Digital Commons Network^™

Southern Sea Otter (Enhydra Lutris Nereis) Fur Morphology, Thermal Function, And Buoyancy Across Ontogeny, Kate Riordan

Master's Theses

Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) have the densest fur of any animal, and the hairs function to trap a layer of air that is used for insulation. When a sea otter is born, it has a natal pelage (baby fur), and sea otters eventually molt that fur and replace it with a pelt resembling the adult fur. Sea otter fur is composed of 3 types of hairs: underhairs, intermediate hairs, and guard hairs. Sea otters are more susceptible to the negative effects of oiling from oil spills compared to other marine mammal species because they solely rely on fur …

A Business Plan For Construction Companies Entering Into Real Estate Development, Dylan Michael Barrett

Construction Management

The construction industry is one that has been lucrative yet difficult to navigate at times. Companies must continually adapt to potential changes in the market and shifting consumer demands while ensuring that their core business ideologies are not abandoned. For these reasons, many construction companies have found that being flexible in the work they do proves to give consistent results for their businesses. One way to change business models is to pursue real estate development. Its lucrative rewards prove a great additional revenue stream. This project aims to provide insight, via a business plan, as to how a construction company …

Site Development Feasibility Study, Andy A. Tenekjian

Construction Management

A feasibility study in the world of construction is deemed as a preliminary due diligence process in which key components of a project are addressed to determine if the project is viable or not. These components are related to time and money, and the end goal of a feasibility study is to determine if the initial investment of time and money is worth the amount of future financial return. What deems a project successful in the preliminary stage is up for interpretation. Each developer and investor have their own return on investment threshold in a multi-family project like the one …

Gender, Sex, & Emerging Adulthood, Katarina Andrea Reyes

Psychology and Child Development

Emerging adulthood is a key developmental period when individuals explore and make meaning of their intimate relationships. National trends suggest that experimentation with non-committed relationships has increased (Olmstead, 2020), particularly for females (Netting & Reynolds, 2018). Young women utilize casual sex to explore sex, while men use sex for pleasure (Sizemore & Olmstead, 2017). Moreover, the double sexual standard impacts women’s sexual satisfaction and self-esteem (Williams & Jovanovic, 2018). Little research has examined how sex influences emerging adult’s self-esteem. Previous research has primarily relied on survey data to understand women’s and men’s experiences. Narrative identity scholars posit that individuals can …

Spheres Development Package, Nate R. Antepenko, Dan Benaroch, Dominic Ferrari

City and Regional Planning

The Spheres, live work play development concept is located adjacent to Higuera St, along an arterial road that primarily contains industrial and commercial land uses. The proposed development site is intended to enhance the city of San Luis Obispo by addressing the necessities of the surrounding community.

The development proposal adopts the Urban Design principle, Smart Growth Planning, designed to direct development into areas that have adequate utility capacity and transportation networks and to encourage walkable communities. The Spheres development site fosters fluid spaces, where residents live in a walkable radius to work, eliminating long commutes, in order to eliminate …

Conceptual Proposal For New Student Housing In San Luis Obispo, Jack F. Tunney

Construction Management

This real property development project walked through the steps and procedures that are typical for real property development. The project focused on a conceptual multi-unit student housing project located near Cal Polys campus. The rental market in San Luis Obispo is very competitive and through market and financial analysis, it was determined that there is a demand for projects like the one proposed. The project walked through the processes associated with the financial analysis of a potential construction project in San Luis Obispo. The project identifies a site, creates a budget both for construction, development, and design costs, then analyzes …

Difficulties Building Low-Income Housing And The View Of One Company: A Case Study, Kyle Henriken

Construction Management

This case study investigates low-income housing and why it can be more difficult to build compared to other construction projects. Five individuals of PREMIER Design + Build Group were interviewed and gave their opinions on the subject. Each person interviewed has a different role in the company a market leader, project manager, superintendent, and a project engineer to gain a more diverse view on low-income housing. These interviews were semi-structured and open ended to create dialogue about their experiences in affordable housing. This paper investigates a single project called The Cottages located in Lake Elsinore CA. This process found that …

