October
Candidate: Marwan S. Alluhaidan
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Title: Retinex-Based Visibility Enhancement System for Inclement Weather with Tracking and Distance Estimation Capabilities
Committee: Dr. Ikhlas Abdel-Qader, Chair, Dr. Johnson Asmaudu, Dr. Osama Abudayyeh, Dr. Azim Houshyar
Time/Place: Tuesday, October 2, 2018, 3 to 5 p.m., F-210 CEAS, Parkview Campus
Candidate: Esayas Gebremichael
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Geological and Environmental Sciences
Title: Assessing Land Deformation and Sea Encroachment in the Nile Delta: A Radar Interferometric and Modelling Approach
Committee: Dr. Mohamed Sultan, Chair, Dr. Alan Kehew, Dr. Michelle Kominz, Dr. Richard Becker
Time/Place: Wednesday, October 3, 2018, 10 a.m. to noon, 1122 Rood Hall
Candidate: Saif Alrafeek
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Title: Development and Validation of Hybrid Continuum/Structural Finite Element Model for Evaluating Foot and Ankle Biomechanics
Committee: Dr. Peter A. Gustafson, Chair, Dr. James R. Jastifer, Dr. Koorosh Naghshineh, Dr. Daniel Kujawski
Time/Place: Wednesday, October 10, 2018, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., F-210 CEAS, Parkview Campus
Candidate: Duduzile Phindile Mashinini
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Interdisciplinary Health Sciences
Title: The Impact of Michigan’s Administrative Rule/Policy Change for Nonmedical Vaccine Exemptions
Committee: Dr. Kieran Fogarty, Chair, Dr. Mary Lagerwey, Dr. Rachel Potter
Time/Place: Monday, October 15, 2018, 10 a.m. to noon, 4267 College of Health and Human Services
Candidate: Hossein Mohammadi
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Title: Hybrid Processes in Material Removal of Hard and Brittle Materials
Committee: Dr. John Patten, Chair, Dr. Daniel Kujawski, Dr. Muralidhar Ghantasala, Dr. Mitchel Keil
Time/Place: Tuesday, October 16, 2018, 10:00 a.m. to noon, F-115 CEAS, Parkview Campus
Candidate: Ali Kadhem Jaber
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Title: Integrated Compressive Sensing and Feature Descriptors: A Framework For Facial Recognition Systems
Committee: Dr. Ikhlas Abdel-Qader, Chair, Dr. Janos Grantner, Dr. Azim Houshyar
Time/Place: Tuesday, October 16, 2018, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., D-201 CEAS, Parkview Campus
Candidate: Shen Chen
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Economics
Title: Three Essays on the Impacts of China’s Monetary Policy
Committee: Dr. C. James Hueng, Chair, Dr. Wei-Chiao Huang, Dr. Kevin Corder
Time/Place: Tuesday, October 23, 2018, 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., 2209 Dunbar Hall
Candidate: Arz Y. Qwam Alden
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Title: Finite Element Modeling and Experimental Characterization of Knot Configuration Effect on the Mechanical Performance of Surgical Suture
Committee: Dr. Peter Gustafson, Chair, Dr. Daniel Kujawski, Dr. James W. Kamman, Dr. Andrew Geeslin
Time/Place: Wednesday, October 24, 2018, 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., C-124 CEAS, Parkview Campus
Candidate: Drake Olejniczak
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Mathematics
Title: Variations in Ramsey Theory
Committee: Dr. Ping Zhang, Chair, Dr. Gary Chartrand, Dr. Allen Schwenk, Dr. Linda Eroh
Time/Place: Wednesday, October 24, 2018, 1 to 3 p.m., 6625 Everett Tower
Candidate: Jennifer DeWaard
For the degree of: Doctor of Education
Department: Special Education and Literacy Studies
Title: Assessing the Supports and Variables Needed for Graduation of Students Receiving Special Education Service: A Longitudinal Study
Committee: Dr. Shaila Rao, Chair, Dr. Sara Summy, Dr. Amy Schelling
Time/Place: Thursday, October 25, 2018, 9 to 11 a.m., 3120 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Haitham Al-Anssari
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Title: Vision-Based Framework for Monitoring of Eating Behavior of Persons with Alzheimer’s Disease
Committee: Dr. Ikhlas Abdel-Qader, Chair, Dr. Janos Grantner, Dr. Maureen Mickus
Time/Place: Thursday, October 25, 2018, noon to 2 p.m., G-113 CEAS, Parkview Campus
Candidate: Gary L. Versalle
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology
Title: Understanding the Experiences of Students Re-Admitted After Academic Suspension as Part of a University-Initiated Process — A Qualitative Study
Committee: Dr. Andrea Beach, Chair, Dr. Eric Archer, Dr. Randy Ott
Time/Place: Thursday, October 25, 2018, 3 to 5 p.m., 4120 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Alissa Conway
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Psychology
Title: Evaluating Recommendations versus Utilization of Essential Components of a Functional Analysis Procedure
Committee: Dr. R. Wayne Fuqua, Chair, Dr. Stephanie Peterson, Dr. Alyce Dickinson, Dr. Shawn Quigley, Dr. Richard Malott
