Engineering Commons^™

Gamified Machine Embroidery, Sai Rama Balakrishnan, Vince Thanh Doan

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This project aims to improve accessibility to the embroidery field by developing an application that captures the utility of a embroidery software (controlling an embroidery machine to produce embroidered output) and combines it with the playfulness of a game, to put those advanced controls in the hands of novices.

Measurement Automation & Measurement System Research Endowment, Brian Bivinetto, Beneda Loya, Shiron Bendrihem

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Road travel safety is always the most important issue in transportation systems. In general, several factors cause road accidents, such as human error, vehicle mechanical failure, roadway limitations (e.g. pavement, lane geometry, etc.), and inclement weather conditions. The major focus of today’s transportation developments is related to making highway transportation safer, smarter, and greener to enhance livability. Many accidents are caused when drivers lack a better understanding of the surrounding traffic conditions because the driver not only needs to control his/her vehicle but also needs to be aware of the movements of the vehicles around him/her. A driver cannot be …

Wearable Sensor-Based Gait And Balance In Elementary And Middle Schools, Sofie Zalatimo, Catherine Semaan

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

No abstract provided.

Understanding And Enhancing Sustainability Literacy In Cal Poly's College Of Engineering, Kenna Toohill

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This study uses survey data collected from Cal Poly students to analyze engineering students' sustainability knowledge and their perspectives on Cal Poly's efficacy in teaching concepts in sustainability. It also compares the College of Engineering to other colleges to determine if, and how, CENG is behind in environmental education at Cal Poly.

Mechanical Properties Of Polymer Matrix Nanocomposites Reinforced With Varying Carbon Nanotube Geometries, Ethan Gaigalas, Zoe Kelemen

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This study serves as part of an introduction to nanocomposite research at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and attempts to form an observational comparison between the performance of various CNT-Epoxy nanocomposites under drop weight testing. As a continuation of research on CNT-Epoxy nanocomposites, this study specifies three geometries of Multi-walled carbon nanotubes: straight (MWSCNTs), helical (MWHCNTs), and OH-functionalized straight (FMWSCNTs); and it compares their impact resistances to neat epoxy samples. Based on the total number of failed samples under a normalized impact energy of 0.335J/mm, it is observed that FMWSCNTs increase the impact resistance of Epoxy panels at …

Significance Of Noninvasive Endothelial Dysfunction And Other Cardiovascular Measurements In Various Communities, Sofi Z. David, Lily Wilcox, Kalia Richard

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This pilot study aims to raise awareness of endothelial dysfunction in underrepresented communities, where cardiovascular disease is prevalent. By delivering educational presentations and materials, the study seeks to increase participants' understanding and interest in endothelial dysfunction, potentially leading to proactive health behaviors. The results will inform future initiatives to enhance public knowledge and reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in these communities.

In the future, there will also be a 3 vs 5-minute hyperemia study. Thirty participants without a history of cardiovascular disease will undergo testing using the Cordex SmartCuff™ device. If the three-minute hold proves to accurately measure endothelial …

Sal-E: Responsive Space Pathfinder Mission, Liam Duckworth, Berfredd Quezon

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

The main objective of the SAL-E mission is to grow the Cal Poly CubeSat Lab’s (PolySat) capabilities in rapid spacecraft design, as well as to provide the current generation of students with the opportunity to design, test, integrate, and communicate with a satellite. This summer we will be focusing on a few aspects of the spacecraft design and preparing our test facilities for Fall. Specifically, we will be ordering electronics boards that were designed in Spring, testing the boards as they arrive, developing software to interface with the payloads, begin integrated testing, updating the control system in our thermal vacuum …

Ai Integration For Intellisar, Eric Lee

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

IntelliSAR aims to integrate AI techniques into Search and Rescue (SAR) operations, building on the foundation laid by previous SURP initiatives. IntelliSAR’s core elements include a front-end for SAR forms, a comprehensive command center dashboard, and AI-driven components designed to enhance SAR decision-making. During summer, our efforts focused on streamlining the user interface by integrating various machine learning models into a unified, interactive dashboard. Our models predict critical factors such as missing persons’ behavior, potential locations, and resource requirements, with the goal of optimizing response times and improving the effectiveness of SAR teams.

Computer Vision In A Robotic Arm, Jack Maxwell

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

We used a machine learning-based object detection algorithm to give a robotic arm the ability to "see" with its camera.