Engineers In Action Bridge Program - Creation Of The Cal Poly Chapter, James Foad

Construction Management

The purpose of this project was to establish a chapter of Engineers in Action at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Engineers in Action is a non-profit organization which is dedicated to constructing footbridges in underserved countries. Bridges are linked to many benefits for those without reliable access year-round. Chapters of this organization work to design, fund, and build the footbridges in remote locations consisting of West Virginia, eSwatini, and Bolivia. The plan for the chapter was to establish a founding team which can work together to both recruit new members, and complete the tasks needed to successfully …

A Podcast Designed To Discuss The Lives Of Students, Faculty, And Alumni In The San Luis Obispo Community, Sienna Addison

Journalism

This project was developed to describe the process of creating and launching a podcast for students, faculty and staff of California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo to educate and inspire endeavors in entrepreneurship. The research began with the growing use of podcasting in higher education, as well as the increase in popularity and accessibility of podcasts in the last 20 years. The project was first developed by David Kozuch, a student at California Polytechnic State University in the fall of the 2019 school year and has continued to grow in the years since. Polycast is the published resulting …

Understanding Slo 22 - Lifelong Learning, Madeleine Zetterquist

Construction Management

This paper is an informative overview of the student learning objective SLO 22, lifelong learning, in relation to the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Construction Management Department. The student learning objective of lifelong learning is an existing university objective for Cal Poly, however, recently has also become a department specific objective for Construction Management. This senior project explores what lifelong learning means to the Construction Management department. Further, the paper explores how the current outcomes of this objective may improve to more closely embody the department mission. These findings will allow for emphasis on lifelong learning in order …

Neca Ghana Project, Michael T. Klee

Construction Management

Cal Poly’s motto is, “Learn by Doing" and for Cal Poly’s NECA Chapter, this isn’t simply a motto, but a directive for proactive change. For my senior project I will be leading the Cal Poly NECA chapter in the design, pre- fabrication and construction of a 5-7kw solar array, community center, ice production room and technology room in the remote fishing village of Agbokpa, Ghana. The solar array will power multiple industrial DC freezers, high efficiency LED lighting and charging stations while additionally powering water filtration and irrigation systems. Like many other fishing villages around the world, Agbokpa has no …

The Proteomic Response Of Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga Angustirostris) Pups To Physiological Stress During Development, Melissa P. Voisinet

Master's Theses

Background: Northern elephant seals transition from terrestrial nursing pups to pelagic foraging juveniles in a short period of just 8-12 weeks. During the post-weaning period, pups rely solely on the energy reserves gained during nursing for their caloric demands and water supply. The prolonged absence of food after weaning is the first of many fasts for which the seals have evolved adaptations such as decreased urine production and increased blubber reserves. The stressors experienced from learning to dive for the first time are also stressors that they will experience frequently as an adult and for which they have evolved adaptations. …

Assessment Of The Potential Of Proposed Stations Of The California High-Speed Rail As Major Hubs For Physical And Economic Development, Seitu Akira Coleman

Master's Theses

This study investigated the potential for development of station catchment areas around the proposed California High-Speed Rail System. The study was prompted by a review of practices of Japanese railway company groups that engage not only in train operations, but also in business diversification and property development within the station areas of their lines. These actions allow the company groups to diversify their revenues streams, increase ridership on their lines, and operate as a whole with net profits. This is in contrast to transit agencies in the United States, which only focus on transporting passengers along their lines and do …

Zinc Sunscreens Affect Development Of Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus Embryos, Brittany E. Cunningham, Nikki L. Adams

Master's Theses

The growing popularity of physical sunscreens will also lead to an increased release of the ingredients from zinc oxide (ZnO) sunscreens into marine environments. Though zinc (Zn) is a necessary micronutrient in the ocean, greater than natural Zn concentrations are being released into marine environments by use of sunscreens. The extent of the consequences of the addition of Zn to the ocean are not fully understood. We investigated effects of materials released by zinc oxide (ZnO) sunscreens on the development of California purple sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Embryos developed in various concentrations of Zn, the sources of which included …

Small-Scale Intelligent Vehicle Design Platform, Christopher Grant, Jay Miley, Evan Phillips

