Digital Commons Network^™

Vertical And Latitudinal Variability Of Marine Heatwaves In The California Current, Gavin M. Plume

Master's Theses

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are increasing in frequency and intensity globally, with grave effects on marine ecosystems and their dependent industries. There are significant gaps in knowledge of the subsurface behavior and geographic distribution of MHWs, especially in eastern boundary upwelling systems like the California Current. Here, two decades of full water-column temperature observations from a shallow autonomous profiler in San Luis Obispo Bay (~10m) revealed that while MHWs have similar average durations and intensities across all depths, one-third of bottom MHWs occur without a concurrent surface signal. MHWs across the water column initiated during anomalously weak upwelling or downwelling conditions …

The Northern Elephant Seals (Mirounga Angustirostris) Of The Piedras Blancas Colony: A Story Of Recolonization, Monitoring And Movement, Mackenzie Davidson

Master's Theses

Northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) are large, ocean migrating carnivores that have a wide distribution along the west coast of North America. Like other pinniped species, northern elephant seals spend considerable time out at sea foraging and return to land to molt and breed. Northern elephant seals were hunted to near extinction in the late 1800s. Due to conservation efforts they have since rebounded, and they currently occupy 27 known terrestrial breeding colonies. Much literature has documented the recolonization, population dynamics, and dispersion of this species. Currently, Piedras Blancas (San Simeon, California) is the largest mainland breeding colony of northern …

Identifying Interchromosomal Interactions Using A Graph-Based Computational Pipeline, Ethan Outangoun

Master's Theses

Current computational tools for analyzing chromatin organization are mainly focused on intrachromosomal interactions, despite growing evidence that suggests long-range interactions across chromosomes contribute to transcriptional regulation and disease development. This thesis aims to address this gap in interchromosomal genome analysis, presenting a robust computational pipeline that identifies a clique (i.e., a subgraph) of highly interacting trans-chromosomal regions anchored at a user-specified seed genomic locus. A weighted interaction network is constructed from an input Hi-C contact matrix, a widely used experimental assay for measuring genome-wide chromatin interactions. We model this input contact matrix as a graph and devise three different strategies …

Clusters, Trends, And Choices: Feature Selection In Interactive Statistical Graphics, Dylan Le

Master's Theses

Exploratory data analysis (EDA) is a method for uncovering the structure and key characteristics of data, often through the use of statistical graphics. These visual tools can reveal patterns and trends, and their effectiveness can be enhanced through interactivity. By enabling users to filter data, zoom, and toggle visual features, interactive plots can accelerate and enrich the EDA process. This study extends a previous graphical study by incorporating an interactive framework. Using a statistical lineup protocol with two target patterns (a linear trend and a clustering trend) participants interacted with plots by toggling various aesthetic features, including cluster coloring, ellipses …

Myceli-Yum: Elucidating Structure-Property Relationships For Polymer Degradation By Mycelial Digestion, Jordan Scott Ford

Master's Theses

Since the industrial entrance of polymer plastic materials, plastic has become ubiquitous in both everyday use and waste. Due to inefficiencies and knowledge gaps, current recycling methods are not able to account for the high scale of plastic waste, resulting in the bulk of this waste being landfilled, mishandled, and deposited in the environment. Mycelium, the microorganism responsible for fruiting mushroom bodies and mold growth, holds potential to reduce plastic waste and can potentially be utilized as a method of industrial recycling. Following a drug-design approach, the active site of mycelial enzymes responsible for natural biopolymer degradation have been assessed …

Adaptive Volatility Forecasting Models, Jeffrey K. Tan

Master's Theses

In finance, risk is often quantified by volatility, and computing accurate volatility forecasts — while vital to financial decision making — remains one of the most challenging tasks in financial modeling. This thesis, motivated in part by the Black-Scholes-Merton Model and its limitations, adopts a statistical approach to volatility forecasting. The two main models of interest are the Exponential Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) model and the GARCH(1,1) model. Specifically, this work expands upon a potential adaptive lambda algorithm for EWMA models first proposed by Bernard Bollen (2014), and this work also utilizes the Momentum of Predictability (MoP) to generate adaptive …

