Engineering Commons^™

Skin Phantom Development For Electrophysiological Wearable Device Testing, Rohan Sodha, Kiet Vu, Jonathan Nguy

Bioengineering Senior Theses

This senior design project aimed to develop a skin phantom suitable for testing electrophysiological wearable devices. Our skin phantom consisted of a porous paper PDMS as the epithelial layer, initially paired with agarose gel as the tissue layer, and later with gelatin based on comparative analysis. Through rigorous experimentation and leveraging data from the IT’IS Foundation’s interactive database, we identified that gelatin exhibited superior electrical properties compared to agarose, making it a more effective medium for replicating human tissue. Our work not only validated the use of paper PDMS with both agarose and gelatin but also demonstrated that gelatin's lower …

Development Of Bamboo Connections With Iteso Universisdad In Guadalajara, Mexico, Turner Uyeda

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

In years prior, faculty and students at ITESO Universidad in Guadalajara, Mexico, have worked with local low-income communities in the development of bamboo structural end-to-end connections. To advance and expand on this bamboo structural research, faculty from ITESO reached out to Santa Clara University’s Frugal Innovation Hub to get a new perspective on the problem. With the given constraints of cost and strength, the engineer was otherwise free to explore solutions independently. In order to address the needs of the low-income community that ITESO faculty sought to help, a series of bamboo connections making use of bamboo culm end modifications …

Designing Embedded Systems With Large Language Models, Keeshan Rama, Paul Truong

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

AI has become increasingly involved in many development, research, and education facets. Tools have been made available to lend help in almost every field imaginable. From students asking for homework help on ChatGPT (GPT) to full-stack AI developers with Devin, the future of generative AI tools is now. Large language models (LLMs) have been developed for a breadth of applications and this is just the beginning. The main functionality this research is focused on is ChatGPT’s ability to code, specifically on FPGA boards in Verilog. As generative AI such as ChatGPT becomes more powerful and sophisticated, people should learn how …

Hardware Software Co-Design Of Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument Of Knowledge, Dev Shah, Allen Chellasamy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-interactive Argument of Knowledge (zk-SNARK) is an important security verification protocol in cryptography. However, zk-SNARK is a computationally expensive protocol in software, meaning that it takes a lot of time. In this paper, we focus on how we can increase the efficiency of the zk-SNARK protocol. The zk-SNARK protocol comprises of many algorithms put together. Our project focuses on optimizing one specific algorithm within the zk-SNARK protocol, the Number Theoretic Transform (NTT). We developed a hardware implementation of the NTT on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) board. To ensure the proper execution of the hardware, an external …

Enhancing Rotating Machinery Fault Diagnosis: A Dual-Head Attention Mechanism In Deep Learning Neural Networks, Qing Snyder

Dissertations

Rotating machinery is crucial to production efficiency and safety in manufacturing industries for an extended time. Ensuring machinery reliability necessitates effective diagnostic systems, particularly for rotating bearings, the key components of such equipment. Fault diagnosis in rotating machinery is essential to prevent failures and minimize downtime, thereby playing an important role in industrial operations. The application of advanced neural network techniques in industry has risen recently. Among these, attention-based neural networks, especially the Transformer models, are originally noteworthy for their sequential data handling capability. This research delves into attention-based algorithms for rotating machinery fault diagnosis, signifying a substantial advancement in …

Calculaser S.A. - Colombian Medical Clinic, Aaron Bumagat, Cody Ferguson, Daniela Valencia-London, Joell Macias

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

This report presents a comprehensive ground up design for the Calculaser S.A. medical clinic, located in Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia. The clinic contributes to providing affordable and comprehensive preventative healthcare services, bridging regional disparities and catering to individuals who may face limitations in accessing certain medical facilities. Calculaser aligns with the goal of fostering a more inclusive and accessible healthcare environment, striving to enhance the well-being of the surrounding population.