Mechanical Engineering

Intelligent Vehicle Design is a growing field with the potential to save many lives by actively minimizing the impacts of human error. Though there are many ways to research intelligent vehicle control, full-scale implementations are expensive and dangerous and computer simulations have extremely steep learning curves. Researchers and students need an accessible, adaptable, and robust development platform to rapidly create and test autonomous control algorithms. While small-scale platforms are often designed from the ground up for specific projects, this requires analysis, design, and manufacture. The goal of this project is to develop a small-scale intelligent vehicle that can be configured …

Tournament Wizard: Simple And Lightweight Software For Running Fencing Tournaments, John Ryan Daley

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Many sports use technology to assist in officiating and administration. Fencing tournament organizers use specialized software to help determine how their matches occur, and to help them administer a tournament. However, the software most commonly used to run these tournaments has some significant limitations, and is not well-suited for use with small events. As a former President of Cal Poly’s Fencing Club, I have had a chance to interact with one popular application for running fencing tournaments a number of times, and made note of its shortcomings. These included issues with operating system compatibility, license transference, and amount of space …

Ymca Operations Manual Development, Devlin Stewart

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The San Luis Obispo YMCA sports department was losing money and overworking their employees due to lack of processes and organizational issues. To address this, a plan was made with the sports director to begin organizing the sports department. This would be done by creating an operations manual for them to organize and consolidate all of their relevant information.

The project was scoped to develop a plan for the YMCA to implement an operations manual. By delivering a work breakdown structure, a gantt chart, and a plan for continuous improvement, the YMCA could use these tools to develop their operations …

Music And Language Development: Traits Of Nursery Rhymes And Their Impact On Children's Language Development, Ashley Lauren Gonzalez

Music

From birth--possibly even before birth--the amount and array of external stimuli profoundly affect a child’s cognitive and linguistic development. In addition to verbal communication from parent to child, singing proves to be an integral aid to a child’s development of speech and language, allegedly due to repetitions of words and rhythms. Nursery rhymes are, from infancy, among the most commonly presented forms of musical stimulus for children. The repetitive nature of the nursery rhymes undoubtedly supports language and speech development, but various characteristics of nursery rhymes, specifically pitch interval, meter, phrase length, contour, and harmony, also contribute substantially to the …

Multi-Axis Machining Project Development, Ryan Patrick Blodgett, Andre Peter Rivera

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Multi-axis milling is a manufacturing material removal process in which computer numerically controlled (CNC) tools cut away excess material through movement in four or more axes. Compared to traditional three-axis machining, multi-axis machining greatly increases the capability and accuracy of the CNC machining processes by reducing the amount of operations required to completely machine a part. Currently, the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department at Cal Poly lacks an advanced CNC class that incorporates fourth and fifth axis CNC machining in the curriculum. This report describes the process behind creating a project for such a class. The class will demonstrate the …

The Power Of Friendship: Cal Poly’S Contract In Thailand And Reinterpreting Cold War Agency Through Relationships, Sean Martinez

History

From 1967 to 1973, Cal Poly was contracted by USAID to provide assistance to the Department of Vocational Education housed under the Royal Thai Government's Ministry of Education. This paper explores how the Cal Poly university administration and the members of the Cal Poly Team in Thailand expressed agency and decision making despite complex bureaucratic relationships and the larger international political conflict between the US and the USSR.

A Website Development Project For Valhalla Sales And Marketing Inc. In Kingsburg, Ca, Megan Nicole Stone

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this project was to design and develop a website for Valhalla Sales and Marketing Inc. in Kingsburg, CA. The website will include five pages as well as a hyperlink to the local weather channel page. This website will be used by the company to increase communication with their current clients and provide information to potential clients and/or customers who want to learn more about the company. This project is a guide to how this website was created and what exactly went into the design and implementation of designing a website and working with your family company. By …

Policies And Implementation Of Global Development, Scott Kjorlien

Social Sciences

International development is a very bulky topic of debate in today’s day in age. People from many different noble professions have extremely varying views of what exactly development is and how it should be executed. This paper is a starting point to understanding the various aspects of modern implementation of development. This paper gives an overview of definitions and measures of development, common paradigms in development theory and practices and implementation of post WWII development.

