Assessing The Impact Of The Women In Construction Leadership Course And Disc Training On The Construction Industry For Students And Recent Graduates,
2025
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Assessing The Impact Of The Women In Construction Leadership Course And Disc Training On The Construction Industry For Students And Recent Graduates, Amanda E. Mcdowell
Construction Management
This study examined the impact of the Women in Construction Leadership Course, paired with DISC training, on students transitioning into the construction industry. The DISC instrument classifies behaviors into four personality types (i.e., Dominant, Influencer, Steady, Conscientious) and the training helped students identify each personality type to improve their communication skills. Although technical skills are essential for completing daily tasks, effective leadership and communication are crucial to project success. This research explored how DISC training can improve new hires’ perceptions of their abilities to interact and communicate with their project team members. Through a survey of course participants, the study …
Assessing Fire Risks In San Luis Obispo: The Impact Of Building Construction And Landscaping On Wildfire Vulnerability,
2025
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Assessing Fire Risks In San Luis Obispo: The Impact Of Building Construction And Landscaping On Wildfire Vulnerability, Zachary A. Pollock
Construction Management
As wildfires grow in frequency and intensity across California, understanding and mitigating residential fire risk has become a public safety priority. Communities in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), such as San Luis Obispo, are especially vulnerable due to their proximity to natural vegetation and the prevalence of older housing stock. While state and local agencies have introduced regulations and educational campaigns, there remains a need for accessible, scalable tools that help identify fire risks at the individual home level. This project assessed wildfire vulnerability across 140 homes in San Luis Obispo, California, using a custom visual grading rubric informed by academic …
Thousand Hills Pet Resort Cat Condos Installation And Qa/Qc,
2025
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Thousand Hills Pet Resort Cat Condos Installation And Qa/Qc, Erik Anders Ruud
Construction Management
This paper discusses the installation and quality assurance/quality control of four cat condos built for the Son Care Foundation at the Thousand Hills Pet Resort in San Luis Obispo. The Son Care Foundation is a nonprofit that provides professional daycare and overnight boarding services for dogs and cats while their owners are away. The cat condos serve cats during the day while their owners are at work or otherwise busy. Because three people were assigned to this project, the project was split into preconstruction, prefabrication, and installation/QA/QC. To meet the two-day installation window, due to active facility use, three cat …
Preconstruction Management Of The Cat Condos Project At Thousand Hills Pet Resort,
2025
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Preconstruction Management Of The Cat Condos Project At Thousand Hills Pet Resort, Aeon Combs
Construction Management
This paper presents the preconstruction phases of the Cat Condos Project at the Thousand Hills Pet Resort, and the many challenges which were necessary to realize its completion. The Son Care Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in San Luis Obispo with many focuses such as outreach for veterans, prison rehabilitation, youth development, and other charitable pursuits. The Thousand Hills Pet Resort is a subsidiary of the Son Care Foundation which provides holistic boarding services to felines and canines alike, all the profits generated by the Thousand Hills Pet Resort are donated to sustain the Son Care Foundations’ charitable endeavors. …
Plumbing System Design For Gateway Decathlon,
2025
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Plumbing System Design For Gateway Decathlon, Philip Soo
Construction Management
This senior project focuses on the development of a Sustainable and Efficient Plumbing System for the Gateway Decathlon Modular Housing Unit, a Mass Timber construction. As part of an Integrated Project Design delivery, this project involves a collaborative effort among students from various disciplines, including construction management, architecture, and engineering. Over the past year, teams of students have collaborated to develop architectural drawings, including floor plans, elevations, and system layouts. This project includes the careful selection of plumbing fixtures that align with the performance and sustainability goals of the modular housing unit. In addition, the materials were chosen based on …
Skip The Grid Bringing Light To The Darkness And Bridging The Educational Gap In Navajo Nation,
2025