The design provided in this report will include three (3) main scopes: transportation & municipal, structural, and construction management. The transportation scope covers a configuration of the proposed parking garage, an …

Solar Panel Canopies Over Central Valley Canals, Danial Garcia, Sam Loeffler, Luke Shoenberger, Thomas Vithanage

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

California's agricultural presence is undeniably as impressive as it is important, but there is an ongoing significant challenge that the irrigation systems have grappled with: evaporation loss. Annually, a tremendous 63 billion gallons of water is lost due to evaporation along 4,000 miles of canals within California (source). In response to this issue, a new initiative emerged which is the implementation of solar panel over a section of the irrigation canals near Kettleman City. The team's structure is constructed using a steel cable truss along a 164 foot span. This structure both decreases evaporation and contributes to California's mission to …

Sustainable Design And Construction With Cob, Alessandro Moya, Bailey Mclaughlin, Maddie Ly, Quinn Boardman

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

Conventional building materials contribute to over 16% of global greenhouse gas emissions annually, therefore, more sustainable materials must be explored. The most readily available material is earth, cob being one of them. Cob is a monolithic earthen material made up of sand, clay, and straw, integrated using water. While this material has been used for thousands of years across the world, it is lacking research, and thus, limiting its implementation into official codes. This project tested six (6) 2’x 2’ cob walls, three (3) six (6) inch thick walls and three (3) twelve (12) inch thick walls using the ASTM …

Standardized Sustainable Rapid Housing Design, Octavio Diaz, Ernesto Escalante, Lily Sieber

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

DignityMoves is an organization committed to providing interim supportive housing to the unhoused population. DignityMoves partners with philanthropic organizations, owners, and cities to borrow unused and empty lands for anywhere from five (5) to twenty (20) years and organize the development of sites using prefabricated modular tiny homes. These homes meet housing department codes and standards while also allowing DignityMoves to capitalize on city emergency housing codes.

The goal of this project is to address the structural, geotechnical, greywater, building envelope, and construction management scopes of building interim supportive housing sites to create standardized solutions that:

(a) Lower the cost …

Impact-Reducing Prosthetic Liner With Variable Volume & Integrated Haptic Feedback, Luke Brothers, Gigi Schaefer, Zoe Straughn

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Transtibial amputees face challenges such as loss of proprioception and fluctuations in the size and composition of their residual limb, which can compromise comfort and mobility. This project aims to create a transtibial impact-reducing liner combined with integrated haptic feedback to enhance comfort and restore proprioceptive senses. The impact-reducing liner includes impact reduction over pressure-intolerant regions, impact redistribution over pressure-tolerant regions, and a variable volume system that dynamically adjusts to changes in the residual limb’s volume throughout the day. The haptic feedback system employs force-sensitive resistors located on various regions of the prosthetic foot. These sensors transmit via Bluetooth to …

Nuerogen: Eeg And Near-Infared Stimulation Control System, Michael Kreienkamp, Olivia Mcconaghy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

People suffering from neurodegenerative diseases need a viable option to help slow the progression of their symptoms and improve remaining cognitive function because brain problems can greatly limit basic body function such as balance, movement, talking, breathing, and heart function which steadily declines quality of life. Transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) is an experimental treatment that has shown promise in helping slow or stop the progression of neurodegenerative diseases.

This year, we were able to extend the preliminary exploratory work of the senior design groups from the past two years and build upon it to make a more flexible and reliable research …

Dunne Hall Redesign, Isabel Andaya, Rianna Maulino, Jason Uechi

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

As Santa Clara University expands its community, more on-campus residence halls are needed to support the growing student population. Constructing brand new residence halls using traditional framing could take months or years, interrupting the academic environment and campus aesthetic. This demands technology that can speed up construction time. A proposed solution is to use modular construction, or construction that is partially or fully assembled before it is delivered to site. This paper will explore the feasibility of using modular construction to build a residence hall within a three (3) month summer quarter, when campus is less active and less student …