Time/Place: Friday, October 26, 2018, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 2401 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Kelly A. Campbell
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology
Title: Looking Inward: Higher Education Public Relations and Internal Communication
Committee: Dr. Andrea Beach, Chair, Dr. Louann Bierlein-Palmer, Dr. Timothy Penning
Time/Place: Friday, October 26, 2018, 3 to 5 p.m., Room 2010 Beltline Campus, Grand Rapids
Candidate: Tina M. Koepf
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology
Title: The Effect of Item Stem and Response Option Length on the Item Analysis Outcomes of a Career and Technical Education Multiple Choice Assessment
Committee: Dr. Richard Zinser, Chair, Dr. Louann Bierlein-Palmer, Dr. Sango Otieno
Time/Place: Monday, October 29, 2018, 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., Room 3009, WMU Beltline Campus, Grand Rapids
Candidate: Jessica R. Sullivan
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Sociology
Title: A Recipe for Success in the ‘English World’: An Investigation of the Ex-Amish in Mainstream Society
Committee: Dr. Angela Moe, Chair, Dr. Whitney DeCamp, Dr. Jesse Smith, Dr. Cynthia Visscher
Time/Place: Monday, October 29, 2018, 2 to 4 p.m., 3205 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Zahrah Hussain Aljuzayri
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Mallinson Institute for Science Education
Title: High School Science Teachers’ Professional Development and Self-efficacy in Using Technology Tools in the Classroom
Committee: Dr. Brandy Pleasants, Chair, Dr. Brian Horvitz, Dr. Todd Ellis, Dr. Betty Adams
Time/Place: Tuesday, October 30, 2018, 9 to 11 a.m., 2734 Wood Hall
Candidate: Jennifer Hahm
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology
Title: Color-Blind Racial Ideology, Social Justice Attitudes, and Cultural Competency in U.S. Medical Students and Resident Physicians
Committee: Dr. Joseph Morris, Chair, Dr. Jennifer Foster, Dr. Mary Wassink
Time/Place: Tuesday, October 30, 2018, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2401 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Alina J. Fortenberry
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology
Title: The Role of Response to Intervention in Michigan High-Poverty Elementary Schools That Are Beating the Odds
Committee: Dr. Louann Bierlein Palmer, Chair, Dr. Sue Poppink, Dr. Steven Sanocki
Time/Place: Tuesday, October 30, 2018, 6 to 8 p.m., 2401 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Melissa T. Heinrich
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Counseling Education and Counseling Psychology
Title: Strongly Bonded Supervisory Relationships: Demystifying the Bond Aspect of the Supervisory Working Alliance
Committee: Dr. Mary Z. Anderson, Chair, Dr. Eric Sauer, Dr. Kathryn Lewis-Ginebaugh
Time/Place: Wednesday, October 31, 2018, 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., 3120 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Xiaojie Hu
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Evaluation, Measurement and Research
Title: Implication of Item and Test Differential Functioning in Criterion-Referenced Tests
Committee: Dr. Edward Applegate, Chair, Dr. Jianping Shen, Dr. Ya Zheng
Time/Place: Thursday, November 1, 2018, 9 to 11 a.m., 4402 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Bilge Nazli Altay
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Chemical and Paper Engineering
Title: Development and Characterization of Nano Nickel-Based Conductive Inks for Flexographic Printing of Electronics and New Interpretations of Surface Energies of Solids
Committee: Dr. Alexandra Pekarovicova, Chair, Dr. Paul D. Fleming, Dr. Xiaoying Rong, Dr. Veronika Husovska
Time/Place: Thursday, November 1, 2018, 2 to 4 p.m., C-258 CEAS, Parkview Campus
Candidate: Michael James Macaluso
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Sociology
Title: The Place of Art in Black Panther Party Revolutionary Thought & Practice: From Revolution and Reform, a Content Analysis
Committee: Dr. Zoann Snyder, Chair, Dr. Thomas Van Valey, Dr. Douglas Davidson, Dr. Richard Yidana
Time/Place: Thursday, November 1, 2018, 3 to 5 p.m., 4550 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Nuwan Sisira Kumara
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Physics
Title: Radiative Double Electron Capture (Rdec) by Fully-Stripped Fluorine Ions in Collisions with Nitrogen
Committee: Dr. John A. Tanis, Chair, Dr. Asghar Kayani, Dr. Tomas Gorczyca, Dr. Andrzej Warczak
Time/Place: Friday, November 2, 2018, 9 to 11 a.m., 2202 Everett Hall
Candidate: Elizabeth M. Palmer
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Geological and Environmental Sciences
Title: Exploring Potential Water-Ice Occurrence on Asteroid 4 Vesta Using Orbital Radar Observations by the Dawn Mission
Committee: Dr. William Sauck, Chair, Dr. Johnson Haas, Dr. Essam Heggy, Dr. Wlodek Kofman
Time/Place: Friday, November 2, 2018, 2 to 4 p.m., 1192 Rood Hall
Candidate: Tyler Norman
