Engineering Commons^™

Bayesian Assembly Tool For Intelligent Digital Twin Selection, Shishir Sharma

All Theses

Digital twins can be used for system performance optimization, health monitoring, predictive maintenance, and investigating system anomalies. A ground vehicle digital twin may be assembled using representations of the subsystem models (tires, suspension system, powertrain, etc.) of different fidelity. Lower fidelity Digital Twins have relatively simpler design and physics, hence are generally computationally less expensive, but may not represent the physical system accurately. On the contrary, higher fidelity Digital Twins are generally more precise in their ability to represent the physical system, but due to complexity, are usually computationally more demanding. This thesis describes the application of Bayesian Classification within …

Development Of Low-Cost Triaxial Force Sensor For Measurement Of Human-Exoskeleton Interaction Forces, Hamdan Khan Sarvathullah

All Theses

Contemporary research suggests that shear force is a major contributor to discomfort and pressure injury. However, the variation of shear forces during human-exoskeleton interaction dynamics is a highly unexplored field. The high cost of commercial triaxial force sensors may be a major factor in the notable lack of research in this field. Therefore, in this paper, we present a low-cost, 3D-printed triaxial force sensor designed specifically to measure the triaxial interaction forces between an exoskeleton and its user. The triaxial force sensor uses Carbon-Black/Silicone Rubber (CB/SR) strings to measure shear forces, whereas the normal force is measured with a Force …

Developing Aero-Floating Treatment Wetland (Aeroftw) Scaffolds: A Non-Plastic Alternative To Conventional Plastic-Based Ftws, Ada C. Montoya Gomez

All Theses

This research was conducted to explore the possibility of constructing floating treatment wetlands (FTWs) without using plastic materials. FTWs are floating platforms that hold plants on the water’s surface, letting roots dangle within the water column, to help remove contaminants from contaminated water, especially in stormwater ponds. Many conventional FTWs are made with plastic components, such as mats and plastic cup containers, which can release microplastics into the environment over time. The goal of this project was to design and test a new type of FTW that does not depend on plastics to support FTW flotation. The study took place …

Dirt Finder (Drtfndr): A Marketplace Application For Construction Earthwork, Evan A. Reed

Construction Management

The construction industry regularly produces a surplus of earthwork materials: clean fill, topsoil, gravel, and crushed concrete, that are disposed of at considerable cost. All the while, contractors actively seek those same materials, and no dedicated digital platform existed to connect these two groups efficiently. DrtFndr ("Dirt Finder") is a mobile-first web application developed to address this gap, providing a marketplace where contractors can post available or needed earthwork materials, browse geographically filtered listings by material type and proximity, and connect directly with other users. The application was built using Base44, an AI-powered application development platform, and includes real-time mapping, …

Skip The Grid: Turning Solar Planning Into Power For Navajo Nation Homes, Alexandr B. Miller

Construction Management

Skip the Grid is a cross-disciplinary experiential learning initiative that delivers clean energy infrastructure to households with school-age children residing in the Navajo and Hopi Nations. In March 2026, a cohort of 23 students drawn from five academic programs at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) joined forces with Heart of America (HOA), SOLV Energy, and NextPower to carry out the initiative's fifth consecutive year. The program aimed to enhance living standards and bolster academic achievement by ensuring dependable access to power, illumination, and food preservation in resource-limited communities. Participants were divided into five installation teams comprising Cal Poly students, …

Sb 1953 Field Execution Under Hcai Oversight: Seismic Retrofit At Zsfg Building 5, Victor Lucas

Construction Management

Every hospital in California must be seismically compliant by 2030 under Senate Bill 1953, which is enforced by the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI). HCAI approves and inspects all hospital construction in the state, and its authority reaches into the field, so a contractor cannot simply build to an approved drawing the way it would on a commercial job. This paper explains how that approval system governs the work, written for construction professionals entering hospital work in California whose experience to that point has been commercial. It uses the ZSFG Building 5 Voluntary Seismic Upgrade, a 1976 …

Sheep Pen Improvements At City Farm Slo, Ryan S. Bodmer

Construction Management

City Farm SLO is an urban non-profit educational farm located in San Luis Obispo, CA. It serves the community through offering farm learning programs, including hands-on experience in sustainable farming practices and livestock care. This project, completed over the winter and spring quarters, focused on delivering an upgraded sheep pen to improve access and safety for both volunteers and sheep. The project consisted of developing design plans, coordination of materials and allowable working times with the owner, where the animals were either moved out of the working area or when work would not jeopardize animal health, schedule creation, cost estimates, …

