Digital Commons Network^™

Creating A Probabilistic Graph For Wordnet Using Markov Logic Network, Lubomir Stanchev

Computer Science and Software Engineering

The paper shows how to create a probabilistic graph for WordNet. A node is created for every word and phrase in WordNet. An edge between two nodes is labeled with the probability that a user that is interested in the source concept will also be interested in the destination concept. For example, an edge with weight 0.3 between “canine” and “dog” indicates that there is a 30% probability that a user who searches for “canine” will be interested in results that contain the word “dog”. We refer to the graph as probabilistic because we enforce the constraint that the sum …

Solution Casting And Mechanical Testing Of Arabinan-Cellulose Nanocomposites, Kevin Su, Alina Lusebrink

Materials Engineering

The purpose of this work was to investigate methods to produce consistent, reliable, and testable thin films of arabinan-cellulose nanocomposites. Mechanical properties and composition of the Opuntia ficus-indica cactus spines served as motivation for this research. The high specific strength and stiffness, biodegradability, and sustainability of these spines inspired the creation of composites fabricated from the same materials found in cactus spines: arabinan and nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC). Arabinan serves as the matrix material and NCC as the reinforcement. To explore the feasibility of using a non-toxic solvent, different solution casting techniques with water as a solvent were investigated. Ultrasonication was …

Selection Of A Flexible Polymer To Protect Dry Carbon Fibers In A Cfrp Wallet Hinge, Evan Dowey, Matthew Johnson

Materials Engineering

Common Fibers, a company founded by Cal Poly alumni, produces carbon fiber wallets. The invention of their built-in fiber-matrix composite hinge reduces the need for extra complexity and added mass that is inherent with using standard metal hinges to join standard composite panels. Replacing the polyurethane tape on the wallet hinge allows for improved protection while maintaining flexibility and other performance properties is critical to the success of such a design. The most important material property in this project is the bond strength between carbon fiber and a variety of flexible resin candidates. The silicone and urethane based elastomer resins …

Effects Of Cold Work, Final Grind Diameter, And Heat Treatment On The Mechanical Properties Of Nitinol Guide Wire Tips, Daniel Rodriguez

Materials Engineering

No abstract provided.

Market Lamb Sae Handbook, Meagan Dunlap

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this project was to create an educational booklet to guide agriculture students through their market lamb SAE project. It is intended to be used as a resource for both novice exhibitors and agriculture teachers. The handbook contains information on how to select, raise, and show a market lamb for a local county fair. The goal of the project was to provide students and teachers with one resource that contains all of the necessary research to complete a market lamb SAE project. It is hoped that the handbook will give novice exhibitors a competitive advantage in the show …

Effect Of The 2013-2015 California Drought On Small Mammal Abundance And Diversity In Chaparral, Oak Woodland And Riparian Habitats, Nicole Desideri

Biological Sciences

Long-term biodiversity surveys are a useful tool for assessing the impacts of stochastic events on wildlife and their communities. A recent stochastic event to affect the state of California is the historic 2013-2015 drought. This drought, described as a one-in-one-thousand year event, brought precipitation to a historic low; the statewide rainfall reaching 34% below average (Swain et al. 2014). While humans are feeling the impact of this water shortage, the effects on native ecosystems and wildlife populations are poorly documented. Baseline small mammal biodiversity data collected in 2011, before the drought, allows us the opportunity to study the impacts of …

Mentoring Management Database, Alexandra Cava, Samantha Kin

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

A new mentoring program is set to begin next year pairing children from Kindergarten through 12th grade with college students as their mentors. Keeping track of the mentor information, mentee information, pairings, stipend disbursements, interview question results, events, and final assessments by hand would be extremely difficult, therefore, a database would be a great asset to the program.

Creating a database in Microsoft Access allows a user to have all this information in one convenient location, therefore, ensuring there is a good user interface is a key component to this project. Using Perach’s "Guide to the Perplexed" as the base …

E-Learning Design For Microsoft Access & Asp.Net, Jonathan Choi, Christopher Hom

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The problem definition is that the current video tutorial series is outdated and lacks interactive features that aid with E-Learning. The goal of the project is to create a platform that incorporates features such as structure, interaction, assessments, and competency tests. The project revolved around integrating four softwares together in order to create an effective E-Learning platform. The four softwares were Adobe Captivate, Camtasia, Microsoft Access and Microsoft Visual Studios. Adobe Captive is used to store the tutorial video and assign quizzes. Camtasia is used to record the tutorial videos. Microsoft Access is used to store all the questions given …

