Digital Commons Network^™

Improving Swarm Performance By Applying Machine Learning To A New Dynamic Survey, John Taylor Jackson

Master's Theses

A company, Unanimous AI, has created a software platform that allows individuals to come together as a group or a human swarm to make decisions. These human swarms amplify the decision-making capabilities of both the individuals and the group. One way Unanimous AI increases the swarm’s collective decision-making capabilities is by limiting the swarm to more informed individuals on the given topic. The previous way Unanimous AI selected users to enter the swarm was improved upon by a new methodology that is detailed in this study. This new methodology implements a new type of survey that collects data that is …

Protection Against Ungrounded Single Phase Open Circuit Faults In 3-Phase Distribution Transformers, Higinio Ariel Montoya

Master's Theses

This thesis explores the impacts and behavior of 3-phase distribution transformers when subject to ungrounded single phase open circuit faults. A simple 3-phase system is modeled using MATLAB Simulink and operation under fault conditions are simulated and studied. Simulation results are confirmed via lab experimentation. Finally, a robust detection and protection method using neutral current injection (as proposed in industry literature) is built and demonstrated.

Electric utility operating experience has demonstrated that all too often, loads on 3-phase distribution transformers are not adequately protected against an ungrounded single phase open circuit fault (commonly called “single phasing”). This type of fault …

Integrated Computer Science Unit For Early Exposure To A Diverse Population, Di Hoang

Master's Theses

Reports from major tech companies, such as Airbnb, Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Yahoo, indicate that gender diversity and ethnic diversity are lacking in the tech industry [22]. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projected a 24% increase in the number of software development positions (roughly an increase of 300,000 jobs) between 2016 and 2026 [64]. The main motivation behind this thesis is to expose computer science to young children and encourage teachers to include computer science in their classrooms in the hope of contributing to the current effort of increasing diversity within tech fields in the next decade.

This …

Sok: A Practical Cost Comparison Among Provable Data Possession Schemes, Alex Michael Bartlett

Master's Theses

Provable Data Possession (PDP) schemes provide users with the ability to efficiently audit and verify the integrity of data stored with potentially unreliable third-parties, such as cloud storage service providers. While dozens of PDP schemes have been developed, no PDP schemes have been practically implemented with an existing cloud service. This work attempts to provide a starting point for the integration of PDP schemes with cloud storage service providers by providing a cost analysis of PDP schemes. This cost analysis is performed by implementing and analyzing five PDP schemes representative of the dozens of various PDP approaches. This paper provides …

Analysis Of Verification And Validation Techniques For Educational Cubesat Programs, Noah Weitz

Master's Theses

Since their creation, CubeSats have become a valuable educational tool for university science and engineering programs. Unfortunately, while aerospace companies invest resources to develop verification and validation methodologies based on larger-scale aerospace projects, university programs tend to focus resources on spacecraft development. This paper looks at two different types of methodologies in an attempt to improve CubeSat reliability: generating software requirements and utilizing system and software architecture modeling. Both the Consortium Requirements Engineering (CoRE) method for software requirements and the Monterey Phoenix modeling language for architecture modeling were tested for usability in the context of PolySat, Cal Poly's CubeSat research …

Optimizing The Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model For Uncertainty Assessment With Serial, Multicore And Distributed Accelerations, Andrew Adriance

Master's Theses

Hydrology is the study of water. Hydrology tracks various attributes of water such as its quality and movement. As a tool Hydrology allows researchers to investigate topics such as the impacts of wildfires, logging, and commercial development. With perfect and complete data collection researchers could answer these questions with complete certainty. However, due to cost and potential sources of error this is impractical. As such researchers rely on simulations.

The Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model(also referenced to as DHSVM) is a scientific mathematical model to numerically represent watersheds. Hydrology, as with all fields, continues to produce large amounts of data …

Academic Senate - Agenda, 5/1/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Hands-On Activities To Increase Student Engagement In Undergraduate Structural Dynamics Course, Chad D. Facciolo, Anahid A. Behrouzi

Architectural Engineering

This report documents the design and implementation of several physical models and hands-on lab activities incorporated in an undergraduate structural dynamics lecture and laboratory course pairing offered at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in the Architectural Engineering department during the Winter 2018 quarter. In previous quarters, the laboratory course has lacked opportunities for students to conduct their own physical experiments and has consisted primarily of MATLAB programming activities. Efforts to illustrate the dynamic behavior of various structures have primarily involved instructor demonstrations or online videos.