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Skip The Grid Bringing Light To The Darkness And Bridging The Educational Gap In Navajo Nation, Robert Joseph Byrne
Construction Management
Skip The Grid is a unique project done in collaboration with many groups, including California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) students and faculty members, representatives from Solv Energy, Nextracker, Tribal Liaisons, Heart of America, and members of the Navajo Nation. This group delivered and installed solar panel systems accompanied by batteries, lights, and a small refrigerator. The Navajo Nation faces many problems, including higher poverty and unemployment rates when compared to the rest of the United States. The goal of the Skip The Grid project was to deliver sustainable, safe, and reliable power to homes of school-aged children in the …
Son Care Foundation – Pergola Structure Construction,
2025
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Son Care Foundation – Pergola Structure Construction, Jackson Landless
Construction Management
This paper covers the construction process of a pergola structure for the Son Care Foundation in San Luis Obispo, California. The project’s goal in this study is to create a welcoming outdoor space for clients their dogs. Excavating four footings, fabricating custom rebar cages, and pouring concrete using fast-setting mix were all part of the construction efforts. Framing the structure required precise calculations to accommodate for the slope and corner braces. The matching white paint and corrugated PVC roof further achieved the desired aesthetic the client requested. Trial and error, practical experience, and cooperation with local material suppliers and maintenance …
Prefabrication Of Custom Cat Condos For Son Care Foundation,
2025
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Prefabrication Of Custom Cat Condos For Son Care Foundation, Jacob Marano
Construction Management
This senior project involved the design and construction of four custom cat condos for the Son Care Foundation. The goal of the project was to enhance the quality of life for cats by creating safe, functional, and enriching enclosures. The process involved developing a conceptual design, coordinating with daycare center staff, refining the final design and materials list, procuring supplies, and executing the build. The final deliverables included four completed condos with individual and shared spaces for 8 to 12 cats in total. Throughout the project, valuable lessons were learned in planning, budgeting, construction techniques, and working with a real …
Hawthorne Elementary Stage Set Construction,
2025
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Hawthorne Elementary Stage Set Construction, Sergio Daniel Manriquez, Alejandro Gonzalez
Construction Management
The Pirate Ship and Playhouse project, undertaken by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Cal Poly Construction Management students, aimed to support arts education at Hawthorne Elementary School through the construction of theatrical set pieces for a Peter Pan performance. Initiated by Phil Barlow and guided by Anna Brennen from the school’s staff, the project integrated community service with practical learning in construction management. From initial design and material sourcing to final installation, the team emphasized safety, durability, and aesthetic appeal. Funding and logistical support from local businesses and Cal Poly facilitated the project’s success. This hands-on endeavor not …
Shipping Container Library Project: Preconstruction Strategy And Planning,
2025
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Shipping Container Library Project: Preconstruction Strategy And Planning, Chris Lochner
Construction Management
This report outlines the preconstruction planning phase for the development of a shipping container library to be deployed to a community in Sub-Saharan Africa. The library is designed as a modular and sustainable solution for delivering access to educational resources. Preconstruction efforts have focused on finalizing design documentation, procurement planning, trade coordination, permitting considerations, and site logistics. While no construction has begun, two 40-foot high-cube containers have been ordered—one for prototyping and one for shipment. One container is currently staged at Tilden-Coil Constructors’ yard in Riverside, California, and the project is approaching the procurement and mobilization phase. All tracking of …
Optimizing Concrete Strength: How Nanomaterials And Ai Redefine Mix Design,
2025
Coastal Carolina University
Optimizing Concrete Strength: How Nanomaterials And Ai Redefine Mix Design, Dan Huang, Guangshuai Han, Ziyang Tang
Physics and Engineering Science