Smart Packing With Qr - Improving Cal Poly's Parking System For All Users, Kelsey Bazshushtari, Andrew Lee, Christopher Ragasa

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Cal Poly Smart Parking, herein referred to as CPSP QR Code Initiative, is developed to reduce the wait times student, staff, and guest drivers experience when searching for a parking spot on campus. Cal Poly is currently undergoing a large growth in student population, and, as a result, is experiencing congestion in parking lots. Drivers will commonly spend frustrating amounts of time "vulturing" these parking lots for an open spot. CPSP QR Code Initiative consists of a database that is controlled by user submitted data through QR codes scanned on a user’s smartphone. This system will provide drivers with a …

Soto's True Earth Market Optimization, Hironari Fujita, Wei Lin Luong, Sean Macwilliams

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Soto’s True Earth Market is a new organic market startup which is located in a historical facility in the small town of Cambria. The new owner of Soto’s Andre Ponce has a vision to create a community revolved around local organic foods and sustainability. Since Soto’s is still in the initial startup phase there is a large amount of room for optimization and redesign in order to create a solid customer foundation. Andre presented several opportunities for improvement to the team. With a time constraint of solely two quarters the project team decided to provide the following:

● Old and …

Building A Startup Wine Brand, Sean Christopher Silvestre

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Lisso Wine is a company that currently purchases wine from a California winemaker and resells it in China. In order to reach more customers and increase sales, Lisso wants to create their own brand of wine while keeping the winemaker as a supplier. However, they do not have a plan for the marketing, production, or distribution of their new product. This project will be treated as a startup venture by Lisso Wine and designed to be operated by a handful of people with limited resources. Sustainable and cost-effective materials were selected for the product and it’s packaging in order to …

Inventory Tracking Software Improvement Project, Jacky Leung

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

FanimeCon’s Convention Operations department required standardized processes and controls for their inventory tracking software. On top of the current web application, new controls were put into place for checkout limitations. To allow for a continuous improvement effort, processes became standardized with a new graphical user interface where user input is recorded. These will provide processing times for further study in proposing redesigned layouts and more efficient processes.

Hearst Lecture: Planning For Bhutan, Christopher Benninger

Focus

No abstract provided.

The Invisibility Of Code Enforcement In Planning Praxis: The Case Of Informal Housing In Southern California, Jake Wegmann, Jonathan P. Bell

Focus

In this article, Jake Wegmann and Jonathan Pacheco Bell argue that more and better engagement with working class neighborhoods and communities of color are urgent imperatives for the planning profession. Drawing on a survey, interviews, and their professional experiences with the informal housing market in Southern California, they show that, although much of this work is managed by code enforcement officers, the planning profession largely holds code enforcement at arms’ length. Wegmann and Bell show that ending the estrangement between code enforcement and planning would offer numerous benefits including inculcating cultural competence in planners, addressing vexing issues such as housing …

National Society Of Sales Engineers & National Sales Engineering Competition, Joseph Lynes, Tyler Sasse

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Sales Engineering is a popular career choice for many engineers coming out of university. Despite its continuing growth, many students lack the knowledge and preparation to be successful in the early years of their career. A small collection of sales engineering minors and student clubs are the only option for students interested in technical sales.

Using the DMAIC process, the senior project team went step by step to find and implement the best possible solution to better connect college students and the professional sales engineering industry . The team worked side by side with professionals in the industry and students …

Streetplan: Hacking Streetmix For Community-Based Outreach On The Future Of Streets, William W. Riggs, Michael R. Boswell, Ryder Ross

Focus

Riggs, Boswell and Ross describe their pilot street design project deploying Streetplan, a version of the opensource tool Streetmix. As part of the City of San Luis Obispo downtown revisioning project, their efforts inform the process, currently underway, of revising the Downtown Vision Concept Plan. The project was presented at the 2016 Code for America Summit.

Cover

Focus

No abstract provided.

Earning A Livelihood From One's Home: The Castillo Ladies Of San Miguel De Allende, Hemalata C. Dandekar

Focus

The CRP Field Trip to San Miguel Allende in August 2016 revealed several facets of Mexican urbanism, including social histories that helped to reveal the city’s development. In this article, Professor Hemalata Dandekar describes one such enriching experiences, noting its implications for planning.

The Connection Between Neighborhood Walkability And Life Longevity In A Midsized City, William W. Riggs, John Gilderbloom

Focus

Riggs and Gilderbloom discuss a study for Louisville, KY that confirms the relationship between walkability and health, offering lessons for similar urban areas. Investigating years of projected life lost as it relates to neighborhood walkability, they found that more walkable areas are predictors of longevity. The study suggests that the trend toward longer lifespan may be connected to gentrification-related displacement and racial homogenization in walkable neighborhoods. The findings can help shape urban design policies and interventions that support physical activity.

