Digital Commons Network^™

Meter Gate Calibration And Accuracy Analysis, Ryan Fulton

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Determinants Of Food Insecurity Among Vulnerable White And Latino Households: Contextualizing The Impact Of Sociodemographic And Household-Level Factors, Alexandra Lund

Master's Theses

Household-level characteristics have been shown to be associated with food insecurity but studies among vulnerable populations are sparse. A food security assessment was developed to determine food security and collect sociodemographic and household level data across San Luis Obispo County. The assessments were administered to vulnerable groups through interviews at multiple sites across the County. Three household characteristics (marital status, number of children in the household and number of workers in the household) were examined in this analysis. A total of 808 surveys were collected, 69% in English and 31% in Spanish. Through ethnicity-stratified sequentially adjusted logistic regression models, the …

Transient Small Wind Turbine Tower Structural Analysis With Coupled Rotor Dynamic Interaction, George R. Katsanis

Master's Theses

Structural dynamics is at the center of wind turbine tower design - excessive vibrations can be caused by a wide range of environmental and mechanical sources and can lead to reduced component life due to fatigue, noise, and impaired public perception of system integrity. Furthermore, periodic turbulent wind conditions can cause system resonance resulting in significantly increased structural loads. Structural vibration issues may become exacerbated in small wind applications where the analytical and experimental resources for system verification and optimization are scarce. This study combines several structural analysis techniques and packages them into a novel and integrated form that can …

Analysis And Mitigation Of The Cubesat Dynamic Environment, Steve M. Furger

Master's Theses

A vibration model was developed for CubeSats inside the Poly-Picosatellite Orbital Deployer (P-POD). CubeSats are fixed in the Z axis of deployers, and therefore resonate with deployer peaks. CubeSats generally start fixed in the X and Y axes, and then settle into an isolated position. CubeSats do not resonate with deployers after settling into an isolated position. Experimental data shows that the P-POD amplifies vibration loads when CubeSats are fixed in the deployer, and vibration loads are reduced when the CubeSats settle into an isolated position. A concept for a future deployer was proposed that isolates CubeSats from the deployer …

Experimenting With Polymer Blend Solar Cells And Active Layer Thickness, Ryan Blumenthal

Physics

Bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaics utilize the electrical characteristics of semi-conductive polymers. These solution processable materials are beneficial because of their low material cost, light weight, and simple fabrication requirements. Our devices employ multiple photoactive polymers, P3HT and PCPDTBT, to absorb photons over a wide spectral range. We optimized various device characteristics including thickness and thermal anneal usage to reach a power conversion efficiency of 3.0% in AM1.5 sunlight. Device performance degrades over time due to atmospheric water and oxygen, prompting us to investigate device packaging to extend cell lifetime for additional testing.

Michael's Awesome Italian Adventure (With A Bit Of Science, Too), Michael W. Haskin

Physics

This senior project will provide the reader with a brief background about neutrinos, neutrinoless double beta decay, and the CUORE experiment being constructed in the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Assergi, Italy. The remainder of the paper will follow my experience working as an undergraduate researcher at the laboratory during the summer of 2012. It will discuss the process of performing a cool down with the CUORE-0 cryostat as well as quality assurance testing of Teflon spacers to be used in the CUORE towers.

Modeling And Analysis Of A Pv Grid-Tied Smart Inverter's Support Functions, Benjamin Anders Johnson

Master's Theses

The general trends in the past decade of increasing solar cell efficiency, decreasing PV system costs, increasing government incentive programs, and several other factors have all combined synergistically to reduce the barriers of entry for PV systems to enter the market and expand their contribution to the global energy portfolio. The shortcomings of current inverter functions which link PV systems to the utility network are becoming transparent as PV penetration levels continue to increase. The solution this thesis proposes is an approach to control the inverters real and reactive power output to help eliminate the problems associated with PV systems …

As-760-13 Resolution On Proposal For The Establishment Of The Cal Poly Cybersecurity Center, Russell Bik (President's Cabinet Member), Debra Larson, Ph.D. (College Of Engineering, Dean), & Ignatios Vakalis, Ph.D. (College Of Engineering, Chair, Computer Science Department

Academic Senate Resolutions

Endorses the proposal to establish a Cybersecurity Center.

The Extended Narrow-Line Region Of Two Type-I Quasi-Stellar Objects, Semyeong Oh, Jong-Hak Woo, Vardha N. Bennert, Bruno Jungwiert, Martin Haas, Christian Leipski, Marcus Albrecht

Physics

We investigate the narrow-line region (NLR) of two radio-quiet QSOs, PG1012+008 and PG1307+085, using high signal-to-noise spatially resolved long-slit spectra obtained with FORS1 at the Very Large Telescope. Although the emission is dominated by the point-spread function of the nuclear source, we are able to detect extended NLR emission out to several kiloparsec scales in both QSOs by subtracting the scaled central spectrum from outer spectra. In contrast to the nuclear spectrum, which shows a prominent blue wing and a broad line profile of the [Oiii] line, the extended emission reveals no clear signs of large-scale outflows. Exploiting the wide …

The Low-Luminosity End Of The Radius-Luminosity Relationship For Active Galactic Nuclei, Misty C. Bentz, Kelly D. Denney, Catherine J. Grier, Aaron J. Barth, Bradley M. Peterson, Marianne Vestergaard, Vardha N. Bennert, Gabriela Canalizo, Gisella De Rosa, Alexei V. Filippenko, Elinor L. Gates, Jenny E. Greene, Weidong Li, Matthew A. Malkan, Richard W. Pogge, Daniel Stern, Tommaso Treu, Jong-Hak Woo

Physics

We present an updated and revised analysis of the relationship between the Hβ broad-line region (BLR) radius and the luminosity of the active galactic nucleus (AGN). Specifically, we have carried out two-dimensional surface brightness decompositions of the host galaxies of nine new AGNs imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3. The surface brightness decompositions allow us to create “AGN-free” images of the galaxies, from which we measure the starlight contribution to the optical luminosity measured through the ground-based spectroscopic aperture. We also incorporate 20 new reverberation-mapping measurements of the Hβ time lag, which is assumed to yield …

As-759-13 Resolution On Student Evaluations, Academic Senate Instruction Committee

Academic Senate Resolutions

Requires student evaluations include university-wide questions and written comments. Approves the Instruction Committee report establishing questions, scale, and metric used for summarization of these questions. Numeric responses can be excluded from PAFs, but written comments may be required for inclusion in PAFs.

