, in order to obtain hot water with temperature above 40 °C. The effect of the combination on the productivity of hot water and the produced electricity was found. The formerly developed device, in which there was a multi-purpose solar collector, can produce hot water and electricity. It was connected to the conventional fn-tube collector in series in order to raise the product temperature to a higher level. This development was achieved for the frst time as a combination between a PV/T and a conventional fn-tube collector. Instrumentation to measure temperatures, solar radiation, wind speed and flow rate was installed on the system. It was found that the water temperature was raised from 29 °C to 32 °C in the PV/T collector system and, after flowing through the conventional collector, it was raised to 50 °C and above. It was also found that the power efciency in the case of water flow is always higher than in the case of no water flow.

Keywords: solar energy systems, water heating system, PV Module, flat-plate solar collector

Research Title: One Year Real Data Rooftop PV System Performance Analysis of a University Academic Campus

Author: Firas Abdullah Obeidat, Published Year: 2021

International Journal on Energy Conversion (I.R.E.CON.), Vol. 9, N. 4

Faculty: Engineering and Technology

Abstract: This paper presents the details of 13 rooftop PV systems installed at Philadelphia University (PU) in Amman-Jordan and gives an assessment of these PV systems in terms of the , and also in terms of energy generated compared with the university energy consumption using real data of the year 2019. Technoeconomic performance metrics and socio environmental assessment of the PV systems are also performed. The analysis shows that more than 99% of the energy needs of the university are met by solar energy. This energy generated is equivalent to 1587 metric tons of CO2 eq. This amount of CO2 avoided is equivalent to 26,236 tree seedings grown for 10 years. This emphasizes the main conclusion that Philadelphia University has taken the right decision with the installation of these systems that represent a great step towards the university sustainability

Keywords: Academic Campus Sustainability, PV Systems Assessment, PV Systems Performance Metrics, Socio-Environmental Impact

Research Title: Future Energy Mix Mapping for Jordan using Multi Criteria Decision Analysis

Author: Firas Abdullah Obeidat, Published Year: 2021

12th International Renewable Engineering Conference – IREC2021, jordan

Faculty: Engineering and Technology

Abstract: Jordan is one of the most hydrocarbon-poor countries in the Middle East, with neither significant production of oil nor natural gas. It relies heavily on imported oil and gas for power generation. This let energy remains Jordan’s top challenge. In its future energy strategy, Jordan pledged to diversify its energy supply by increasing domestic sources contribution to the total energy mix. The available alternatives vary from conventional energy sources including natural gas power plants, nuclear power, and oil shale to renewable energy comprising PV power plants, wind energy, and concentrated solar power plants. This makes it a very challenging task for the decision makers to choose in which track to invest more heavily than others. This paper uses Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to accomplish this goal. MCDA are techniques used to compare a number of alternatives using monetized, quantitative or qualitative criteria. Six options were compared; new CCGT plants, nuclear power plants, oil shale direct combustion, wind turbines, PV technology, and Concentrating Solar Power (CSP). The value tree of the objectives was constructed with five high level factors that each option is evaluated against that include the aspects of environmental, economic, political, social, and technical. These factors are then broken down into 15 performance criteria. Criteria used for the evaluation were CO2 emissions, external costs, visual impact, noise, capital cost, operation and maintenance costs, fuel costs, cost of generated electricity, water requirements, promotion of renewables, jobs creation, capacity factor, predictability, and hybridization. Results show that renewable energy technologies outperform conventional ones in terms of the overall weighted score. In the renewables; PV technology come first with overall weighted score of 84.89 out of 100. CSP energy come second with this score of 64.61 while wind energy scored 61.14. The overall weighted score for the conventional technologies of natural gas, nuclear, and oil shale power plants were 31.57, 324.17 and 26.94 respectively. Conclusions withdrawn from this research work are that power supply systems based on renewable technologies, will play a greater role in generating electricity in Jordan and are the most preferred options to invest more heavily in to diversify the future energy mix and that MCDA is a great tool serving decision makers in their energy sector policies that can handle complex decision-making problems.

Keywords: energy mix, multi criteria, decision making