Engineering Commons^™

Evaluating The Cost-Benefit Tradeoffs Of Simt Control Mechanisms In Resource-Constrained Gpus, Nikolas Tambornini

Master's Theses

This thesis conducts a hardware-level analysis of the cost–benefit tradeoffs associated with increasingly complex SIMT control mechanisms in a resource-constrained GPU core. Four design implementations are evaluated: a Base Tiny GPU without warp scheduling capability; a Warp Scheduler using round-robin warp selection; a Branch Divergence implementation incorporating a dedicated divergence stack and post-dominator reconvergence mechanism; and a Dynamic Warp Allocation implementation that replaces the static warp structure with a runtime warp manager, regrouping threads by current program counter to recover SIMD lane utilization during active divergence. Each design is evaluated using two complementary measurements: functional simulation implemented using the CocoTB …

Central Pattern Generator Test Bench Report, Stephanie Wing-Yee Lee, Dustin Wong, Joseph Hernandez

Electrical Engineering

The project presents the design, fabrication, and implementation of a PCB test bench that interfaces with a custom VLSI chip designed to emulate the neural activity of a Central Pattern Generator (CPG). The test bench provides a precise and reliable platform for supporting signal operations and validating neuromorphic functionality. The design integrates both analog and digital circuitry to provide stable biasing, signal routing, and measurement access for chip characterization. The incorporation of op-amp buffers and adjustable potentiometers enables precise voltage tuning, resulting in controlled neuron-like behavior within the custom IC. The two-layer PCB supports modular interfacing with standard laboratory instruments …

Exploring The Role Of Video Games In Civil Engineering Education And K-12 Stem Engagement, Jillian S. Codron

Architectural Engineering

Civil engineering education has traditionally emphasized a linear progression from theory to application, with foundational concepts introduced in lecture before being reinforced through laboratory or design experiences. While effective for advanced learners, this approach can limit early engagement for K–12 students who may struggle to connect abstract principles to realworld engineering practice. This project examines the use of video games as interactive, feedback-driven environments for introducing civil engineering concepts and practices to younger learners in more exploratory and accessible ways.

The study pursues four primary objectives: evaluating the educational affordances of selected video games; examining how gaming experiences have influenced …

Stretch Web Teleoperation Keyboard Final Report, Aaron Chou, Francisco Irazaba

Computer Engineering

This project added keyboard controls to the Hello Robot Stretch Web Teleop interface. The goal was to make the robot easier to control from a web browser without needing a gamepad or separate terminal-based keyboard program. The new interface allows users to control different parts of the robot with customizable key bindings.

Sb 1953 Field Execution Under Hcai Oversight: Seismic Retrofit At Zsfg Building 5, Victor Lucas

Construction Management

Every hospital in California must be seismically compliant by 2030 under Senate Bill 1953, which is enforced by the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI). HCAI approves and inspects all hospital construction in the state, and its authority reaches into the field, so a contractor cannot simply build to an approved drawing the way it would on a commercial job. This paper explains how that approval system governs the work, written for construction professionals entering hospital work in California whose experience to that point has been commercial. It uses the ZSFG Building 5 Voluntary Seismic Upgrade, a 1976 …

Preconstruction Services For Slo Youth Baseball Bull Pen And Batting Cage, Sofia E. Cuevas

Construction Management

San Luis Obispo Youth Baseball is a nonprofit organization servicing the local youth of San Luis Obispo, California. Offering recreational, all-star, and club programs, SLO Youth Baseball provides the experience of baseball to all levels of skill in the community. In preparation for the Spring 2026 season and beyond, SLOYB has proposed the construction of a bull pen and batting cage on the third base line at their very own Stockton Field. In order to service the community at large, this design came with a set of strict parameters: accessibility, longevity, and serviceability. In doing so, SLOYB has requested flexibility …

Sheep Pen Improvements At City Farm Slo, Ryan S. Bodmer

Construction Management

City Farm SLO is an urban non-profit educational farm located in San Luis Obispo, CA. It serves the community through offering farm learning programs, including hands-on experience in sustainable farming practices and livestock care. This project, completed over the winter and spring quarters, focused on delivering an upgraded sheep pen to improve access and safety for both volunteers and sheep. The project consisted of developing design plans, coordination of materials and allowable working times with the owner, where the animals were either moved out of the working area or when work would not jeopardize animal health, schedule creation, cost estimates, …

Skip The Grid: Turning Solar Planning Into Power For Navajo Nation Homes, Alexandr B. Miller

Construction Management

Skip the Grid is a cross-disciplinary experiential learning initiative that delivers clean energy infrastructure to households with school-age children residing in the Navajo and Hopi Nations. In March 2026, a cohort of 23 students drawn from five academic programs at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) joined forces with Heart of America (HOA), SOLV Energy, and NextPower to carry out the initiative's fifth consecutive year. The program aimed to enhance living standards and bolster academic achievement by ensuring dependable access to power, illumination, and food preservation in resource-limited communities. Participants were divided into five installation teams comprising Cal Poly students, …

