Digital Commons Network^™

Remodeling Office For Growing Grounds, Kyle R. Fawley

Construction Management

This project was my first real re-condition project for a portion of an office space for Growing Grounds Farm here in San Luis Obispo. The purpose of this essay is to look back onto my experience and see how much I struggled and learned, and how I can benefit from it in the future. Throughout my project, I made sure there was constant communication between myself and Craig Wilson, program manager for Growing Grounds Farm, with clarifications and several updates. I made sure to fit and complete the project within my tight schedule and adjust it throughout the process. Throughout …

Baserock Bluetooth: Bi-Directional Bluetooth And 3.5 Mm Headphone Jack Compatibility Device, Jonathan A. Falco

Electrical Engineering

This project was proposed by a startup company from downtown San Luis Obispo called BaseRock. BaseRock sells a backpack containing subwoofers to allow the user to feel low frequencies of music. It is intended for concerts or personal use, listening to songs on an MP3. The main way the BaseRock backpack communicates with MP3s is via the headphone jack. With the introduction of the Apple iPhone 7 in September of 2016, BaseRock realized it was at a disadvantage. Millions of iPhone 7 owners and potential customers around the globe would no longer possess a headphone jack. BaseRock needs a Bluetooth-to-headphone …

Portable Dac And Headphone Amplifier For High Impedance Headphones, Kevin V. Thai

Electrical Engineering

The following paper contains an in-depth report on the design process of a portable DAC and Amplifier for high impedance headphones. The project brings portability into an audiophile’s world. This portable DAC and Class D amplifier takes USB data from a phone, converts it to analog, and amplifies the signal for high impedance headphones. First, the document contains motivations for the project: such as the necessity for such equipment, and who would use this product. Next, discussions of marketing considerations and customer needs bring together specifications. After, the report examines the project plan, overall functionality blocks, and estimated costs. Finally, …

Let's Get Real: Problematizing The Use Of The Real Food Calculator In Large-Scale Food Systems And Exploring Alternatives, Stacey Kathleen Olson

Social Sciences

Food is an essential part of the human existence, because of both nutritional necessity and cultural relevance. Recently, food systems have shifted from their historically local scale to an industrial, global market. In light of shifting consumer consciousness and subsequent demands, there has been an ongoing effort on the part of universities across the United States to make campus food systems more sustainable and just. In 2014, the California State University enacted a system-wide goal of spending 20 percent of campus food procurement budgets on sustainable food by 2020 as per the guiding principles of the Real Food Challenge. This …

Characterization Of Aquarefined Micro/Nanoporous Lead Material, Liam S. Russell, June Y. Suh

Materials Engineering

The process of aquarefining is an environmentally-friendly method for producing pure lead products that exhibit particularly low density. To observe the microstructures of these low-density forms of lead, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to examine aquarefined lead samples produced under three batches of processing conditions. Due to aquarefined lead's tendency to collapse under its own weight, careful measures were taken during transport and handling to avoid damaging the samples. Three types of microstructures were observed and correlated to changes in processing conditions: octahedron crystallites, microscales, and dendrites. Energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDS) was used to quantify the amount of oxygen …

Qualification Of Blue Laser Cutting Tool And Design Of Test Procedure For Determining Cutting Parameters, Gaia Righi

Materials Engineering

No abstract provided.

Lax Continental Grand- Fire Protection And Life Safety Analysis, Aden Malek Stepanians

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

A prescriptive analysis of the project building was conducted using the 2016 California Building & Fire Code along with current codes and standards pertaining to specific elements. Encompassed in this analysis is a review of the project building’s structural fire protection, water-based suppression systems, fire detection and alarm systems, smoke control and occupant egress.

