Engineering Commons^™

Rules Based Analysis Engine For Application Layer Ids, David Scrobonia

Master's Theses

Web application attack volume, complexity, and costs have risen as people, companies, and entire industries move online. Solutions implemented to defend web applications against malicious activity have traditionally been implemented at the network or host layer. While this is helpful for detecting some attacks, it does not provide the gran- ularity to see malicious behavior occurring at the application layer. The AppSensor project, an application level intrusion detection system (IDS), is an example of a tool that operates in this layer. AppSensor monitors users within the application by observing activity in suspicious areas not able to be seen by traditional …

Workplace Posture Assessment And Biofeedback With Kinect, Matthew Crussell

Master's Theses

With the prevalence of computing, many workers today are confined to desk within an office. By sitting in these positions for long periods of time, workers are prone to develop one of many musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), such as carpal tunnel syndrome. In order to prevent MSDs in the long term, workers must employ good sitting habits. One promising method to ensure good workplace posture is through camera monitoring. To date, camera systems have been used in determining posture in a clean environment. However, an occluded and cluttered background, which is typical in an office setting, imposes a great challenge for …

Optimizing Control Of Shell Eco-Marathon Prototype Vehicle To Minimize Fuel Consumption, Chad Louis Bickel

Master's Theses

Every year the automotive industry strives to increase fuel efficiency in vehicles. When most vehicles are designed, fuel efficiency cannot always come first. The Shell Eco-marathon changes that by challenging students everywhere to develop the most fuel-efficient vehicle possible. There are many different factors that affect fuel efficiency, and different teams focus on different vehicle parameters. Currently, there is no straightforward design tool that can be used to help in Shell Eco-marathon vehicle design. For this reason, it is difficult to optimize every vehicle parameter for maximum fuel efficiency.

In this study, a simulation is developed by using basic vehicle …

Energy Harvesting From Exercise Machines: Buck-Boost Converter Design, Andrew E. Forster

Master's Theses

This report details the design and implementation of a switching DC-DC converter for use in the Energy Harvesting From Exercise Machines (EHFEM) project. It uses a four-switch, buck-boost topology to regulate the wide, 5-60 V output of an elliptical machine to 36 V, suitable as input for a microinverter to reclaim the energy for the electrical grid. Successful implementation reduces heat emissions from electrical energy originally wasted as heat, and facilitates a financial and environmental benefit from reduced net energy consumption.

Uhf Rfid Antenna Impedance Matching Techniques, Kamron Sockolov

Master's Theses

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems use electromagnetic signals to wirelessly identify and track RFID-tagged objects. A reader transmits a carrier wave request signal to an RFID tag, which then transmits a unique identification signal back to the reader. Applications include supply chain inventory management, automated toll booth fee systems, sports event timing, restricted access control, pet monitoring and retail theft prevention. An RFID tag includes an antenna connected to a Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC). RFID tags in the ultra-high frequency (UHF), industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) 902-928MHz band and global Electronic Product Code (EPC) 860‑960MHz band are powered passively …

Fluid Flow Characterization And In Silico Validation In A Rapid Prototyped Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Model, Dean Thomas Wampler

Master's Theses

Aortic aneurysms are the 14^th leading cause of death in the United States. Annually, abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) ruptures are responsible for 4500 deaths. There are another 45,000 repair procedures performed to prevent rupture, and of these approximately 1400 lead to deaths. With proper detection, the aneurysm may be treated using endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). Understanding how the flow of the blood within the artery is affected by the aneurysm is important in determining the growth of the aneurysm, as well as how to properly treat the aneurysm. The goal of this project was to develop a physical construct …

Application Of Argon Plasma Technology To Hydrophobic And Hydrophilic Microdroplet Generation In Pdms Microfluidic Devices, Brennan P. Graham

Master's Theses

Abstract Application of Argon Plasma Technology to Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Microdroplet Generation in PDMS Microfluidic Devices Brennan Graham Microfluidics has gained popularity over the last decade due to the ability to replace many large, expensive laboratory processes with small handheld chips with a higher throughput due to the small channel dimensions [1]. Droplet microfluidics is the field of fluid manipulation that takes advantage of two immiscible fluids to create droplets from the geometry of the microchannels. This project includes the design of a microfluidic device that applies the results of an argon plasma surface treatment to polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to successfully …

Corgi: Compute Oriented Recumbent Generation Infrastructure, Christopher Allen Hunt

