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Using The Nasa Worldwind Agrosphere Web App As A Climate Change Modeling Tool In The Classroom, Nicholas Rubel, Patrick Hogan, Stacey Chen, Endia Irazarry, Atreya Iyer, John Nguyen, Mingda Tang

STAR Program Research Presentations

Climate change is a clear and imminent threat to the world today. While there are Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for teaching climate change in the classroom, students may have a difficult time understanding the seriousness of the issue. One of the standards in the NGSS is for students to develop their own explanation of climate change and its impact. That’s where AgroSphere comes in. AgroSphere is a web-based app that utilizes NASA open-source software WorldWind. WorldWind allows developers to create their own Java, Android, or web-based apps that can display data on the globe. AgroSphere displays historical weather (climate) …

Understanding The Transition From Benthic Egg To Dispersive Larvae: Observations On The Intra-Capsular Growth And Development Of A Marine Snail (Kelletia Kelletii), Megan N. Wilson

Biological Sciences

It has long been understood that the larval life stage is responsible for the dispersion of many marine organisms across their biogeographic range. Such organisms have a bipartite life cycle, existing in the water column and subject to oceanographic processes as planktonic larvae before settling to suitable habitat along the benthos where they grow and mature. Previous studies have demonstrated that larval growth rate and behavior in the water column can alter larval position in relation to ocean currents and affects their dispersal pathway. However, there is a paucity of information regarding the growth rate of the earliest larval stage …

Weakly Horospherically Convex Hypersurfaces In Hyperbolic Space, Vincent Bonini, Jie Qing, Jingyong Zhu

Mathematics

In Bonini et al. (Adv Math 280:506–548, 2015), the authors develop a global correspondence between immersed weakly horospherically convex hypersurfaces ϕ:Mn→Hn+1 and a class of conformal metrics on domains of the round sphere Sn . Some of the key aspects of the correspondence and its consequences have dimensional restrictions n≥3 due to the reliance on an analytic proposition from Chang et al. (Int Math Res Not 2004(4):185–209, 2004) concerning the asymptotic behavior of conformal factors of conformal metrics on domains of Sn . In this paper, we prove a new lemma about the asymptotic behavior of a functional combining the …

Spacecraft Trajectory Optimization Suite (Stops): Optimization Of Low-Thrust Interplanetary Spacecraft Trajectories Using Modern Optimization Techniques, Shane P. Sheehan

Master's Theses

The work presented here is a continuation of Spacecraft Trajectory Optimization Suite (STOpS), a master’s thesis written by Timothy Fitzgerald at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Low-thrust spacecraft engines are becoming much more common due to their high efficiency, especially for interplanetary trajectories. The version of STOpS presented here optimizes low-thrust trajectories using the Island Model Paradigm with three stochastic evolutionary algorithms: the genetic algorithm, differential evolution, and particle swarm optimization. While the algorithms used here were designed for the original STOpS, they were modified for this work.

The low-thrust STOpS was successfully validated with two trajectory problems …

Early Empirical Evidence For The Effects Of Adaptive Ramp Metering On Measures Of Travel Time Reliability, Travis Charles Low

Master's Theses

Adaptive ramp metering (ARM) is a critical component of smart freeway corridors under an active traffic management portfolio. While improving capacity through smart corridors and application of proactive traffic management solutions is less costly and easier to deploy than freeway widening, conversion to smart corridors still represents a sizable investment for a state department of transportation. Early evidence of improvements following these projects can be valuable to agencies. However, in the U.S. there have been limited evaluations, of smart corridors in general and ARM in particular, based on real operational data. This thesis explores travel time reliability measures for the …

Swanton Pacific Ranch: Student Research Bibliography, Jeanine Marie Scaramozzino, Cameron Anvari, Bailey Kirby, Duncan Davis-Hall, Kate Tenley

Library Scholarship

Swanton Pacific Ranch (SPR) is a 3,200-acre ranch in Santa Cruz County, California, outside the town of Davenport. The ranch is an educational and research facility owned by the Cal Poly Corporation and managed by the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. SPR is a learning laboratory that employs Cal Poly’s Learn By Doing philosophy. Many students have completed research projects at SPR but no complete list of student projects exists.

