Engineering Commons^™

Fluid Delivery System For A Cell Culture On A Microfluidic Chip, Austin J. Roeder, Colleen A. Richards, Emily A. Matteson

Biomedical Engineering

This project report provides a description of the progress made in the development of a fluid delivery system for a microfluidic cell culture on a chip. The system is intended to be used in a humidified incubator in a university laboratory and the fluid delivery system is required to exist and operate within that incubator for extended periods of time. Therefore, the system will be gravity-driven and contain no electronic components. The key specification of the system is to provide fluid flow at a constant velocity.

After manufacturing and testing the device, all specifications were met except for the fluid …

Final Design Review: Wear Test Machine, Justin Ju-Han Hou, Abraham Jack Mitchell, Alexandra Denae Pavano, Jahyun Kaylla Son

Mechanical Engineering

A California Polytechnic State University Senior Project team has been tasked by Marvin Engineering Co. to design and build a friction wear test fixture; the fixture is to characterize the coefficient of friction and potential friction wear of various industry adopted metal pairings in an oxygen-free environment. This final design review serves to document project research, full design process, method of operation of final product, and a comprehensive testing procedure.

The R&D department at Marvin Engineering Co. proposed this investigation in order to explore the phenomenon of friction and adhesive wear, specifically the occurrence of galling between stainless steel surfaces. …

Indoor Air Monitoring Of Ethanol And Benzene In A Pilot Winery Using Active Sampling, Andrew I. Kaneda

Master's Theses

Acute indoor concentrations of benzene and ethanol were evaluated in the California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo’s pilot winery workroom. Air samples were collected during four different wine-making activities: fermentation, fermentation with Brix content testing, post-alcoholic fermentation pressing, and storage/finishing. Average workroom benzene concentrations ranged from 0.05 to 0.12 mg/m³. Ethanol concentrations in the winery workroom varied with the activity, ranging from 0.9 to 12 mg/m³. Pressing and fermentation with Brix content testing both led to higher indoor ethanol concentrations than fermentation without Brix content testing and storage/finishing.

Tracer gas decay air exchange tests were …

Relevance Analysis For Document Retrieval, Eric Labouve

Master's Theses

Document retrieval systems recover documents from a dataset and order them according to their perceived relevance to a user’s search query. This is a difficult task for machines to accomplish because there exists a semantic gap between the meaning of the terms in a user’s literal query and a user’s true intentions. Even with this ambiguity that arises with a lack of context, users still expect that the set of documents returned by a search engine is both highly relevant to their query and properly ordered. The focus of this thesis is on document retrieval systems that explore methods of …

Heavy Timber Buckling-Restrained-Braces, Kaylee Pit, Junning Liu

Architectural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Accelerated Wear Reactor Testing, Tristan Frisella, Daniel Alanis, Kian Ashoubi

Biomedical Engineering

Carbon dioxide accounts for a large amount of global greenhouse gases released into the environment. Because plastic degradation emits carbon dioxide, there has been interest to investigate how much carbon dioxide various plastics generate as they degrade. We have been tasked to create a dehumidifier and carbon dioxide sensor assembly for an accelerated wear testing apparatus that degrades plastic. Several products and literature currently exist that share similarity with our assembly but have not been manufactured to achieve the same combination of measurements we are expecting of our accelerated wear testing device. The following report shall introduce these products and …

Pressure Cylinder Controlled Release Valve, Alexa Dominique Balbuena

Biomedical Engineering

This project aims to integrate an automatic gas release system in a pre-existing scaffold fabrication process for tissue engineering applications.

To form the proper scaffold structure, the fabrication process is heavily influenced by the change in its surrounding pressure. The current production involves a pressure transducer and electric valve that is managed manually to create a suitable pressure environment for the scaffold. This method, although functional, proves to be ineffective when creating several batches; the user needs to constantly monitor the developing pressure profile and alter voltage parameters accordingly to create a linear gas release under a predetermined slope.

