Engineering Commons^™

Upgrading The Sr-30 Miniature Turbojet For Adaptable Exhaust, Shannon Ferreira, Erin Mcmurchie, Peter Pratt

Mechanical Engineering

The California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly, SLO) Aerospace Department is requesting a variable nozzle adaptation for their SR-30 turbojet engine. The nozzle is intended for laboratory use in sophomore and junior level courses to supplement instruction on the effects that exhaust behavior has on the performance of propulsion technologies. Topics covered during a performance study of the SR-30 turbojet engine will include, but are not limited to: Brayton Cycle analysis, turbojet operation in ideal and non-ideal test conditions, instrumentation limitations, and basic nozzle operation. The SR-30 turbojet engine is similar in design and operation to engines …

Prove Endurance Car Front Suspension, Lauren A. Williams, Logan Simon, Justine G. Kwan

Mechanical Engineering

This document details the collaborative Mechanical Engineering Senior Project with Cal Poly PROVE Lab on PROVE Lab’s Project 2; an electric vehicle designed to travel 1000 miles on a single charge. Logan Simon, Justine Kwan, and Lauren Williams are given the challenge of designing an innovative proof of concept front suspension suspension for this vehicle.

After detailed research of new suspension systems, it was determined that the innovative nature could be in the form of unique manufacturing methods, materials use, or mechanical design. At this point in time, this vehicle is a purely conceptual design with no concrete requirements. Therefore …

Carbon Sequestering Bio Concrete As A Solution To Growing Atmospheric Concentrations Of Co2, Connor Cech, Jackson Walker

Construction Management

High levels of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions into the atmosphere are propelling climate change, which has been proven to be highly detrimental to the planet. Cement production for the construction industry is a leading cause of these harmful carbon emissions. This project introduces a potential solution to this issue in the form of a new biological concrete that is treated with carbon sequestering bacteria of the Bacillus family to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. The consolidated research presented in this project will explain the biology behind this process, and how it can be implemented in construction …

Implementation Of Industry Technology Into The Construction Management Department, Kristen D. Forster

Construction Management

With technology being one of the fastest growing items in the construction industry it is important to keep on top of what is utilized most commonly. To fully prepare graduates for the work force, the Construction Management Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo needs to focus efforts on supplying students with the most commonly used industry technologies. Utilizing these programs in the current curriculum will ensure that graduates from the Construction Management Department are prepared to take on the work force with the most relevant software under their belts. Students who understand how to use these industry sanctioned technologies …

Value Analysis Of Cm Professional Certifications For Newly Graduated Cm Students, Christopher J. Coglianese

Construction Management

The construction industry has a staggering amount of professional certifications available to those who want to prove experience and expertise. There is usually a financial reason behind this. The more certifications a person has, the more likely he will be promoted and be paid more. As Cal Poly seniors entering the job market, they share these same incentives, and luckily there are plenty of certifications available to them. However, there are too many to choose from and some are too expensive. The question then lies, which certifications should graduating seniors spend their resources on? To answer this simple question, an …

San Pedro Roman Catholic Primary School Photovoltaic Project (Belize), John Angelo M. Pezzini

Construction Management

In December 2016, the California Polytechnic State University National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) Student Chapter, along with Construction Management faculty and alumni/industry members, installed a photovoltaic system in San Pedro, Belize. This student-led team won the Student Passport Initiative grant from ELECTRI International, with the purpose of designing and constructing a photovoltaic system for the San Pedro Roman Catholic Primary School, in order to reduce dependence on the grid, encourage carbon neutrality, and aim for net-zero energy consumption. This paper will discuss the preconstruction tasks associated with the project, focusing mainly on maintaining the schedule, the installation of the system …

Rail Transportation Of Aggregate Material, Mario Ghilott

Construction Management

Sand, gravel and crushed stone, known as construction aggregates, are the main ingredient in materials to maintaining and building new infrastructure. Construction aggregate has a low cost per ton, but because mass quantities are typically required, if a local source is not available then the cost of transportation quickly exceed the value of the material. The North Bay Area has an estimated 50-year demand of 521 Million Tons (MT) and a current permitted supply of 110 MT. This North Bay Area region has a supply to demand ratio of 21% and is estimated to last 11-20 years (from 2012). This …

Evaluating The Practices Of A Small Business: A Case Study, Madeleine Anne Bernadicou

