Engineering Commons^™

Functional 3-D Cellulose And Nitrocellulose Paper-Based, Microfluidic Device Utilizing Elisa Technology For The Detection/Distinction Between Hemorrhagic And Ischemic Strokes, Alicia Leanne Holler

Master's Theses

The purpose of this thesis project is to demonstrate and evaluate an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) on a paper microfluidic device platform. The integration of ELISA technology onto paper microfluidic chips allows for a quantitative detection of stroke biomarkers, such as glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Dye experiments were performed to confirm fluid connectivity throughout the 3D chips. Several chip and housing designs were fabricated to determine an optimal design for the microfluidic device. Once this design was finalized, development time testing was performed. The results confirmed that the paper microfluidic device could successfully route fluid throughout its channels at …

Kihefo Vocational Center: Kabale, Uganda, Jason Matthew Angerer

Construction Management

Journeyman International (JI) is a non-profit organization which acts as a platform for bringing together volunteer Architects, Designers, Engineers, and Construction Managers with humanitarian projects around the world. Kigezi Healthcare Foundation (KIHEFO) a non-profit NGO located in Kabale, Uganda is a client seeking to build a vocational center to educate the workforce of Uganda. The center will include multi-purpose class rooms, a dining hall, rabbit farm, carpentry shop, and living complex. The Architect on the project was Courtney Wedel from Cal Poly. As the Construction Manager on the project my responsibilities include; Design Assist, Feasibility Analysis, Scheduling, Estimating, and Managing …

Post-Liquefaction Residual Strength Assessment Of The Las Palmas, Chile Tailings Failure, Tristan Reyes Gebhart

Master's Theses

Assessment of post-liquefaction residual strength is needed for the development of empirically-based, predictive correlations for earthquake engineering design. Previous practice commonly assigned negligible strengths to liquefied materials for engineering analysis, producing overly-conservative designs. Increasingly available case history data, and improved analytical tools have allowed for more accurate and less overly-conservative estimation of soil residual strength, improving empirical predictive models. This study provides a new case history to the limited suite of (approximately 30) liquefaction failure case histories available for post-liquefaction in-situ strength predictive correlations.

This case history documents the Las Palmas gold mine tailings dam failure, resulting from seismic-induced liquefaction …

Flow Meter Test Rig, Cory Davis, Emily Guss, Michael Swartz

Mechanical Engineering

As part of a fluid mechanics laboratory, there should be an experiment that demonstrates the proper use of flow meters, devices that are necessary and relevant in many fluids-related industries. In order to provide students with exposure to these types of devices and how they work, a test rig was developed with the ability to interchange a variety of flow meters in order to broaden the students’ knowledge of the different types of measuring devices. This report was also written to outline the steps taken to ensure the test rig would match a laboratory and industry setting. Additionally, it was …

Structural Calculations For Nepal Vocational Learning Center, Nicholas Petrarca

Architectural Engineering

This project goal is to build a Leadership Vocational School for youth, women, differently abled, and local leaders of rural and Kathmandu Nepal. The client for this project is an organization called Sakcham Rural Nepal and they partnered with a humanitarian organization called Journeyman International to find Architecture and Architectural Engineering students to design a safe, attractive and functional building to fit their needs.

Graph-Based Data Visualization In Virtual Reality: A Comparison Of User Experiences, Paul Andrew Sullivan

Master's Theses

Virtual reality is currently in the spotlight, attracting intense scrutiny by the press, technology companies, and consumers. After twenty years of dormancy, the technology has experienced a renaissance following advancements in both hardware and software. Most of these developments, and thus press attention, have been centered on entertainment. However, if the technology is going to continue to grow, it must be useful in a wide variety of situations. This paper explores the effectiveness of visualizing data in virtual reality in comparison to traditional presentations.

In this thesis, we present an approach to displaying data in a virtual reality environment. We …

Towards Improved Estimates Of Upper Ocean Energetics, Alexander Grant Wineteer

Master's Theses

The energy exchanged between the atmosphere and the ocean is an important parameter in understanding the Earth’s climate. One way of quantifying this energy exchange is through the use of “wind work,” or the work done on the ocean by the wind. Since wind work is calculated according to the interaction between ocean surface currents and surface wind stress, a number of surface current decompositions can be used to decompose wind work calculations. In this research, geostrophic, ageostrophic, Ekman, and total current decompositions are all used to calculate wind work. Geostrophic currents are formed by the balance of surface pressure …