Machine Learning-Based Stress Detection Using Smartphones And Wearable Sensors, Robert Burns, Kassandra Martinez-Mejia

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Stress and mental health have been considered increasing global concerns in modern society, including some of the illnesses responsible for a large proportion of comorbidities and deaths worldwide, such as depression and cardiovascular disease. Recently, smartphones, smartwatches, and smart wristbands have become an integral part of our lives and have reached widespread usage [1]. This raised the question of whether we can detect and prevent stress with smartphones and wearable sensors wirelessly. The challenge of such an approach is that the weak ECG signal is prone to errors, and the battery life of the smart devices is limited. In this …

Exploring Human Responses In Conversations With Ai Entities, Phillip Semenov, Miguel Coronado

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This study argues that while AI systems have become increasingly advanced, they still evoke distinct emotional responses compared to human interactions, potentially limiting their effectiveness in emotionally-driven environments. We used the Emotiv Insight brain-computer interface to monitor participants' emotional responses during controlled interactions with both AI systems and other humans. Key emotional metrics, such as arousal, focus, and stress, were recorded in real time, providing a detailed picture of the emotional dynamics at play in each type of interaction. Participants exhibited higher levels of excitement, stress, and focus during interactions with humans compared to AI systems, while other emotions like …

Computational Modeling Of High Yttrium Refractory High Entropy Alloy Microstructures, Kaleb C. Ryan, Marissa M. Baker

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Refractory high entropy alloys (RHEAs) are advanced metals made up of five or more principal elements in roughly equal amounts. The microstructural effects of alloying with yttrium as a principal element for RHEAs are currently not well understood. This project compared RHEA microstructures from literature with simulations using the High Entropy Alloy Predicting Software (HEAPS), which computes 10 screening criteria to predict the microstructure of a RHEA composition. The accuracy of HEAPS predictions was assessed by comparing them with experimentally validated microstructures found in literature. A combination of criteria was found to have a 95.8% accuracy rate, and a new …

Wearable Sensing Systems And Data Analytics For Pressure Sensing Socket Prostheses, Stacey Le, Mio Nakagawa

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Prosthetics have been widely used as the primary solution for lower limb amputations, but residual limb volume fluctuations have posed challenges to the effectiveness and comfortability of these devices. In this project, we aim to observe pressure distribution patterns in the prosthetic socket during gait using sensing technology and investigate the performance of different machine learning algorithms on determining good or bad fit.

Deep-Learning Based Microstructure Reconstruction And Generation, Cameron J. Maloney, Lucas Taliaferro

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Characterizing the microstructural behavior of materials is crucial for understanding their properties and performance. Traditional imaging methods, such as optical microscopy and electron microscopy, are effective but costly and time-consuming. Computational approaches can reduce costs and time while expanding the accessibility of microstructural analysis through the generation of new microstructure images. Traditional computational approaches, namely descriptor-based approaches, are slow but effective in low-data scenarios. Modern approaches use machine learning (ML), which is faster but often requires a lot of data to approach the performance of descriptor-based methods. This research leverages a special data-efficient Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) architecture to artificially …

Surrogate Models For Stress-Strain Mapping Of Microscale Physics, Samuel Roach, Dr. Eric Ocegueda

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

•Learn the difference between different neural networks within machine learning (ML) •Develop a working understanding of the ML tool Pytorch and machine learning operator: Recurrent Neural Operator •Use MATLAB to create and process time dependent stress/strain matrices to display the hyper-parameters for different RNOs •Apply RNO to train the strain-stress mapping of tri-laminate and granular cases

Attitude Control Of A Flexible Flapping Wing Uav Based On Fuzzy Logic, Reed M. Paulson, Tyson Chen, Diego Del Real, Nico Morrison

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This project revolves around creating an a attitude controller for a hovering flexible flapping wing UAV that is based on a flying hummingbird. We based our model from a paper by Banazadeh and Taymourtash1 , First replicating the open-loop results using the nonlinear dynamic model and the equations of motion (seen below) while considering aerodynamic loads. Once replicated, we then used fuzzy logic to model the dynamic model. Subsequently, we designed a fuzzy controller to stabilize the hovering mode. We then considered and detailed future work needed to make further progress in this area.