Dirt Finder (Drtfndr): A Marketplace Application For Construction Earthwork, Evan A. Reed

Construction Management

The construction industry regularly produces a surplus of earthwork materials: clean fill, topsoil, gravel, and crushed concrete, that are disposed of at considerable cost. All the while, contractors actively seek those same materials, and no dedicated digital platform existed to connect these two groups efficiently. DrtFndr ("Dirt Finder") is a mobile-first web application developed to address this gap, providing a marketplace where contractors can post available or needed earthwork materials, browse geographically filtered listings by material type and proximity, and connect directly with other users. The application was built using Base44, an AI-powered application development platform, and includes real-time mapping, …

Dor-E: Final Design Report, Arav Singh, August Hogen-Esch, Bruce Le, Patrick Mcgee, Spencer Major

Mechanical Engineering

I. PROBLEM STATEMENT

The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary contains a diverse array of benthic habitats that remain largely undocumented due to the financial and logistical barriers of deep-sea exploration. Traditional high-end autonomous underwater vehicles and remotely operated vehicles capable of reaching 1000-meter depths require significant surface support infrastructure and hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding. Furthermore, navigating protected ecological zones demands strict adherence to "Leave No Trace" principles. Conventional benthic landers and submersibles routinely leave metallic debris behind; many submersibles use galvanic timed releases that corrode in seawater over a set period of time or heat-activated bolts to …

Design And Reliability Analysis Of A Radiation-Tolerant On-Board Computer System For Martian Surface Missions, Jack Ryan

Master's Theses

Space environments present complex challenges for electronic devices, perhaps most notably in the form of radiation effects; the natural protections provided by Earth’s atmosphere and magnetosphere are largely absent in deep space and extraterrestrial environments, making single-event effects (SEE) a critical concern. Although radiation-hardened components offer near-immunity to SEE, they possess tremendous drawbacks in both cost and performance. To circumvent such issues, this thesis investigates the feasibility of leveraging a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) device, the AMD KRIA K24 system-on-module (SOM), for use in Martian surface missions.

Detailed models were used to predict SEE rates in the system, and system-level fault tree …

Dynamic Cushioning Performance And Sustainability Implications Of Recycled-Content Expanded Polyethylene Foams, Jay Singh, Pratish Patel, Emily Recinos, Paulina Goncharov

Industrial Technology and Packaging

The transition toward circular materials in protective packaging requires empirical evidence that recycled-content foams can satisfy stringent shock-attenuation requirements. This study evaluates the dynamic cushioning performance of expanded polyethylene (EPE) foams formulated with 0%, 30% and 40% recycled content under controlled impact conditions following ASTM D1596. A total of 1100 drop tests were conducted across combinations of density, thickness, static load and drop height representative of distribution hazards in parcel and freight supply chains. Peak transmitted acceleration (G) was measured as the primary performance response variable.

Across the configurations evaluated, recycled-content EPE foams exhibited cushioning performance comparable to virgin materials. …

Life Cycle Costing Of Modular Timber Residential Construction, Logan Micah Hammel

Construction Management

This study examines the economic feasibility of modular residential construction using life-cycle costing (LCC) and life-cycle assessment (LCA) approaches to assess the sustainability and maintenance costs of modular construction. Using the structures and documents from the Gateway Decathlon project as the subject, we applied LCC formulas and programs to assess their economic performance. These calculations were conducted manually in Excel and modeled using the OpenLCA platform to compare traditional and software-based approaches. The study aims to identify cost drivers across building scopes, such as building materials and electrical and mechanical systems, and to evaluate how modular construction performs over its …

Sustainability In Concrete: Decision-Makers, Dismissal Points, And A Framework For Implementation, Max Dennison

Construction Management

Concrete is essential to modern infrastructure, but is also one of the largest sources of embodied carbon, with cement production alone responsible for a significant share of global CO₂ emissions. Although low-carbon and otherwise “sustainable” concrete technologies are growing, their use in everyday projects remains limited. This research investigates why sustainable concrete options are most often dismissed during the project lifecycle, who drives these decisions, and what conditions are needed to enable broader adoption. Using a combination of literature review and semi-structured interviews with professionals in contracting, life-cycle assessment, sustainability consulting, and materials production, the study maps decision points from …

The Impact Of Human Myoblasts On Macrophage Polarization In A Coculture Model, Elisabeth Ann Stodola

