Engineering Commons^™

Plumbing System Design For Gateway Decathlon, Philip Soo

Construction Management

This senior project focuses on the development of a Sustainable and Efficient Plumbing System for the Gateway Decathlon Modular Housing Unit, a Mass Timber construction. As part of an Integrated Project Design delivery, this project involves a collaborative effort among students from various disciplines, including construction management, architecture, and engineering. Over the past year, teams of students have collaborated to develop architectural drawings, including floor plans, elevations, and system layouts. This project includes the careful selection of plumbing fixtures that align with the performance and sustainability goals of the modular housing unit. In addition, the materials were chosen based on …

Skip The Grid: Energizing Navajo Nation, Eiley Q. Eichten

Construction Management

Skip the Grid is an interdisciplinary service project aimed at providing reliable and clean energy to families living in Navajo Nation. Cal Poly partnered with Heart of America, SOLV Energy, and Nextracker to help bring this plan to fruition. Twenty students were selected to contribute to the planning, coordinating, and fundraising for the project. After the preparation was completed, Cal Poly students joined representatives from Heart of America, SOLV Energy, and Nextracker. The trip commenced with a hands-on, productive five day visit to Chinle, Arizona. The first working day commenced with Cal Poly students attending a total of five schools …

How Mass Timber Supports Sustainability During Construction: An Industry-Based Analysis, Nicholas T. Mayton

Construction Management

As the construction industry explores new ways to reduce environmental impact, mass timber has emerged as a promising alternative to conventional materials. While much of the existing research on mass timber focuses on life-cycle assessments and carbon comparisons, few studies capture insights from professionals directly involved in building with it. This paper analyzes a series of industry interviews with contractors, designers, and sustainability consultants who have experience working on mass timber projects. The aim is to understand how sustainability plays out during the construction phase—not just in theory, but in practice. Using qualitative methods and word pattern analysis, three core …

Prefabrication Of Custom Cat Condos For Son Care Foundation, Jacob Marano

Construction Management

This senior project involved the design and construction of four custom cat condos for the Son Care Foundation. The goal of the project was to enhance the quality of life for cats by creating safe, functional, and enriching enclosures. The process involved developing a conceptual design, coordinating with daycare center staff, refining the final design and materials list, procuring supplies, and executing the build. The final deliverables included four completed condos with individual and shared spaces for 8 to 12 cats in total. Throughout the project, valuable lessons were learned in planning, budgeting, construction techniques, and working with a real …

Skip The Grid: Empowering The Navajo Nation Through Solar Energy, Gerardo L. Luna

Construction Management

Skip the Grid is an interdisciplinary service project through California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), aimed at providing sustainable energy solutions to underserved communities. In Spring 2025, I participated as a rooftop safety lead and solar installer in Chinle, Arizona, where our team partnered with SOLV Energy, Goal Zero, and Heart of America to bring solar power to 40 off-grid homes across the Navajo Nation. As a member of Red Team #3, I was directly responsible for ensuring safe ladder setup, supervising rooftop work, mounting solar panels, and managing exterior cable routing for 8 successful installations. Beyond …

Design And Playhouse Plan For Girls Build Summer Academy 2025, Aracely Berber

Construction Management

This project involves the development and execution of a week-long construction camp at Cal Poly aimed at introducing high school girls to the construction industry through the hands-on building of playhouses. This camp is coordinated by a professor in Cal Poly’s Construction Management Department and invites other industry professionals. The initiative not only promotes youth empowerment and gender diversity in the industry but also incorporates a strong educational and technical component. As part of the planning process, a detailed 3D model of the playhouse was created using Autodesk Revit to visualize the structure. Additionally, a materials list was created and …

The Third Annual Hasslein Caed Collaborative, Marianne Nicole Bishai

Construction Management

This paper details the planning, development, and impact of the third annual Hasslein CAED Collaborative Student Competition. The intention of the Hasslein Cup is to engage the students of the five College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) majors in an industry-like scenario. The five majors, Architecture, Architectural Engineering, City and Regional Planning, Construction Management, and Landscape Architecture, make up the workforce of the construction industry, yet there has been very little opportunity for the students to work together and replicate a professional scenario. The competition began from research conducted by Greta Stout, class of 2022, which explored the benefits …

Son Care Foundation - Pergola Preconstruction, Samuel J. Peters

Construction Management

This paper discusses the design and preconstruction aspects of a pergola constructed at Thousand Hills Pet Resort, supporting a non-profit organization called the Son Care Foundation. Founded in 1994 by Jack Gould, the foundation is committed to fostering hope through various programs including mentorship for students, service dog training for PTSD victims, basic pet training, vehicle repair and turnaround, and dog daycare and lodging. This project serves Son Care Foundation’s dog daycare and lodging program, called Thousand Hills Pet Resort. The program was established in 2005, and all profits are used to fund the other programs operated by the Son …

