Engineering Commons^™

Coordinating Supply And Demand On An On-Demand Service Platform With Impatient Customers, Jiaru Bai, Kut C. So, Christopher S. Tang, Xiqun Chen, Hai Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We consider an on-demand service platform using earning sensitive independent providers with heterogeneous reservation price (for work participation) to serve its time and price sensitive customers with heterogeneous valuation of the service. As such, both the supply and demand are "endogenously'' dependent on the price the platform charges its customers and the wage the platform pays its independent providers. We present an analytical model with endogenous supply (number of participating agents) and endogenous demand (customer request rate) to study this on-demand service platform. To coordinate endogenous demand with endogenous supply, we include the steady-state waiting time performance based on a …

Bioprinting Of 3d Perfusable Structures Using An Extrusion-Based System, Prabhuti Kharel

Theses and Dissertations

Bioprinting is a technique of creating 3D cell laden structures by accurately dispensing biomaterial to form complex synthetic tissue. Bioprinting is a process of additive manufacturing where the cell functionality and viability is preserved within the printed structure. Bioprinting is a promising alternative to produce physiologically relevant 3D structures that mimic the native tissue. However, fabrication of complex structures with vascularization has been a major challenge in bioprinting. To overcome this challenge sacrificial printing in combination with fugitive inks has been explored to create vascularize structures. The objective of this study is to fabricate hollow channels within the bioprinted structure …

Geometric Top-K Processing: Updates Since Mdm'16 [Advanced Seminar], Kyriakos Mouratidis

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The top-k query has been studied extensively, and is considered the norm for multi-criteria decision making in large databases. In recent years, research has considered several complementary operators to the traditional top-k query, drawing inspiration (both in terms of problem formulation and solution design) from the geometric nature of the top-k processing model. In this seminar, we will present advances in that stream of work, focusing on updates since the preliminary seminar on the same topic in MDM'16.

Next-Generation Rainfall Idf Curves For The Virginian Drainage Area Of Chesapeake Bay, Xixi Wang, Xiaomin Yang, Zhaoyi Cai

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Probability-based intensity-duration-frequency IDF curves are needed but currently lacking for Department of Defense DoD to construct and manage its infrastructure in changing climate. The objectives of this project were to 1 develop an innovative approach for considering rainfall non-stationarity in developing such IDF curves and 2 apply this approach to the state of Virginia. In this regard, the observed data on 15-min rainfall at 57 gauges and the precipitations projected by twelve pairs of Regional Climate Model RCM and Global Circulation Model GCM were used. For a given gauge or watershed, in terms of fitting the empirical exceedance probabilities, a …

Maximizing Poly(3-Butylthiophene-2,5-Diyl) Electrical Conductivity By Maximizing Transcrystal Growth, Edward Alexander Bicknell

Materials Engineering

Polymers are generally considered electrical insulators. Despite this, research in the mid 1970’s found that polymers consisting of a conjugated backbone structure could become electrically conductive upon doping.1 The conjugated polymer analyzed for this project was poly(3-butylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3BT). Transcrystals have been found as a way to promote electrical conductivity through mechanisms including π bond atomic orbital overlap and electron mobility.2 In theory, maximizing transcrystal length would also maximize P3BT electrical conductivity, increasing its applicable use in electronic devices. The goal of this project was to determine a methodological way to maximize P3BT electrical conductivity by producing the longest transcrystal length …

Photooxidation Of Biopolymers, Marlon H. Dieguez

Materials Engineering

The lack of degradation of plastic products have imposed problems in the preservation of natural environments and their ecosystems through plastic accumulation. This collection of plastics promotes toxin exposure to wildlife, finding its way into the food chain, affecting both land and marine ecosystems. The project goal is to understand the degradation mechanisms of biodegradable materials and other comparable materials through UV radiation testing. Polylactide (PLA) films and polycarbonate (PC) films will be compared for their relative deterioration from constant UV radiation in a Q-U-V accelerated weather tester for 28 days. Five 3” by 5” samples of 14 mil thick …

Effect Of Overaging On Tensile Properties Of 2219-T852 Aluminum, Austin Bitter, Tristan Koyamatsu

Materials Engineering

This project investigated the overaging performance of aluminum alloy 2219-T852 for use in high temperature applications. 2219 aluminum is an alloy containing 5.8 to 6.8 percent copper, and is classified as a high strength age hardenable alloy. The sponsor for this project, Weber Metals, hopes to use 2219 Al to replace titanium in certain applications above the thermal limits of typical high strength Al. To test its performance, they manufactured round tensile samples and delivered them in peak aged, T852 condition. These samples were then overaged at a range of times and temperatures. The times in this experiment were one …

Optimizing Electrospun Ceramic Nanofiber Strength Through Two-Step Sintering, Michael Ross