Biomedical Engineering

Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) is characterized by the buildup of atherosclerotic plaque in the lower extremities that occludes blood flow, and affects over 200 million people worldwide. Without effective treatment, PAD can lead to claudication, ischemia, ulcers, and gangrene. PAD causes more amputations in the United States than any other condition, and for severe cases that require revascularization, procedures benefit fewer than 50% of patients. This demonstrates a clear need for alternative therapies. Potential therapies for PAD target expansion of collateral blood vessels around the area of occlusion – a process called arteriogenesis to compensate for loss of blood flow …

Design And Validation Of A Wearable Respiratory Protection System For Wildland Firefighters, Oliver Pilon

Master's Theses

Wildland and Wildland–Urban Interface firefighters are routinely exposed to hazardous smoke with fine particulate matter, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and other toxic combustion products. Existing protective gear has significant limitations and shortcomings for these conditions. Respirators with tight-fitting facepieces make it difficult to breathe and speak. On the other hand, self-contained breathing apparatuses are too heavy, have a limited duration of use, and do not work well with long wildland fire scenes, while smaller protective equipment like N-95’s and gaiters provide very little protection. These constraints contribute to low adoption rates and prolonged occupational exposure.

This thesis presents the …

Mechanistic Framework Of Wood Decomposition In Post-Storm Vegetative Debris Piles Using Continuous Quality Theory, Thomas T. Lee

Master's Theses

Storm events generate significant quantities of vegetative debris composed of wood, branches, twigs, and other organic materials. Efficient post-storm resource recovery and carbon accounting depend on reliable predictions of decomposition within these large, heterogeneous debris piles. While small-scale wood decay is well studied, decomposition dynamics within multi-layer debris piles remain poorly characterized, limiting municipalities' ability to estimate material longevity and resource recovery potential.

To address this gap, this study develops the WOOD_DK (Wood Organic Oxidation and DegraDation Kinetics) model, a preliminary, exploratory one-dimensional multilayer decomposition framework simulating coupled temperature, moisture, oxygen, and carbon dynamics in MATLAB. Microbial decomposition follows Continuous …

A Simulation Framework For Edge Lane Roads And Bicycle Shared Roadways, Nick Sauciur

Master's Theses

Edge Lane Roads, also referred to as Advisory Bike Lanes, are a shared roadway treatment that designates space for cyclists while allowing flexible use of the roadway by motorists. They are commonly applied on lower speed corridors and can be used both where roadway width is limited and where agencies seek to manage vehicle speeds, clarify cyclist positioning, or improve shared roadway operations. The configuration provides visually designated space for cyclists while allowing motorists to encroach into that space when yielding to opposing traffic. Although interest in these facilities is growing in North America, quantitative tools for evaluating their operational …

Portable Ice Cube Maker, Ayden Ziegler, Emiliano Hansen, Wyatt Engdahl, Dane Hansen

Mechanical Engineering

This Final Design Report outlines the senior design project undertaken by a team of mechanical engineering students at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, for the development of a portable backpacking ice cube maker. The project aims to design, build, and test a lightweight, compact device that produces ice cubes for backpackers in remote outdoor environments. The goal is to create a functional prototype that is durable, user-friendly, and suitable for backcountry use. This document details background research, project objectives, and project plan, and current design status.

Cathy's Trike, Jameson Stengel, Victor Robles, Asher Becker

Mechanical Engineering

Cathy Hoenig needs a better way to safely steer her trike since she recently had her arm amputated at the elbow. Right now, the standard steering setup doesn’t work for her because it’s designed for someone with two arms. The main issue is that because she can't hold the steering bar with both hands, she loses control and stability while riding, which takes away from her freedom and independence. We’re looking to design some kind of support or adaptive steering system that’ll let her feel safe and confident on her trike again. Our goal is to create a solution that …

Bonderson Workbench, Han Xu, Aidan Robleto, Sean Murphy, Victor Duran

Mechanical Engineering

This project redesigns the existing creative workbenches in Cal Poly's Bonderson High Bay to improve mobility and functionality for students and staff in the Mechanical Engineering Department.

Fsae Bespoke Brake Calipers For Hub Motor Architecture, Connor William Vaughan, Liam Upton Walsh, Bradley Brian Kern

Mechanical Engineering

Brakes are the most critical safety system on any performance vehicle, and as Cal Poly Racing transitions their Formula SAE car from a single rear motor to a four-in-wheel motor setup with regenerative braking, the team identified an opportunity to develop a bespoke brake caliper tailored to their specific needs. This document outlines the research, design, manufacturing, and validation of custom front brake calipers designed to improve upon commercial motorcycle calipers in key areas such as serviceability, mounting rigidity, thermal behavior, mass, and hub motor integration. The resulting design is a two-piece, four-piston, radially-mounted aluminum caliper featuring titanium pistons, toolless …

Creation Of The 2-Way Cross Laminated Timber Subroutine For Computing Dynamic Analysis Parameters, Joseph Freitas

