Digital Commons Network^™

City Farm Slo - Market Stand Modernization, Juan Diaz

Construction Management

This paper analyzes the design, planning, and buildout of a custom multi-level stand, farm signage, and supporting equipment for the non-profit organization City Farm SLO. The overall goal of the project was to provide the farm with a modernized and functional market space. The project first addressed any owner design requirements, the approval of materials lists, and the assessment of existing conditions. The pre-construction consisted of developed drawings, materials lists, cost estimates, and a project schedule. Aside from setting up requirements, the owner provided specific milestones to be achieved during the construction phase of the project. A major risk found …

Developing A Rapid Urban Forest Assessment System For Sustainable City Greenification, Daniel Gonzalez

Master's Theses

This thesis presents the Rapid Urban Forest Assessment (RUFA) system, a web-based platform that integrates urban tree inventories and aerial tree detection to assess forest health across California’s census-designated places. RUFA combines inventoried tree records with coordinates detected from high-resolution multispectral imagery using convolutional neural networks, then computes a composite RUFA Score from four metrics: canopy cover percentage, trees per capita, tree diversity (TD-50), and tree evenness. The thesis addresses two engineering challenges in building the dashboard: querying and aggregating over seven million tree records in real time, and rendering spatial summaries at multiple zoom levels without recomputing cluster assignments …

Low-Cost Modular Transradial Prosthetic System, Caleb E. Barajas

Master's Theses

Upper-limb loss can significantly impact overall quality of life by limiting  a person's ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs). Although prosthetic devices can help bridge the gap, many upper-limb prostheses are limited by high costs, discomfort, limited repairability, and accessibility barriers. Current commercial myoelectric prosthetic hands can provide high levels of functionality, but are often expensive and require specialized clinical access. In contrast, many current low-cost and open source prosthetic devices improve affordability but are limited in function or designed for partial hand applications rather than full transradial limb loss.

The purpose of this thesis was to design, …

Development And Initial Testing Of Novel Microfabricated Soap Film Frames For Use In Studying Instability Mechanisms In Liquid Sheet Edges, Sam Hastings, Sam Hastings

Master's Theses

The breakup of retracting liquid sheet edges into droplets is governed by instability mechanisms that, in some ways, are not yet fully understood. Previous and limited experimental soap film retraction experiments using straight edges have produced results that differ from the behavior predicted by Rayleigh-Plateau and Rayleigh-Taylor instability models, suggesting that uncontrolled imperfections in traditional wire frames (used to form and detach the soap films) may influence film detachment and the subsequent edge instability observed. This thesis presents the development of a new experimental approach using microfabricated silicon wafer-based soap film frames to provide improved control over the initial conditions …

Development And Evaluation Of Alternative Mandrel Materials For The Fabrication Of In-House Silicone Vascular Models, Cole Capitani

Master's Theses

Dr. Kristen Cardinal’s Tissue Engineering Laboratory at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo develops tissue-engineered blood vessel mimics (BVMs) for preclinical testing of neurovascular devices. These BVMs are reliant on silicone vascular models that define the vessel geometry, support endothelial cell attachment, and allow devices to be evaluated in a controlled in vitro environment. Previous work in the lab established injection molding as a viable method for fabricating silicone vascular models and utilized acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) for sacrificial mandrels. However, this workflow relied on the use of acetone for mandrel dissolution, required single-use mandrels, had extended post-processing times, …

Sitting Together: How Proximity Impacts The Classroom Success Of Undergraduate Women In Engineering, Cassandra M. Savukinas, Kayla D. Taylor, Ashley Lear

Feminist Pedagogy

Despite increased efforts, the engineering field remains predominantly male, particularly within higher education environments. Seating arrangements in the classroom for female undergraduate engineering students can greatly impact their comfort, participation, and academic performance in the classroom. In a 2025 study, it was found that male and female students have differing experiences related to comfort, participation, and academic performance when seated near other students of the same gender (Savukinas et al., 2025). Faculty can help students succeed by understanding how seating dynamics impact students’ experiences in the classroom. By allowing students to choose their own seating arrangements and creating interactions in …