The Degrees Of The Irreducible Representations Of The Symmetric Group With Respect To Primes, Vanessa F. Beeler

Master's Theses

In this thesis, we explore the relationship between the degrees of irreducible matrix representations of the symmetric group and prime numbers. We start by building up the required background necessary to construct our results. We dive into topics of discrete mathematics including matrix representations, characters of representations, integer partitions, conjugacy classes, class functions, and tableaux. Some other key ingredients in our work include using character tables to classify the irreducible rep- resentations of the symmetric group and the hook-length formula to easily compute the degrees of these representations. Once we have laid the groundwork for our in- vestigation, we begin …

Subalpine And Alpine Plant Community Turnover In Yosemite National Park Following 30 Years Of Climate Warming, Rachel Friesen

Master's Theses

Subalpine and alpine regions in California are warming more rapidly than lower elevations. In response, high-elevation plants may acclimate or adapt to the new climate, move to higher elevations or latitudes, persist in refugia, or go extinct. While models predict substantial declines in subalpine and alpine plant communities due to discontinuous population distributions and lack of upslope area, actual responses may vary due to lags in dispersal, establishment, and extinction. Although shifts in high-elevation plant communities have been documented in other regions of the world, such changes have not yet been studied in Yosemite National Park. To assess high-elevation plant …

Leveraging Machine-Learning Algorithms In Two Car Crash Detection Systems On A Custom Dataset, Addison Jacob Sandvik

Master's Theses

Traffic accidents pose a significant threat to public safety, causing millions of deaths and injuries worldwide each year. While efforts to reduce accidents have seen limited progress in recent years, improving emergency response times through automated detection systems is a promising avenue for saving lives. This thesis describes the development of machine learning-based traffic accident detection systems, exploring both video classification and image detection models. The models are trained on a new dataset deemed the Cal Poly Traffic Accident Dataset, an extension of the existing Car Accident Detection and Prediction (CADP) dataset with a precise collision annotations. Two systems were …

The Impact Of Accessibility Features On Player Experience In Video Games, Christine M. Widden

Master's Theses

While video game accessibility is a growing research topic, few studies investigate how players perceive the presence versus the absence of accessibility features, or how non-disabled players react to the option of accessibility features. This study explores these research gaps, investigating how access to accessibility features affects the experience of both disabled and non-disabled players. For the purposes of this study, a small platformer game was developed with as many accessibility features as feasible for the scope of the project. An A vs.\ B study was conducted in the game, with anonymous participants randomly assigned to version A, with all …

Nonlinear Integral Control Schemes For A Cadence-Heartrate Process: A Matlab Exploration, Alexander G. Elliott

Master's Theses

Keeping one’s heart-rate within a specific range during a cardiovascular workout can be difficult due to many factors including variations in the exercise environment and changes in energy level. One’s heart-rate can be controlled by tuning the intensity level of the activity over time. This study focuses on the relationship between a runner’s cadence and their heart-rate and explores ways to control the heart-rate by adjusting the cadence. Previous work in this area modeled the cadence-heartrate plant as a first-order linear system, but this has been shown to be insufficient. This work improves upon previous research in this area by …

Development Of A Reaction Wheel System For Cal Poly’S Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics Simulator, Caleb Nalley

Master's Theses

The Cal Poly Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics Simulator (SADS) is an ongoing project to develop a system capable of simulating the attitude dynamics and kinematics of a rigid body in space. Actuations on the SADS are performed by reaction wheels, however the current reaction wheels have various issues that decrease system performance and are not independent of the SADS. The reaction wheel developed as part of this thesis will be designed to improve performance and set out design specifications tailored to the SADS, serve as an independent assembly that can be transferred to other systems, and provide a general outline for …