Master's Theses

Creating a bicycle with a rideable geometry is more complicated than it may appear, with today’s mainstay designs having evolved through years of iteration. This slow evolution coupled with the bicycle’s intricate mechanical system has lead most builders to base their new geometries off of previous work rather than expand into new design spaces. This crutch can lead to slow bicycle iteration rates, often causing bicycles to all look about the same. To combat this, several bicycle design models have been created over the years, with each attempting to define a bicycle’s handling characteristics given its physical geometry. However, these …

In-Plane Shear Wall Performance As Affected By Compressed Earth Block Shape, Steven Ellis Ambers

Master's Theses

This thesis investigates the in-plane shear performance of full-scale walls made from compressed earth blocks. Compressed earth blocks are a type of masonry where the blocks are composed of compressed soil and typically dry-stacked without mortar. Prior research has demonstrated that the in-plane shear strength of these blocks falls far short of capacities predicted by conventional masonry building codes, requiring new testing to develop effective and safe designs for seismic conditions. This thesis specifically studies the effects of block type and the use of grouted shear keys at the block head joints.

Three full-scale walls were constructed and tested under …

Lateral Strength And Ductile Behavior Of A Mortise-Tenon Connected Timber Frame, Alexandros Kouromenos

Master's Theses

The primary goals of this project were to examine the amount of lateral force resisted by a single-bay mortise-tenon connected timber moment frame, and to introduce ductile behavior into the mortise-tenon connections by adding a steel sleeve around a traditional wood peg. This research aimed to provide proof that traditional timber frames are capable of ductile racking while reliably complying with ASCE 7-10 building code drift speci! cations, implying an increase in the ASCE 7-10 ductility factor (R) for wood frames when used as lateral force resisting elements. A secondary goal was to promote traditional heavy timber framing as a …

Revalume: Configurable Employee Evaluations In The Cloud, Terrence Zone Li

Master's Theses

The software industry has seen a shift from annual to more frequent quarterly and even weekly employee reviews. As a result, there is a high demand for employee evaluations to be less costly and less time-consuming, while providing key insights for richer interactions between employees and their employers or managers. Tech com- panies are constantly looking for methods of producing high quality evaluations to prevent costly turnover. In an industry where software engineers are in high demand, tech companies face a challenging problem. Issues with employee evaluations typi- cally include the lack of performance transparency, unhelpful feedback, lack of metrics, …

The Collisional Evolution Of Orbital Debris In Geopotential Wells And Disposal Orbits, Benjamin Polzine

Master's Theses

This thesis investigates the orbital debris evolution in the geosynchronous disposal orbit regime and within geosynchronous orbits effected by the geopotential wells. A propagator is developed for the accurate simulation of GEO specific orbits and the required perturbations are determined and described. Collisions are then simulated in the selected regimes using a low velocity breakup model derived from the NASA EVOLVE breakup model. The simulations described in this thesis consider a set of perturbations including the geopotential, solar and lunar gravity, and solar radiation pressure forces. This thesis is based on a prior paper and additionally seeks to address an …

Silent Communication Device, Christopher Wayne Schutter

Master's Theses

Oral communication has constituted as a necessary aspect of how people interact with one another, but there are always situations where this form of communication can create distractions, irritation, or even danger. Take for example, a student in a laboratory who needs to communicate effectively with a lab partner without creating a distraction to those trying to work around said student or a soldier on a battlefield who needs to relay information effectively to his or her comrades without revealing his or her position to the enemy. It becomes apparent that people need a more exclusive form of communication in …

Orbital Determination Feasibility Of Leo Nanosatellites Using Small Aperture Telescopes, Michael R. Strange

Master's Theses

This thesis is directed toward the feasibility of observing satellites on the nano scale and determining an accurate propagated orbit using a Meade LX600-ACF 14” diameter aperture telescope currently located on the California Polytechnic State University campus. The optical telescope is fitted with an f/6.3 focal reducer, SBIG ST-10XME CCD camera and Optec TCF-S Focuser. This instrumentation allowed for a 22’ X 15’ arcminute FOV in order to accurately image passing LEO satellites. Through the use of the Double-r and Gauss Initial Orbit Determination methods as well as Least Squared Differential Correction and Extended Kalman Filter Orbit Determination methods, an …

Normalizer: Augmenting Code Clone Detectors Using Source Code Normalization, Kevin Ly

Master's Theses

Code clones are duplicate fragments of code that perform the same task. As software code bases increase in size, the number of code clones also tends to increase. These code clones, possibly created through copy-and-paste methods or unintentional duplication of effort, increase maintenance cost over the lifespan of the software. Code clone detection tools exist to identify clones where a human search would prove unfeasible, however the quality of the clones found may vary. I demonstrate that the performance of such tools can be improved by normalizing the source code before usage. I developed Normalizer, a tool to transform C …