Design And Development Of The Sunswift Eve Solar Vehicle: World's Fastest Long-Range Electric Car, Sam Paterson, Pujith Vijayaratnam, Charith Perera, Graham Doig

Aerospace Engineering

The Sunswift project of the University of New South Wales, Australia, exists to provide university students with a multi-disciplinary engineering challenge, enhancing the true educational value of their degree with a unique hands-on real-world experience of creating solar–electric hybrid vehicles. The design and development of the low-drag ‘solar supercar’ Sunswift eVe car are described here, detailing the student-led process from initial concept sketches to the completed performance vehicle. eVe was designed to demonstrate the potential of effective solar integration into a practical passenger-carrying vehicle. It is a two-seater vehicle with an on-body solar array area of 4 m² and …

Sae Baja Dynamic Loading, Ryan Flatland, Christian George, Nick Bonafede

Mechanical Engineering

Cal Poly’s SAE Baja team undertook a project to measure the loads applied to an offroad buggy via the ground, including any obstacles. Originally, the ground loads pertaining to suspension, drivetrain, and chassis were based on rough estimates and historical part failures. This led to large safety factors, overbuilt parts, unknown part life, and improperly designed points of failure. In order for the team’s designs to advance to the next level of competition, an accurate set of loading cases were required. The main focus of the project was the suspension loads measured with strain gauges and a shock potentiometer, however …

Database Design For The Collection And Visualization Of Sustainabilty Data, Henry A. Kozlowski, Nikhila Perugupalli

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The goal of the project was to create a database that would be a repository for the high volume of sustainability data Illumina would like to collect. To couple with the database the project team’s goal was to design a system for visualizing the data graphically. Illumina required a database system that would be user-friendly, easy to add, delete, and edit data inputs, as well as a program that would allow the user to easily sort and graph data. The intent of the graphical representation of the data is to publish the graphs in a monthly report that would be …

Designing A Supply Chain For Wine Imports, Italy To California, Neil Magnuson, Sam Bucher

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Executive Summary

In this report a framework for a hypothetical business will be covered. Bucher & Magnuson Wine Import Inc. has provided a business plan as well as a detailed supply chain design for operations. In addition, a model for scaling and a redesign of a possible storage facility will be found. This comprehensive document outlines end to end the supply chain model of the hypothetical business and moreover a framework for starting a wine import business in San Luis Obispo.

The conclusions of the results from this model are the following:

• Unconcerned with time, the cheapest route for 1 …

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Veloelectric: Creating A Device That Harvests Energy From Bicycles, Austin Hall, Daniel Stohr, Tj Fox

Mechanical Engineering

Long distance mountain bikers, bike-packers, and many bikers in developing countries rely on electrical devices for safety and communication. These specific groups of people operate in areas with little to no electricity, and often times have no power to sustain their devices. The purpose of this Cal Poly senior project, VeloElectric, was to design, build, and test a kinetic energy harvester for bicycles that can be used to charge common mobile devices via USB. This senior project team created a device that attaches directly to a bicycle and uses vibrations to generate energy, which in turn powers a variety of …

Emg Prosthetic Finger: "Gogo Finger", Omar Garibay, Ernesto Bermudez, Shane O'Neil

Electrical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Sun-Tracking Solar-Powered Led Street Light, Wesley Ballar, Harrison Wong

Electrical Engineering

Street lighting is an essential utility especially in urban and industrialized areas because it provides illumination and safety for vehicles and pedestrians throughout the night. However, street lights are relatively inefficient; they consume large amounts of power from electrical grids and have predetermined operation times that are often non-optimal for the surrounding environment. The Sun-Tracking Solar-Powered LED Street Lamp is a self-sustaining device, built to replace the current lighting sources. The device features sun-tracking capabilities for maximum energy gathering and darkness recognition to establish optimal operation times. The project provides a reliable and enhanced alternative to current street lighting systems.

A Comprehensive Review Of The Food And Drug Administration, The 510(K) Application Process, And Fda Certification For A Diagnostic Device, Taylor Davis

Biomedical Engineering

The company G-Force CRC LLC is currently experiencing the dichotomy of the FDA's conflicting role right now as they begin to approach FDA approval. G-Force CRC LLC is a small medical device company headquartered in San Diego, CA. The owner of the company, Dr. Ian Purcell, is an Otoneurologist apart of Alvarado Hospital. His medical practice mainly deals with patients who have balance disorders and therefore the devices that he has developed over the last 6+ years are primarily used to assist in the diagnosis of those balance disorders. G-Force CRC LLC was officially created in the summer of 2013 …