Density-Dependent Habitat Selection And Home Range Sizes In A Recovering Population Of Island Foxes (Urocyon Littoralis) On Santa Rosa Island, California, Kathleen B. Elder

Master's Theses

Understanding factors that affect how animals select their home ranges is critical for proper species management, especially for threatened and endemic species. Density-dependent factors can be particularly difficult to understand because studying them requires large fluctuations in population size. The island fox (Urocyon littoralis), endemic to the California Channel Islands, has experienced dramatic fluctuations in population size making it an excellent candidate for studying the effects of density on home range size and habitat selection. In 2009, researchers on Santa Rosa Island took advantage of this “natural experiment” to document fox home ranges and habitat selection at a …

The Extraordinary In The Ordinary: Nineteenth Century Female Teachers And Their Professionalization Of An Occupation, Samantha G. Santana

Master's Theses

Women’s occupation as teachers has remained uncritically relegated to the sphere of women’s work. In reality however, early nineteenth century female teachers made clear articulations how they understood their occupations as teachers. Through their publications, autobiographies, and biographies written by former pupils, they left behind for current educators their estimations of the integral job they performed. As educators, these women maintained the paramount role of educating the nation’s next generation of citizens. This was of particular importance in the aftermath of the American Revolution when America’s children were subjected to lacking, colonial education experiments. Before and during the ensuing common …

Study On The Application Of Smart Electric Meters For Secondary Voltage Protection, Jayaditya Sisodia

Master's Theses

The purpose of our research is to utilize PG&E’s Smart Meters installed across California to protect the Secondary Voltage delivered to the meter. This means detecting electrical faults between the utility’s distribution transformer and the installed Smart Meter. Our goal is to propose and implement various solutions through additional devices and protocols to detect and prevent these faults, communicate them with the meter, and forward fault information to the utility. A device will be designed to be installed on the transformer, detect faults, shut off power transmission, and communicate to the meter via fiber optic cable. Research will then be …

From Conflict To Clarity: Resolving Differences In Habitat Assessments To Inform Conservation Priorities For The Giant Kangaroo Rat, Caroline Mackenzie

Master's Theses

From Conflict to Clarity: Resolving Data Differences in Habitat Assessments to Inform Conservation Priorities for the Giant Kangaroo Rat

Caroline MacKenzie

Conservation strategies frequently rely on habitat suitability models, habitat assessments and species occurrence data to identify areas for protection. However, these methods often produce conflicting inference on species presence and habitat quality, complicating management decisions. This study builds on prior work which used three distinct methods to guide conservation planning for the endangered Giant Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys ingens): habitat suitability modeling based on abiotic predictors, aerial imagery to assess habitat quality through visible burrow mounds and live-trapping …

Comparing Machine Learning Paired Optimization Strategies For Single-Component Waterborne Direct-To-Metal Coatings, Harvir S. Kalkat

Master's Theses

As R&D attempts to fine tune properties before production, the redesign and testing process can become highly iterative. The repetitive nature of formulating can be difficult to escape when relying on chemical intuition alone. To provide some guidance in this process, machine learning (ML) can leverage data from previous trials¹ to design suggestions for subsequent trials. Although ML capabilities have vastly expanded in the last few years, integration of ML into chemistry R&D and education has been slow. Unraveling the mystique of ML can help change what has been a slow embrace in the coatings industry. It is important …

Multibeam Communication With Digital Sparse Arrays, Tavita Dayton

Master's Theses

The thesis presents a novel approach to maximizing spectral efficiency by utilizing spatial spectrum sharing in digital sparse arrays through non-uniform element configurations. A genetic algorithm approach is developed to optimally place the array elements to achieve maximum beam orthogonality and isolation. The proposed method is compared against three different configurations, namely purely random, random with jitter, and the Van Der Corput sequence (a low-discrepancy sampling approach). Simulated results demonstrate that the genetic algorithm and jitter methods successfully meet design specifications for beam orthogonality, average interelement spacing, and computational time. At the same time, the random and Van Der Corput …