Construction Management

Companies are in constant search to increase profits. The company success is dependent on its standard operational procedures, otherwise known as SOP. Golden State Irrigation and Noack Pump is a non-union merit shop contractor that performs irrigation work in the California’s central valley. This paper researches the utilized methods of the company to see if it is operating at an optimal level. The methodology used in this project is a case study, where multiple jobs, income statements, and cash flows were analyzed, along with conducted interviews. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected in the investigation of this case study. …

Leave The Features: Take The Cannoli, Jonathan Joseph Catanio

Master's Theses

Programming languages like Python, JavaScript, and Ruby are becoming increasingly popular due to their dynamic capabilities. These languages are often much easier to learn than other, statically type checked, languages such as C++ or Rust. Unfortunately, these dynamic languages come at the cost of losing compile-time optimizations. Python is arguably the most popular language for data scientists and researchers in the artificial intelligence and machine learning communities. As this research becomes increasingly popular, and the problems these researchers face become increasingly computationally expensive, questions are being raised about the performance of languages like Python. Language features found in Python, more …

Smart Espresso Machine, Hasham Ali, Justin L'Heureux, Hayden Yeung, Pei Hang Zhang

Electrical Engineering

With the recent “Internet of Things” trend, more and more home devices are connected to the Internet. Smart light bulbs, smart thermostats, smart door locks; just to name a few. These smart appliances enable users to view their status and control their settings remotely with just a few clicks on the smartphone. Moreover, the arrival of intelligent personal voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa revolutionized how users interact with these smart appliances. Nowadays, users are able to control these devices by just speaking.

If controlling smart devices is so easy, why not have your morning cup of joe be that …

Effects Of Head Formation And Heat Treatment On The Mechanical Properties Of Connecting Rod Bolts, Caleb A. Leavitt, Matthew R. Lauretta

Materials Engineering

Oliver Racing Parts (ORP; Charlevoix, Michigan) is looking to optimize their manufacturing process for high-strength connecting rod bolts. A high yield strength is desired for the bolts because deformation would result in catastrophic engine failure. The bolts were made of H11, a chromium hot-work tool steel; and MLX17, a precipitation hardenable stainless steel. Tensile testing was performed to determine the tensile and yield strengths of the bolts. Fracture surfaces were imaged via scanning electron microscopy to characterize the failure modes. To observe the effects of bolt heading on microstructure and bolt strength, two batches of MLX17 were prepared; one batch …

Analysis Of The Low-Cycle Fatigue Behavior Of Silicone Rubber For Biomedical Balloons, Chase Cooper

Materials Engineering

The development of a medical drug delivery device that allows for the deployment drugs into the adventitial tissue of blood vessels requires the inflation of a silicone elastomer. The inflated silicone must be able to consistently endure multiple loading cycles without failing so that the device can operate reliably. There are multiple methods of processing the silicone for the device and the goal of this study is to examine the effect of the various processing methods on the characteristics of the silicone. The Dynamic Mechanical Analysis Machine (DMA) is used to model the conditions of the device’s application by performing …

Development Of Low Cost, Environmentally Friendly And High Strength Carbon Foams From Bread And Cake, Laura Mountain-Tuller

Materials Engineering

Carbon foam is a high niche material that consists of a highly porous, three-dimensional cellular network that is characterized by extremely high strength-to-weight ratios and low thermal conductivity. Due to these properties, carbon foams excel in structural and thermal applications, especially in the aerospace industry. Typically, carbon foams are formed through a heating process called pyrolysis of polymer precursors with high carbon content. This process is done at high temperatures in an oxygen free environment. These precursors are expensive to make and use toxic chemicals to produce, therefore, there is a push to find an environmentally friendly and cost-effective method …

Shyh Wang Hall- Lbnl Building 59, Mike Torkelson

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This report details the fire and life safety analysis of Shyh Wang Hall, a new building at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Wang Hall houses offices, high performance computers, and associated mechanical space. The building is constructed as a Type IIB structure and includes four stories. Both prescriptive-based and performance-based design is considered.

The prescriptive analysis considers the fire and life safety features as required by applicable codes, including the Department of Energy requirements. The building is protected by fire detection and alarm system as well as automatic sprinklers. The prescriptive design meets the code requirements with the possible exception …

Life Safety And Fire Analysis - Aircraft Hangar, Frederick J. Tanis Jr.