Exploration Of Esp32 Vulnerabilities And Malware, Charles T. Moreno

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

The rapid expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionized industries by enabling connected smart devices to monitor, communicate, and automate tasks in real-time. Central to the functioning of many IoT systems are microcontrollers like the ESP32, a versatile and low-cost microcontroller known for its integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities. The ESP32's powerful processing, energy efficiency, and adaptability make it a popular choice for IoT applications ranging from smart home devices to industrial automation. However, as IoT adoption grows, so too do the security challenges posed by vulnerabilities in these devices, particularly within ESP32-based systems. For this project, I …

Seismic Resilience Of Timber Homes, Melia R. Costa

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

The vast majority of residential buildings in California are wood-frame structures. A home is typically a very large investment for families, and damage to the home can be detrimental to a family’s economic success. Thus, reducing the economic impacts of an earthquake on residential timber housing is crucial. A full scale, two-story section of a residential timber house is in construction in the Parson’s Geotechnical and Earthquake Engineering Laboratory on the Cal Poly campus in San Luis Obispo, California. Once built it will be put through earthquake simulation tests on a shake table with various magnitudes of seismic activity. Next, …

Drive To Succeed: Empowering Underserved Communities Through Autonomous Driving Education, Amanda I. Chan

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Autonomous vehicle (AV) technology represents the leading edge of innovation in transportation and holds immense potential to transform industries across the globe, with California at the forefront. However, access to education and technical training in this field has often been out of reach for students in underserved communities. The “Drive to Succeed” project endeavors to bridge this gap by introducing autonomous driving technology to high school students in communities where access has traditionally been limited. We propose an outreach program specifically designed to address the underrepresentation of marginalized groups in technology sectors and cultivate the next generation of engineers from …

Distributed Multi-Robot Localization And Coordination Framework For Mobile Robots, Dmitri Dobrynin, Indigo T. Garcia

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This project aims to develop an experimental framework for multiple mobile robots, both in simulation and real-world hardware, using ROS 2 as the primary operating system. Utilizing TurtleBot 3 platforms, the team will establish a robust setup that enables tasks such as distributed localization, autonomous navigation, path planning, and formation control for mobile robots. Leveraging simulation environments like Gazebo, the project will replicate real-world setups in a simulated environment for testing and development. All tasks, communication, and sensor integration will be implemented using ROS 2, ensuring seamless coordination and interoperability among the robots. The project involves integrating various sensors and …

Design Of Ballistics Armor Using Additive Manufacturing Of Kevlar Composites, Jedidiah D. Jimenez, Roha Y. Ali, Jack C. Bride

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This project evaluates the effectiveness of various geometries created using advanced additive manufacturing (AM) of Kevlar fiber, chopped carbon fiber-reinforced filament for ballistic protection applications. This study expands on sandwich panel designs with woven Kevlar face sheets and investigates an optimal fiber reinforced filament core structure design. A unit cell workflow was developed in nTop to take advantage of its custom cell modeling and FEA capabilities. Unit cell types were simulated and tested from the hexagonal honeycomb, gyroid TPMS, and re-entrant auxetic cell families. Core structure thickness and cell size were additive manufacturing parameters that were varied to assess the …

Editorial: Novel Computational Fluid Dynamics Methods For Diagnosis, Monitoring, Prediction, And Personalized Treatment For Cardiovascular Disease And Cancer Metastasis, Zahra Keshavarz Motamed, Nima Maftoon, Lakshmi Prasad Dasi, John F. Ladisa Jr.

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Engineering Ceramic Ductility Into Aluminum Oxide, Krish Bhuva

Holster Scholar Projects

This project explores the enhancement of ductility in Aluminum Oxide (Al₂O₃) ceramics through microstructural engineering. The goal is to combine the hardness and stability of Al₂O₃ with enhanced ductility for diverse industrial applications. Inspired by the naturally occurring Itacolumite rock, known for its complex microstructure, this research aims to replicate similar microstructural features in engineering ceramics. By doping Al₂O₃ with Titanium Dioxide (TiO₂), Boron Nitride (BN), and a pore former, while employing innovative sintering techniques, we hypothesize that these modifications will lead to a measurable increase in ductility. Despite early challenges in achieving homogeneity in sintering, promising results were observed …

Importance Sampling To Learn Vasopressor Dosage To Optimize Patient Mortality In An Interpretable Manner, Anshul Rastogi

Holster Scholar Projects

Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction resulting from an improperly compensated bodily response to infection. There is a high urgency among clinicians to develop a set of real-time explainable treatment guidelines and tools to address the high mortality rate of sepsis patients. We present a reinforcement learning approach for vasopressor drug dosage in intensive care unit sepsis patients to achieve a better-than-expert treatment policy. We preserved interpretability with a prototype learning layer and learn actions in an off-policy manner with importance sampling. We evaluated our design on the MIMIC-IV deidentified electronic health record dataset with an 80%-20% training-validation split for …

Assessing Safety Culture: Lessons From The Aviation Industry, Mirrette Gendi, Cheri L. Marcham, Michael O'Toole

Publications

SAFETY CULTURE has been a topic of debate in academia as much as it has been in the practice of various industries (Zohar, 2010). Although the concept and definition of safety culture and what it entails have consumed much of the debate, the assessment of safety culture has been the most controversial. Yet, on the academic level, the topic of monitoring and measuring safety culture has seen limited research that offers reliable and valid assessment tools (Goodheart & Smith, 2014), especially when compared to the importance of safety culture as a component of a safety management system (SMS).