Leader Election System For An Unmanned Ground Vehicle Swarm, Milan Chhetri, Brendan Beas, Paul Levin

Electrical Engineering

This senior project presents the design and implementation of a leader-election system for a leader-follower unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) swarm using embedded control and wireless communication. The objective of the project is to improve the robustness and mission longevity of a multi-agent robotic system by allowing the swarm to dynamically select the most suitable leader during operation. Each UGV is equipped with an ESP32 microcontroller, DWM1000 Ultra-Wideband (UWB) ranging modules, an MPU-6050 inertial measurement unit (IMU), motor drivers, and supporting power electronics to enable communication, sensing, and autonomous control. A battery monitoring subsystem was developed using the ESP32's built-in Analog-to-Digital …

Maximum Power Point Tracker And Dc/Dc Converter, Isabel Aguas, Madeline Steiner, Haley Blouin, Tristan Asquith, Ellijah Garcia

Electrical Engineering

The product is a solar Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) with an integrated DC-DC converter for efficient power extraction from a solar module. The MPPT optimizes solar energy, sourcing power to a 12V battery which is the source of a DC-DC converter operating as a variable voltage output for various applications, capable of providing voltage greater or less than the voltage supplied by the solar module. The DC-DC converter outputs a manually adjustable DC voltage within the range of 5-50V. Both MPPT and the DC-DC converter are functional for standard solar modules with power ratings ranging from 50-400W, open circuit …

Archimedean Spiral Antenna Array With Klopfenstein And Exponential Tapered Balun Feeds, Leo Joseph Alvelais Iv, Paul Obrecht, Naguib Abdulla, Preston Mavady, Collin Fan

Electrical Engineering

This project presents the design, fabrication, and experimental evaluation of a broadband 3x3 Archimedean spiral antenna array tile for 2.8-3.8 GHz. Each element combines a two-arm spiral on Rogers RO4350B, a printed 50 to 150 Ω tapered balun, and a conductive backplane. Klopfenstein and Exponential feed implementations were modeled in Ansys HFSS, generated and tuned with automated scripting, fabricated, and evaluated with calibrated network and anechoic-chamber measurements. The Klopfenstein-fed hardware met the -10 dB input-reflection criterion across the project band. The exponential array provided a broad matched response but reached approximately -8 dB near 2.95 GHz. Measured center-element patterns retained …

Vision-Based Autonomous Tracking Rover, Alejandro Ahumada, Erick Ayala, Jonathan Chavez

Electrical Engineering

AAC Vision designed and constructed a vision-based autonomous tracking rover capable of exploring an indoor environment, avoiding obstacles, generating a two-dimensional LiDAR map, detecting a standard orange basketball, and approaching the target without manual steering. The rover uses a Raspberry Pi 4, an Intel RealSense D435 RGB-D camera, an RPLIDAR C1, four JGB37-520 Hall-encoder motors, dual H-bridge motor drivers, a 12 V battery, and a custom aluminum chassis measuring approximately 8 in by 12 in and weighing 6.7 lb. The final mission emphasized reliable target discovery rather than travel between predetermined points. The software integrates Python, OpenCV, Ultralytics YOLO, RealSense …

System Integration And Validation Of The Cal Poly Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics Simulator Mk. Iv, Bricen S. Rigby

Master's Theses

The Cal Poly Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics Simulator (SADS) is an ongoing project that seeks to enable the simulation and validation of sensors, actuators, and control logic related to spacecraft attitude control. The SADS platform rests atop a spher- ical air-bearing device which allows for nearly frictionless rotation in all three axes. The orientation of the platform is controlled by four reaction wheels arranged in a pyramidal configuration. Over the past few years, there have been significant updates to the reaction wheel subsystem, as well as requests for a more capable central com- puter. Therefore, a new system architecture for the …