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

A hangar originally built in 1958 then modified and expanded over the years was evaluated using both the prescriptive requirements and a performance analysis. For the prescriptive analysis the building was evaluated against the 2015 International Building Code and the current NFPA codes and in a few cases the Department of Defense (DoD) Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC). During the prescriptive analysis a few areas were identified that do not meet the current codes due to areas being broken up into separate rooms and hallways and rooms being separated by security doors that only allow unobstructed travel in one direction. These …

Warren J. Baker Center For Science And Mathematics (Csm)- Fire Protection Analysis, Neal Larsen

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

Analyzing the fire protection features of the Warren J. Baker Center for Science and Mathematics Building 180, located on Cal Poly Campus in San Luis Obispo California was done using two methods. The prescriptive based analysis of the building focused on the building design, egress, structural fire protection, fire suppression, fire alarm and detection systems to determine if current codes and standards were meet. The performance based analysis discusses certain methods and design fire scenarios that are present within the building and the building’s ability to protect occupants until they can exit safely. The performance based analysis was done using …

General Purpose Laboratory Building 33- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Nicholas Tran

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

A detailed study of the fire and life safety systems in the General Purpose Laboratory at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was performed. The prescriptive and performance-based methods for fire and life safety requirements were analyzed in accordance with the applicable codes. The prescriptive items examined included the egress capacities, fire suppression systems, fire detection and notification systems, and structural construction requirements. The performance-based models utilized studied fire growth and its impact on the fire suppression systems as well as time to egress for the occupants. The General Purpose Laboratory was found to be compliant with the prescriptive requirements in …

A Basic, Four Logic Cluster, Disjoint Switch Connected Fpga Architecture, Joseph Prachar

Computer Engineering

This paper seeks to describe the process of developing a new FPGA architecture from nothing, both in terms of knowledge about FPGAs and in initial design material. Specifically, this project set out to design an FPGA architecture which can implement a simple state machine type design with 10 inputs, 10 outputs and 10 states. The open source Verilog-to-Routing FPGA CAD flow tool was used in order to synthesize, place, and route HDL files onto the architecture. This project was completed in terms of the spirit of the original goals of implementing an FPGA from scratch. Although, the project resulted in …

Tracking Eye Movements Over Source Code, Faith Chan

Computer Engineering

Studies on software developers’ behavior guide the development of tools that facilitate source code reading and reviewing. Eye trackers have allowed researchers to study this behavior in more detail–to pinpoint where the developer is looking, or even to detect which source code element the developer is viewing. However, systems that map gaze to characteristics as specific as source code elements are often expensive, either because of the cost of compatible eye trackers or because of the cost of the required software. This project aims to use existing technology to create a lower-cost system that provides information on the source code …

Bicycle Power Meter, Andrew Mcguan

Computer Engineering

A power meter is a cycling training tool used to record the power a rider is outputting. This is very useful to athletes who regularly do bike workouts, because the power output is a consistent measure of the rider’s effort level, and is not affected by outside factors such as wind or road gradient. If a cyclist does a workout with the intent to carry a certain speed for a certain amount of time, a strong headwind will slow them down and make them work harder to maintain the same speed, defeating the goal of the workout. When a power …

Farmbot Trackless Redesign, Cole Thomas, Cailey Kamm, Clayton Alderson, Otto Akerstrom

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

For this project the team PLANT3D worked along with Rory Aronson and FarmBot to generate a cheaper more user-friendly design for the FarmBot Genesis 1.3. Working with Rory and FarmBot, we as a team generated a list of design requirements and engineering specifications for the project. These requirements centered around creating a more accessible FarmBot model for the average person to be able to purchase and set up with ease. Much of this required taking the existing system and eliminating the most common problem areas. These were the track system, built using 1.5 meter aluminum extrusions and the complex interchangeable …

Solar Electric Immersion Heating Element Fabrication, Logan V. Kregness

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Believing that cooking with flame is cheaper and more efficient than cooking with electricity, Ugandan citizens have exposed themselves to several health and safety risks, including major respiratory issues through harmful emissions, pollution, and the burning down of many homes. Even though solar electric cooking is cheaper and healthier than cooking with flames in the long run, many Ugandans lack the resources to invest in cooking with electricity.