Void of construction documentation, the analysis of the structural fire protection of the building was determined by evaluating the current design and use. The restricting factor that determine the construction type was the assembly use on the 6th floor. Other than Type I construction, assembly use …

Trends Within Craft Beer Packaging, Aurelia See

Graphic Communication

While the print industry is facing a changing atmosphere, one thing is as sure as death and taxes— there will always be a market for print within the packaging industry. There is a growing market within the craft beer industry, and with that comes competition for each brewery. Many breweries are finding it difficult to use their beer’s first point of sale, the packaging, to their advantage when attracting consumers to their product. The purpose of this research is to provide the reader with knowledge and insight into package design, with special emphasis on designing for current trends and for …

Water Fun At Exploration Station, Nicholas M. Runyan, Heriberto Rodriguez, Raymond F. Morales, Alejandro M. Gonzalez-Smith

Mechanical Engineering

This report documents the design and fabrication processes involved for the creation of an interactive science exhibit for the Grover Beach Exploration Station. This is a student-led senior project advised by Sarah Harding, professor of mechanical engineering, as a part of California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo’s mechanical engineering program. The final product is a fully functioning, durable system that is capable of pumping and recycling water throughout use when users are in its vicinity.

The exhibit is to be considered in 4 main subsystems: basin, plumbing, frame, and sleep mode system. A fiberglass basin that holds all …

A Data-Driven Approach To Cubesat Health Monitoring, Serbinder Singh

Master's Theses

Spacecraft health monitoring is essential to ensure that a spacecraft is operating properly and has no anomalies that could jeopardize its mission. Many of the current methods of monitoring system health are difficult to use as the complexity of spacecraft increase, and are in many cases impractical on CubeSat satellites which have strict size and resource limitations. To overcome these problems, new data-driven techniques such as Inductive Monitoring System (IMS), use data mining and machine learning on archived system telemetry to create models that characterize nominal system behavior. The models that IMS creates are in the form of clusters that …

Anaerobic Fermentation Of Food Waste And Glycerol To Hydrogen, Eric Robert Krikorian

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

Anaerobic Fermentation of Food Waste and Glycerol to Hydrogen

Eric Krikorian

Hydrogen has several well-known advantages as a fuel and chemical feedstock, but current methods of hydrogen production are costly and energy intensive. A potentially advantageous source of hydrogen is fermentation of organic wastes, especially any abundant, low-cost wastes with a high content of simple sugars. Molar hydrogen yields from fermenters (aka digesters) are affected by pH, organic loading rate (OLR), hydraulic residence time (HRT), and substrate type. A less studied process to increase yield is sparging with low-H₂ content gas to strip H₂ from the digester …

Development And Characterization Of Tissue Engineered Blood Vessel Mimics Under "Diabetic" Conditions, Shelby Gabrielle Kunz

Master's Theses

The development of tissue engineered blood vessel mimics for the testing of intravascular devices in vitro has been established in the Cal Poly tissue engineering lab. Due to the prevalence of cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients and minimal accessible studies regarding the interactions between diabetes and intravascular devices used to treat vascular disease, there is a need for the development of diabetic models that more accurately represents diabetic processes occurring in the blood vessels, primarily endothelial dysfunction. This thesis aimed to create a diabetic blood vessel mimic by implementing a high glucose environment for culturing human endothelial cells from healthy …

Quantifying The Impact Of Truck Only Lanes On Vehicular Emissions On A Limited-Access Highway, Edward Chee Tang

Master's Theses

This thesis seeks to estimate CO₂ emissions on a portion of the U.S. 101 highway in San Luis Obispo County before and after construction of a truck only lane on the Cuesta Grade. Towards that aim, the microsimulation software, VISSIM, was used in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions model, MOVES. The microsimulation model was calibrated and validated against historical and present traffic volumes obtained from Caltrans with good results using several validation measures. It was found that CO₂ emissions did decrease between 1998 and 2012 (pre and post lane addition), but this effect was shown to …

Modeling And Charging Control Of A Lithium Ion Battery System For Solar Panels, Garrett David Heinen