Process Improvements Of Cilantro Harvesting With Ergonomic Considerations, Eric Penningroth, Branden Shimamoto

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The problems presented by Talley Farms to the team were a lower than desired cilantro harvesting capacity and work health pertaining to lower back problems. The project objectives were to address and improve upon both of these objectives. To increase harvesting capacity, a simulation model was created using standard times from time studies. The simulation model helped to compare the different harvesting methods as well as the effect of the utilization of the on-site manager. The throughputs between each of the models were analyzed. To address ergonomic concerns, a work sampling study was conducted and it was determined that kneeling …

Cal Poly India Project, Derek Babine, Austen Hibler, Alex Hernandez

Mechanical Engineering

This report documents the research, ideation, and development of a solution, implemented by the Cal Poly India Sanitation Team per the request of Mr. Harish Bhutani, to solve the problem of hazardous human waste management in poor villages in India. The sponsor envisioned a universal design that would give each household in those villages access to a private toilet system because the current solution is open defecation in water sources and farming fields. The initial constraints required the project be low cost, not use of electricity or water, have the ability to cater to an 8-10 person household, and be …

Analysis And Optimization Of The Scheffler Solar Concentrator, Simone Alberti

Master's Theses

The Scheffler reflector is a new solar concentrator design which maintains a fixed focus while only having a single axis tracking mechanism. This design makes the construction and operation of high temperature solar concentrators accessible to developing nations. In this project, I wrote computer simulation codes to better understand the dynamics and the effect of deformation or deviations from ideal conditions in order to define necessary manufacturing and operational tolerances. These tools and knowledge drove the prototyping of new reflector concepts by myself and other students on my team. A fiberglass prototype was able to drive the cost of a …

Development, Characterization, And Optimization Of Process For Minimal Functional Barrier And Channel Width In Nitrocellulose Paper Microfluidic Diagnostic Platforms, Ryan Daniel Silva

Biomedical Engineering

A central goal of diagnostic microfluidics is to reduce the cost of diagnostic medicine by reducing the equipment and reagents needed to perform diagnostic tests. The literature has demonstrated that a wax printer can be used to pattern nitrocellulose paper with hydrophobic barriers to direct a sample in a defined reaction path, eliminating the need for external pumps and controllers. However, manufacturing methods for minimizing sample volume (and thus reagent volume) in a paper-diagnostic chip have not been well defined. In this work, we experimentally determine manufacturing processes for creating functional features of minimal size—effectively reducing the sample size and …

Development Of A Public Education Website: Building Bridges Over Water, Angelina Mckee

Agricultural Education and Communication

Website created by Angelina McKee to educate the public about water resource issues. Water is the basic unit of life, water resources are the basis for what societies and ecosystems are founded upon. Water shortages and droughts are more prevalent in our ever-changing world. It is no shock that there are discrepancies between various stockholders on either sides of the dry riverbed. This senior project resulted in the development of a website that addresses global water resources, water use in California, water conservation, and water allocation. The website informs the public on water resources and related issues and will hopefully …

Improvements To A Bi-Directional Flyback Dc-Dc Converter For Battery System Of The Dc House Project, Michael Wu

Master's Theses

The DC House project relies primarily on renewable energy sources to provide DC power to the various loads of the house. However, not all renewable sources are capable of providing power at all times of the day. A back-up energy source in the form of a battery storage system must be available to meet the electrical needs of the house. A bi-directional flyback power converter was initially designed to allow a battery to charge from as well as discharge to the 48V bus line of the DC House. The design provided a 35W prototype to demonstrate the converter’s feasibility. Further …

Design Improvement For The Smart Dc Wall Plug, Cory Yee, Haoyan Huang

Electrical Engineering

The DC smart wall plug is a subsystem within the Cal Poly DC House Project. The previous version faces challenges supplying DC voltage to meet household appliances’ nominal values. Specifically, it can only output the minimum required voltage for DC appliances to operate, resulting in unwanted power loss. In addition, the maximum output voltage is rated at 15V, which is insufficient to power most DC appliances. This design improvement project incorporates NFC technology as a solution to overcome the power loss and a new buck converter configuration to increase the output voltage range. Additionally, the new design introduces short-circuit and …

High-Speed Mobile Networks For Modern Farming And Agricultural Systems, Santos Najar