To …

Construction Tools, Equipment And Safety Signal Identification Implemented Into Heavy Civil Lab, Brian F. Keane

Construction Management

The purpose of this project is to begin the development and implementation of a teaching module for commonly used construction tools, equipment, and safety signals into the Construction Management department’s Heavy Civil lab. Using knowledge gained from former and future employers, past construction management classes, and online research I found the most commonly used tools, equipment, and hand signals used on construction sites and created visual representations and descriptions of them. Many graduates of the Construction Management program will find themselves on construction sites and there is no question that workers in the construction field are subject to life threatening …

Aei Student Design Competition: Value Engineering & Design Build, Vincenzo Paolo Guidi

Construction Management

The Architectural Engineering Institute puts on a yearly student design competition that features interdisciplinary teams from colleges across the country. The project for the competition was the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical and Performing Arts on the Hope College campus in Holland Michigan. The main challenges in the problem statement address acoustics, using mass timber, and add alternative roof top space. Through a collaborative process, our team created a proposal that addressed the challenges and why we were the best fit for the job. I worked with a fellow construction management student, Shannon Wheeler, to produce our portion of …

A Continuation Of The Women In Construction Club’S Industry Mentorship Program And A Measure Of Its Effectiveness, Alexa S. Heien

Construction Management

The Women in Construction Club’s Industry Mentorship program at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) is nearly a year old, yet the only data collected on the program was taken directly after it was created. The creation of the Industry Mentorship program, and subsequent data collection, were a previous senior project. But there were no measurements on how effective the mentorship program was, or if there was a benefit for the students involved. Because this program has the potential of creating long-lasting relationships and connecting women in a men-dominated field, knowing if the mentorship program needs to …

Insight To An Asbestos Laborer, Eduardo Delgadillo

Construction Management

Asbestos laborers are often overlooked and not cared for much in construction projects. While they are often forgotten in the construction industry, they play a big role in most remodels or demolition projects. Abatement workers are exposed to the dangers of asbestos on a daily basis. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are the federal agencies that regulate asbestos. The EPA regulates the use, transportation and disposal of asbestos, while OSHA sets the standards for work involving asbestos minerals. OSHA has regulations that demolition and/or abatement contractors must comply with since asbestos is considered …

The Skills Students Coming Out Of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Lack To Become Effective Superintendents, Armando Pulido-Melendrez

Construction Management

The construction superintendent plays a very important role throughout the construction process in order to deliver a successful project. This paper analyzes the skills Cal Poly SLO graduates lack to become effective superintendents. It does so by first analyzing quantitative research on papers that state which skills are important. Several interviews were conducted with professionals in the construction industry. These interviews provided input regarding what makes an effective superintendent. From this research, an effective superintendent must have an understanding of scheduling and sequencing of construction processes. Additionally, they must have the strength and stamina for construction supervision in the field …

Building Homes And Hopes In Bangalore, India, Sherry S. Saroufeem

Construction Management

Habitat for Humanity Global Village is an organization that continuously sends volunteers to work on construction projects around the world. My team and I were chosen to go to a village in Bangalore, India, where we dug and poured home foundations for three families in need. Given the opportunity to combine my love for construction and my passion for helping those in need, I was certain that this was the senior project for me. I wanted the capstone of my college educational experience to reflect a hands-on approach, where I had the opportunity to make a difference and see an …

Quality Of Life Research For Cal Poly Construction Management Graduates In The Bay Area And Los Angeles County, Trevor Colbert

Construction Management

Construction Management Graduates from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate at an impeccable 97.5% per year. On average over 78% of graduates relocate to the Bay Area or Los Angeles County, but how are graduates basing their decision on where to relocate? Sociology professor, Mark Schneider, developed an accurate way to measure the satisfaction of residents within a given city. Through subjective and objective social indicators, Schneider is able to gauge total life satisfaction. Analyzing data from interviews with recent graduates, economic data from local, state and federal governments, and personal knowledge from living in each area – an immense …

Investigation Of Design, Manufacture, Analysis, And Test Of A Composite Connecting Rod Under Compression, Thomas Juhl Rohrbach

Master's Theses

Composite materials hold great potential for the replacement of traditional materials in machines utilized on a daily basis. One such example is within an engine block assembly where massive components inherently reduce the efficiency of the system they constitute. By replacing metal elements such as connecting rods, cylinder caps, or a crank shaft with composite alternatives, a significant increase in performance may be achieved with respect to mechanical strength, thermal stability, and durability, while also reducing mass. Exploration of this technology applied to a connecting rod geometry was investigated through a combination of process development, manufacturing, numerical analysis and testing. …