The addition of physical models in the Winter 2018 offering promotes an engaging …

A Framework For Assessing The Economic Impacts Of Agricultural Equipment Emission Reduction Strategies On The Agricultural Economy In The San Joaquin Valley, Michael Mccullough, Lynn Hamilton, Duncan Macewan, Jay E. Noel, Richard E. Howitt

Agribusiness

The objective of this study is to collaborate with experts to develop a framework that will enhance the California Air Resources Board’s (ARB or Board) existing economic analysis capability to assess the impact of regulatory costs on the agricultural economy in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) of California. The San Joaquin Valley includes portions of the following counties: San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Kern. This study is the first phase in a series that develops a framework that can be used to assess the economic impact of additional regulations on San Joaquin Valley agriculture from the …

Academic Senate - Meeting Minutes, 5/1/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Graduate Internship Report: San Jacinto High School, Lindsey Stiff

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

Created and submitted courses for the creation of pathways within the ag department. Also built a six nest chicken coop to start a laying hen project. Students built the coop and take care of the laying hens. We will start using the chickens in our other courses.

Characterizing Mental Health And Wellness In Students Across Engineering Disciplines, Andrew Danowitz, Kacey Beddoes

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Anecdotal evidence has long supported the idea that engineering students have lower levels of mental health and wellness than their peers. It is often posited that the large number of courses, low overall retention, difficult courses, and the abundance of intensive engineering projects lead to an unhealthy work-life balance and eventually lower levels of mental health for this population. To date, however, there has been no comprehensive study on the prevalence and types of mental health conditions that afflict engineering students, or any data on whether certain disciplines within engineering may see a greater prevalence of certain mental health conditions …

Executive Committee - Meeting Minutes, 4/24/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Executive Committee - Agenda, 4/24/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

As-850-18 Resolution On Creation Of Area B7 And Migration Of Current Area F Classes, General Education Governance Board

Academic Senate Resolutions

That Area B, currently named as "Science and Mathematics," will be renamed, "Math, Science, and Quantitative Reasoning," beginning with the 2019-21 Cal Poly catalog; and be it further that as an interim step, Area F will become a subset of Area B known as B7, beginning with the 2019-21 catalog; and be it further that all current Area F courses will be moved to the new Area B7; and be it further that all the Area B learning objectives will be revised to reflect Area B objectives in the revised EO 1100; and be it further that, to remain in …

As-848-18 Resolution On Discontinuation Of B.A. In Liberal Studies Degree Program, Academic Senate Curriculum Committee, Academic Programs And Planning

Academic Senate Resolutions

There are no students currently active in the program, and any former student who left without completing the B.A. in Liberal Studies could return to complete the B.S. in Liberal Studies program; therefore be it that the B.A. in Liberal Studies program be discontinued as of AY 2018-28 2019

Executive Committee - Agenda, 4/3/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Sysml Output Interface And System-Level Requirement Analyzer For The Horizon Simulation Framework, Viren Kishor Patel

Master's Theses

Model-Based Systems Engineering in industry has been constantly increasing its presence within the aerospace industry. SysML is one such MBSE tool that shows complex system organization and relationships. The Horizon Simulation Framework is another MBSE tool, created by Cal Poly students, that gives users the ability to run “day-in-the-life” simulations of systems. Finding a way to link these two tools could allow systems engineers to reap the benefits of both.

This thesis investigates the background and design process involved with developing the code that can convert an output file generated in SysML, into a format specifically made for the Horizon …

Detecting Speakers In Video Footage, Michael Williams

Master's Theses

Facial recognition is a powerful tool for identifying people visually. Yet, when the end goal is more specific than merely identifying the person in a picture problems can arise. Speaker identification is one such task which expects more predictive power out of a facial recognition system than can be provided on its own. Speaker identification is the task of identifying who is speaking in video not simply who is present in the video. This extra requirement introduces numerous false positives into the facial recognition system largely due to one main scenario. The person speaking is not on camera. This paper …

Rotordynamic Analysis Of Theoretical Models And Experimental Systems, Cameron R. Naugle

Master's Theses

This thesis is intended to provide fundamental information for the construction and

analysis of rotordynamic theoretical models, and their comparison the experimental

systems. Finite Element Method (FEM) is used to construct models using Timoshenko

beam elements with viscous and hysteretic internal damping. Eigenvalues

and eigenvectors of state space equations are used to perform stability analysis, produce

critical speed maps, and visualize mode shapes. Frequency domain analysis

of theoretical models is used to provide Bode diagrams and in experimental data

full spectrum cascade plots. Experimental and theoretical model analyses are used

to optimize the control algorithm for an Active Magnetic Bearing …

Influence Of Internal Bores On Larval Fish Abundance And Community Composition, Patrick J. Phelan, John Steinbeck, Ryan K. Walter

Physics

A persistent semidiurnal internal tidal bore feature occurs at the head of the Monterey Bay Submarine Canyon and drives regular intrusions of cold, subthermocline waters onto the adjacent shelf. In this study, we examine the influence of this internal tidal bore feature on the larval fish community using over a year of periodic larval fish samples collected coincidently with physical measurements. Larval samples were categorized into one of two water mass periods: a “warm period” representative of shallow coastal shelf waters and a “cold period” characteristics of colder waters present during internal bore forcing. Using multivariate statistical methods, we show …

Environmental Engineering At Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, Harold M. Cota

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The story recorded here began with a timeline prepared by Professor Rod Keif outlining some of the important events in the formation of the Environmental Engineering Department at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. He expanded the timeline and added some comments in a 5-page History of Environmental Engineering at Cal Poly in 1998 (1).