Feasibility Of Creating A Non-Profit And Nongovernmental Organization Cybersecurity Incident Dataset Repository Using Osint, Stanley Mierzwa, Iassen Christov

Center for Cybersecurity

Organizations of all types are prone to cybersecurity and information security attacks. Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are not exempt from using information technology solutions and, thus, have been the recipient victims of cyber attackers. There exist many areas and venues where data are collected to report back annually on the status and numbers of cybersecurity attacks against many sectors of our society. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) catalogs sixteen critical sectors that are considered vital to the United States. However, finding where the NPO and NGO community should reside with …

Utilizing A Virtual Firewall Appliance For Introducing And Reinforcing The Concepts And Implementation Of Devices To Improve Security In A Computing Environment, Stanley Mierzwa, Christopher Eng

Center for Cybersecurity

The educational realm of higher education cybersecurity curriculum continues to evolve to provide more opportunities for experiential hands-on and work role-related practical applications of technology solutions. Gaining more excellent competencies is quickly becoming a standard requirement for programs with the National Security Agency Center of Academic Excellence designation. The work roles of cybersecurity include a variety of knowledge, skills, and abilities, depending on the activity category or task. Firewalls have been a staple cybersecurity, network security, and information security device and strategy to protect organization networks and computing environments. This paper will provide details and a description of the effort …

Verification And Validation Of Modeling Of Fluid–Solid Interaction In Explosion-Resistant Designs Using Material Point Method, Mohammed H. Saffarini, Zhen Chen, Ahmed Elbelbisi, Hani Salim, Kyle A. Perry, Andrew L. Bowman, Stephen D. Robert

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Verifying and validating explosion-resistant design models are challenging tasks due to the difficulties in accurately capturing the failure evolution within a setup influenced by the combined effects of fluid–solid interactions (FSI), blast waves, fragmentation, and impact. Curtain wall system, as a key structural component, is widely used in various types of buildings for its aesthetic appeal and weather protection. Hence, optimizing the explosion-resistance of such systems is necessary to improve building safety. In this work, we develop computational procedures that can be used to enhance the design of blast-resistant structures. This paper focuses on studying a representative component (e.g., window …

Carbon Fiber And Carbon Fiber Composites—Creating Defects For Superior Material Properties, Ashis Sutradhar Nitai, Tonny Chowdhury, Md Nafis Inam, Md Saifur Rahman, Md Ibrahim H. Mondal, M. A.H. Johir, Volker Hessel, Islam Md Rizwanul Fattah, Md Abul Kalam, Wafa Ali Suwaileh, John L. Zhou, Masoumeh Zargar, Mohammad Boshir Ahmed

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Recent years have seen a rise in the use of carbon fiber (CF) and its composite applications in several high-tech industries, such as the design of biomedical sensor components, 3D virtual process networks in automotive and aerospace parts, and artificial materials or electrodes for energy storage batteries. Since pristine CF have limited properties, their properties are often modified through a range of technologies, such as laser surface treatment, electron-beam irradiation grafting, plasma or chemical treatments, electrophoretic deposition, carbonization, spinning-solution or melt, electrospinning, and sol–gel, to greatly improve their properties and performance. These procedures cause faulty structures to emerge in CF. …

Harnessing The Power Of Hollow Zein Nanoparticles For Enhanced Antifouling And Heavy Metal Removal Of Polyethersulfone Membranes, Farzan Esmali, Mohadeseh Najafi Arani, Elsie Betmoushoul, Masoumeh Zargar, Khalil Farhadi, Vahid Javan Kouzegaran, Rahim Molaei, Yaghoub Mansourpanah

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study explores the physicochemical characteristics of an innovative mixed matrix membrane made from polyethersulfone (PES) and hollow Zein nanoparticles (HZNs), which are derived from the corn storage protein, Zein. HZNs, with a mean diameter of 40 nm, were applied to address the challenges associated with metal and inorganic nanoparticles, such as their tendency to accumulate unevenly on the membrane surface. The membranes were fabricated by incorporating varying concentrations of HZNs into the PES casting solution through the nonsolvent phase separation method. The addition of HZNs enhanced the hydrophilicity and pure water flux of the membranes. It also modified the …