Thermal Evolution Of Moon, Arshdeep Singh Gill

Master's Theses

In August, 2014 three experiments were conducted using infrared systems deployed at White Mountain Research center, CA. The data was acquired for the whole month of August. Teams of 3-4 students from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UC Santa Barbara were stationed at the research center for 2-3 days to operate the equipment. The three experiments were:(1) creating spatial-temporal time series of lunar surface temperatures;(2) identifying atmospheric meteor trails;(3) search for meteor impacts on the Moon surface. Out of the three this thesis focusses on experiment 1 and the results from this experiment could also help with the other …

Energy Management System Modeling Of Dc Data Center With Hybrid Energy Sources Using Neural Network, Khalid Althomali

Master's Theses

As data centers continue to grow rapidly, engineers will face the greater challenge in finding ways to minimize the cost of powering data centers while improving their reliability. The continuing growth of renewable energy sources such as photovoltaics (PV) system presents an opportunity to reduce the long-term energy cost of data centers and to enhance reliability when used with utility AC power and energy storage. However, the inter-temporal and the intermittency nature of solar energy makes it necessary for the proper coordination and management of these energy sources.

This thesis proposes an energy management system in DC data center using …

The Effect Of Biocomposite Material In A Composite Structure Under Compression Loading, Benjamin Andrew Sweeney

Master's Theses

While composite structures exhibit exceptional strength and weight saving possibilities for engineering applications, sometimes their overall cost and/or material performance can limit their usage when compared to conventional structural materials. Meanwhile ‘biocomposites’, composite structures consisting of natural fibers (i.e. bamboo fibers), display higher cost efficiency and unique structural benefits such as ‘sustainability’. This analysis will determine if the integration of these two different types of composites are beneficial to the overall structure. Specifically, the structure will consist of a one internal bamboo veneer biocomposite ply; and two external carbon fiber weave composite plies surrounding the bamboo biocomposite. To acquire results …

A Method For Evaluating Aircraft Electric Power System Sizing And Failure Resiliency, Cory Kenneth Kross

Master's Theses

With the More Electric Aircraft paradigm, commercial commuter aircraft are increasing the size and complexity of electrical power systems by increasing the number of electrical loads. With this increase in complexity comes a need to analyze electrical power systems using new tools. The Hybrid Power System Optimizer (HyPSO) developed by Airbus SAS is a simulator designed to analyze new aircraft power systems. This thesis project will first provide a method to assess the reliability of complex aircraft electrical power systems before and after failure and reconfiguration events. Next, an add-on to HyPSO is developed to integrate the previously developed reliability …

Lip Detection And Adaptive Tracking, Benjamin Wang

Master's Theses

Performance of automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems utilizing only acoustic information degrades significantly in noisy environments such as a car cabins. Incorporating audio and visual information together can improve performance in these situations. This work proposes a lip detection and tracking algorithm to serve as a visual front end to an audio-visual automatic speech recognition (AVASR) system.

Several color spaces are examined that are effective for segmenting lips from skin pixels. These color components and several features are used to characterize lips and to train cascaded lip detectors. Pre- and post-processing techniques are employed to maximize detector accuracy. The trained …

Novel Integration Of Conductive-Ink Circuitry With A Paper-Based Microfluidic Battery As An All-Printed Sensing Platform, Rishi A. Kripalani

Master's Theses

The addition of powered components for active assays into paper-based analytical devices opens new opportunities for medical and environmental analysis in resource-limited applications. Current battery designs within such devices have yet to adopt a ubiquitous circuitry material, necessitating investigation into printed circuitry for scalable platforms. In this study, a microfluidic battery was mated with silver-nanoparticle conductive ink to prototype an all-printed sensing platform. A multi-layer, two-cell device was fabricated, generating 200 μA of direct electrical current at 2.5 V sustained for 16 minutes with a power loss of less than 0.1% through the printed circuitry. Printed circuitry traces exhibited resistivity …

Integration And Qualification Of The P-Pods On The Vega Maiden Flight, Ryan Nugent

Master's Theses

On February 13, 2012, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo flew three Poly-Picosatellite Orbital Deployers (P-PODs), carrying seven European University CubeSats sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA), on the Vega Maiden Flight. This was the first time CubeSats shared a ride to space with other payloads on an ESA-owned launch opportunity. In order to meet launch requirements, it must be proven through proper documentation that the P-POD would operate properly and not interfere with the launch vehicle or other payloads on the mission. This thesis outlines the program flow, required documentation, and issues encountered during the launch campaign …