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Interdisciplinary Studies
Title: Administrative Barriers to Compliance with the 2010 NCAA Policy on Concussion Management
Committee: Dr. Nancy Mansberger, Chair, Dr. James Lewis, Dr. Ronald Kramer, Dr. Dave Louis
Time/Place: Friday, November 2, 2018, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., 4402 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Basheer Mohammed Basheer Qolomany
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Computer Science
Title: Efficacy of Deep Learning in Support of Smart Space IoT Services
Committee: Dr. Ajay Gupta, Chair, Dr. Ala Al-Fuqaha, Co-Chair, Dr. Alvis Fong, Dr. Driss Benhaddou
Time/Place: Friday, November 2, 2018, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., D-204 CEAS, Parkview Campus
Candidate: Abduljaleel Al-Hasnawi
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Computer Science
Title: Protecting Privacy of Data in the Internet of Things with Policy Enforcement Fog Module
Committee: Dr. Ajay Gupta, Chair, Dr. Steve Carr, Dr. Ala Al-Fuqaha, Dr. Ikhlas Abdel-Qader
Time/Place: Friday, November 9, 2018, 2 to 4 p.m., D-132 CEAS, Parkview Campus
Candidate: Ghassan Bilal
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Title: Network Equivalents Applied to Transient Analysis of Large Distribution Systems
Committee: Dr. Pablo Gomez, Chair, Dr. Ikhlas Abdel-Qader, Dr. Richard Meyer
Time/Place: Tuesday, November 20, 2018, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., D-132 CEAS, Parkview Campus
Candidate: Aous Hammad Kurdi
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Title: Hardware/Software Co-Design of a Reconfigurable Accelerator Platform for Fuzzy Logic-Based Spatial Image Processing Filters
Committee: Dr. Janos L. Grantner, Chair, Dr. Ikhlas Abdel-Qader, Dr. Azim Houshyar
Time/Place: Tuesday, November 27, 2018, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., D-132 CEAS, Parkview Campus
Candidate: Heather R. Highhouse
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology
Title: Adjustment, Belongingness, Self-Efficacy, Persistence, and Success among First-Generation, First-Year College Students: Implications for Counselor Educators
Committee: Dr. Stephen Craig, Chair, Dr. Mary Z. Anderson, Dr. Allison Hart-Young
Time/Place: Thursday, November 29, 2018, 3 to 5 p.m., 3120 Sangren Hall
December
Candidate: Muaaz Gul Awan
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Computer Science
Title: High-Performance Reductive Strategies for Big Data from LC-MS/MS Proteomics
Committee: Dr. Fahad Saeed, Chair, Dr. Ajay Gupta, Dr. Alvis Fong, Dr. James Springstead, Dr. Seung-Hee Bae
Time/Place: Wednesday, December 5, 2018, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., D-212 CEAS, Parkview Campus
Candidate: Kate C. Hibbard-Gibbons
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Counseling Education and Counseling Psychology
Title: Examining the Relationships of Coping Style and Athletic Identity with Adjustment to College among First-Year Division III Collegiate Athletes
Committee: Dr. Patrick Munley, Chair, Dr. Eric Sauer, Dr. Rebecca Cook
Time/Place: Monday, December 10, 2018, 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., 3120 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Alison DeLizza
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Psychology
Title: An Examination of the Relationship between Adolescent Depression, Anhedonia, and Behavioral Therapy
Committee: Dr. Scott Gaynor, Chair, Dr. Amy Naugle, Dr. Amy Damashek, Dr. Sheryl Lozowski-Sullivan
Time/Place: Monday, December 10, 2018, 3 to 5 p.m., 3713 Wood Hall
Candidate: Marlene Camacho Ochoa
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Spanish
Title: Description of the Final Phase of Augusto Roa Bastos’ Narrative
Committee: Dr. Benjamin Torres Caballero, Chair, Dr. Pablo Pastrana Perez, Dr. Helene Weldt-Basson
Time/Place: Friday, December 14, 2018, 10 a.m. to noon, 3025 Brown Hall
Candidate: Nasser Minwer Alsaedi
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Computer Science
Title: Predicting the Complexity of Locality Patterns in Loop Nests
Committee: Dr. Steven Carr, Chair, Dr. Alvis Fong, Dr. Elise de Donker, Dr. Zijiang Yang, Dr. Steven Durbin
Time/Place: Friday, December 14, 2018, 2 to 4 p.m., C-122 CEAS, Parkview Campus
Candidate: Fadi A. Alhomaidat
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Civil and Construction Engineering
Title: Impacts of Freeway Speed Limit on Safety and Operation Speed of Adjacent Arterial Roads
Committee: Dr. Valerian Kwigizile, Chair, Dr. Jun-Seok Oh, Dr. Ron Van Houten
Time/Place: Monday, December 17, 2018, 1 to 3 p.m., D-212 CEAS, Parkview Campus
Previous dissertation defenses have been digitized and archived by the Western Michigan University Libraries ScholarWorks Dissertations page. Use the advance search located on the left side of the page to get dissertations sorted by author, subject, department, year published, and more.