Design Of Sustainable & Affordable Housing For Disadvantaged Communities In Nicaragua, Guillermo Terán

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

Addressing Nicaragua's urgent housing needs, this project transforms a conventional CMU block design into a sustainable and affordable model using local, structural bamboo and adobe plaster. It includes appropriate member size connections, local-code compliant construction drawings, cost estimation and logistics, offering an eco-friendly, affordable housing solution for local communities. The scope of this project can be emphasized with the three words from the project title which are design, sustainable & affordable. The design aspect of this project involved producing detailed architectural and engineering drawings for the housing model, incorporating structural design to ensure the safety, stability and durability of the …

Sheep Camp Creek Low-Water Crossing Redesign, Alex Avila

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) owns a biohabitat restoration site in Sunol, California titled the Sheep Camp Creek Biohabitat Restoration Site. The goal of this site is to provide habitat to endangered species and improve the environmental benefits of the area. The site is split in half by the main basin stream, which was sectioned-off as part of the restoration efforts. Three cattle crossings are still present on-site, however, to facilitate travel between either side of the site. The most downstream crossing present on-site, however, has seen detrimental erosive effects as a result of major storms that have …

Toward Improved Shared Micromobility Implementation: A Data-Driven Approach To Overcome Challenges And Explore Next-Generation Acceptance, Myriam Zakhem

Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Rapid transportation advancements over the last several years have resulted in new personal mobility modes, such as shared micromobility (e.g., e-scooters, bikes, and e-bikes). These short-term rental vehicles expand transportation mobility by offering affordable, convenient, and efficient options that are easy to access. The rapid expansion of dockless micromobility systems presents major opportunities and challenges for cities, leading some to ban these services within their jurisdiction. To enhance the effectiveness of dockless shared micromobility services, address challenges created by these services, and achieve better implementation performance, cities need efficacious strategies to tackle major challenges. This dissertation contributes to the body …

Transport Of Multi-Phase Multi-Component Fluids In The Shallow Subsurface Influenced By Soil And Surface Boundary Conditions: Experimental And Numerical Study With Application To Natural Gas Leakage, Navodi Jayarathne

Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations

With the increased use of Natural Gas (NG) as a source of fuel, underground leak-related events are increasingly reported, and some are fatal. Subsurface migration and development up to flammable limits are highly dependent on leak characteristics, soil, atmospheric variables, and other surface and subsurface structural complexities. Although few studies have characterized the transient behavior of leaked NG in the shallow subsurface, the underlying mechanisms and their interactions are not well understood, which prevents prediction of the impact of environmental and operating conditions on gas migration. The study conducted a series of field scale-controlled release experiments and numerical simulations to …

The Dynamic Response And Damage Evolution Of High-Strength Concrete, Mohamed Abbas

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

Concrete stands as the most extensively used construction material in both military and civil structural applications, attributed to its excellent durability and high impact resistance. Over the years, high-strength concrete (HSC) has evolved to withstand higher compressive strengths, making it a viable substitute for conventional concrete (CC) in many applications. Hence, HSC is commonly used for structures and structural elements that are exposed to extreme loading conditions such as hurricanes, wave impacts, ship-bridge collisions, explosions, earthquake loads, etc. The mechanical response of concrete subjected to dynamic loading conditions differs dramatically from its response under quasi-static conditions due to its inherent …

Redesign Of Robotic Walking Training Device To Involve Zero Gravity Capabilities And Daily Activities, Chad Ballard

Mechanical Engineering Theses

Many patients struggle with disabilities that hinder their ability to walk. This project aimed to create a leg assembly capable of variable gravity so that it could be combined with a Robotic Walking Training Device, and lead to better rehabilitation options for patients. This was accomplished by deriving equations of joint torque, creating circuit diagrams for Arduino systems, modeling leg assemblies in CAD, and finally combining it to create a working small-scale prototype. The result of the prototype testing showed accurate movement on each joint, especially the ankle and knee segments, to create virtual zero gravity. In addition to this, …