Nanomaterials and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) are typically used together in efforts to enhance the performance of concrete and mitigate the environmental impact of concrete construction. However, the complex interactions between nanomaterials, SCMs, and cement make concrete mix design a challenging, iterative, and labor-intensive process, often relying on trial-and-error experimentation. Machine learning (ML) offers an opportunity to better understand the influence of input parameters and to accelerate the optimization of mix designs through data-driven insights. This study proposes an open-source and easy-to-access framework, Canopy, to support the concrete research community in optimizing mix design. Using a dataset collected from the …
Optimizing The Sustainability Of Asphalt Pavements Through Incorporating Crumb Rubber In High-Modulus Asphalt Concrete (Hmac) Mixtures In Louisiana,
2025
LSU College of Engineering
Optimizing The Sustainability Of Asphalt Pavements Through Incorporating Crumb Rubber In High-Modulus Asphalt Concrete (Hmac) Mixtures In Louisiana, Heena Dhasmana, Marwa Hassan, Mohamed Abdelmageed
Publications
Asphalt mixtures are traditionally produced using the Superpave mix design method, which emphasizes volumetric properties; however, current research is shifting toward performance-based and sustainable approaches. Within this context, the French High Modulus Asphalt Concrete (HMAC) design focuses on achieving specific performance criteria for workability, stiffness, rutting resistance, and fatigue behavior, employing a hard binder with higher asphalt content and fewer air voids than Superpave mixes. In this study, HMAC mixtures were developed using crumb rubber and locally sourced Louisiana materials. Five HMAC mixes using PG 76-22 and PG 67-22 binders with 10% and 20% crumb rubber were prepared, along with …
Memory-Augmented Llm Agent For Predicting Locomotion Modes In Construction Activities,
2025
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
Memory-Augmented Llm Agent For Predicting Locomotion Modes In Construction Activities, Ehsan Ahmadi
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
The construction industry faces significant challenges, including labor shortages, high physical demands, and safety risks, necessitating advanced assistive technologies like exoskeletons to enhance worker efficiency and reduce injuries. However, effective exoskeleton control in dynamic construction environments requires accurate locomotion prediction, a task complicated by the diversity of activities and reliance on supervised learning methods that struggle to generalize. This study investigates a multimodal approach to locomotion prediction, leveraging speech commands and visual data from smart glasses to enable adaptive and safe human-exoskeleton interaction. The research unfolds in two stages: the first develops a framework to evaluate the zero-shot capability and …
Beyond The Hard Hat: Examining Barriers Of Women In Construction,
2025
University of Texas at Arlington
Beyond The Hard Hat: Examining Barriers Of Women In Construction, Allison Pham
2025 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive
The construction industry is falling behind in female representation, with women only making up 11.2% of the industry. The existing labor shortage is further exacerbated by the limited interest among women to pursue a career in construction. The purpose of this research is to investigate the factors that contribute to the lack of women in the construction industry and explore how HR strategies can attract and retain women in construction careers. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reports from three different industries were used to analyze the percentage of men and women employees. Multivariate regression analyses were conducted to examine whether …
Bim-Based Automated System For Carbon Emissions And Construction Costs Estimation (Bas-Cc) In Modular Design And Production,
2025
Clemson University
Bim-Based Automated System For Carbon Emissions And Construction Costs Estimation (Bas-Cc) In Modular Design And Production, Roshan Bandiwadekar
All Theses
Modular construction adopts a manufacturing-like construction process, enhancing the management of embodied carbon emissions in production and construction phases. However, estimating these emissions presents challenges due to the involvement of diverse stakeholders across various lifecycle stages. Additionally, cost considerations often influence design choices and material selections in modular constructions, neglecting the impact of embodied carbon emissions. To address these challenges, we present a proof-of-concept for an automated Building Information Modeling (BIM)-based system to estimate both carbon emissions and construction costs. This system automates the calculation of embodied carbon and cost implications of different modular designs and materials, enabling informed decision-making. …
Design And Optimization Of Aquaculture Gear: Development Of A Cage-Integrated Reeling Mechanism For Oyster Farming,
2025
University of South Alabama
