Engineering Commons^™

Preconstruction Services For The Modular House, Trevor Daniel Houghton

Construction Management

The "Modular House", originally named for its composition of 8x8x8 foot steel framed modules, has experienced a rich history of tenants, additions, and tourism. This structure was one of the first to be erected in California Polytechnic’s Poly Canyon. After many great years as a residence and iconic structure the house was ultimately abandoned in 2010. Since then, the building and the canyon have seen increased vandalism and weathering backed by minimal maintenance, resulting in unsafe conditions for the general public. Our mission was to allow this structure to be enjoyed by the public while highlighting its initial architectural features. …

Montgomery High School Baseball Clubhouse Expansion, Armando Ramirez

Construction Management

After graduating from Montgomery High School (MOH) in 2013, I knew that I wanted to give back when the opportunity was given. More specifically, I hoped to help the baseball team. Throughout my years playing baseball at MOH, the coaches and players constantly expressed interest in expanding the clubhouse as it was deemed too small and uncomfortable. After the first meeting with the owner, Coach Hermosillo, a budget was established and preliminary design ideas were brought up. It was important for him to implement the feedback given from the current players. After several meetings and different iterations of the expanded …

Quality Assurance In The Buyout Phase Of The Commercial Sector Of San Francisco, Stephen Chase Johnson

Construction Management

The “buyout” phase in terms of construction management is a transitional phase in construction that is integral to the overall success to a construction project. When done properly it can lead to a smooth and efficient construction phase, and if done poorly can lead to major setbacks of all variety. Quality Assurance measures are a great way to ensure that this process is done in a complete way so as to avoid the negative effects of a poorly executed project buyout. As technologies such as BIM (Building Information Modeling) grow the buyout process has become more involved and exact. Technologies …

Building A Solar Farm On A Rolling Landscape: A Case Study, Jakob Riley Schork

Construction Management

The well-being of the environment in the United States is becoming dependent on a change from unreliable and scarce resources such as coal as a means to generate electricity to a more eco-friendly and abundant source. Solar farms provide the opportunity to generate electricity with no effect on global warming, no environmentally hazardous emissions, and are not affected by the fluctuating costs of fuel. One construction company in particular has noticed this as not only a terrific opportunity to improve the nations’ environmental footprint, but also as a tremendous business opportunity; Swinerton. Swinerton recently developed a renewable energy division that …

The Differences Between Cpm And Resource-Loaded Scheduling And How They Applied To The Martinez Tesoro Refinery Flare Header Replacement Project, Connor Steven Carone

Construction Management

A case study was conducted to analyze the scheduling challenges faced on a refinery construction project in Martinez, California. The main issues on the project were complications experienced by the general contractor in fulfilling a requirement to produce a resource-loaded schedule. Unable to create one, a CPM schedule was produced instead. Research on the differences between a CPM and resource-loaded schedule was conducted in order to uncover how they applied to the refinery project. The most significant differences between the two scheduling methodologies is that a CPM assumes infinite capacity, while resource loading recognizes that resources have finite limits in …

A Case Study: Project Scheduling On Quick Serve Tenant Improvement Projects, Robert M. Malone

Construction Management

Scheduling is the basis for nearly all construction planning. For small tenant improvement projects, time is often of the essence. However, often times the project’s schedule is not closely followed, monitored, or updated. Discovering why the project’s schedule has not been followed, monitored, or updated will illuminate potential ways to improve the efficiency of planning and managing a quick serve construction project. This report will provide this information through a series of indepth interviews, as well as, observations from a three McDonald’s tenant improvement projects on the California Central Coast. From these interviews, the interviewee’s perspective of the project’s progress …

Football Stadium To Rodeo Venue: The Process. A Case Study At Cal Poly, Hunter L. Reaume

Construction Management

This paper is a reflection of the construction process concerning Cal Poly’s 77th Poly Royal Rodeo in Alex G. Spanos Stadium. The paper is an overview of how the project came about, the process of planning, new knowledge, deliverables, lessons learned, and how the experience applies to working in the construction industry. April 5-9, 2017 was the execution of a monumental process. 40,000SF of filter fabric, 2 semi loads (1500 sheets) of plywood, and 200 truckloads of dirt were laid on the live grass of Spanos Stadium to set the stage for a rodeo production unlike most people see in …

South Bay Fire Department: Back Deck, Connor Ray Smith

Construction Management

Local fire station, Station 15, in the community of Los Osos, was in need of a deck to be built in the rear of the station. There was public support, funding, and a desire for an upgrade. With the help of the firefighters and administrative staff at South Bay Fire Department, a 285 square foot structure was constructed to operate as a relaxing area for on duty staff to use between emergency calls. The plan creation, estimating, and building of the deck took approximately a year to complete. An estimated 305 man hours were spent collectively on the project, with …

