Digital Commons Network^™

Using Offline Activities To Enhance Online Cybersecurity Education, Sarah Padlipsky

Master's Theses

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the United States has experienced the impact of a technological revolution. One effect of this technological revolution is the creation of entirely new careers related to the field of technology, including cybersecurity. Continued growth in the cybersecurity industry means a greater number of jobs will be created, adding to the existing number of jobs that are challenging an under-educated and under-trained workforce. The goal of this thesis is to increase the effectiveness of cybersecurity education. This thesis studies whether an online course in cybersecurity can be enhanced by offline, in-person activities that mirror …

Furnace System Improvements, Kenji K. Anzai, Ethan Fedor, Patrick Zailaa

Mechanical Engineering

This Final Design Review (FDR) documents the work done by the group to manufacture the system to deliver improvements to the furnace in the Cal Poly microfabrication laboratory (better known as the cleanroom). The document describes the material covered in the Scope of Work (SOW), including background research, customer needfinding, and the problem statement, material associated with concept development and selection for Preliminary Design Review (PDR), material detailing the design and manufacturing plan of the system for Critical Design Review (CDR), and new material detailing the manufacture of the system for FDR.

Research done for the SOW resulted in a …

Amplifying The Prediction Of Team Performance Through Swarm Intelligence And Machine Learning, Erick Michael Harris

Master's Theses

Modern companies are increasingly relying on groups of individuals to reach organizational goals and objectives, however many organizations struggle to cultivate optimal teams that can maximize performance. Fortunately, existing research has established that group personality composition (GPC), across five dimensions of personality, is a promising indicator of team effectiveness. Additionally, recent advances in technology have enabled groups of humans to form real-time, closed-loop systems that are modeled after natural swarms, like flocks of birds and colonies of bees. These Artificial Swarm Intelligences (ASI) have been shown to amplify performance in a wide range of tasks, from forecasting financial markets to …

Improving Ultra-Wideband Localization By Detecting Radio Misclassification, Cory A. Mayer

Master's Theses

The Global Positioning System (GPS) and other satellite-based positioning systems are often a key component in applications requiring localization. However, accurate positioning in areas with poor GPS coverage, such as inside buildings and in dense cities, is in increasing demand for many modern applications. Fortunately, recent developments in ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology have enabled precise positioning in places where it was not previously possible by utilizing multipath-resistant wide band pulses.

Although ultra-wideband signals are less prone to multipath interference, it is still a bottleneck as increasingly ambitious projects continue to demand higher precision. Some UWB radios include on-board detection of …

Revealing The Broad Line Region Of Ngc 1275: The Relationship To Jet Power, Brian Punsly, Paola Marziani, Vardha Nicola Bennert, Hiroshi Nagai, Mark A. Gurwell

Physics

NGC 1275 is one of the most conspicuous active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the local universe. The radio jet currently emits a flux density of ~10 Jy at ~1 mm wavelengths, down from the historic high of ~65 Jy in 1980. Yet, the nature of the AGN in NGC 1275 is still controversial. It has been debated whether this is a broad emission line (BEL) Seyfert galaxy, an obscured Seyfert galaxy, a narrow line radio galaxy, or a BL Lac object. We clearly demonstrate a persistent Hβ BEL over the last 35 yr with a full width at half …

Validation Of The Nonhydrostatic General Curvilinear Coastal Ocean Model (Gccom) For Stratified Flows, Mariangel Garcia, Paul Choboter, Ryan K. Walter, Jose E. Castillo

Physics

While global- and basin-scale processes can be captured quite well with computationally-inexpensive hydrostatic models, smaller-scale features such as shoaling nonlinear internal waves and bores, coastal fronts, and other convective processes require the use of a nonhydrostatic model to accurately capture dynamics. Here the nonhydrostatic capabilities of the General Curvilinear Coastal Ocean Model (GCCOM) in a stratified environment are introduced. GCCOM is a three-dimensional, nonhydrostatic Large Eddy Simulation (LES), rigid lid model that has the ability to run in a fully three-dimensional general curvilinear coordinate system. This model was previously validated for unstratified flows with curvilinear coordinates. Here, recent advances of …