Wine To Water, Jennifer Stangland

Social Sciences

Nearly one billion people in the world today do not have access to clean water (Siegfried, 2008). This is a crisis that society has faced for decades, and is not a problem that (to our knowledge) will be miraculously alleviated anytime in the near future. The implications of this resource deficit run deep for many people outside of America. But sadly, the affected places and people are not often visible to or noticed by the American society as a whole. The purpose of my research and analysis through this project is to change that. I desire to see a community …

Sales Process And Training Overview, Thomas Holcomb

Communication Studies

Overview of the sales process as established by the National Collegiate Sales Competition (NCSC). This paper details Cal Poly's Sales Development Program and covers the ins and outs of what makes an effective salesperson. Would be beneficial for anyone who is considering sales as a career, looking to improve their sales abilities, or just searching for a senior project idea.

Sustainable Waterfront Revitalization: Baltimore, San Francisco, And Seattle, Lindsey L.M. Miller

Master's Theses

The urban waterfront areas of the United States have grown increasingly neglected and derelict due to changes in traditional industrial uses and their physical severance from the downtown core. A revived interest in urban living has brought downtown property values up, including waterfront areas, and has jump-started a movement towards waterfront revitalization. In an effort to understand the specific characteristics that make some waterfront revitalization projects more sustainable over time than others, this paper employed a case study approach. Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, San Francisco, and Seattle’s Central Waterfront were selected for analysis based on three specific perspectives: recreation; development; and …

Cal Poly Formulasae Engine Development, Matthew Ales, Rafael Mendoza, Mitchell (Mitch) Thomas, Leon Vinokurov

Mechanical Engineering

This project, engine development, was sponsored by Cal Poly FormulaSAE. The FormulaSAE team proposed this project in order to have a more reliable and more powerful engine for their car, to improve their overall performance at their competition. The baseline output of the engine is 37 hp and 24 lb-ft of torque. The goal of this project was to increase the output to 45 hp, to meet requirements determined by a trade study. We planned to increase the engine’s output using several strategies.

We evaluated all potential design decisions using a Ricardo WAVE model. Ricardo WAVE is a software tool …

Facility And Database Design For The Research Development Center, Nicholas J. Mehas

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The purpose of this project is to create a new facility and database design to replace the current Research Development Center located on the campus of California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo and the database in use at the facility. Currently the Research Development Center is a condemned building and the database lacks up-to-date technology. The project will develop new designs for both, based on concurrent engineering. The outcome of the project will be a new design for a new building that increases capacity and capability; a new database design that integrates newer technologies and methods for tracking tools.

Design And Development Of An Integrated Waste Management System For Huai Nam Khun, Thailand, Annie Duong

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Background

A rural village in Thailand has always been limited in access to waste collection services and processing facilities. As a result, their behaviors of disposing waste in ineffective manners such as dumping and burning causes a variety of environmental impacts. In addition, the people dwelling in these areas are often unaware of the health risks associated to these types of engagements because of the inadequate education system. For a long time coming these circumstances remained untouched until a non-profit organization recently shed light to the need for a solution. An investigation, to develop a design solution in order to …

The Driving Forces And Resultant Effects Of Global Food Crises: Development Reconsidered In A Time Of Need, Quinn Lewis

Social Sciences

A number of factors led up to the global food crisis of 2008, culminating in the latest spike in worldwide hunger levels. Such a crisis needs to be understood from a structural perspective; relevant information must be taken into account to design adequate responses, and certain mechanisms need to be put in place to bolster the most vulnerable groups from the terrible scourge of hunger. This paper examines the latest global food crisis, looking at the problem from a number of angles: supply-and-demand forces, socio-economic factors, and the effects of international trade policies on global hunger levels. Hunger is a …

The Malawi Project: From Conventional To Holistic Decision Making, Grace Wetmore

Animal Science

How the Cal Poly Malawi Appropriate Technologies Team, and other development groups, can use Holistic Management to aid developing countries in an effort towards a sustainable future.