Open Source Asic Design Curriculum, Francisco Wilken

Master's Theses

The ever-growing importance of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) in a high-compute world necessitates that college graduates entering the workforce are well prepared to design them. This thesis details the design of novel ASIC curriculum, using open source tools to teach at the undergraduate level. By moving to a higher level of abstraction than classical transistor-focused coursework, chip design material can be made accessible earlier in an undergraduate degree. Additionally, open source tools provide a powerful, free, and portable platform for students to create their own designs, solving assignments focused on industry readiness. Finally, this thesis studies the results and challenges …

Remote Monitoring And Control Of Protection Relays Via Programmable Logic Controller, Rio Mcgown-Kauffman

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore the ability of a programmable logic controller (PLC) to wirelessly monitor and control power protection relays. The technologies surrounding power protection and industrial automation are ever evolving and have developed significantly in recent history. Industrial power applications call for consistent condition monitoring and status updates for various high-importance components. The high-importance components have power protection schemes that are managed by digital relays to trip circuit breakers in fault or unsafe operating conditions. The smart relays have a wide range of capabilities, including communications. Cal Poly assembled a collection of relays from Schweitzer …

Birch With Tidyclust In R, Jacob Perez

Master's Theses

This thesis introduces a new implementation of the BIRCH clustering algorithm within the tidyclust framework in R. Traditional hierarchical clustering methods face scalability limitations with large datasets, due to their computational complexity. BIRCH offers a scalable alternative by summarizing data into microclusters using a CF-tree. This work shows the integration of the phases of the BIRCH algorithm into tidyclust, which enables a streamlined workflow for model specification, evaluation, and prediction. Through this implementation, scalable hierarchical clustering has been brought to R users within the tidyclust interface, enhacing the ability to better analyze large datasets.

Hybrid Computing For Real-Time Model Predictive Control Of A Buck Converter, Grace Paladichuk

Master's Theses

Advancements in power electronics require high switching frequencies which the digital control routines of the systems cannot keep up with. Analog computing is added to digital control systems to prevent bottlenecks and allow real-time implementation. This paper proposes a hybrid computing model predictive control system for a buck converter. The control system implements the gradient dynamics of the optimization function using digital computing, and the gradient dynamics for the penalty function and integrator using analog computing. For the full simulations of the entire system, the PLECS RT Box is used to simulate the controller in real time with a 1 …

Dsa-Api: Data Standardization Automation Using Ai-Powered Apis, Andrew Asher Turner

Master's Theses

The common factor with current implementations of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is data. Companies are constantly looking for new ways to analyze data, but it comes in various formats: Text, Comma Separated Value (CVE), JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), Extensible Markup Language (XML), and Excel. How can AI be adapted to standardize formats for data analysis, integration, and digestion efficiently? Published research acknowledged that Machine Learning (ML) and AI can provide an automated method to speed up this process and limit the human decision-making error. With the advancement in AI, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) prompt the idea that they can take in …

Pollinator Plant Communities Within Restored Montane Longleaf Pine Ecosystems, Hanen Van Rossem

Master's Theses

Historically the fire-dependent and biodiverse longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystem was the dominant ecosystem of the Southeastern US. This ecosystem’s range was massively reduced due to land conversion and fire exclusion, causing the decline of many native species. Efforts to restore and protect longleaf pine stands are now ongoing with the goal of expanding habitat and refuge for threatened species. Differences in restoration practices and prior land use may influence the extent to which restored habitat patches can support pollinators and their plants. This study compared pollinator plant biodiversity between restored neighboring montane longleaf pine stands that differed in …