Academic Senate - Agenda, 4/16/2013, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Achieving The Triple Bottom Line In The Face Of Inherent Trade-Offs Among Social Equity, Economic Return, And Conservation, Benjamin S. Halpern, Carissa J. Klein, Christopher J. Brown, Maria Beger, Hedley S. Grantham, Sangeeta Mangubhai, Mary Ruckelshaus, Vivitskaia J. Tulloch, Matt Watts, Crow White, Hough P. Possingham

Biological Sciences

Triple–bottom-line outcomes from resource management and conservation, where conservation goals and equity in social outcomes are maximized while overall costs are minimized, remain a highly sought-after ideal. However, despite widespread recognition of the importance that equitable distribution of benefits or costs across society can play in conservation success, little formal theory exists for how to explicitly incorporate equity into conservation planning and prioritization. Here, we develop that theory and implement it for three very different case studies in California (United States), Raja Ampat (Indonesia), and the wider Coral Triangle region (Southeast Asia). We show that equity tends to trade off …

Interview Transcripts Of 2012 Sustain Cohort In 2013: Id 1217

SUSTAIN SLO Research Data

This data includes 21 interviews of 22 students. The interviews are semi-structured and were conducted in the Spring of 2013 one year after the students’ participation SUSTAIN.

Administered Spring of 2013 regarding their paticipation in SUSTAIN in 2012

Number or responses: 21

Considering Water Availability And Wastewater Resources In The Development Of Algal Bio-Oil, Yi-Wen Chiu, May Wu

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

This study aims to quantify water appropriation and the potential production of algal bio-oil using freshwater and municipal wastewater effluent (MWW) as an alternative water resource. The county-level analysis focuses on open-pond algae cultivation systems located in 17 states in the southern United States. Several scenarios were developed to examine the water availability for algae bio-oil production under various water resource mixing MWW and freshwater. The results of the analysis indicate that water availability can significantly affect the selection of an algal refinery site and therefore the potential production of algal bio-oil. The production of one liter of algal bio-oil …

Author Carissa Phelps To Present 'Healing And Strength, Hope For Survivors' April 29 At Cal Poly, Public Affairs Office

Press Releases

No abstract provided.

Executive Committee - Agenda, 4/2/2013, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Engineering Advantage, Spring 2013, College Of Engineering

Engineering Advantage

No abstract provided.

Ian Nairn, Townscape And The Campaign Against Subtopia, Lorenza Pavesi

Focus

No abstract provided.

Project Writeup On Amethyst: A 3d Adventure Game For Tablets, Adam Hintz

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Amethyst is a point-and-click science fiction adventure game for tablets, developed over two quarters to demonstrate applied principles of computer graphics and software engineering discipline. Using a novel interaction system, players can engage in environmental puzzles. Development of Amethyst required non-trivial quality assurance measures and workflow enhancements. The end result is a functional technical demo showcasing a single level, with the ability to rapidly produce more content.

Contributions To Background Reduction And Computer Simulations For Cuore & Cuore-0, Ivo J. Plamenac

Physics

CUORE and CUORE-0 aim to observe neutrinoless double beta decay in ¹³⁰Te; observing such this particular decay would substantiate the Majorana model for the neutrino and expand our current understanding of particle physics. This report will provide an overview of the Standard Model, our current framework for particle interactions, as well as the technical details of the CUORE experiment. Over the summers of 2010 and 2011, I contributed to the efforts of the CUORE collaboration by assisting in aspects such as background reduction, and explored detector behavior using computer simulations.

Atmosphere Observation By The Method Of Led Sun Photometry, Gregory Garza

Physics

No abstract provided.

Enabling Rapid Conceptual Design Using Geometry-Based Multi-Fidelity Models In Vsp, Joel Brian Belben

Master's Theses

The purpose of this work is to help bridge the gap between aircraft conceptual design and analysis. Much work is needed, but distilling essential characteristics from a design and collecting them in an easily accessible format that is amenable to use by inexpensive analysis tools is a significant contribution to this goal. Toward that end, four types of reduced-fidelity or degenerate geometric representations have been defined and implemented in VSP, a parametric geometry modeler. The four types are degenerate surface, degenerate plate, degenerate stick, and degenerate point, corresponding to three-, two-, one-, and zero- dimensional representations of underlying geometry, respectively. …

A Sense Of Community, Matt Lazier

Cal Poly Magazine

No abstract provided.

Close To The Action, Rachel Henry

Cal Poly Magazine

No abstract provided.

Class Notes

Cal Poly Magazine

No abstract provided.

Looking Ahead, Jeffrey D. Armstrong

Cal Poly Magazine

No abstract provided.

Cal Poly, Uc Berkeley Awarded $1 Million Grant For Collaborative Computing Project, Public Affairs Office

Press Releases

No abstract provided.

March 20, 2013 Cal Poly Report, Public Affairs Office

Cal Poly Report

No abstract provided.

March 13, 2013 Cal Poly Report, Public Affairs Office

Cal Poly Report

No abstract provided.