Learning From California: Highlights Of Crp Studios 2015/2016 Ay, Hemalata C. Dandekar

Focus

Dr. Hemalata Dandekar highlights the studio projects from both BSCRP and MCRP programs during the 2015-16 academic year. The studios are fundamental in the learn-by-doing pedagogy embraced by the department, and they help shape students into professionals that are fully engaged with their communities.

New Nature: A Photographic Essay, Gary C. Dwyer

Focus

Gary Dwyer is an internationally accomplished educator, landscape architect and artist in a variety of landscape, sculpture and photographic genres. His photographic assignments have sent him worldwide, including climbing expeditions in the Himalayas and a UNESCO assignment to photograph World Heritage Sites in Vietnam. He was a Resident Artist at the American Academy in Rome in 2005. In this contribution to FOCUS, Gary’s images provoke us to think about the collisions between environmental and cultural values.

"Toward An Urban Design Manifesto" Revisited, Ivor Samuels

Focus

“Toward an Urban Design Manifesto”, co-authored by Donald Appleyard and Allan Jacobs in the early 1980s, was highly influential in how we understand urbanism in the XXI century. Like other seminal documents, it represented the paradigm shift from modernism to contemporary planning and urban design. Professor Ivor Samuels, an international expert on urban morphology and urban design who often contributes to FOCUS, discusses the Manifesto’s continuing revelance to European and wider contexts.

Conversations With Alumni: Spotlight On Jimmy Ochoa And Orchid Monroy-Ochoa

Focus

No abstract provided.

Urbanismo In Mexico, Ana Padilla

Focus

In the summer of 2016, BSCRP junior Ana Padilla joined a group of Cal Poly architecture colleagues for a two-month study program in Mexico. Led by instructor Humberto Norton, the program was based at Los Arcos, an educational facility run by local architect Rafael Franco in San Miguel de Allende. Ana writes about her many learning experiences which made her realize how important travelling is for a planner’s education.

Analysis Of The Seattle Customer Delivery Center, Cynthia Wernet

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

The purpose of this analysis is to assess how the Customer Delivery Center (CDC) satisfies prescriptive design requirements of the 2012 International Building Code (IBC) for fire exiting, structural design, smoke detection, alarm notification and communication and water-based fire suppression. A performance-based analysis is then performed using hand calculations and computer-based models to determine if the available safe egress time exceeds the required safe egress time from the building. In order to complete this analysis, the issued-for-construction design and the contractor submittals were made accessible by the owner’s fire protection engineer and the project management group overseeing construction. These documents …

New Burke Museum- Fire And Life Safety Overview And Atrium Design Analysis, Justin Schmidt

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This paper compares two design approaches for a 4-story atrium. The subject is the New Burke Museum building that is currently under construction in Seattle, WA. Under normal conditions, this building has four levels that are connected by different horizontal and vertical openings. The building design utilizes a series of vertical and horizontal acting fire doors to create separation and eliminate the atrium condition. The building’s alternate design is compared to a traditional atrium design meeting the requirements of section 404 of the IBC with an active smoke control system designed using NFPA 92B. In order to complete the analysis …

Observr, Nikhil Ahuja, Jacob Copus, Justin Cellona, Annie Liu, Lucas Toohey, Matt Twohig

Computer Engineering

According to Superdata Digital Market Research, investors have poured more than $6 billion into the virtual reality market in the last three years, mostly to catalyze application development for virtual reality gaming. In the last decade, watching live streams of other gamers playing video games has skyrocketed, with the world’s largest esports streaming platform Twitch.tv receiving 53 million unique visitors daily. ObserVR intends to package these technologies and change the way users watch multiple 2D video streams in an immersive 3D environment. By accessing our service, a user can embed URLs for existing video streams through our online application and …

Slo Dancing, Ryan Moelter, Audrey Bruscia, Matthew Smith

Computer Engineering

No abstract provided.

Duck Watch: A Smart System For Public Lap Pools, Daniel Griffith, Jill Thetford

Computer Engineering

This paper presents Duck Watch, a proof of concept for a smart swimming pool. With our system, a swimmer will be able to log on to our website prior to leaving his or her house to help them decide if the conditions are favorable to go to a public lap swimming pool. Our system will inform the user of a number of environmental factors such as water temperature, exterior temperature, and humidity, as well as whether or not there are any open lanes currently.

Ipv6 And Ospf Networks Lab, Kevin Jeremy Watson

Computer Engineering

No abstract provided.