The Impact Of Teacher Training On Newcomer Integration, Erika Ibanez

Master's Theses

As global migration diversifies classrooms, teachers face growing responsibility to meet the academic, social, and emotional needs of students navigating new cultural and linguistic contexts. Therefore, this thesis examines how teacher training programs shape educators’ ability to support newcomer students in U.S. schools. Chapter One outlines the research problem and objectives, highlighting the need for inclusive teaching practices that promote newcomer integration. Chapter Two reviews literature on newcomer student integration, instructional strategies, and teacher professional development, framed by Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy. Chapter Three outlines the qualitative methodology, which involved semi-structured interviews with five K–12 teachers. Chapter Four presents key findings, …

The Long-Term Effect Of Universities On Local Technology, Dafina Rizvanolli

Master's Theses

This paper studies the long-term effects of universities on local economic complexity, contributing to new evidence on how higher education institutions shape local productive capabilities over time. While extensive research documents universities’ positive impact on development, fundamental questions remain about the mechanisms through which they operate. Our study employs the Economic Complexity Index (ECI), a measure that captures the diversity and ubiquity of regional economic structures, to provide novel insights into universities’ influence on local economies. Building on Andrews (2023), we exploit historical natural experiments in university site selection during the 19^th and 20^th centuries in the U.S. …

Reverse Engineering Of Binary Programs Using Graph Attention Networks, Sai Nikhila Kanigiri

Master's Theses

Understanding the functionality and behavior of binary code is essential for many software engineering tasks, including malware analysis, vulnerability detection, and program optimization. However, automating this process is challenging due to the complexity of machine code and the significant manual effort required from experienced software engineers. In this paper, we present BinGAT (Reverse Engineering of Binary Programs using Graph Attention Networks), a method for classifying binary programs into algorithmic categories using Graph Attention Neural Networks (GNNs) based on their Control-Flow Graphs (CFGs). Given a binary program, BinGAT extracts its CFG through static analysis and transforms the assembly instructions within each …

Design And Analysis Of An Isolated Resonant Pulsed Dc-Dc Buck-Boost Converter, Edgar Arturo Mora Tena

Master's Theses

This thesis entails the design, modeling, simulation, construction, and analysis of a new isolated DC-DC buck-boost converter with Zero-Current-Switching (ZCS) operation, continuous input current, and a low-side switch to simplify driving requirements. The proposed converter was designed to regulate a 5V output from an input range of 15V-18V, at a rated output power of 20W, and a switching frequency range of 90kHz-500kHz. Software simulations are performed to develop a mathematical model that describes the converter’s modes of operation, as well as the current and voltage waveforms of the resonant power components. Results from hardware experimentation confirm that the converter effectively …

Impacts Of Temperature Acclimation On Swimming Performance And Metabolic Dynamics Of The Amargosa River Pupfish, Cyprinodon Nevadensis Amargosae, Teresa E. Guerre

Master's Theses

Climate change is leading to warmer atmospheric temperatures in many regions of the world, which in turn is raising the temperatures of aquatic habitats and simultaneously shifting the frequency and severity of extreme precipitation events. In fishes, metabolic demands are higher under warmer conditions, while dissolved oxygen levels typically decline in warmer water. This mismatch may limit the ability of fishes to cope with high water flow events like floods that can occur following extreme rainfall. A few species of pupfishes (genus Cyprinodon) in the Death Valley region of California and Nevada, USA, occupy stream or river habitats with …

The Adirondack Frontier: Reclaiming A Vital Role In Shaping The Nation, Peter Nelson

Master's Theses

The traditional version of Adirondack history from the revolutionary period to the middle of the nineteenth century, which portrays the region as unexplored primeval wilderness, is nineteenth-century romantic mythology. It ignores thousands of years of Indigenous habitation and misrepresents early Euro-American activity in the region as well. In fact, from the earliest days of colonial exploration of North America until the middle of the 19th-Century, New York's Adirondack region was a dynamic American frontier, as important in shaping the destiny of the nation as the Northwest Territory or, later, the West. Activities in the Adirondack frontier contributed to the decimation …