As-862-19 Resolution On Creation Of New Department For Interdisciplinary Studies In The Liberal Arts, Interdisciplinary Studies Program And Science, Technology And Society Program

Academic Senate Resolutions

The College of Liberal Arts (CLA) has identified several benefits for formally combining two programs – the Interdisciplinary Studies (BA) program and the Science, Technology and Society (minors) program and elevating the combined programs into one new department called Interdisciplinary Studies in the Liberal Arts Department; and the benefits and the structure of the new department are provided in the attachment to this resolution; and said change in status and name has been approved by the college of Liberal Arts department chairs/program directors and the CLA Interim Dean; and approval for combining these two programs into a new department …

As-858-18 Resolution On Course Criteria For Gwr-Certified Upper-Division Courses Across The Curriculum, Dawn Janke, Dianna Winslow, Brenda Helmbrecht, Greg Bohr

Academic Senate Resolutions

That voting members of the GWR Advisory Board shall include the Writing and Rhetoric Center director, who serves as the GWR Coordinator; the TT /tenured English Department faculty member, who serves as first-year composition coordinator; a faculty representative from each of the six colleges; one representative from Professional Consultative Services; and one ASI student representative or designee. The Ex Officio non-voting member shall be the CTLT writing instruction specialist or designee; and be 69 it further that the Writing and Rhetoric Center director, who serves as GWR coordinator, acts as chair of the GWR Advisory Board; is the direct point …

Executive Committee - Agenda, 11/06/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Studying The [O Iii]Λ5007 Å Emission-Line Width In A Sample Of ∼ 80 Local Active Galaxies: A Surrogate For Σ⋆?, Vardha Nicola Bennert, Donald Loveland, Edward Donohue, Maren Cosens, Sean Lewis, S. Komossa, Tommaso Treu, Matthew A. Malkan, Nathan Milgram, Kelsi Flatland, Matthew W. Auger, Daesong Park, Mariana S. Lazarova

Physics

For a sample of ∼ 80 local (0.02 ≤ z" role="presentation">z ≤ 0.1) Seyfert-1 galaxies with high-quality long-slit Keck spectra and spatially resolved stellar-velocity dispersion (σ_⋆) measurements, we study the profile of the [O iii]λ5007 Å emission line to test the validity of using its width as a surrogate for σ_⋆. Such an approach has often been used in the literature, since it is difficult to measure σ_⋆ for type-1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) due to the AGN continuum outshining the stellar-absorption lines. Fitting the [O iii] line with a single Gaussian or Gauss–Hermite …

Studying The Potential Of The [Oii] Emission Line As A Surrogate For Stellar Velocity Dispersion In Active Galactic Nuclei, Edward F. Donohue

Physics

We study the emission profiles of 80 active galaxies to find a surrogate for stellar velocity dispersion. We focus on the width of the emission line of once ionized oxygen, [OII], and compare our results to previous work that used [OIII]. In previous research, [OIII] was found to be a good candidate for a surrogate for stellar velocity dispersion, but analysis of the line was complicated by the presence of wings caused by gas infall and outflow in the region. Emission lines with lower ionization levels, like [OII], are known to have less artificial line-broadening from wings. The study of …

Mountaintop Neutrino Detection: A Nu(Tau) Concept, Caroline E. Paciaroni

Physics

High-energy neutrinos traveling from the distant universe produce detectable signals at radio frequencies after interacting with the earth or its atmosphere. This is the principle behind a new experiment, the BEamforming Elevated Array for COsmogenic Neutrinos, or BEACON. BEACON will be a high altitude array of antennas that is sensitive to up-going tau neutrinos ($\nu_{\tau}$). These elementary particles serve as sources of information about the extraordinarily high energy events in the universe that create them, and also the laws of particle physics that govern their behavior. This report details the construction of a transient detector used to characterize site locations …