Improvements To Cal Poly's Hybrid Ac/Dc House, Brandon Ng, Andrew Nguyen, Logan Tom

Electrical Engineering

This senior project details the improvements made to Cal Poly’s Hybrid AC/DC House project. The previous state of the house experienced issues with proper reading of the current power being drawn from the connected AC sources, as well as with the system’s multiple-input single-output converter, where thermal overheating of specific FETs prevented the system from reaching its maximum output power. The updates made to the AC/DC house include improved code to prevent faulty readings and display failure and a cleaned-up power monitoring board that removes noisy signals and allows for the correct power implementation to be displayed. In addition, the …

Compact Modular Photovoltaic System With Mppt Controller, Alain Ardash Kanadjian, Alex Aarnio, Christopher Arango

Electrical Engineering

Energy demands have been on the rise, as environmentally harmful power generation systems stay popular due to lower costs and compact designs compared to renewable energy infrastructure. We challenge this problem with a modular photovoltaic microgrid system for power generation in underutilized spaces. The Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) charge controller employed is low-cost and power efficient. This controller monitors energy generation and usage in real time, with data logging through an online user-friendly interface. With support for a variety of solar panel and battery configurations, this scalable system helps provide a cost and space efficient solution to clean energy …

Development Of A Modular Dual-Phase And Single-Phase Buck Converter Laboratory Module, Maxwell John Kreizinger, Ethan David Robson

Electrical Engineering

This senior project entails the design, creation, and testing of a circuit board to exhibit the differences and advantages of the multiphase buck converter over the single-phase buck converter for use in a future power electronic laboratory experiment at Cal Poly State University. As energy demand requirements continually increase from more advanced and widespread use of technology, it is important to find a method of power delivery that maximizes efficiency while taking up as little area on a circuit board as possible. This is where the multiphase buck converter topology is desirable over the traditional single-phase buck converter topology. For …

A Turtlebot3 Hardware Testbed For Distributed Kalman Filter Localization, Dmitri Dobrynin, Indigo T. Garcia

Electrical Engineering

This report presents the preliminary design for a distributed localization framework for a multi-robot system. Many robotics research papers provide simulations of proposed algorithms in regards to formation control and task allocation. However, it is often that these proposals are without hardware experiments, being limited only to simulation. The objective of this framework is to provide a hardware implementation of a distributed Kalman filtering algorithm for multi-agent localization, as well as provide grounds for future multi-agent experiments. The framework is implemented on a swarm of three Turtlebot3 mobile robots. The robots can accurately localize themselves with respect to other agents …

Field Deployable Mobile Manipulator For Autonomous Apple Harvesting, Gabriel K. Basus, Antonio Bowen, Andrew Daouda

Electrical Engineering

Increasing labor costs and agricultural demands have created a need for automated apple harvesting. However, automated apple harvesting via robotic manipulation must overcome certain challenges to be an effective and efficient method. First, the system must compete with or perform better than manual human labor. Second, it must safely and accurately navigate an apple orchard autonomously. Third, the robotic manipulator must be able to securely grasp and pick apples without causing damage. To address these challenges, this project utilizes a Husky UGV equipped with a 2D LiDAR sensor, an RGB-D camera, an IMU, an OpenManipulator-X robot arm, and a soft …

Emergency Bleeding Education Fixture, Nate Colley, Kennedy K. Austin

Biomedical Engineering: Graduate Reports and Projects

Despite the deadly nature and widespread occurrence of emergency bleeding events, there are currently no training devices or demonstrations which educate users on the urgency of these events and potential methods to address them. Additionally, current models often fail to replicate physiological conditions correctly. A fixture was created to demonstrate the urgency of hemorrhaging events and educate users on potential methods for treating hemorrhaging, namely tourniquets and pressure wraps. This fixture utilized gravity to replicate systolic blood pressure, a silicone model to replicate various adult leg sizes and correct tissue properties, and a tubing system with varying compliance to replicate …

Underground Lrt Station, Revital Mesika

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This report presents a comprehensive fire safety and evacuation systems analysis for the underground light rail terminal station project. The station features two main levels— concourse and platform—and is strategically located adjacent to a sports stadium.