Master's Theses

The advancement in solar panel and battery technology makes them useful for energy supply and storage. This thesis involves the modeling and charging control of a lithium ion battery system for solar panels. The proposed model is based on the parameters and characteristics of a realistic battery and solar panel system; and the hybrid control approach combines the advantages of the adaptive incremental conductance method and the perturb and observe method to track the maximum power point of the solar panel for charging the battery unit. Computer simulation results demonstrate that this proposed approach offers a faster convergence rate than …

Evaluation Of Pc-Based Virtual Reality As A Tool To Analyze Pedestrian Behavior At Midblock Crossings, Kristina Lynn Mai

Master's Theses

The aim of this research was to analyze if current generation PC-driven virtual reality simulations can be used to accurately mimic and therefore, observe behavior at a crosswalk. Toward that goal, the following research tasks were carried out: a) Designing a 3D virtual crosswalk and recruiting volunteers to wear the HTC Vive headset and to walk across the street, b) Setting up cameras near the midblock crosswalk on University Drive at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo to observe pedestrians, and c) Comparing pedestrian behavior data from both the virtual and real midblock crosswalk. The comparison was based on …

Effects Of Food Consumption On Cell Proliferation In The Brain Of Python Regius, Stacy Star Habroun

Master's Theses

Neurogenesis is an important and vastly under-explored area in reptiles. While the ability to generate new brain cells in the adult mammalian brain is limited, reptiles are able to regenerate large populations of neuronal cells. Pythons exhibit a characteristic specific dynamic action (SDA) response after food intake with an increase in metabolic rate that facilitates processing the meal. Associated with this change in SDA, pythons (Python spp.) also exhibit impressive plasticity in their digestive and cardiovascular physiology due to the sheer magnitude of the increase in organ growth that occurs after a meal to speed digestion, absorption, and assimilation of …

A Geospatial Assessment Of Social Vulnerability To Sea-Level Rise In Coastal San Luis Obispo, Jesse A. Carpentier

Master's Theses

This project is an assessment of social vulnerability to sea-level rise in the unincorporated coastal area of the County of San Luis Obispo (County) using geospatial and statistical analysis. The intention of this assessment is to inform local climate adaptation efforts now required by state legislation. A social vulnerability index was generated at the Census block group level using 32 variables positively correlated with social vulnerability. The social vulnerability score for each block group is the sum of scores generated for the following principle components: (1) race/ethnicity and disability status, (2) social isolation and age, (3) income, and (4) housing …

The Population Genetics Of Morro Bay Eelgrass (Zostera Marina), Julia Gardner Harencar

Master's Theses

Seagrass populations are in decline worldwide. Zostera marina (eelgrass), one of California’s native seagrasses, is no exception to this trend. In the last 8 years, Morro Bay, California has lost 95% of its eelgrass. Eelgrass is an ecosystem engineer, providing important ecosystem services such as sediment stabilization, nutrient cycling, and nursery habitats for fish. The failure of recent restoration efforts necessitates a better understanding of the causes of eelgrass decline in this estuary. Previous research on eelgrass in California has demonstrated a link between population genetic diversity and eelgrass bed health, ecosystem functioning, and resilience to disturbance and extreme climatic …

Gaining Market Share As A Union Specialty Contractor In San Diego: A Case Study, Roy Lee Perrin Jr

Construction Management

San Diego is one of the few major cities in California to have a larger share of non-union labor compared to union labor in the private specialty construction sector. Although union labor is on the rise in large cities due to California’s strict labor wage laws, union specialty contractors are still running into challenges in terms of competitiveness in the San Diego area. Western Specialty Contractors has first hand experience with competing against non-union contractors in San Diego. This paper will outline the methodology Western Specialty Contractors took in order to gain market share in San Diego. This paper will …

Integrated Design-Bid-Build And Its Effects On Integrated Project Delivery Drivers, Alexander G. Sargiss

Construction Management

Integrated project delivery is becoming a more common and successful delivery method in the construction industry compared to more traditional methods such as design-bid-build. Integrated Design-Bid-Build is a hybrid between the two which has been implemented very few times to test if it can be used as a more viable delivery method in the future. There has been very little research in to Integrated Design-Bid-Build that is accessible for analysis. This research study examines case studies of projects completed using IPD and analyzes their “IPD Profiles” which are measured using five primary project drivers. These project drivers are: cost predictability, …