Xenaform Algorithm, Alden Ulysses Quandt

Architectural Engineering

This project develops a computer-generated form-finding process for XenaForms, a discrete folded-plate shell system made from rigid triangular panels and hinge-like edge connections. Using Blender and Python, the workflow generates an initial top-down triangular strip, expands it into a fuller shell through stability-guided growth, checks the resulting geometry against a local stability rule, and culls unstable or erroneous elements. The algorithm translates XenaForm stability principles into a usable design tool while also accounting for constructability through sheet-size constraints and geometric collision checks. The result is a Blender-based workflow that can rapidly produce stable, varied XenaForm models for architectural, sculptural, and …

Dc/Dc Converter For A Solar Module, Francine Therese A. Canal, Jesus Cruz, Juan Jose Gonzalez

Electrical Engineering

This project presents the design and implementation of a DC/DC power converter intended for photovoltaic (PV) modules with varying electrical output characteristics. Solar panels experience significant changes in output voltage and power due to variations in sunlight, temperature, and load conditions. To ensure reliable operation across a range of conditions, the proposed converter is capable of both step-up and step-down operation to accommodate solar modules with power ratings from 50 W to 450 W and open-circuit voltages between 10 V and 80 V. The system operates at load currents up to 10 A and provide a user-adjustable output voltage within …

The Regulatory Costs Of Wine Production In Napa County, Lynn Hamilton, Michael Mccullough

Agribusiness

Unlike other food products, commercial alcoholic beverage production has been subject to federal regulation and taxation since the founding of the United States, with specific wine taxes being levied during the wartime Emergency Revenue Act of 1914 (Cilluffo and Gravelle, 2024). Since then, taxation and regulations have expanded, with many new laws originating at the state level. Additional regulatory costs, combined with the current decline in consumer demand raise questions regarding the long-term viability of California wine production. Napa County Farm Bureau contacted Cal Poly to assess baseline conditions in the industry by conducting a case study of regulations accruing …

Dc/Dc Converter For A Solar Module, Stella Uribe, Richie Zaragoza, Olivia Grace Tran, Phillip Tyler Rich

Electrical Engineering

This project focuses on the design and validation of a general-purpose DC/DC power converter intended for use with photovoltaic (PV) solar modules operating under variable environmental and loading conditions. Solar panels exhibit significant variation in output voltage, current, and available power due to changes in irradiance, temperature, and operating point, making direct connection to downstream loads impractical. The proposed system addresses this challenge by providing a single, user-adjustable regulated DC output capable of both stepping up and stepping down the solar module voltage. The converter is designed to interface with solar modules rated between 50 W and 400 W, with …

Remote Controlled Pushcart, William B. Rakoz, Logan M. Beard, Jesus B. Galindo, Jacob Anderson

Electrical Engineering

This senior project developed a low-cost remote controlled golf push cart by retrofitting a conventional cart with independently driven hoverboard wheels, an ESP32 controller, BLE communication, a 36 V battery, an MPU-6050 IMU, an LD-19 LiDAR, and custom PETG components. The final scope emphasized reliable remote operation, differential steering, controlled acceleration, heading stabilization, emergency stopping, and obstacle-aware speed limiting. A separate neural-network controller was trained in simulation as a future autonomy pathway; autonomous target following was not integrated into the final cart. Verification recorded a maximum speed of 4.3 mph, operation on a 15-degree incline, a 0.75 s emergency-stop response, …

Stationary Bike Power/Efficiency Monitor, Paula J. Diaz, Pilar M. Cook, Danielle Rhind

Electrical Engineering

This project developed a real-time power and efficiency monitoring system for a SportsArt ECO-POWR stationary exercise bicycle. The goal was to measure rider mechanical power and electrical power delivered to the utility grid simultaneously, allowing the overall bike-to-grid efficiency to be calculated and displayed in real time. Rider power was measured using Garmin Rally ANT+ power pedals, while grid power was measured using a Yokogawa WT310E power analyzer. A Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ synchronized both data sources, calculated efficiency, displayed live performance metrics through a graphical user interface, and logged measurement data to CSV files for later analysis. The …