This bibliography includes Cal Poly authored student research and those co-authored with Cal Poly faculty and staff. Documents include senior projects, master’s …

Solar Powered Single-Axis Heliostat Active Solar Tracking Device, Mason Kyle Roberts

Physics

As a means of cooking food, the burning of biomass accounts for over 4 million premature deaths in third world countries (“Household Air Pollution and Health”). The focus of this project was to explore an alternative that could utilize focused sunlight to cook food. A solar tracker was designed to be affixed to a parabolic, reflective, tilted single axis heliostat to follow the sun throughout the day and focus the reflected light to the bottom of a cooking surface. This surface became hot enough to for the preparation of food or boiling/sterilization of water.

A goal for each project was …

Characterization Of Reagent Pencils For Deposition Of Reagents Onto Paper-Based Microfluidic Devices, Cheyenne H. Liu, Isabelle C. Noxon, Leah E. Cuellar, Amanda L. Thraen, Chad Immoos, Andres W. Martinez, Philip J. Costanzo

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Reagent pencils allow for solvent-free deposition of reagents onto paper-based microfluidic devices. The pencils are portable, easy to use, extend the shelf-life of reagents, and offer a platform for customizing diagnostic devices at the point of care. In this work, reagent pencils were characterized by measuring the wear resistance of pencil cores made from polyethylene glycols (PEGs) with different molecular weights and incorporating various concentrations of three different reagents using a standard pin abrasion test, as well as by measuring the efficiency of reagent delivery from the pencils to the test zones of paper-based microfluidic devices using absorption spectroscopy and …

Designing An Authentic Behavioral Research Experience In The Classroom Using Siamese Fighting Fish, Betta Splendens, Gianne Souza, Ronald M. Coleman

STAR Program Research Presentations

Recently there have been major shifts in biology education towards emphasizing the teaching of the scientific process to more closely reflect actual scientific practices. Authentic research experiences require the development of many higher order cognitive skills. Creating an authentic research experience that appropriately scaffolds the development of these complex skills while engaging individual student motivation remains challenging in classroom settings. Some common challenges include limited time available for working with large numbers of students, cramped working areas, and limited funding and materials resources. Using the Siamese Fighting Fish, Betta splendens, we have created an economically viable authentic animal behavioral …

Quality Assurance Of Co2 From Natural Gas Source For The Spruce Experiment, Kimberly Arias, Karis J. Mcfarlane, Alexandra Hedgpeth

STAR Program Research Presentations

The goal of the Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments (SPRUCE) experiment project, led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), is to observe and assess ecological responses of peatland ecosystems to increased temperatures and elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Control plots are maintained at ambient temperatures and/or CO2 concentrations. Treatments are applied in a full factorial design; plots are warmed to +2.25, +4.5, +6.75, and +9oC and exposed to an atmospheric CO2 concentration of 800 to 900 ppm. These parameters are set to reflect projected temperatures and atmospheric CO2 levels in the next century. The source for the CO2 that …

Usage Of Fomblin Y To Improve Water Repellence Of Surface Coatings, Shawn Pj Kirby, Jeffrey Alston, Andrew Guenthner

STAR Program Research Presentations

Fluoro-Decyl POSS (FDP) has shown strong potential as a water repellant surface coating. Additionally, Fomblin is a solvent believed to have the ability to control the crystallization of POSS compounds on surfaces. Controlling the crystallization is key to improving water repelling abilities of surfaces. Thus, dip coating FDP and Fomblin onto surfaces is being investigated for water repulsion, mechanical stability, and deposition feasibility. First, temperature dependence of solubility of Fluoro-Decyl POSS in Fomblin was tested using Dynamic Light Scattering. Relative water repelling abilities of different coatings were determined by measuring contact angle of surfaces with water. Coatings with and without …

Development And Implementation Of An Optimization Model To Improve Airport Security., Kassandra Guajardo, Angela Waterworth, Robert Brigantic Ph.D.