Design And Optimization Of Aquaculture Gear: Development Of A Cage-Integrated Reeling Mechanism For Oyster Farming, Felicity Bryant
Honors Theses
This project encompasses the design, fabrication, and testing of a cage-integrated reeling system aimed at reducing the physical labor required in oyster aquaculture at Bama Bay Oyster Farm, the last operational oyster farm in Mobile Bay. The proposed system includes two primary components: lightweight, modular oyster cages and a dual-winch reeling device for automated retrieval. Three cage prototypes—rectangular, oval, and hexagonal—were evaluated for structural performance and fabrication feasibility. The oval design was ultimately excluded due to practical fabrication limitations. The rectangular and hexagonal designs were fabricated using recycled materials and tested under the most extreme environmental conditions derived from years …
Plansyncc - A Construction Document Translation Software,
2025
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Plansyncc - A Construction Document Translation Software, Easton Richard Abreo, Ashton Lee Gandrup, Javier Solis
Construction Management
PlanSyncc was born from shared construction internship experiences, where the team observed significant language barriers between supervisors and tradesmen, leading to miscommunication, inefficiencies, and safety risk. Motivated by this problem, PlanSyncc developed an AI-powered translation software to bridge the gap by translating construction documents in real-time. To bring PlanSyncc to life, the team divided the project into three key deliverables: a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), a business plan, and a pitch deck. The MVP involved creating two Python-based translation codes, one for specifications and another for complex construction plans using tools like PyMuPDF, Tesseract, mtranslate, and others. The business plan …
Robot-Integrated 4d Building Information Modeling (4d Bim): Framework For Planning Safe Autonomous Construction Operations In Dynamic Environments,
2025
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Robot-Integrated 4d Building Information Modeling (4d Bim): Framework For Planning Safe Autonomous Construction Operations In Dynamic Environments, Hafiz Oyedimeji Oyediran
Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–
In the construction industry, the use of autonomous robots is considered a solution to overcome the heavy reliance on human workers to perform repetitive, strenuous, and hazardous tasks. While these robots offer the advantage of autonomous operation, ensuring their safe and efficient integration within construction sites requires precise planning. Such planning must account for the varying project complexities such as scope, site layout, tasks, timelines, existence of human workers, and other spatiotemporal conditions of the construction site. Currently, there are no methods to safely plan autonomous robot operations considering these factors within the overarching construction planning process. Thus, autonomous robots …
Skip The Grid: An Impactful Solar Installation Project In The Navajo Nation,
2025
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Skip The Grid: An Impactful Solar Installation Project In The Navajo Nation, John Ryan Strain
Construction Management
Over the past four years, a team of interdisciplinary students and faculty from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), Heart of America, and generous industry sponsors (SOLV, Goal Zero, NextTracker, Elite, and TCB Builders) have brought their time, effort, and resources together to complete a service trip, called Skip the Grid. The trip’s primary goal is to provide a reliable source of power, light, and refrigeration to families with school age children in the Navajo Nation where these resources are absent or unreliable otherwise. This year’s trip took place over Cal Poly’s academic break from March 23rd …
Selecting Green Wall Adoption Best Solutions Using Optimization: Addressing Barriers And Maximizing Benefits,
2025
American University in Cairo
Selecting Green Wall Adoption Best Solutions Using Optimization: Addressing Barriers And Maximizing Benefits, Samar Nadeem
Theses and Dissertations
This research explores the potential of green walls as a sustainable solution to mitigate urban challenges and align with global climate change objectives. Despite their ecological and social benefits, green wall implementation faces significant barriers, hindering their adoption. Consequently, this study aims to develop a comprehensive framework to identify the obstacles, propose feasible solutions, and provide actionable strategies for promoting green walls. This framework incorporates an optimization model specifically designed for government-led solutions, evaluating their feasibility based on administrative feasibility, community acceptance, technical feasibility, industrial acceptance, and long-term adoption potential. By quantifying and prioritizing solutions based on their cost, feasibility, …