Case Study: Implementation Of Electronic Documentation On Heavy Civil Construction Projects, Andrew William Jenco

Construction Management

This paper identifies perceived benefits of transitioning to an electronic-based documentation program in a heavy civil subcontractor setting. Electronic documentation has shown to reduce costs through organization, review and retrieval methods. This study provides insight of heavy civil construction managers regarding the efficiency of transitioning to a shared document control system. RFI data among projects utilizing electronic documentation and traditional methods were compared. The RFI turnaround times among six projects that utilized traditional document control methods were compared to the RFI turnaround times of a project utilizing electronic documentation. The data collected from this study suggests that electronic documentation benefits …

Camp Ocean Pines Aviary Extension, Matthew R. Stephens

Construction Management

This paper describes the construction process of an additional 192 SF storage area for an existing Nature Center, along with a new 1000 SF deck around the entire structure. The scope of work included the excavation and pouring of concrete piers and stem walls, framing of the subfloor, shear walls, roof, and deck, electrical rough-in and finish, roofing system, windows, doors, insulation, drywall, and decking. All work on this project was managed by the author, and construction was done by the author, subcontractors, local hires, and volunteers. Construction of the project took place between December 2016 and June 2017, and …

Gaining Market Share As A Union Specialty Contractor In San Diego: A Case Study, Roy Lee Perrin Jr

Construction Management

San Diego is one of the few major cities in California to have a larger share of non-union labor compared to union labor in the private specialty construction sector. Although union labor is on the rise in large cities due to California’s strict labor wage laws, union specialty contractors are still running into challenges in terms of competitiveness in the San Diego area. Western Specialty Contractors has first hand experience with competing against non-union contractors in San Diego. This paper will outline the methodology Western Specialty Contractors took in order to gain market share in San Diego. This paper will …

Implementing Net Zero Energy Into The Construction Innovations Center, Marlo Arleen Castro

Construction Management

As the environmental status of our planet declines, it is becoming more and more important for the construction industry to adapt. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is becoming an unspoken requirement for all new and tenant improvement construction, and now, with the goal of Net Zero Energy (NZE) for all new commercial buildings by 2030, NZE is becoming the way of the future. As of late, California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) has made grand efforts to retrofit several of the older buildings on its campus in order to achieve LEED certification. One of …

Information Communication Improvements In B.I.G., Alexander M. Vlasity

Construction Management

Game based learning is a proven methodology of convening complex ideas and concepts to students. Game based learning creates an environment that is safe, enjoyable, stress free, and competitive. Construction management is no exception. In the classroom, there is only one way to provide real life experiences in creating and operating a business. That is through simulation software. Simulation software allows a user to experience many of the complexities that occur in real life while playing in an educational environment. This senior project will focus on one software package called The Building Industry Game. This simulation package provides its user …

Integrated Design-Bid-Build And Its Effects On Integrated Project Delivery Drivers, Alexander G. Sargiss

Construction Management

Integrated project delivery is becoming a more common and successful delivery method in the construction industry compared to more traditional methods such as design-bid-build. Integrated Design-Bid-Build is a hybrid between the two which has been implemented very few times to test if it can be used as a more viable delivery method in the future. There has been very little research in to Integrated Design-Bid-Build that is accessible for analysis. This research study examines case studies of projects completed using IPD and analyzes their “IPD Profiles” which are measured using five primary project drivers. These project drivers are: cost predictability, …

National Association Of Home Builders' Residential Construction Management Competition Guidebook, Eric Angelo Bet

Construction Management

With today’s universities, especially Cal Poly, stressing the concept of “Learn by Doing” to prepare students for successful careers, case competitions are gaining popularity and prestige amongst recruiters. By working well in team settings and showcasing one’s knowledge in front of a panel of industry judges, case competitions give students great undergraduate experience and confidence once they begin their full-time careers. One of these case competitions is the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Residential Construction Management Competition (RCMC). The NAHB RCMC asks students to create a fully-encompassing development proposal on a real-world site located in the United States. This …

Case Study Analysis Of Improving Productivity Rates For Self-Perform Concrete, Johnny Mcdermott

Construction Management

Productivity is one of the most important aspects of a successful construction project, especially if the work is self-performed and not sub-contracted out to another contractor. Usually the success of a project is directly correlated to how well the production has been throughout the course of the job. Often when a project manager notices their job is not doing well and not making their target profits or man-hours, productivity is usually the answer to that problem. This paper will examine the different ways and methods of tracking production that was used by Overaa construction. The focus of this study is …