A Case Study On Project Engage, A Step To Solve Alcoholism In The Construction Industry, Tyler Addison Lee

Construction Management

Alcohol is very prevalent in most industries around the globe, but the construction industry has been placed at the top, ranking number two for the most people suffering from alcoholism in the industry according to SAMHSA’s study. Some experts have said this is due to the hard and physical requirements of the job, time requirements of the job, and the stress involved within building a construction project. Common practice in the industry is that when a person is cited for being under the influence while at work, they will be let go, fired, or given a warning depending on the …

National Association Of Home Builders' Residential Construction Management Competition Guidebook, Eric Angelo Bet

Construction Management

With today’s universities, especially Cal Poly, stressing the concept of “Learn by Doing” to prepare students for successful careers, case competitions are gaining popularity and prestige amongst recruiters. By working well in team settings and showcasing one’s knowledge in front of a panel of industry judges, case competitions give students great undergraduate experience and confidence once they begin their full-time careers. One of these case competitions is the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Residential Construction Management Competition (RCMC). The NAHB RCMC asks students to create a fully-encompassing development proposal on a real-world site located in the United States. This …

Femnasty, Elizabeth N. Merrihew

.RAW Journal of Art and Design

No abstract provided.

Executive Committee - Meeting Minutes, 5/16/2017, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Executive Committee - Agenda 5/16/2017, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Academic Senate - Agenda, 5/9/2017, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Soil Science Lesson Plan For The Cal Poly Learn By Doing Lab, Kelsey Ormonde

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

To increase interest in soil science and other related sciences, educational materials need to be tailored to appeal to younger students. The purpose of this project was to create a soil science lesson plan that could be utilized by the Cal Poly Learn By Doing Lab. Information from several articles, textbooks, lesson plans, and websites was reviewed to create a soil science lesson plan for students in 5-8^th grade. The lesson plan focused on the three sub-disciplines of soil science; physical, chemical, and biological. Activities were created to correspond to the three sub-disciplines. Alternate activities were created to allow …

The Effect Of Gender And Veteran Status On The Level Of Perceived Stigma Surrounding Ptsd, Ryan E. Lubock

Master's Theses

This paper explores how gender and veteran status effects the level of stigmatization around Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Participants were randomly assigned to one of four vignette conditions, which were distinguished by gender and veteran status. Participants were then asked to rate how they perceived the individual depicted in the vignette. The researchers analyzed the results by examining how the participants own report of gender, and masculinity, effected how each of the vignettes were judged. This paper addresses the stigma surrounding mental health in general, and more specifically how that stigma affects individuals suffering from PTSD across multiple domains. For …

Wireless Charging For Bluetooth Earphones, Daniel Carlson

Electrical Engineering

This project involves designing and building an inductive charging system for Bluetooth earphones. This system provides a charging dock for a pair of retrofitted Bluetooth earphones and focuses on ease-of-use and convenience for the user. The motivations for this project include providing charging compatibility to changing audio technology and trends. Smart phones and other audio products are increasingly leaning towards wireless (Bluetooth) audio, and wireless headphones/headsets are naturally becoming more prevalent to match this trend. A small, easy to use, and efficient charging dock for these earphones seems like a necessary accessory for this technology to seem attractive to consumers. …

Expierience, Seong Bo Chang, Albert Chen, Emily Nguyen

Computer Engineering

The name of this project is called “exPIERience” and the technological field of focus is virtual reality. We will be working on creating a virtual reality experience using the Oculus Rift for the Center of Coastal Marine Sciences (CCMS). The purpose of this system is to enable people to experience diving at the Cal Poly Pier even during nonoptimal diving conditions which occur frequently. CCMS hopes to attract further interest and possible momentum in future outreach such as a “Live Dive” program, where live videos of divers under the pier can be streamed. A 360° video from the diver’s perspective …