Removable Equipment Climate Canopy, Jessica Perez, Sabine Heid, Zil Panchal, Anali Salazar

Mechanical Engineering

The Climate Canopy Project has developed an improved solution for creating an adjustable shade mechanism tailored specifically for users of pull walkers. Through extensive research, goal setting, and a comprehensive framework our project has examined the challenges faced by individuals who rely on walkers for mobility. Our stakeholder requires a product that is lightweight, removable, and compact. This study dissected the designs of previous products on the market and aimed to build a product that aligns with our sponsor’s desires.

This report presents the main goals for the design and manufacturing process, along with key design features utilized to produce …

Automated Fabrication Workcell, Kira Hofelmann, Amy Kiyama, Alexander Torres, Cameron Mcginnis, Samuel Lim

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

There is a rise of automation in the workplace, everywhere from automated manufacturing to biomedical fields, and more. These technologies are becoming increasingly accessible for customers to use and explore. Going into this project, we were curious to see if automation could be brought into our University, and applied to the Maker space. Furthermore, as these technologies are becoming more readily available, they remain fairly costly. Thus, we have created a functioning, small-scale workcell that produces a variety of small products in large batches while remaining low cost, reliable, and accessible to those who want to learn more and create …

Assistive Mobile Manipulator For People With Limited Mobility, Matthew Tognotti

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

This project develops a robotic system that allows a mobile manipulator to help individuals with mobility limitations perform daily tasks. The primary goal is to enhance independence by enabling users to retrieve items necessary for daily routines, such as preparing for work or school. The system allows users to interact with the robot using structured voice commands and uses a rule-based approach so that the robot can learn tasks to be repeated in future interactions. An experimental setup is developed to evaluate the proposed system in a pilot study of 10 adult participants. The preliminary results from the pilot study …

Mechanistic Empirical Design Of Flexible Pavements For Biopolymer Treated Soils, Vishweshwaran M

Theses and Dissertations

Cognizing the contamination effects of chemical soil modifiers on soil and groundwater, the assessment of the ability of biopolymers to improve the engineering properties of soils has gained attention in the last decade. As a soil additive, biopolymers have the potential to solve the trilemma of sustainability, price and soil suitability. Two polysaccharides and two protein biopolymers have been adopted in this study to enhance the geotechnical properties of fine-grained soils.

Design thickness catalogues were developed for a three-layered flexible pavement using 3D finite element analysis (FEA) and layered elastic analysis. The catalogue aims to provide structurally reliable thickness values …

The Elements Of Governance And Their Association With Aviation Safety Oversight Effectiveness, João Souza Dias Garcia

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

States and their respective national civil aviation authorities promote the improvement of the global civil aviation system by developing and enforcing safety regulations for aircraft design, operations, personnel training, infrastructure, and air traffic management, among other topics. For many years, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has driven the continuous improvement of states’ safety oversight functions, supporting them in evaluating the effectiveness of these functions by conducting audits under the Organization’s Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP). While the benefits of these assessments have been broadly recognized, scholarly literature on the factors commonly associated with safety oversight effectiveness across states …

Impacts Of Space Launch Operations On Florida East Coast Airspace Users, Sakurako Kuba

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

With an increasing number of space flight operations in the United States, space flight integration into the National Airspace System (NAS) is a pertinent area of research so safe and efficient operations in NextGen airspace can be achieved. The currently implemented procedure for Florida east coast launches temporarily closes the airspace to keep all air traffic operations out of the launch trajectory and potential hazard areas to maintain the safety of air traffic and space vehicles. This results in the flight deviation from the shortest flight route, leading to extended flight distance, prolonged flight time, and extra fuel burn. This …

Development Of Eagle3d Solver For Wall Modeled Les Of Transonic Flows, Spencer Moore