Journeyman International: Hut2hut, Rwanda, Faith E. Johnson

Construction Management

This report details the project titled Hut2Hut, completed through the nonprofit humanitarian design organization, Journeyman International. Hut2Hut is a housing project designed to provide lodging for tourists backpacking through Rwanda. The structure is designed to house up to eight people. Features include an enclosed bunk space, a kitchen with basic appliances, wood-burning fireplace, collapsible wall-deck system to open up the living space to the outside, and two main outdoor deck spaces. The building will provide an affordable alternative to the more expensive resorts in Rwanda and aims to connect the visitors to the site and local culture. The proceeds will …

Concise Handbook For Temporary Traffic Control - Construction, Maintenance, And Utility Operations, Indiana Ltap, Ohio Department Of Transportation

Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Publications

This handbook gives the basic principles and provides examples for the design, application, installation, and maintenance of the various types of traffic control devices used in temporary traffic control or for incident management. Traffic control in roundabouts has been included in this version. The guidelines presented are in accordance with the standards provided within the Indiana Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (IMUTCD). This handbook is based upon one created by the Ohio Department of Transportation, Guidelines for Traffic Control in Work Zones. Indiana LTAP expresses thanks to ODOT for their permission to reprint this material.

Main Campus And Remote Campus Engineering Technology Students: How Are They Different?, Anne M. Lucietto, Sarah E. Leach

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Engineering Technology students are underrepresented as compared to other Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors. In particular, they are a very small, often neglected population of which little is known to those outside their field of study. One large Midwestern University is studying their engineering technology student population to further understand how best to serve these students. The intent is to improve student services, learning opportunities, and environments with a goal of improving student skills and knowledge. The ultimate objective is to send them into the workplace more fully prepared for the challenges they will encounter. Due to the …

Engineering Technology Graduate Students: Roles Professional Societies Havein Their Formation, Anne M. Lucietto, Diane L. Peters

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

In recent years, there have been several research projects focused on returning graduate students in engineering, those who have significant industry experience before beginning their graduate studies. These projects have focused on both the masters and doctoral levels and have looked at research, coursework, benefits of attending graduate school, and the cost of going back. One of the existing papers has looked at the ways in which professional organizations look on returning students, and how their membership policies affect these students. The issue of how returning students see themselves within professional societies was not addressed. As of yet, none of …

Engineering Technology Students - How Do They Compare To Other Stem Students?, Anne M. Lucietto

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

For many years, students interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors were easily identified. However, since the realization that the US has a low number of students enrolled in STEM programs, great effort has been expended to encourage youth to pursue careers in these areas. Because of these broad-based efforts, the demographics of students moving into STEM are different from those in the past. There is a noted lack of diversity in students majoring in engineering technology; this is not as prevalent in other STEM fields.

Engineering technology students belong to a unique group. They are formally trained …

A Survey Of Women In Academia And The Role Of A Multidisciplinary Professional Society, Daniela Faas, Anne M. Lucietto, Gretchen L. Hein, Lucy Lenhardt, Christi Patton Luks, Beth A. Myers

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is a global professional society of over 30,000 members with a mission to “Stimulate women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity”1. SWE is an organization that is deeply rooted in industry. The founding members were employed by firms that are a result of the industrial revolution, and thus the focus of its membership is on those that work for industry, consultants, and often themselves. This focus has …

Board # 100 : Research Design, Data Collection, And Assessment Methods For An Integrated Stem Education Model (Work In Progress), J. Geoff Knowles, Todd R. Kelley, Euisuk Sung, Jongseong Choi

Technology Leadership and Innovation Faculty Publications

The goal of this research is to assess the effectiveness of an integrated STEM education model. The study is being conducted under a three-year NSF-ITEST funded project (award #1513248), Teachers and Researchers Advancing Integrated Lessons in STEM (TRAILS). This research incorporates engineering design as a STEM subject integrator and scientific inquiry to provide an authentic learning context for promoting 21st century skills and connections in STEM learning. In addition, the study seeks to assess effective strategies to increase STEM self-efficacy within science (biology or physics) and engineering technology education (ETE) teachers, and advance students’ learning of STEM content at schools …

Understanding Young Students' Problem Solving Pathways: Building A Design Process Model Based On Sequential Analysis, Euisuk Sung, Todd R. Kelley