Materials Engineering

Two-step sintering (TSS) consists of a high-temperature step and immediate cooling to a sintering temperature for an extended sintering time, where grain growth is suppressed by severe densification during the high-temperature step. TSS is adopted to enhance mechanical properties of electrospun ceramic nanofibers (CNFs), a class of porous ceramics used for environmental remediation, optoelectronics, and filtration. PVP and Ga(NO₃)₃ nanofiber mesh, provided by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, was shaped, oxidized, and two-step sintered to form a nanocrystalline β-Ga₂O₃ CNF tube using a high-temperature step of 1,000^oC. Sintering temperatures and times varied from …

Amplifying The Collective Intelligence Of Teams With Swarm Ai, David Askay, Lynn E. Metcalf, Louis B. Rosenberg, Gregg Willcox, David Baltaxe

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Group decision-making is strengthened by the varied knowledge and perspectives that each member brings, yet teams often fail to capitalize on their diversity. This paper describes how Swarm AI, a novel collaborative intelligence technology modeled on the decision-making process of honey bee swarms, enables networked human groups to more effectively leverage their combined insights. Through an empirical study conducted on 60 small teams, each of 3 to 6 members, we demonstrate the capacity of Swarm AI to significantly amplify the collective intelligence of human groups. A well-known testing instrument—the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME) test —was used to …

Redesign Of Cubesat For Beam Charging, Kuba Preis

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This paper is intended to be a study in the applications of the design freedom granted by additive manufacture in the design of a 1U CubeSat frame. The main loads experienced by a CubeSat are structural (during launch) and thermal (solar radiation). Beam charging is an emerging technology which involves charging a CubeSat using a laser beam. In this paper, a CubeSat frame was redesigned to account for the structural loads induced during launch and the thermal loads induced when beam charging. The thermal, weight, design, and structural requirements for a new CubeSat design were derived. The 1U CubeSat frame …

Fire And Life Safety Analysis: Building 171a – Poly Canyon Village, Delaney Seeburger

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

A fire and life safety analysis was performed in fulfillment of one of the requirements for the Master of Science Degree in Fire Protection Engineering from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). The analysis consisted of a prescriptive and a performance-based analysis. These analyses were performed on Building 171A which is part of the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus. The prescriptive analysis consisted of four distinct areas of focus: 1) Structural Fire Protection, 2) Water-Based Suppression Systems, 3) Fire Alarm and Detection Systems, 4) Egress Analysis and Design Prescriptive analyses are performed to determine whether a …

Redefining The Engineer: An Examination On Engineering Culture And The Impact On Underrepresented Students At Cal Poly, Danica Liang

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

This project is centered around examining what engineering culture is like at Cal Poly and how it may produce contrasting experiences and perceptions for underrepresented engineering students, and more specifically, for women and people of color. By gathering data through a survey and listening to personal narratives from student interviews, I hope to combine data and storytelling elements to create a compelling data journalism and visualization project.

Commercial Vehicle Research Buggy For Active Driver Assistance Systems, Fernando Mondragon-Cardenas, Nathaniel Mccutcheon Furbeyre, Ricardo Steven Lickiss Tan Iv

Mechanical Engineering

This is the Final Design Report for Daimtronics, a senior project team sponsored by Professor Charles Birdsong of Cal Poly and by Daimler Trucks North America. This team integrated mechatronic systems into a scale semi-truck chassis using existing mechanical and software systems from three separate Cal Poly senior projects over the recent years: Daimscale, MicroLaren, and ProgreSSIV. The goal was to have a user-friendly platform capable of executing autonomous driving algorithms that are programmable at a high level in Simulink and Robotic Operating System (ROS). Advanced driver assistance and autonomous vehicle algorithms were not within the scope of this project, …

Gravity Drip Irrigation System, Ryan C. Waldron, Cole R. Presson, Josh L. Plaskett

Mechanical Engineering

A gravity-fed, drip irrigation system prototype has been developed for use in raised garden beds and other small-scale crop irrigation applications. The original developer of the prototype and sponsor of the project, Tina Creel, is seeking to refine it into a functional consumer product through the implementation of technical engineering and standard manufacturing processes. The scope of the project includes the tank support system and supply of water to the sponsors current piping subsystem. It does not include any modifications to the bed, piping system or water tank itself. The target specifications of the system include its load capacity, dimensions, …

Human Powered Vehicle Trainer, Nicholas Hung Nguyen, Gregory Reece Bridges, Jacinta Garcia, Mitchell Sidney Smith

Mechanical Engineering

This Final Design Review (FDR) document describes the final design and completed prototype of a Mechanical Engineering senior project team at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The project goal is to create an adjustable human powered vehicle training bike for George Leone that allows a rider to gain confidence with the unique reclined bike geometry ahead of the World Human Powered Speed Challenge at Battle Mountain, Nevada. This document outlines the customer’s needs and technical research performed which together determine the project’s scope and engineering specifications. Next, we present the initial idea generation process and its results, along …