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Wall modeled Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is an area of interest due to its ability to lower computational costs of LES simulation. Even with the application of wall models, LES still proves to have practicality issues when it comes to use in industry, due to the expertise, time, and computational resources required to get results. A case described by an axisymmetric transonic bump is explored utilizing the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Universities in house unstructured finite volume multi-element CFD code, Eagle3D. Eagle3D, has been brought to the state of the art and validated against current research using this transonic bump case as …

Low Cost Magnetometer Calibration And Distributed Simultaneous Multipoint Ionospheric Measurements From A Sounding Rocket Platform, Joshua W. Milford

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Low-cost and low-size-weight-and-power (SWaP) magnetometers can provide greater accessibility for distributed simultaneous measurements in the ionosphere, either onboard sounding rockets or on CubeSats. The Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Laboratory (SAIL) at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has launched a multitude of sounding rockets in recent history: one night-time mid-latitude rocket from Wallops Flight Facility in August 2022 and three mid-latitude rockets from White Sands Missile Range during the October 2023 annular solar eclipse. All rockets had a comprehensive suite of instruments for electrodynamics and neutral dynamics measurements. Among this suite was one science-grade three-axis fluxgate magnetometer (Billingsley TFM65VQS / TFM100G2) and up …

Distributed Adaptive Control Methods For Uncertain Multiagent Systems With Coupled Dynamics, Islam Aly

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

For a multiagent system, a major challenge is achieving overall system stability and performance in the presence of not only uncertainties but also coupled dynamics. Another challenge for these systems is designing distributed adaptive controllers with user-assigned positions in this case and defining the convergence rate of the reference model for each agent using only local (i.e., agent-based) information. Discrete-time architectures have an advantage over their continuous counterparts as they can be directly executed on embedded hardware without the need for discretization. Yet, because of the difficulty of ensuring Lyapunov difference expressions, their designs, which are based on quadratic Lyapunov-based …

Emergent Themes Of Operational Safety At Urban Air Mobility At Vertiports: The Stakeholder Perspective, Tracy Leigh Lamb

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The emerging urban air mobility (UAM) industry is dynamic, complex, and still highly conceptual, as vertiports are not currently an operational reality in the United States. The UAM vertiport is at the epicenter of the emerging advanced aviation ecosystem, representing significant operating costs of approximately $130 million per year and more than that to design, develop, and implement. In addition to setting up and operating capital, there are considerable challenges relating to the safe design, development location, and operation of UAM vertiports, representing the confluence of human and autonomous systems, whose interdependence is not yet fully understood. UAM vertiport stakeholders …

Indentation Protection Of Lithium-Ion Batteries Using Woven Fiber Metal Laminates, Sida Xu

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Lithium-ion batteries are widely used as electric power sources for smartphones, tablets, laptops, e-scooters, unmanned aerial vehicles, aircraft, electric vehicles, airport equipment, and numerous other transportable electronic devices. When these types of batteries get excessively loaded, damage can occur. To study the effects of excessive damage, lithium-ion battery modules with prismatic cells were subjected to destructive quasi-static indentation using a V-shaped stainless steel wedge indenter at different loading orientations, directions, and rates. The modules were discharged to a very low state of charge prior to testing. Force and voltage were measured as a function of displacement to monitor the damaging …

Conceptual Design Methodology For The Fan-In-Wing Vtol Aircraft, Brock Steinfeldt

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The Fan-In-Wing (FIW) aircraft concept is one of the most compelling solutions for missions demanding jet-like cruise speeds and Vertical TakeOff and Landing (VTOL) capability. However, despite years of interest and documented improvements in lift-fan technology, there exists little in the way of an adequate theory for conceptual design of a fan-in-wing aircraft. To address this issue, a general conceptual design methodology has been developed as a source of guidance for the FIW designer. Through this work, the top-level requirements ranking the fan-in-wing concept above other VTOL aircraft have been defined, while a cross-comparison between the FIW concept and conventional …