Autonomous Terrain-Mapping Robot For Search And Rescue, Soumil Joshi, Seann Calub

Electrical Engineering

This report documents the design, modular testing, and challenges faced while developing an autonomous terrain-mapping robot intended to navigate to a destination waypoint and deliver a small payload for search-and-rescue applications. The system combines a LiDAR sensor, an IMU sensor, and a Raspberry Pi 3B as the onboard processor, and an ESP32 microcontroller interfacing with motor drivers over a four-wheel chassis. A companion mobile application was developed to enable remote control and monitoring of the robot over a WiFi hotspot connection. A lithium-ion battery pack supplies power to all onboard components, with power budgets verified against component datasheets. Testing progresses …

Flow Conditioning And Vortex Reduction For Vertical Pump Inlets, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

There are 3 general hydraulic problems for vertical pump inlets. All can cause problems with pump impeller cavitation, reduced flow rates, lower pump efficiencies, and vibrations.

Sunshine Pump: A Trailer-Mounted Solar Powered Water Pump System, Dylan Quan Dinh, Duncan Campbell

Electrical Engineering

The Sunshine Pump is a trailer-mounted, off-grid solar powered water pumping system that delivers approximately 1,000 gallons of water per day from a well of approximately 250 feet total dynamic head to an above-ground storage tank on a rural ranch in Los Osos, California. The system captures solar energy with a 1,500 watt photovoltaic array consisting of four 375 watt panels wired in series, regulates that energy through a maximum power point tracking stage integrated into an all-in-one inverter/charger, stores it in a 4,800 watt-hour LiFePO4 battery, and converts it to 230 volt AC power to drive a 0.75 horsepower …

A Guide To Change Management Using The Sarah Model, Sara Kern, Sarah Barbrow, Sarah Jane Dooley, Sarah E. Lester, Sarah Over

Library Scholarship

Academic libraries are the heart of colleges and universities and, as such, are often centrally involved in and impacted by changes in the greater higher education landscape. For those working in these spaces, familiarity with strategies for managing change is essential to support yourself and others during especially turbulent times. The SARAH model, described below in bullet points with our modifications in brackets, offers a memorable way to understand responses to change, be they our own or others.

S - Shock or Surprise
A – Anger [Anxiety, Alert, or Anticipation]
R – Resistance or Rejection [Re-engagement, or Rationalization]
A - …

Assessing Video Game Pedagogy For Civil Engineering Education And K-12 Stem Engagement, Jillian Codron, Anahid A. Behrouzi

Architectural Engineering

Traditional civil engineering education is often structured around a “theory before practice” model, where students first learn concepts in lecture and then confirm them in a laboratory setting. This paper explores an alternative approach to this, involving leveraging video games as exploratory, feedback-rich platforms for introducing K-12 students to civil engineering.

The objectives of this work are to: (1) evaluate the educational potential of the selected games, (2) survey undergraduate structural engineering students and current practitioners to assess how gaming has shaped their interest in STEM pathways, (3) conduct interviews with faculty and educators to capture perspectives on integrating game-based …

Tilly Norwood And The Promise Of Frictionless Creation: Feminist Pedagogy In Ai-Saturated Classrooms, Jill N. Fredenburg

Feminist Pedagogy

This article examines how feminist pedagogy can intervene in AI-saturated classrooms by foregrounding refusal, embodiment, and critical engagement with what I term the muddy algorithms of generative systems. As institutions increasingly normalize AI as an inevitable educational tool, this work challenges that assumption by situating AI within broader structures of power, labor, and extraction. Drawing on classroom experiences in media and communication courses, I use the case of Tilly Norwood, an AI-generated “actress,” to explore how automation reproduces gendered expectations of availability, consent, and creative labor. The concept of muddy algorithms names the opaque, uneven, and value-laden processes through which …