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

High-Speed Mobile Networks for Modern Farming and Agricultural Systems

J.Santos Najar-Ramirez

High-speed mobile networks are necessary for agriculture to inventory individual plant health, maximize yield and minimize the resources applied. More specifically, real-time information on individual plant status is critical to decisions regarding the management of resources reserved and expended. This necessity can be met by the availability of environmental sensors (such as humidity, temperature, and pH) whose data is kept on storage servers connected to static and mobile local area networks. These static and mobile local area networks are connected to cellular, core and satellite networks. For …

The Effect Of Clay, Cement And Fibers On The Strength And Durability Of Compressed Earth Blocks, Wyatt Adair Banker-Hix

Master's Theses

This Thesis examines the effect of soil characteristics, cement content and fibers on the strength and durability of compressed earth blocks (CEBs). This work expands on the available information regarding the constituent properties which affect the compressive and tensile strengths and durability of CEBs. Additionally, little research on the subject of synthetic fibers and their effect on strength and durability of CEBs is available and this work provides an initial study in this area.

To study the effects of fibers, as well as confirm the trends of previous research regarding the effects of clay and cement, 27 unique batches of …

Sodhana Environmental - Final Design Report, Eric Taylor, Corissa Bellis, Cody Perez, Cameron Zeller

Mechanical Engineering

A fully designed cost-effective, sustainable, toilet for the developing world.

An Analysis Of Eliminating Electroosmotic Flow In A Microfluidic Pdms Chip, Cecile D. Redington

Master's Theses

The goal of this project is to eliminate electroosmotic flow (EOF) in a microfluidic chip. EOF is a naturally occurring phenomenon at the fluid-surface interface in microfluidic chips when an electric field is applied across the fluid. When isoelectric focusing (IEF) is carried out to separate proteins based on their surface charge, the analytes must remain in the separation chamber, and not migrate to adjacent features in the microfluidic chip, which happens with EOF.

For this project, a microfluidic chip was designed and commissioned to be photolithographically transferred onto a Si wafer. A PDMS component was then casted on the …

Lunalight - Bringing Light To The Expanding World, Gabriela M. Igel, Daniel J. Patrick, Kimberley M. Smith

Materials Engineering

The LunaLight, a solar rechargeable light and cell phone charger, addresses the lack of access to electricity faced by 1.4 billion of the world’s population (International Finance Corporation). The LunaTech team has developed a product that is bright, simple, compact, versatile and competitive with existing products. Through a partnership with the non-profit organization One Million Lights, LunaTech has improved a previous team’s design to address user feedback, concerns of durability, and manufacturability.

The LunaLight design includes a 5 component plastic housing held together by 4 screws, a surface mounted PCB, a lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery, one high-brightness LED, a solar panel, …

Design And Modeling Of Centralized Distribution Network For The Dc House Project, Harpreet S. Bassi

Master's Theses

This thesis focuses on the design, modeling, simulation, and performance evaluation of Centralized Distribution Network for the DC House Project. Power System Computer Aided Design (PSCAD) is used to model a Centralized PV Source, Battery Bank, and Distribution Network for 25 DC Houses. Design and modeling of each component in the proposed system are described. For the performance evaluation, emphasis is on voltage stability and system reliability under different operating conditions. Results from the simulation demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed Centralized Distribution Network for the DC House Project to support the houses during non-generation periods and distribution network voltage …

Early Wildfire Detection Using Temporal Filtering And Multi-Band Infrared Analysis, Ansel John Boynton

Master's Theses

Every year wildfires threaten or destroy ecological habitats, man-made infrastructure and people’s lives. Additionally millions of dollars are spent each year trying to prevent and control these fires. Ideally if a wildfire can be detected before it rages out of control it can be extinguished and avoid large scale devastation. Traditional manned fire lookout towers are neither cost effective nor particularly efficient at detecting wildfire. It is proposed that temporal filtering can be used to isolate the signals created at the beginnings of potential wildfires. Temporal filtering can remove any background image and any periodic signals created by the camera …

Seismic Design Manual For Interlocking Compressed Earth Blocks, Nicholas Edwards Kennedy

Master's Theses

Seismic Design Manual for Interlocking Compressed Earth Blocks

Nicholas Edwards Kennedy

This thesis presents a comprehensive seismic design manual to be used to design and construct simple Interlocking Compressed Earth Block (ICEB) structures in seismically active regions. ICEBs are earth blocks made primarily of soil and stabilized with cement. They have female and male stud mechanisms designed to interlock when stacked, eliminating the need for mortar. The blocks can accept reinforcement and grout after they are placed. While ICEB construction is similar to conventional masonry construction, current design code standards for masonry only partially capture the actual behavior of ICEB …