Adaptive Paddle Board, Alexander Holthaus, Alexander Holthaus, Garrett Holmes, Garett Jones

Mechanical Engineering

This Final Design Review (FDR) document outlines the Adaptive Paddle Board senior project, done by four Mechanical Engineering Students at California Polytechnic State University and provides detail on the project and what the team has accomplished. The goal was to create a universally adaptive paddle board that can be used by the Central California Adaptive Sports Center for a wide range of persons with disabilities. This document highlights current research from patents and existing products, details regarding customer specifications, results from concept generation, the manufacturing and testing that went into the final design, and the process taken to get there. …

Uav Catapult, Sean Drew Huxley, Benjamin Richard Lacasse, David Matthew Garcia, Jordan Joseph Cearns

Mechanical Engineering

This document outlines the Senior Design Project proposed by Dr. Aaron Drake that was assigned to a team of Mechanical Engineering students at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The purpose of this project was to design, build, test, and finalize a launching system for two small, fixed wing, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) owned by Dr. Drake and Cal Poly. The goal was to create a system that was both portable and reliable to use, only requiring a two-person team to use effectively in the field. The most important design requirements were determined to be the launch speed, assembly …

Retaining Ring Material Wear Analysis And Testing, Thomas Headland, Barten Hansen, Austin Fisher, Kevin Hurtado

Mechanical Engineering

The chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) of wafers for integrated circuits is an essential – yet expensive – step in their manufacture. CMP machine down-time due to the replacement of process consumables, such as wafer retaining rings, is a significant contributor to the process cost. To reduce the operational cost of their CMP machines, Revasum is interested in exploring new designs and materials for wafer retaining rings to increase their operational lifetime. Background research showed that there is currently no suitable method for testing new retaining ring designs and materials for wear characteristics specific to the CMP process. Available wear testing …

Burner Design For A Pressurized Oxy-Coal Reactor, William Cody Carpenter

Theses and Dissertations

The need for electric power across the globe is ever increasing, as is the need to produce electricity in a sustainable method that does not emit CO2 into the atmosphere. A proposed technology for efficiently capturing CO2 while producing electricity is pressurized oxy-combustion (POC). The objective of this work is to design, build, and demonstrate a burner for a 20 atmosphere oxy-coal combustor. Additionally, working engineering drawings for the main pressure vessel and floor plan drawings for the main pressure vessel, exhaust, and fuel feed systems were produced. The POC reactor enables the development of three key POC technologies: a …

Engineering Technology Graduates: A Survey Of Demographics And Mentoring, Anne M. Lucietto, Elizabeth Dell, Elaine M. Cooney, Lisa Ann Russel, Emily Schott

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Early in 2017, a team of engineering technology practitioners along with others interested in the state of engineering technology published a report entitled “Engineering Technology Education in the United States.” This report garnered a list of recommendations and things that needed to be investigated to further our understanding of this student population; specifically focusing on the students and how they relate to other students studying both similar and different material. A team of like-minded engineering technology education researchers have been working together to ascertain the answers to the findings. They prepared two surveys, obtained institutional approval, and distributed it throughout …

Me-Em Enewsbrief, June 2019, Department Of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering eNewsBrief

No abstract provided.

Determination Of Cleaning Frequency And Power Enhancement Of Photovoltaic Panels Using Novel Cleaning Approach, Ali Hasan Shah

Electrical Engineering Theses

Dust accumulation on the photovoltaic (PV) surface decreases the solar radiation penetration to the PV cells and eventually the power production from the PV system. In order to prevent the dust-based power losses, the PV systems are required to be cleaned frequently depending upon different geographical locations, PV integration schemes, and the scale of the PV power plant. In large-scale power plants, the PVs are periodically cleaned traditionally by water sprinkling that requires sophisticated equipment mobile equipment that at the best involves robotics and hence calls for substantial capital investment as well as water consumption. Since most of the largescale …

Functionalization Of 2d-Zno For Selective Gas Sensing: First-Principles Analysis, Alaa F. M. Shaheen

Mechanical Engineering Theses

The scope of this MSc thesis is to theoretically search for suitable materials and relevant factors (e.g., dopants and catalysts) to induce gas sensing (GS) selectivity towards harmful gases such as H₂, H₂S, and CO₂, under ambient conditions. We chose as material 2D-ZnO Honeycomb in the form of nanoribbon (ZnO-NR), which is very promising in the gas sensing applications. We employed a state-of-the-art computational method, based on a combination of the density-functional theory (DFT) and the Non-Equilibrium Green’s Functions (NEGF) formalism, which both are incorporated in Atomistic Toolkit (ATK) package. This package is famous …

Electromagnetic Analysis Of A Wind Turbine Magnetic Gearbox, Kang Li, Sina Modaresahmadi, Wesley B. Williams, Jonathan Bird

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The design of the second stage of a 59:1 multi-stage magnetic gearbox for a wind turbine demonstrator is presented. The multi-stage series-connected magnetic gearbox is composed of a 6.45 first stage and 9.14 second stage. A flux-focusing spoke-type rotor typology is used with a unique segmented fully laminated design. The impact of structural design changes is considered with respect to torque density. A new rotor typology is presented that enables the magnetic gearbox to be mechanically assembled first without magnets.