A Fire Protection Life Safety Analysis Of Permian Oil Plaza, Nick Francis

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

The Permian Oil Plaza (POP) is a four story building located in Midland, TX. This facility was designed to provide over 200,000 square feet of office space to approximately 500 employees. The building was constructed of unprotected non-combustible (Type II-B) building materials and was completed in late 2015. An assessment of the building’s fire and life safety systems was performed to ensure these systems were designed and installed in a manner that meets, or exceeds, the intent of pertinent building codes and fire safety standards. This assessment included a prescriptive based analysis, as well as a performance-based analysis. The prescriptive …

Torsional Stiffness Of A Race Car, Reiley A. Schraeger, Cameron Kao, Raymond Deng, Omar Roman

Mechanical Engineering

Torsional stiffness plays a major role in any road vehicle. To understand torsional stiffness of a vehicle and make future iterations and improvements, a proper torsional stiffness jig is required to prove accurate and useful data. This report encompasses the new and improved testing jig and potential improvement ideas for more accurate results. With real data result relating to FEA calculations, designers can be confident in the FEA changes to torsional stiffness is accurate and will yield the probably results they desired. This report shows the methodology, manufacturing process and testing procedure to use on any Baja or SAE vehicle …

Cal Poly Supermileage Electric Vehicle Drivetrain And Motor Control Design, Clarisa Joy Howe, Christopher Joseph Mclaughlin, Erik Alvarado, Enyi Liang

Mechanical Engineering

The Cal Poly Supermileage Vehicle team is a multidisciplinary club that designs and builds high efficiency vehicles to compete internationally at Shell Eco-Marathon (SEM). Cal Poly Supermileage Club has been competing in the internal combustion engine (ICE) category of the competition since 2007. The club has decided it is time to expand their competition goals and enter their first battery electric prototype vehicle. To this end, a yearlong senior design project was presented to this team of engineers giving us the opportunity to design an electric powertrain with a custom motor controller. This system has been integrated into Ventus, the …

Experimental Study And Modeling Of The Gm-I Dependence Of Long-Channel Mosfets, Michael Fong Cheng

Master's Theses

This thesis describes an experimental study and modeling of the current-transconductance dependence of the ALD1106, ALD1107, and CD4007 arrays. The study tests the hypothesis that the I-gm dependence of these 7.8 µm to 10 µm MOSFETs conforms to the Advanced Compact Model (ACM). Results from performed measurements, however, do not support this expectation. Despite the relatively large length, both ALD1106 and ALD1107 show sufficiently pronounced ‘short-channel’ effects to render the ACM inadequate. As a byproduct of this effort, we confirmed the modified ACM equation. With an m factor of approximately 0.6, it captures the I-gm dependence with sub-28% maximum error …

Perturbation Based Decomposition Of Semg Signals, Rachel Huettinger

Master's Theses

Surface electromyography records the motor unit action potential signals in the vicinity of the electrode to reveal information on muscle activation. Decomposition of sEMG signals for characterization of constituent motor unit action potentials in terms of amplitude and firing times is useful for clinical research as well as diagnosis of neurological disorders. Successful decomposition of sEMG signals would allow for pertinent motor unit action potential information to be acquired without discomfort to the subject or the need for a well-trained operator (compared with intramuscular EMG). To determine amplitudes and firing times for motor unit action potentials in an sEMG recording, …

Experimental Optical Pulse Picker For Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Alexander Thomas Wargo

Master's Theses

Proprietary.

Development Of A Myoelectric Detection Circuit Platform For Computer Interface Applications, Nickolas Andrew Butler

Master's Theses

Personal computers and portable electronics continue to rapidly advance and integrate into our lives as tools that facilitate efficient communication and interaction with the outside world. Now with a multitude of different devices available, personal computers are accessible to a wider audience than ever before. To continue to expand and reach new users, novel user interface technologies have been developed, such as touch input and gyroscopic motion, in which enhanced control fidelity can be achieved. For users with limited-to-no use of their hands, or for those who seek additional means to intuitively use and command a computer, novel sensory systems …

Sweep And Taper Analysis Of Surfboard Fins Using Computational Fluid Dynamics, Brandon James Baldovin