Rod Keif was a key player in the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering Department that eventually became the Environmental Engineering Department. He prepared his students to be leaders in the industry, received the Distinguished Teachers Award in 1967, and was chairman of the Academic Senate in 1969. …

Between The One And The Other, Aruane Garzedin

Focus

The contemporary city is a polarized environment with increasingly strong divides between the public and the private realms. Public space has lost quality and does not stimulate new social practices; there is little surprise and diversity in the landscape. Aruane Garzedin has been using art interventions to provoke new urban perceptions and public engagement, encouraging a different city poetic.

Academic Senate - Agenda, 3/6/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

The Development Of The Baker Building And The Long Road Towards Its Completion, Connor Petterson

Cal Poly's History: Student Research Reports

This paper focuses on the history and development of the Baker Building. There are three main stages to the history of this building. The first stage was coming up with the idea of having a new science center with the main reasoning being that the old Science Building (also known as the Spider Building) couldn’t accommodate the growing student population. The second stage of this history was the funding problems the project had and how they had to focus on public-private partnerships as well as donations from Cal Poly alumni and the San Luis Obispo community to receive their funding. …

Cal Poly Liberal Studies Program: A Look At The Growing Focus On Stem In Teacher Preparation, Erin Goode

Cal Poly's History: Student Research Reports

Teacher preparation at Cal Poly has had a presence on campus since the 1950’s. Under the title of Liberal Studies, the program has developed into one of the foremost teacher preparation programs in the state. Part of Liberal Studies’ success is from a growing focus on STEM education for teachers both through the curriculum and outside programs. This paper discusses the benefits of the Liberal Studies Department residing under the College of Science and Mathematics and the increased opportunities the program were exposed to after moving from the College of Liberal Arts in 2009.

Converting Agricultural Lesson Plans To Be Common Core Compliant For Grades 3-5, Hattie Kaymarie Jameson, Brittany Rose Withnell

Agricultural Education and Communication

There are few Common Core approved lesson plans for teachers to incorporate into traditional science programs in California. The Farm Bureau’s Ag in the Classroom (AITC) program provides K-12 educators lesson plans with an agricultural focus. Only 13 out of 45 of the lesson plans that the California AITC website offers are Common Core approved (Learn About Ag, 2017).

Agricultural literacy is valuable to consumers, can lead to careers in agriculture, and can create a greater understanding of the world and of science for students. The agricultural lessons give students a real life relationship with what they are learning and …

Agriculture In The Classroom Farm Day Lesson Plan, Tessa Nicole Thompson

Agricultural Education and Communication

Nontraditional educational programs have been proclaimed desirable by many teachers, and proven effective through data collection and feedback (Coombs and Ahmed, 1974). Of the more popular unconventional educational programs, outside learning activities are commonly implemented as they are not only advantageous to students, but to teachers as well (Cengelci, 2013; Knoblock, 2008). Though nontraditional, much thought must be put into creating lesson plans for these educational programs.

El Dorado County’s Agriculture in the Classroom program utilizes nontraditional outdoor learning activities to conduct “Farm Day.” This lesson plan, created for Farm Day, is to teach third graders the importance of composting …

Enhancements To The Microbial Source Tracking Process Through The Utilization Of Clustering And K-Nearest Clusters Algorithm, Tram B. Lai

Master's Theses

Bacterial contamination in water sources is a serious health risk and the sources of the bacterial strains must be identified to keep people safe. This project is the result of a collaboration effort at Cal Poly to develop a new library-dependent Microbial Source Tracking method for determining sources of fecal contamination in the environment. The library used in this study is called Cal Poly Library of Pyroprints (CPLOP). The process of building CPLOP requires students to collect fecal samples from a multitude of sources in the San Luis Obispo area. A novel method developed by the biologists at Cal Poly …

Predicting The Vote Using Legislative Speech, Aditya Budhwar

Master's Theses

As most dedicated observers of voting bodies like the U.S. Supreme Court can attest, it is possible to guess vote outcomes based on statements made during deliberations or questioning by the voting members. In most forms of representative democracy, citizens can actively petition or lobby their representatives, and that often means understanding their intentions to vote for or against an issue of interest. In some U.S. state legislators, professional lobby groups and dedicated press members are highly informed and engaged, but the process is basically closed to ordinary citizens because they do not have enough background and familiarity with the …