The Solar Stove student research team, led by Dr. Pete Schwartz, partnered with Aid Africa to bring solar panels and prototype solar electric cooking units to villages in Uganda. Observing how their …

Improving Efficiencies For The Loading And Packaging Departments At San Luis Sourdough, Alexis Bergstrom, Isabella Pereira, Claudia Robinson

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

San Luis Sourdough, currently has issues with efficiency and standardization in their packaging department, ergonomics problems in the packaging department, shipment accuracy in their loading department, and lacks an organized layout design. As a result, four objectives were designed within a six month period. The first was to create standard operating procedures for the packaging department. To inform this decision time studies were performed before and after creating these SOPs. It was discovered that there was a clear need for the SOPs due to variation in packaging efficiency among new and experienced associates. The second set of time studies showed …

Slm Materials Development, Justin G. Reiner, Michael T. Schembri

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The purpose of this project was to create a procedure to efficiently determine a “recipe” of parameter values that create a desired set of mechanical properties. Research was conducted into the laser powder bed fusion process with focus on underdeveloped materials. A design of experiment was used with a set of density correlated parameters to establish a method of producing nearly dense parts. Our methods include SLM printing, metrology, and statistical analysis. An experimental procedure for materials development was designed, but unable to be validated during the scope of this project, due to unforeseen safety issues (exposure to Chromium 6, …

Fire Protection And Life Safety Analysis- Building 192 – Engineering Iv, Donald Joseph Wood

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

A Fire Protection and Life Safety Analysis has been performed on California Polytechnic State University Building 192 – Engineering IV as part of a culminating project in the Masters of Science in Fire Protection Engineering program at California Polytechnic State University. This analysis consists of a prescriptive analysis based on current codes and standards as well as a performance-based analysis.

A prescriptive analysis evaluates compliance with modern codes and standards and consists of the following five parts: 1)Egress Design and Analysis, 2)Structural Fire Protection, 3)Water-based Fire Suppression, 4)Fire Detection and Alarm Systems, and 5)Smoke Control Systems

The purpose of the …

Mobile Opera Backdrop, Juan Villalobos, Robbie Behlman, Kevin Valencia

Mechanical Engineering

Opera San Luis Obispo requires an acoustically projecting stage backdrop for their future plan of deploying a mobile opera house. The custom stage backdrop must be low-cost, easy to assemble and must project the performance sound to outdoor audiences. Other design requirements include being transportable in a step van, the ability to be assembled quickly by a crew of two, resistance to various outdoor conditions, the ability to mount accessories from the walls, and should meet a budget of $5,000. With the scope of the project understood, the three-quarter project is outlined. During the first quarter, the main deliverables included …

Purple Urchin Removal, Cullen Goss, Wil Gilbreath, Kevin Marshall

Mechanical Engineering

Soaring purple urchin populations have contributed to a greater than 90% reduction of northern California’s bull kelp forests. Human intervention to reduce the purple urchin population may allow localized kelp patches to grow. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife requested that our team develop a mechanical device to aid in the removal of the urchins. This document provides an update from the scope of work and details the process conducted to reach a scale final design. In this document, we provide background research to show our understanding of urchins and their effect on kelp forests. Then, we analyze the …

Team Joseph's Bike Trailer, Keely Thompson, Curtis Wathne, Ryan Meinhardt

Mechanical Engineering

This final design report shows the results of this senior project’s design process of creating a custom bike trailer for Team Joseph. As done in the Scope of Work, Preliminary Design report, and Critical Design report, current products, relevant technologies, and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards are fully researched and benchmarked to aid in the design selection process. Customer requirements are looked at and developed into engineering specifications. A detailed design was created for CDR to show to Team Joseph, and manufacturing and testing plans were laid out. This final design report adds the final design revisions …

Universal Studios Hollywood Vip Trolley - Roller Frame, Jeffrey Ploss, Chase Montague, Lincoln Treanor

Mechanical Engineering

Statement of Confidentiality: The complete senior project report was submitted to the project advisor and sponsor. The results of this project are of a confidential nature and will not be published at this time.

Multi-Purpose Heart Valve Therapy Assembly Fixture, Alec John Foster, John Patrick Hofstetter, Emily Lim

Mechanical Engineering

STATEMENT OF CONFIDENTIALITY: The complete senior project report was submitted to the project advisor and sponsors. The results of this project are of a confidential nature and will not be published at this time.