Digital Commons Network^™

Mel’S: A Modern Soup Brand Reshaping The Industry, Melody Chaerin Braunstein

Graphic Communication

My senior project focuses on the primary stages of creating a soup brand through market/trend research and branding. During this project, I aim to better understand the process of creating a brand, and the organization needed to flow through different stages.

My project hopes to analyze the current market and determine what it takes to create a successful product that stands out. My goal is to have a cohesive vision of the brand that creates a better baseline for later steps, such as graphic and packaging design, social media, and marketing.

Reframing Greek Life: The Ifc Story, Neal Raghav Parthasarathy

Graphic Communication

Organizations like the Interfraternity Council (IFC) have a hard time with telling a comprehensive story of the positive impact they are making to Cal Poly as well as to the SLO community. Our fraternities spend thousands of hours collectively to serve the local communities, and we collect metrics on volunteer hours, how much funds we raised, etc. However, these are usually communicated in a disjointed way through social media, emails and so on. So the various community stakeholders don’t get the full picture, and the negative perceptions around partying far outweigh the good we are doing. 

As IFC president, I …

Exploring Non-Conventional Substrates: The Role Of Hibiscus And Whey In Kombucha Fermentation, Benjamin J. Lee

Master's Theses

This study evaluated the impact of hibiscus and whey as alternative fermentation substrates on the physicochemical, phytochemical, and microbial properties of kombucha. A 2 × 2 full factorial design was used to compare four treatments: black tea + water (BW), black tea + whey (BH), hibiscus + water (HW), and hibiscus + whey (HH). The fermentation solvents (water or whey) were heated to 88 °C, infused with 0.6% (w/v) black tea or hibiscus for 10 minutes, sweetened with 10% (w/v) sucrose, cooled to 22 °C, and inoculated with 20% (v/v) kombucha starter culture. Fermentations were carried out at 22 °C …

Associations Between Nutrition-Related Chronic Disease And Food Insecurity: Data From The California State University, Elizabeth Ochoa

Master's Theses

Food insecurity is a growing public health concern consistently associated with elevated rates of nutrition-related chronic disease (NRCD) across the general population. Despite young adulthood being a critical window for dietary pattern formation, this relationship remains minimally explored among college students. This thesis examined associations between food insecurity and NRCD diagnosis, including hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and cardiovascular disease, among undergraduate students across the California State University (CSU) system. Cross-sectional data were drawn from the Spring 2021 CSU National College Health Assessment, administered across all 23 campuses. After exclusions, the analytical sample comprised 13,762 students. Bivariate analyses assessed relationships between key …

Environmental Impact Of Preventative Fire-Retardant Applications On Soil Water Chemistry, Patrick C. Michelsen

Master's Theses

Between 1992 and 2012, 84% of all documented wildfires were started by humans. These fires often start around high-risk locations such as power lines and roadsides where fuel loads are near these potential human-caused ignition sources. Point source ignition sites that are surrounded by shrubs or grasslands are especially important because fires that occur within these biomes are responsible for far more destruction of property than forest fires. One strategy that is effective at mitigating the spread of fires from ignition sites that are within grassland or shrub biomes are preventative fire-retardant products (PFRPs). These PFRPs differ from traditional fire-retardant …

Tourniquet Tester, Tyler Offerman, Thuy Nguyen, Ryan Ly, Cody Hoeptner

Biomedical Engineering

The Tourniquet Tester is a device intended to be used as a standardized testing device for tourniquets. Due to the lack of a standard testing device for testing tourniquets that can produce accurate and reproducible results, it is difficult to test the efficacy of tourniquets currently being sold on the market. A standard testing device that can produce consistent and reproducible results would allow tourniquet manufacturing companies to properly test the efficacy of their product and develop proper guidelines and directions for users of the product. Medical professionals and military personnel who may use tourniquets in their line of work …

Babycheck, Ayla V. Campbell, Eleanor M. Tweedy

Biomedical Engineering

The BabyCheck project was created to design and test a device that can collect a small blood sample from the fetal scalp during labor. The goal is to reduce uncertainty when fetal heart rate tracings are unclear, especially in Category II cases where it can be difficult for clinicians to decide the safest next step. Current monitoring methods either rely on interpreting heart rate patterns or use more invasive procedures to gather biochemical information. BabyCheck was designed to provide a simpler and more controlled way to collect a small blood sample that could help guide these decisions.

The final prototype …

Improving Cellular Retention And Distribution To Promote Arteriogenesis In A Mouse Model Of Chronic Arterial Occlusion, Nancy Huang

Biomedical Engineering

Peripheral Arterial Occlusive Disease (PAOD) affects millions of people in the United States, creating pain, discomfort, and limited mobility due to restricted blood flow from obstructed arteries. While current treatments include lifestyle changes and revascularization procedures, these options are often insufficient or inaccessible because of procedural pain and socioeconomic barriers. In some cases, this can lead to critical limb ischemia and amputation as a last resort. Increasing blood flow to the extremities by enhancing collateral vessel growth, a biological process called arteriogenesis, with cell-based therapies can redirect blood flow around obstructions and has potential to mitigate and treat the effects …

Iud Insertion Pain Management, Sandhya Sridhar, Olivia Armas, Lucy Campochiaro

Biomedical Engineering

This project focuses on developing an atraumatic cervical stabilization device that serves as a modern alternative to the traditional tenaculum used during IUD insertion procedures. Current devices rely on sharp metal prongs that pierce the cervix and often cause significant pain and bleeding. The goal of this project is to design a device that provides the same stability and control for clinicians while eliminating the need to puncture cervical tissue. The device is intended to be used by gynecologists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, primary care physicians, or any medical professional performing an IUD insertion. The device is intended to be …

Newborn Spinal Needle, Allison Inouye, Kyle Morton, Evan Russell

Biomedical Engineering

Spinal punctures, or lumbar punctures, are important diagnostic procedures used to collect cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to diagnose issues in the central nervous system (CNS) such as meningitis. While these procedures are routinely performed on adult and neonatal patients, the current tools are not optimized for use on newborns. Existing spinal needles are often modified versions of adult devices, leading to challenges in fluid collection efficiency, user ergonomics, and patient safety when used in neonatal care.

The Newborn Spinal Needle Project aims to design and develop a spinal needle specifically optimized for neonatal anatomy and clinical workflow. The goal is to …

Orthopedic Bone Drill, Logan G. Schmid, Matthew T. Wold, May Geng

Biomedical Engineering

This project aims to design a bone drill for orthopedic procedures which alleviates the heat generated in the bone during drilling.

Fracking: The Big Bad Monster?, Gordon Belyea

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

Not A Monster, Jessica Hadley

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

The Translucent Culprit, Cammie Tolleshaug

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

How Many More?, Allison Aggarwal

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

In Vitro Meat: Unnatural Or Life Saving, Joseph Coplon

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

Fed Up, Lauren Goette

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

Wild Child, Dylan Grant

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

Chipotle: "Food With Integrity", Emily Cheung

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

A Gift From Beyond, Rachel Smith

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

To The Deep End, Jacob Hinshaw

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

The College Appetite Dilemma, Jessica Ferguson

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

Academic Senate - Agenda, 02/24/2026, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Want To Get Injured? Try Crossfit, Yoshito Funakoshi

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

Catastrophes From Consumption: Meat Production Problems, Dana Bakke

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

They’Re Human, Too, Ashley Woo

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

The Missed Conversation, Maya Joye

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

Ridding Cal Poly Of Sexual Assault, Sylvia Lijewski

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

Eat. Sleep. Lift. Repeat., Jaymi Boynton

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

Going The Distance, Tyler Chen

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.