Station Overview: The underground light rail terminal station is a two-level facility strategically positioned adjacent to a major sports stadium. The station operates as a critical transportation hub with distinct functional zones designed for efficient passenger flow and emergency evacuation:

Concourse Level (3.5 meters below ground): Functions as the primary passenger processing and circulation hub. This level serves as the main entry control point …

Genesis Station Fire Protection And Life Safety Analysis, Mark Anthony Bautista

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This fire protection and life safety analysis evaluates GENESIS Station, a nine-story Type I-B mixed-tenant building located in Daly City, California. The facility includes business, research laboratory, and assembly occupancies. A combination of prescriptive code compliance and performance-based analysis was applied to assess the building’s overall fire safety strategy.

The building utilizes a layered fire protection strategy that combines passive fire resistive construction with active systems. Fire rated construction separate tenant suites, limiting the spread of fire and smoke, defining hazardous materials control areas, and ensuring compliant separation of egress paths.

Active fire protection systems include a fully automatic sprinkler …

Srs Training Facility, Brandon Romero

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This report presents a comprehensive fire protection and life safety analysis of the Savannah River Site (SRS) Training Center. A detailed prescriptive code analysis confirmed the building's compliance with applicable standards regarding construction features, occupancy classification, and fire-rated assemblies. Fire resistance provisions are met, with key areas such as exits, stairwells, and the records storage room. The building’s layout, height, number of stories, and floor area also comply with the allowable limits established by the IBC. Fire protection systems include a proprietary fire alarm system with voice notification, extensive smoke and heat detection coverage, and a wet-pipe sprinkler system designed …

Cryogenic Fuel Delivery System, Carter Josef, Reilly Humphreys, Joseph O'Connor, Nick Spreen

Mechanical Engineering

This project presents the design and validation of a cryogenic fuel delivery system aimed at enabling sustainable aviation through hydrogen fuel vaporization. Developed by a team of senior mechanical engineering students at Cal Poly and sponsored by Boeing, the system utilizes atmospheric air to vaporize liquid nitrogen, used as a stand-in for hydrogen, via forced convection heat exchangers, eliminating the need for engine-supplied heat and reducing parasitic loads. A feedback loop and turbine component are integrated to regulate pressure and recover energy, respectively. A benchtop prototype was built and tested to evaluate system performance, with results closely aligning with analytical …

Conversational Social Robot, Julianna M. Christopoulos, Mackenzie Goldman, Cece E. Hujanen, Jared Hunter

Mechanical Engineering

Background: Social robots are used in various settings to reduce burden on human workers and expand opportunities for people in need of assistance.

Challenge: Design a humanoid robot head and torso capable of holding conversations and interacting with a user using a LLM and motion. Conversations are limited to discussing Cal Poly resources and opportunities with visitors to the Bently Research Center on campus.

Scitechatorium, Olivia Lafferty, Yvonne Brien Miller, Colton Swinth, Savannah Pinheiro, Gage Heinze

Mechanical Engineering

Bellevue Santa-Fe Charter School (Bellevue) is a K6th grade public charter elementary school in Avila Beach, California. The primary focus at Bellevue is fostering unique learning experiences, empowering students through project-based learning, and engaging students in creative endeavors. Following these themes, the school has allocated space and funding for an on-campus science and technology museum known as the SciTechatorium. The museum is currently open during students’ lunch period, providing interactive displays on concepts in human biology, nature and wildlife, physics, and electronics. Bellevue’s K-6th grade science teacher, Christian Strauli, and Bellevue parent volunteers are primarily responsible for the museum’s upkeep …

Evoque Delivery System Fixture Optimization, Jack Ellis, Florence Duff, Noah Dunsmore, Timothy Hunter, Rafael Castillo

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

3d Printed Fixed Wing Aircraft Competition, Sidney E. Long, Mitchell Heise, Jack Bride, Daniel Salinas

Mechanical Engineering

Cal State LA and Arlington University, Texas are hosting the same 3D printed, fixed wing aircraft competition for 2025. Cal Poly requires a competitive plane that can adhere to each rule and be piloted remotely to achieve the longest time in the air. The plane must utilize solely 3D printing technology for the wings, body, and all other structures. The only off-the-shelf components can be the motor and electronics, as well as mechanical devices such as hinges.

Combustion Liner Optimization, William Weeks, Daniel Reed, Isaac Trull

Mechanical Engineering

Solar Turbines provides gas power generation solutions, focusing on gas turbine engines and compressors. The Gas Turbine Products Engineering (GTPE) team at Solar Turbines needs a way to efficiently and cost-effectively maintain the combustion liner of the Taurus model gas turbine at or below the cold-side temperature target. The current system involves a manufacturing process with ergonomic concerns and uncertain cooling effectiveness.