STAR Program Research Presentations

What if airport security teams across the world could quantify and then minimize the amount of risk throughout areas of an airport? The Operations Research Team at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is developing and implementing an optimization model called ARAM (Airport Risk Analysis Model) for the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. ARAM will provide a recommended optimal deployment of security assets to reduce risk in areas of an airport. The model is based on a risk equation that considers consequences, vulnerabilities, and threat magnitudes at airports. ARAM will also provide the estimated risk buy down percentage, which is how much risk …

Comparative Solubility Of Poss Compounds In Fomblin Y, Shawn Pj Kirby, Jeffrey Alston, Andrew Guenthner

STAR Program Research Presentations

Fluoro-Decyl POSS (FDP) has shown strong potential as a water repellant surface coating. Additionally, Fomblin is a solvent believed to have the ability to control the crystallization of POSS compounds on surfaces. Controlling the crystallization is key to improving water repelling abilities of surfaces. Thus, dip coating FDP and Fomblin onto surfaces is being investigated for water repulsion, mechanical stability, and deposition feasibility. However, in order for this to be successful, POSS must be soluble in Fomblin. Temperature dependence of solubility of Fluoro-Hexyl, Fluoro-Octyl, Fluoro-Decyl POSS in Fomblin was tested using Dynamic Light Scattering. The values were compared, and it …

Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (‘Drones’) To Collect Data From Tagged Fishers In The Environment, Vu A. Pham, Marc Horney, Aaron Drake

STAR Program Research Presentations

Fisher (Pekania pennant) belongs to the weasel family. In October 2014, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to list the West Coast Distinct Population Segment of fisher as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. We wish to better define where fishers live within their habitats and use that information to improve conservation efforts. Previously, to track the behavior of wild fishers, researchers put tracker collars on the animals and relied on networks of fixed antennas on the ground in the environment to collect data. We are experimenting with using unmanned aerial vehicles (‘drones’) to collect data …

Multi-Scale Assembly Methodologies Of Poly(3-Hexylthiophene) Derivative Systems For Enhanced Optoelectronic Anisotropy, David William Bilger

Master's Theses

Conjugated polymers represent a class of semi-conducting materials with numerous applications in optoelectronic devices, including organic light-emitting diodes, field-effect transistors, and photovoltaics. Because of the numerous advantages of macromolecular systems, including solution processing and mechanical flexibility, conjugated polymers have become a burgeoning field of research with the hopes of producing cost-effective solution-based electronics. Importantly, optoelectronic device performance is heavily influenced by conjugated polymer backbone orientation and overall thin film morphology. As such, the processing conditions of these systems are important to the construction of high- performance optoelectronics. Polythiophenes are model conjugated polymers that have been studied extensively in halogenated organic …

Intuition: Role, Biases, Cognitive Basis, And A Hypothetical Synergistic Explanation Of Intuitive Brain Operations, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

This paper explores the characteristics of the intuitive responses that are generated by our brain continuously in an automatic and effortless manner. However, while intuition is a very powerful mechanism, it is also subject to many biasing influences. The author discusses the role of intuition, examines representative examples of biasing influences, compares cognitive theories of intuition advanced by Simon (2002), Klein (2003 and 1999), and Kahneman (2011), and then advances a hypothetical explanation of the neurological operations underlying intuition based on Hebbian rules (Hebb 1949) of plasticity in combination with synergetic principles.

A Letter From Dean Phil Bailey, Phil Bailey

Symposium

Dean Phil Bailey of the College of Science and Mathematics at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo discusses the tremendous impact the recent donation from Bill and Linda Frost will have on the university's "Learn by Doing" opportunities.

Socioeconomic Status, Air Quality And Geographic Variation In Emergency Room Visits For Acute Bronchitis On The California Central Coast, Sean Lang-Brown, Heather W. Starnes, Gary B. Hughes

Symposium

IMPORTANCE: Analysis of geospatial variation in acute bronchitis due to socioeconomic and environmental factors can allow the efficient delivery of resources to populations most at risk.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine if small scale variation in socioeconomic factors and emergency room (ER) visits for acute bronchitis are associated in small cities or rural communities. We also modeled the effects of air quality on daily rates of ER visits for acute bronchitis in the context of socioeconomic factors to investigate modifying relationships.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We examined ER visits for acute bronchitis in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties …

Editor's Note, Jenna Vacca

Symposium

A note from the Editor-In-Chief

Symposium Volume 4, Issue 1, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Symposium

Collection of research projects conducted by students of the College of Science and Mathematics at California Polytechnic State University

Teaching Systems And Robotics In A Four-Week Summer Short Course, Andrew Danowitz, Bridget Benson, Jeremy Edmonds

Computer Science and Software Engineering

This paper describes a four-week summer short-course designed to introduce students with limited hands-on technical experience to the low-level details of embedded systems and robotics. Students start the course using a Raspberry Pi 3 to learn the basics of Linux and programming, and end the course by competing in a capture-the-flag type competition with the web-configurable GPS-guided autonomous robots they designed and tested in the course. Throughout the course, students are introduced to programming languages including Python and PHP, advanced programming concepts such as using sockets for inter-process communication, data interchange formats such as JSON, basic API development, system concepts …

As-839-17 Resolution On Alternative Approaches To The Graduation Writing Requirement, Gwr Task Force, Dawn Janke

Academic Senate Resolutions

Request adoption of report on sustaining writing and writing education across all levels of a student’s college experience

Academic Senate - Agenda, 6/6/2017, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Tanzania Polytechnic College Classroom Housing Updates 2017, Thomas Fowler, Iv

Architecture

The work in this publication is a summary of ongoing work that started in 2014, when architecture and architectural engineering students starting developing the master plan for the proposed Polytechnic University in Samé, Tanzania, Africa, working directly with ARUP’s David Lambert and the MBESESE Initiative. Since this time we have had 60 plus graduate and undergraduate students who have provided research and design input into the development of this project.

This work from 2014 – 2017 provides an update to the master plan and building designs for the Polytechnic University, along with proposed hotel designs have been developed for another …

Eighteenth Century Women And The Business Of Making Glass Music, Kate M. Hepworth

History

During the relatively short period from the mid-to-late eighteenth century when glass musical instruments were manufactured and gained popularity, several women made names for themselves in the realm of avant-garde musical performance. The lives of three female glass instrument players: Anne Ford, Marianne Davies, and Marianne Kirchgassner, show how these successful performer-entrepreneurs operated in an age of emerging feminine public identity. Their journeys reveal much about the gender dimensions of the age, the role of music in the modern era, the consumption of it, and their approach to business. The financial opportunities presented to women looking to challenge the limitations …

Peromyscus Boylii And Peromysus Californicus Differ In Physical Characteristic Measurements, Puja M. Kasondra

Biological Sciences

I provide a comparison of physical characteristics between Peromyscus boylii and Peromyscus californicus. All mice compared were captured in the dominant regions of the Los Padres National Forest during three different years – 2005, 2011, and 2014. The dominant regions of the Los Padres National Forest include Riparian, Woodlands, and Chaparral. All characteristics, ear (from notch), head and body, hind foot, tail, and weights, were compared between males of each species and then between females of each species. All data were analyzed in JMP 12. Out of all the characteristics, tail and weight had the greatest difference between the …

Non-Normality And Heteroscedasticity In Regression And Anova, Harry Wu

Statistics

No abstract provided.

Linking Large Scale Ocean-Atmospheric Patterns With Recruitment In Kellet’S Whelk (Kelletia Kelletii), Katherine N. Rodriguez

Biological Sciences

Global warming influences the biogeography of many marine and terrestrial species. Understanding species range shifts is ecologically and socioeconomically important when guiding management decisions for ecosystems exposed to a rapidly changing climate. In this natural experiment, I follow Danielle Zacherl’s methods (Zacherl et al. 2003) to study the effects of large-scale ocean-atmospheric patterns on recruitment of a marine snail, Kellet’s whelk (Kelletia kelletii); these organisms recently expanded their range North past the geographic barrier of Point Conception to Monterey, CA, USA. I use shell length data collected at 32 subtidal rocky reef kelp forest sites in 2015 (before …

Comparing Baseball Players Using Expected Runs In Shiny, Spencer Rodrigues

Statistics

No abstract provided.

Analyzing Baseball Data With R, Claudia Sison

Statistics

No abstract provided.