Academic Senate - Meeting Minutes, 10/30/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Academic Senate - Agenda, 10/30/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Executive Committee - Agenda, 10/16/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Executive Committee - Meeting Minutes, 10/16/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Academic Senate - Agenda, 10/09/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Surface Wind Datasets For Estimating Offshore Wind Energy Along The Central California Coast, Yi-Hui Wang, Ryan K. Walter, Crow White, Hayley Farr, Benjamin I. Ruttenberg

Physics

In the United States, Central California has gained significant interest in offshore wind energy due to its strong winds and proximity to existing grid connections. This study provides a comprehensive evaluation of near-surface wind datasets in this region, including satellite-based observations (QuikSCAT, ASCAT, and CCMP V2.0), reanalysis (NARR and MERRA), and regional atmospheric models (WRF and WIND Toolkit). This work highlights spatiotemporal variations in the performance of the respective datasets in relation to in-situ buoy measurements using error metrics over both seasonal and diurnal time scales. The two scatterometers(QuikSCAT and ASCAT) showed the best overall performance, albeit with significantly …

Adapting Cell-Free Protein Synthesis As A Platform Technology For Education, Grace W. Chu, Max Z. Levine, Nicole E. Gregorio, Javin P. Oza

STAR Program Research Presentations

Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) has emerged as an enabling biotechnology for research and biomanufacturing as it allows for the production of protein without the need for a living cell. Applications of CFPS include the construction of libraries for functional genomics and structural biology, the production of personalized medicine, and the expression of virus-like particles. The absence of a cell wall provides an open platform for direct manipulation of the reaction conditions and biological machinery. This project focuses on adapting the CFPS biotechnology to the classroom, making a hands-on bioengineering approach to learning protein synthesis accessible to students grades K-16 through …

Modeling And Simulation Of Vehicle Performance In A Uav Swarm Using Horizon Simulation Framework, Adam J. Frye

Master's Theses

A UAV swarm is simulated using Horizon Simulation Framework. The asset utilized for the swarm agent is a simplified model of the MQ-1 Predator, a large fixed-wing aircraft. The simulated swarm utilizes a decentralized cooperative control approach to command the assets through the use of digital pheromones and a pheromone map. Each vehicle operates at steady-state flight conditions of 36 m/s with an altitude of 1,800 m, and utilize an LQR set-point controller to maneuver through the pheromone map. All pheromone and aircraft related models are written in Python to expand the HSF scripting capability and include airborne scenarios. The …

The Lick Agn Monitoring Project 2011: Dynamical Modeling Of The Broad-Line Region, Peter R. Williams, Anna Pancoast, Tommaso Treu, Brendon J. Brewer, Vardha N. Bennert, Jong-Hak Woo

Physics

We present models of the Hβ-emitting broad-line region (BLR) in seven Seyfert 1 galaxies from the Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2011 sample, drawing inferences on the BLR structure and dynamics as well as the mass of the central supermassive black hole. We find that the BLR is generally a thick disk, viewed close to face-on, with preferential emission back toward the ionizing source. The dynamics in our sample range from near-circular elliptical orbits to inflowing or outflowing trajectories. We measure black hole masses of for PG 1310−108, for Mrk 50, for Mrk 141, for Mrk 279, for Mrk …

Executive Committee - Meeting Minutes, 9/25/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Reversible Motion In A Contact Line, Audrey Profeta, Esmeralda Orozco, Juan A. Ortiz Salazar, Dani Medina, Nathan C. Keim

STAR Program Research Presentations

When a body of liquid sits on a surface, an irregular border between the wet and dry regions of the surface exists, called the contact line. Driving this contact line back and forth repeatedly can change its shape.We use a syringe pump to cyclically infuse and withdraw a predetermined volume of water, and take photos of the contact line after each cycle. Comparing these images to each other determines if the contact line is returning to the same shape. We find that below a critical value of infused volume, after many cycles the contact line reaches a steady state in …

Light Curves In X-Rays And Gamma-Rays, Daniel H. Sellers

STAR Program Research Presentations

Gamma-ray Bursts are the most luminous and energetic events in the universe. Understanding the intrinsic properties of GRBs allows for their use as standard candles (objects of known distance and luminosity) and for the study of extremely distant regions of space.