To address this, our team proposed a new combustion liner system featuring impingement cooling. We provided Solar Turbines with heat transfer models of both the existing and proposed designs, demonstrating improved cooling performance. Additionally, a prototype of the …

License To Drill, Gabrielle Noemi Orlando, Alexcias Olga Meeks, Dayana Guadalupe Gonzalez, Mark Dahmen

Mechanical Engineering

The goal of this project is to provide the student machine shops with an updated License to Drill (LTD) certification training, formally known as the Red Tag. The current training has two key components: a preliminary Canvas course and an in-person training with a safety tour, safety quiz, and a hands-on project. Currently, the hands-on project is outdated and unengaging. Thus, the primary focus is to replace it with an inspiring and memorable project, which includes written and visual instructional content on how to make it. The Canvas will thus be updated, a new instructional video will be created, and …

Pendulum Wave Generator, Abigail Jocelyn Romero, Paul Staley, Wendy Dong, Kyle Schumacher

Mechanical Engineering

The Cal Poly Mechanical Vibrations Laboratory (Vibes Lab) serves to educate and excite students about mechanical vibrations through hands-on experiments. While the lab contains several relatively complicated technical experiments, it lacks simple demonstrations with immediate visual interest to appeal to audiences with less technical backgrounds. Because of this, faculty desired a fun and interactive demonstration project that could be operated with no prior training. The project chosen for this is a Pendulum Wave Generator which is a set of multiple pendulums with differing lengths that combine to create complex and observable patterns over time. This project was completed by a …

Adaptive Riding Mount Block, Lucas R. Reynolds, Lukas M. Moreau, Patrick J. Michael, Jandre D. Lafradez

Mechanical Engineering

Professor Sarah Stewart from the Animal Science Department at Cal Poly seeks to develop a solution to help people with disabilities mount horses. Users need a mounting block that can bring them closer to the horse’s back to ease mounting. The current system, consisting of two plastic two-step blocks, is inadequate—unstable, too small, and inaccessible for wheelchair users.

The required solution must meet several key specifications: it should accommodate at least three people standing side by side, be sturdy enough to support their combined weight, and remain stable on rugged terrain like gravel or sand without tilting or sinking. Additionally, …

Lidss Raft Battery Pack Integration, Jack Maxwell, Vincent Stevens, Matthew Hoodmaker, Colin Flanders

Mechanical Engineering

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a critical member of the United States Department of Defense. Their Independent Diagnostics Scoring System (LIDSS) uses rafts that operate in the ocean to collect missile test data. Several times a year, the United States will test their Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles by launching them into the ocean near the Marshall Islands. This is where the LIDSS rafts collect their test data. Our project was centered around re-designing the battery pack used by the rafts. The current battery pack design experiences water ingress problems and is difficult to access. Our re-designed battery pack is waterproof to …

Ray Collection: Forging A New Fashion Genre, Olivia R. Cooper

Graphic Communication

This senior project addresses a gap in the fashion industry by creating a new genre through a unique collection and comprehensive branding. The "RAY" collection draws inspiration from the designer's artistic roots and is a deeply personal homage to influential female artists like Frida Kahlo, Louise Bourgeois, and Leonora Carrington, whose works have inspired the designer's creative journey. Each piece in the collection draws direct inspiration from these artists, reflecting the creator's vision and self-expression, a key element of the streetwear genre incorporated into the designs.

The project also heavily emphasizes fashion branding, encompassing a logo, brand identity, social and …

Data Driven Analysis Of Samara Seed Kinematics And Dynamics, Shashwat Sparsh

Master's Theses

Samara Seeds are a class of fruit most famously belonging to the Acer species and are characterized by their single-bladed geometry and their auto-rotation response during descent. This steady-state auto-rotation response is the subject of aerodynamic analysis which aim to quantify the performance. The period prior to the beginning of steady-state auto-rotation is classified as the transition regime and has not been the subject of intense scrutiny.

This thesis employs a data-driven approach to analyzing the kinematic and dynamic response of these seeds during both the transition and auto-rotation stages of flight to quantify the performance with respect to the …

Implementation Of Area-Based Aggregation On Multivariate Continuous Uncertain Data, Rahul Nair

Master's Theses

Uncertain data is incredibly widespread - from sensor data to AI-based learned information, there exists a need to associate information with a certain probability of its veracity. Traditional relational databases lack a built-in functionality to support uncertain data, instead assigning them boilerplate values. Probabilistic databases tackle this problem by assigning non-deterministic data with an associated, often discrete, probability. Variants of probabilistic databases, namely continuous uncertain databases, are used to better model data represented through ranges and distributions. This is especially applicable with sensor-based geographic data as most commercial equipment contains some inherent margin of error.

While uncertain and probabilistic databases …