Lap Splice Development Length Of Rebar In Stabilized Hollow Interlocking Compressed Earth Blocks, Thomas S. Bowdey

Master's Theses

This thesis investigates the tensile performance of unconfined lap splices in specimens constructed from interlocking compressed earth block (ICEB) units. All lap splice specimens were constructed from hollow ICEB half units with one side grouting channel. ICEB units used in this research were exclusively produced from the Soeng Thai Model BP6 block press. The BP6 block press is currently manufactured in Thailand under the guidance and direction of the Center of Vocational Building Technologies (CVBT). All ICEB units and grout constructed for this research were created from mix proportions of soil, sand, cement, and water. Rebar bar sizes were restricted …

Structure-Property Relationships Of Polyisobutylene-Block-Polyamide Thermoplastic Elastomers, Morgan Dunn Heskett

Master's Theses

Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) are a class of polymer fit for a wide variety of applications due to their customizability. In the synthesis of these types of materials, an elastically-performing polymer, deemed the “soft block,” is combined with a stiffer “hard block” polymer, each of which can be selected based on their own specific properties in order to achieve desired material behavior in the final copolymer. Recently, the use of polyisobutylene as a soft block in combination with a polyamide hard block has been investigated for use in TPE synthesis. While the material showed some promising behavior, many properties were still …

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 …

Enhancing Capacity And Managing Demand To Increase Short-Term Throughput On The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Kevin Reid Carstens

Master's Theses

While there are many proposals for fixing congestion between San Francisco and Oakland in California by adding a new bridge or tube, these solutions will take decades to implement even though a solution is needed now. This thesis assesses sixteen different strategies for reducing congestion in the short-term in the four categories of improving transit, promoting carpooling, implementing intelligent transportation systems practices, and incentivizing alternatives to using the Bay Bridge. Top priorities include HOV improvements on the West Grand Avenue and Powell Street onramps, altering WestCAT Lynx and BART transit services, partnering with rideshare apps to increase transit station accessibility …

Determination Of Seismic Earth Pressures On Retaining Walls Through Finite Element Analysis, Michael Iannelli

Master's Theses

Seismic pressures on displacing or rigid retaining or basement walls have been derived based on the original work of Mononobe and Okabe, who used a shake table to calculate dynamic pressures of displacing retaining walls existing in cohesionless soils. Since this original work was done over eighty years ago, the results of Mononobe and Okabe, colloquially known as M-O theory, have been applied to different conditions, including non-displacing basement walls, as well as changes in soil properties. Since the original work of M-O, there have been numerous studies completed to verify the accuracy of the original calculation, most notably the …

The Impacts Of Arterial Occlusion, Sex, And Exercise On Arteriogenesis And Functional Vasodilation, Megan Tze-Mei Chu

Master's Theses

The most frequent clinical presentation of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) is intermittent claudication, which may be caused by impaired vasodilation. Patients demonstrate both local and systemic impairments in vasodilation, but as the collateral circulation is the primary site of resistance to the ischemic zone, impaired collateral vasodilation would have the greatest potential to induce claudication. Collateral function following arterial occlusion is not well defined, but immature collaterals may demonstrate impaired vasodilation in animal models, although this is potentially improved with exercise training. Furthermore, as females exhibit poorer physical function with ischemia and less improvement with therapeutic exercise, there appears …

Assessment Of Asymmetric Flight On Solar Uas, Eric Belfield

Master's Theses

An investigation was conducted into the feasibility of using an unconventional flight technique, asymmetric flight, to improve overall efficiency of solar aircraft. In this study, asymmetric flight is defined as steady level flight in a non-wings-level state in- tended to improve solar incidence angle. By manipulating aircraft orientation through roll angle, solar energy collection is improved but aerodynamic efficiency is worsened due to the introduction of additional trim drag. A point performance model was devel- oped to investigate the trade-off between improvement in solar energy collection and additional drag associated with asymmetric flight. A mission model with a focus on …

Design, Analysis, And Simulation Of A Jitter Reduction Circuit (Jrc) System At 1ghz, Run Bin Yu

Master's Theses

The clock signal is considered as the “heartbeat” of a digital system yet jitter which is a variation on the arrival time of the clock edge, could undermine the overall performance or even cause failures on the system. Deterministic jitter could be reduced during the designing process however random jitter during operation is somehow less-controllable and unavoidable. Being able to remove jitter on the clock would therefore play a vital role in system performance improvement.

This thesis implements a 1GHz fully feedforward jitter reduction circuit (JRC) which can be used as an on-chip IP core at clock tree terminals to …