Evaluation Of Bus-Bicycle And Bus/Right-Turn Traffic Delays And Conflicts, Katherine L. Keeling, Travis B. Glick, Miles Crumley, Miguel A. Figliozzi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This research evaluates conflicts and delays caused by interactions among buses, bicycles, and right-turning vehicles at a mixed traffic corridor in Portland, OR. The study site has a near-side bus stop and a right curbside lane designated for buses and right-turning vehicles. Next to the bus/right-turn lane is a bicycle lane with a bicycle box ahead of the bus stop (i.e., between the intersection and the bus stop). This research examines two concerns caused by these overlapping bus, bicycle, and automobile facilities; the first is the number of bus-bicycle conflicts (as a proxy for safety) and the second is bus …

Further Investigation Of Energy And Performance Impacts Of Whole-House Dehumidifier Duct Configurations, Florida Solar Energy Center, Charles Withers, Jr.

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This research project evaluated the energy impacts and dehumidification performance related to how ducted dehumidifiers (DHU) ducts were configured. Lab controlled testing over a variety of weather and latent loads evaluated five-different ducted DHU configurations as follows: Test 1 DHU air ducted from/to the central main body of building. Test 2 DHU air ducted from/to return side of central air conditioner (AC). Test 3 DHU air ducted from/to supply side of AC. Test 4 DHU air ducted from central main body and ducted to supply side of AC. Test 5 DHU air ducted from outdoors and indoors mixed before DHU …

Applicability Of Lean Production Principles To Performance Analysis Across The Life Cycle Phases Of Buildings, Clayton Miller, Clayton Miller

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

The Lean Production framework was pioneered by the Toyota Motor Corporation as a method for improving process and product quality and it has proven effective within multiple domains such as manufacturing, management, healthcare, and government. Numerous studies have shown that quality control and performance evaluation in the building industry could be significantly improved as many facilities fail to deliver the anticipated performance that designers and owners expect. This paper qualitatively investigates a Lean-focused framework in the context of building performance analysis and verification. Ideally this approach could empower building designers and operators with the ability to practice “kaizen”, or quality …

Employing Biomimicry In Urban Metamorphosis Seeking For Sustainability: Case Studies, M. Salim Ferwati, Maryam Alsuwaidi, Arezou Shafaghat, Ali Keyvanfar

Faculty Articles

Objective: The current study has aimed to develop the framework of biomimicry involvement in urban metamorphosis for sustainability. This research has engaged four objectives to achieve the aim. Objective one is to explore the rudiment interaction between human and nature through interrogating history, nature’s design. Objective two is to excavate the biomimicry in emulating nature’s genius. Objective three is to investigate the association between biomimicry and sustainable development, focusing on architectural features. Objective four is to develop the framework based on the biomimicry rules for human evolution and survival in the natural environment. Methodology: To achieve objective one, the grounded …

A Framework For Bim Model-Based Construction Cost Estimation, Michael Clark

Master's Theses

This thesis presents a framework to conduct a quantity take-off (QTO) and cost estimate within the Building Information Modeling (BIM) Environment. The product of this framework is a model-based cost estimating tool. The framework addresses the cost uncertainty associated with the detailed information defining BIM model element properties. This cost uncertainty is due to the lack of available tools that address detailed QTO and cost estimation using solely a BIM platform. In addition, cost estimators have little experience in leveraging and managing information within semantic-rich BIM models. Unmanaged BIM element parameters are considered a source of uncertainty in a model-based …

The Performance Cost Of Security, Lucy R. Bowen

Master's Theses

Historically, performance has been the most important feature when optimizing computer hardware. Modern processors are so highly optimized that every cycle of computation time matters. However, this practice of optimizing for performance at all costs has been called into question by new microarchitectural attacks, e.g. Meltdown and Spectre. Microarchitectural attacks exploit the effects of microarchitectural components or optimizations in order to leak data to an attacker. These attacks have caused processor manufacturers to introduce performance impacting mitigations in both software and silicon.

To investigate the performance impact of the various mitigations, a test suite of forty-seven different tests was created. …