In this study we use the piecewise Willingale model to fit the X-ray flux vs. time curves (light curves) of 235 GRBs with detectable 'plateau' phase and known redshift using data from the swift repository. This sample is analyzed for consistency with a relation between the temporal decay and spectral indexes predicted by the Fireball model of GRB Emission. …

An Assessment Of The Greatest Impacts On Distribution Uniformity For Drip And Micro Irrigation, Brooke Ashley Worden

Master's Theses

Using the Cal Poly Irrigation Training and Research Centers (ITRC) drip/micro evaluation program, global, or system, DU_lq is computed by combining the component DU_lq values of: pressure variation, uneven spacing between emitters, unequal drainage and “other” causes. “Other” causes include plugging, wear and manufacturing coefficient. The program also computes what percentage of the non-uniformity is due to each component. Burt (2004) showed that over 95% of the non-uniformity is due to “Other” causes and pressure differences. This thesis looks at what specifically in those components is driving the non-uniformity by analyzing various equipment and field practices and their …

Comparative Analysis Of Body Composition And Reference Values Of Visceral Adipose Tissues In Various American Collegiate Sports, Eshan M. Dandekar

Master's Theses

Background: Currently, body composition (BC) assessment is usually performed to diagnose disease states and accurately estimate certain types of tissues. In athletes, performing BC assessments helps gauge training and nutrition programs to see if they are adequately meeting the athlete’s needs to improve performance. Annual Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) scans before the start of an athlete’s season can help identify an athlete’s preparedness or health before training begins.

Objective: To assess the preseason BC of four collegiate sports: Men’s basketball, men’s baseball, women’s volleyball, and women’s soccer, for Fat Mass (FM), bone mineral density BMD), Fat-Free Mass …

An Introduction To Deep Learning, Maria Pantoja, Anahid A. Behrouzi, Drazen Fabris

Architectural Engineering

Deep learning (DL) is currently being researched and implemented to solve civil engineering related problems, including autonomous inspection and inventory of civil infrastructure projects. The article introduces DL, specifically a convolutional neural network and the supervised learning process used to train a model that will enable professional structural engineers to automatically detect types of earthquake damage.

Hydrodynamics In A Shallow Seasonally Low-Inflow Estuary Following Eelgrass Collapse, Ryan K. Walter, Edwin J. Rainville, Jennifer K. O'Leary

Physics

Hydrodynamics play a critical role in mediating biological and ecological processes and can have major impacts on the distribution of habitat-forming species. Low-inflow estuaries are widespread in arid regions and during the dry season in Mediterranean climates. There is a growing need to evaluate dynamics and exchange processes in these systems and the resultant ecological linkages. We investigate the role that hydrodynamics play in shaping environmental gradients in a short and seasonally low-inflow estuary located along the central California coast. Since 2007, eelgrass meadows in Morro Bay have declined by more than 90%, representing the collapse of the major …

Scale-Invariant Geometric Data Analysis (Sigda), Marina Girgis, Max Robinson

STAR Program Research Presentations

The purpose of this research is to introduce a new data analysis method called Scale Invariant Geometric Data Analysis (SIGDA). SIGDA has been shown to be more informative than more common data analysis methods, such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA). SIGDA is used to visualize complex data sets in a way that accurately preserves data patterns and behavior. SIGDA is designed to preserve relative ratios in a numerical matrix, and the number of entries has to be more than the total number of rows and columns. Our research involved providing a simple explanation of SIGDA's mathematical process—simple enough for the …

Visualization Of Geospatial Data As An Analytical And Educational Tool, Richard A. Vu

STAR Program Research Presentations

World Wind is an open-source API developed for Java, Android, and browsers that is designed to visualize and interact with geospatial data. The Web World Wind client is composed of four major components: the HTML template, the globe, geospatial features, and application features. The template was implemented using Bootstrap and hosts the globe provided by World Wind. This globe draws its data from multiple imagery sources, including the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Map Service and Web Map Tile Service. This enables the application to perform and visualize complex calculations with multiple types of data such as weather and terrain. …