Architectural Engineering

This document will describe the inputs, methodology, and outputs for the CLT 2-way subroutine for cases with and without openings recently added to a proprietary structural analysis software. For the sake of simplicity, most of the discussion will be focused on cases without openings from here on out, as the verification process for a novel method for cases with openings is still in progress. The CLT 2-way module calculates multi-point resistance functions for panels without openings by automating the procedure outlined in an industry-standard structural design manual. The subroutine also finds the appropriate dynamic response factors, kinetic load multipliers, mass, …

Cvj Torque Loss Dynamometer, Malaika Sriram, Coleman Brown, Zachary Norris, Logan Mast, Chris Mattis

Mechanical Engineering

This report details the design and results of a dynamometer testing rig built to measure torque losses in constant velocity joints (CVJs) for Cal Poly Racing's Baja SAE team. The rig spins a flywheel connected to articulable CVJs up to 800 RPM using a motor, then decouples it and measures the spin-down rate from 800 to 100 RPM to calculate angular acceleration and torque loss. The data collected from this dyno will be used to inform freewheel packaging for future Baja car development.

Residential Boundary Fence Installation In Oceano, Ca, Ulysses Beas

Construction Management

This Senior Project focuses on the planning and execution of a residential boundary wooden fence for an elderly homeowner located in Oceano, California, alongside a partial front yard renovation that was an appreciation gift from her grandson. Prior to construction, the front yard was divided by a small ornamental iron fence, which provided very little privacy. This fence installation was designed to improve privacy, security and overall safety while working alongside hired concrete laborers. Not only was the goal to improve safety but also the aesthetics of the home. This Project includes a project scope statement, site measurements, fence layout, …

Slo Botanical Garden Lean-To Carport, Saul Gracian, Sergio Gonzalez

Construction Management

This paper documents the planning, design, funding, and construction of a lean-to carport for the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden, completed as a student-led Construction Management senior project by Saul Gracian and Sergio Gonzalez. The purpose of the project was to provide a functional storage structure for garden equipment while applying construction management principles in a real-world, nonprofit setting. The project methodology included site evaluation, collaborative design development, cost estimating, funding acquisition, regulatory review, and hands-on construction. Design decisions were informed by site constraints, county code requirements, budget limitations, and stakeholder input, resulting in a final 10’ x 12’ structure …

Risk Management Strategies Used By Project Leaders In Construction Projects On The East Coast, Dylan David Decuffa

Construction Management

Construction projects are often defined by their visible outcomes, structures completed on time, within budget, and built to the required standards. Yet beneath these outcomes lies a less visible force that quietly shapes whether success is achieved or compromised. Uncertainty is present in every phase of construction, influencing decisions, performance, and ultimately the trajectory of the project. The ability to recognize and respond to this uncertainty may separate projects that proceed with stability from those that experience delays, escalating costs, and diminished quality. Project managers, superintendents, project engineers, and other related fields play a central role in navigating this uncertainty …

An Analysis Of Injury And Fatality Trends In The U.S. Construction Industry, Ryan Dutt

Construction Management

Construction work is one of the most dangerous industries in the United States, with different trades and work types showing various risk levels for injuries and fatalities. This paper’s objective is to identify the safety trends in construction over the past 10 to 20 years and understand the trades, accident types, and construction sectors with the highest safety risks. All of the data was obtained from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the National Safety Council (NSC) databases, broken down by trade, accident …

Thousand Hills Pet Resort Ada Compliant Access Ramp And Connecting Deck: Preconstruction Activities, Sonya Nahama Wijoyo

Construction Management

This paper presents the design and preconstruction of an ADA-compliant access ramp and connecting deck system for two mobile homes located at Thousand Hills Pet Resort. The primary objective was to enhance accessibility and safety for residents by providing code-compliant, durable, and functional access to the mobile homes on site. This project is interdisciplinary between construction management and architectural engineering. The project began with a site evaluation to assess existing conditions. Field measurements and site observation guided planning decisions and helped identify potential challenges. Following the site evaluation, the project proceeded into the design phase, where the ramp and deck …

Assessing The Current Experiences With Electrically- Powered Construction Vehicles Within The Heavy Civil Industry, Matthew Joseph Beauchesne

Construction Management

Heavy machinery, such as cranes, trucks, dozers, and more, are a necessity to build dams, bridges, highways, and all the other types of projects within the Heavy Civil Construction industry. Traditionally, such machinery is powered using fossil fuels - gas or diesel - which in turn affects both the efficiency and emissions of these vehicles. This study focuses on the prospects of using alternative energy - namely electricity - to power such vehicles, and these electric variants differ from their fossil fuel using versions. The methodology of this paper involved seeking out construction contractors within the Heavy Civil sector who …