Technology Leadership and Innovation Faculty Publications

Many STEM-related K-12 education standards, such as the Next Generation Science Standards, Standards for Technological Literacy, and Common Core Mathematics Standards, place great emphasis on designing as a way of delivering their core concepts. However, the classroom delivery of core design concepts has been the focus of very few studies. Particularly, most design-based lessons use a design process model, which poses a challenge for many engineering and technology educators. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the actual process of engineering design using the sequential pattern analysis method. The researchers collected ten Concurrent Think-Aloud (CTA) protocols from fourth …

Scitech News Volume 71, No. 2 (2017)

Sci-Tech News

Columns and Reports

• From the Editor 3

Division News

• Science-Technology Division 5
• Chemistry Division 8
• Engineering Division 9
• Aerospace Section of the Engineering Division 12
• Architecture, Building Engineering, Construction and Design Section of the Engineering Division 14

Reviews

• Sci-Tech Book News Reviews 16

Advertisements

• IEEE 4

Preliminary Investigations Into Selective Laser Melting, David Takeo Otsu

Master's Theses

Selective laser melting is a promising metallic additive manufacturing process with many potential applications in a variety of industries. Through a gracious donation made by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California Polytechnic State University received and installed an SLM 125 HL selective laser melting machine in February 2017. As part of the initial setup effort, a preliminary machine verification study was conducted to evaluate the general print quality of the machine with default parameter settings. Coincidentally, the as-printed microstructure of SLM components was evaluated through nil strength fracture surface examination, an alternative to conventional polish-and-etch metallography. A diverse set of components …

Cancer Cell Redirection Biomarker Discovery Using A Mutual Information Approach, Kimberly Roche, F. Alex Feltus, Jang Pyo Park, Marie-May Coissieux, Chenyan Chang, Vera B.S. Chan, Mohamed Bentires-Alj, Brian W. Booth

Publications

Introducing tumor-derived cells into normal mammary stem cell niches at a sufficiently high ratio of normal to tumorous cells causes those tumor cells to undergo a change to normal mammary phenotype and yield normal mammary progeny. This phenomenon has been termed cancer cell redirection. We have developed an in vitro model that mimics in vivo redirection of cancer cells by the normal mammary microenvironment. Using the RNA profiling data from this cellular model, we examined high-level characteristics of the normal, redirected, and tumor transcriptomes and found the global expression profiles clearly distinguish the three expression states. To identify potential redirection …

The Magnetic, Electrical And Structural Properties Of Copper-Permalloy Alloys, Makram A. Qader, A. Vishina, Lei Yu, Cougar Garcia, Rakesh K. Singh, Nicholas D. Rizzo, Mengchu Huang, Ralph Chamberlin, Kirill Belashchenko, Mark Van Schilfgaarde, N. Newman

Kirill Belashchenko Publications

Copper-permalloy [Cu_1–x(Ni₈₀Fe₂₀)_x] alloy films were deposited by co-sputtering and their chemical, structural, magnetic, and electrical properties were characterized. These films are found to have favorable weak ferromagnetic properties for low temperature magnetoelectronic applications. Our results show that by varying the composition, the saturation magnetization (M_s) can be tuned from 700 emu/cm³ to 0 and the Curie temperature (T_c), can be adjusted from 900 K to 0 K. The M_s and T_c are found to scale linearly between x = 25% and 100%. Electronic structure calculations …

Comparative Analysis Of Big Data Analytics Software In Assessing Sample Data, Soly Mathew Biju, Alex Mathew

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Over the last few years, big data has emerged as an important topic of discussion in most firms owing to its ability of creation, storage and processing of content at a reasonable price. Big data consists of advanced tools and techniques to process large volumes of data in organisations. Investment in big data analytics has almost become a necessity in large-sized firms, particularly multinational companies, for its unique benefits, particularly in prediction and identification of various trends. Some of the most popular big data analytics software used today are MapReduce, Hive, Tableau and Hive, while the framework Hadoop enables easy …

Baserock Bluetooth: Bi-Directional Bluetooth And 3.5 Mm Headphone Jack Compatibility Device, Jonathan A. Falco

Electrical Engineering

This project was proposed by a startup company from downtown San Luis Obispo called BaseRock. BaseRock sells a backpack containing subwoofers to allow the user to feel low frequencies of music. It is intended for concerts or personal use, listening to songs on an MP3. The main way the BaseRock backpack communicates with MP3s is via the headphone jack. With the introduction of the Apple iPhone 7 in September of 2016, BaseRock realized it was at a disadvantage. Millions of iPhone 7 owners and potential customers around the globe would no longer possess a headphone jack. BaseRock needs a Bluetooth-to-headphone …