Master's Theses

The research presented here provides a basis for understanding the hydrodynamics of surfboard fin geometries. While there have been select studies on fins there has been little correlation to the shape of the fin and its corresponding hydrodynamic performance. This research analyzes how changing the planform shape of a surfboard fin effects its performance and flow field. This was done by isolating the taper and sweep distribution of a baseline geometry and varying each parameter individually whilst maintaining a constant span and surface area. The baseline surfboard fin was used as a template in Matlab to generate a set of …

Wastewater Treatment And Nitrogen Removal In Bench-Scale Photobioreactors Operated With Solids Recycling, Erik Hoffnagle

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the effect of solids recycling on nitrification, organic carbon removal, and algal-bacterial productivity in bench-scale photobioreactors (PBRs) simulating winter pond conditions in San Luis Obispo, California and a 6-acre raceway system in Delhi, California. Two sets of duplicate photobioreactors operated with or without solids recycling were fed primary clarifier effluent (1^oEff) for the first experiment, and facultative pond effluent (FAC) for the second experiment.

In both experiments mean productivity was lower in solids recycled PBRs (3.67 and 2.3 g/m²-day), than in controls without solids recycling (4.15 and 3.9 g/m²-day). When fed …

Design Of A Low-Cost Data Acquisition System For Rotordynamic Data Collection, Gregory S. Pellegrino

Master's Theses

A data acquisition system (DAQ) was designed based on the use of a STM32 microcontroller. Its purpose is to provide a transparent and low-cost alternative to commercially available DAQs, providing educators a means to teach students about the process through which data are collected as well as the uses of collected data. The DAQ was designed to collect data from rotating machinery spinning at a speed up to 10,000 RPM and send this data to a computer through a USB 2.0 full-speed connection. Multitasking code was written for the DAQ to allow for data to be simultaneously collected and transferred …

Strawberry Detection Under Various Harvestation Stages, Yavisht Fitter

Master's Theses

This paper analyzes three techniques attempting to detect strawberries at various stages in its growth cycle. Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG), Local Binary Patterns (LBP) and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) were implemented on a limited custom-built dataset. The methodologies were compared in terms of accuracy and computational efficiency. Computational efficiency is defined in terms of image resolution as testing on a smaller dimensional image is much quicker than larger dimensions. The CNN based implementation obtained the best results with an 88% accuracy at the highest level of efficiency as well (600x800). LBP generated moderate results with a 74% detection accuracy …

Hands-Free Ultrasound Transducer Attachment, Christina Harrison, Glenn Farina, Harshveer Dhaliwal

Biomedical Engineering

This document describes a background on current ultrasound technologies and the troubles that have inspired the need for a hands-free ultrasound transducer device, as well as the regulatory requirements, like patents and standard codes, for the intended invention. It also explains the Stage Gate Review process used to project plan the design of the device, a description of the final design and how it was developed, and the IQ/OQ/PQ. The objectives necessary to design this device, in order to meet all the requirements of the sponsor, are also summarized here. The design process including manufacturing instructions, prototype evolution, and the …

Foot Support Taping Device For Off-Loading Wounds, Andres Fojaco Gomez, Mikaela Williams, Josh Pelegrin

Biomedical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Automated Microscope Stage, Corin Nishimoto, Alison Flesch, Theo Anastos

Biomedical Engineering

This document seeks to describe the background information, customer requirements, design specifications, indications for use, selected materials, proposed budget, prototypes, final design, manufacturing processes, and testing methods regarding the CellOptimizer automated microscope stage product.

Slit Lamp Ophthalmoscope Redesign, Michael Hostetler, Austin Mattmiller, Alexis Brewer

Biomedical Engineering

The slit lamp ophthalmoscope is used by ophthalmologists for diagnosis of pathologies in the eye. The device is used for identifying ocular diseases or indications of other possible systemic diseases to treat them before the diseases progress. Redesign of the ergonomics and adjustment mechanisms of the slit lamp ophthalmoscope will attempt to improve the compatibility of the device across a greater variety of patients. The wider headrest tower of 12.75 inches, the wider table cutout of 12 inches, and the 12 inches of extension of the headrest tower creates a better ergonomic fit for the patient and doctor. The wider …