The Pain Of Women And Femmes: A Multi-Session Class Activity On Generative Ai-Technology And Gender Norms, Bethany L. Johnson, Margaret M. Quinlan

Feminist Pedagogy

This unit helps students examine the societal implications of reproductive pain, focusing on healthcare settings and in post–Roe America. Through active listening, media analysis, and interactive research with ChatGPT, students examine how generative AI responds in a neutral tone; however, with additional data and correction, large language models (LLMs) produce more expansive and inclusive responses. Class activities include group discussions, research, and simulations. By using transcripts from the podcast “The Retrievals” and analyzing recent media, students evaluate how LLMs adjust their answers to identical questions, thereby calling into question their design, functionality, and benefits. The unit employs feminist pedagogy to …

Academic Senate - Agenda, 06/02/2026, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

As-1016-26 Resolution On Student Perceptions Of Learning Experience, Ad Hoc Committee On Student Perception Of Teaching Effectiveness

Academic Senate Resolutions

Resolves that Cal Poly Academic Senate endorses the Ad Hoc Committee’s report “Student Perceptions of Learning Experience: Rationale and Broad Principles of Design”; and be it further that the Academic Senate establish a standing committee with broad representation charged with oversight of all student feedback instruments and initiatives—summative, formative, and college or department-originated—including future revisions to the instrument; and further resolves that the Academic Senate forward the companion document “Formative Learning Feedback: A Companion to the Student Perceptions of Learning Experience Report”, prepared by a sub-committee of this Ad Hoc Committee, to the Academic Senate Instruction Committee and to the …

As-1019-26 Resolution On Proposed New Degree Program: Master Of Science In Computer Engineering, Computer Engineering Department

Academic Senate Resolutions

Resolves that the Academic Senate of Cal Poly approves the new degree program for the Master of Science in Computer Engineering for final review by the Chancellor’s Office.

Breadquest: Enhancing Roguelike Accessibility Through Procedural Generation And Thematic Design, Hahns Pena

Computer Science and Software Engineering

BreadQuest is a top-down roguelike dungeon crawler with a whimsical dessert theme that aims to make the genre more accessible while preserving strategic depth and replayability. Players explore procedurally generated dungeons, fight pastry-themed enemies, and collect bakery-inspired items that support a flavor-elemental combat system, with each run offering unique layouts, encounters, and rewards. Built in Unity with a modular, data-driven architecture, the game uses procedural generation techniques like Binary Space Partitioning, Voronoi diagrams, and Perlin noise to create varied and replayable levels. The project emphasizes approachable gameplay, cultural dessert inspiration, and replayability, with success evaluated through playtesting and player feedback.

Active Galaxies In A New Light: The Broad Line Region In The Near-Infrared, Sky O'Donnell

Physics

At the center of most massive galaxies, there is a supermassive black hole with a mass millions to billions of times that of the Sun. In some of these galaxies, so-called Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs), the supermassive black hole is converting the gas that falls toward it into radiation energy, creating large amounts of luminosity. AGNs are composed of the central supermassive black hole, its accretion disk, and a region just outside, composed of fast-moving ionized gas clouds called the Broad Line Region (BLR). Using spectra obtained with NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility, we use a technique known as reverberation mapping …

Test Bench Pcb Design For A Vlsi Grid Cell Chip, Nicholas Bruk, Jason Alexandar

Electrical Engineering

This report presents the design, implementation, and validation of a custom printed circuit board (PCB) test bench for a VLSI grid cell emulation chip. The final board provides two independently adjustable 5V supplies using LM317 linear regulators, eleven potentiometer-controlled bias voltages, high-impedance buffering of analog outputs via an MCP6022 dual operational amplifier, and buffering of digital outputs using a 74HC244 buffer IC. The design includes a 40-pin DIP socket for the VLSI chip, extensive test-point headers for probing, and a 9V battery input for portable operation. Five fully functional boards were fabricated using ExpressPCB and assembled with through-hole components. An …