Preconstruction Services For Slo Youth Baseball Bull Pen And Batting Cage, Sofia E. Cuevas

Construction Management

San Luis Obispo Youth Baseball is a nonprofit organization servicing the local youth of San Luis Obispo, California. Offering recreational, all-star, and club programs, SLO Youth Baseball provides the experience of baseball to all levels of skill in the community. In preparation for the Spring 2026 season and beyond, SLOYB has proposed the construction of a bull pen and batting cage on the third base line at their very own Stockton Field. In order to service the community at large, this design came with a set of strict parameters: accessibility, longevity, and serviceability. In doing so, SLOYB has requested flexibility …

The Influence Of Composition On Porosity And Strength In Planetary Analog Saline Ices, Tara C. Tomlinson

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

This thesis investigates how composition influences the physical structure and mechanical behavior of saline ice, with implications for both terrestrial sea ice and the ice shells of ocean worlds such as Europa and Enceladus. This is done through a multi-pronged approach of both numerical modeling and laboratory experiments. Modeling results re- veal that small-scale parameter variations in porosity, permeability, and permeability fac- tor may produce large discrepancies when extrapolated to planetary scales, underscoring the need for improved experimental constraints on pore connectivity and thermochemical conditions. Laboratory analyses show that while total porosity is relatively uniform with depth, it varies strongly …

Reward Representation Learning, Gregory M. Hyde

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

The \emph{Markov decision process} (MDP) has long served as the canonical model for sequential decision-making. However, it assumes that the reward function is Markov with respect to a given state representation---an assumption that often does not hold in practice. Instead, agents typically only perceive streams of observations and actions and must infer the latent structure according to which reward unfolds over time. From this perspective, reward prediction is initially non-Markov, reflecting a mismatch between the agent's current representation and the underlying structure of the environment.

In this thesis, we advance the view that reward is not simply a signal to …

Moodify: A Mood-Based Music Recommendation System, Meghana Kagitha

Theses and Dissertations

Music has long been recognised as a powerful tool for emotional regulation, yet existing music streaming platforms often fail to align song recommendations with a user's current emotional state. Moodify is a mood-based music recommendation system designed to bridge this gap by delivering personalised playlists that reflect how a user feels in real time.

This project presents the design, development, and evaluation of Moodify, a mobile application that leverages the Circumplex Model of Emotion to capture user mood through an intuitive two-dimensional valence-arousal interface. Rather than relying on text input or manual search, users plot their emotional state directly onto …

Manned Exploration Of Satellites Of The Outer Planets: An Analysis Of Current Technologies And A Discussion Of Advancements Required, Joshua Carson Meador

Theses and Dissertations

The Solar System’s outer planets have many satellites, some of which are known to be the most likely places to find extraterrestrial life in our celestial backyard. Multiple scientific missions have been sent to glean information from these satellites, yet the possibility of a manned expedition has long been exclusive to science fiction stories. This paper intends to collect and analyze the current state of space travel technology to explore the feasibility of such a mission with modern technology and to discuss which future advancements should be the focal point for making such missions a reality. To begin, data on …

A Webcam Eye Tracking Infrastructure For Software Engineering Tasks, Zachary M. Kozak

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Performing eye tracking utilizing commodity webcams has been explored for over a decade, but limited camera quality and sensitivity to head movements have hindered its adoption in research settings. Recent advances in consumer-grade webcams and machine learning methods present an opportunity to improve the accuracy of webcam eye tracking and extend the feasibility of studies beyond controlled laboratory environments.

Current popular webcam eye tracking methods restrict implementations to the browser and rely on continuous user interactions for calibration, limiting the kinds of studies that can be conducted. This thesis presents a feature-based gaze prediction system that incorporates eye geometry and …

Erratum For "Soil Freezing Characteristic Surface For Partially Frozen Soils", Antai Dong, Xiong Zhang, Ming Xiao

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The following corrections should be made to "Soil Freezing Characteristic Surface for Partially Frozen Soils" by Antai Dong, Xiong Zhang, and Ming Xiao, https://doi.org/10.1061/JGGEFK.GTENG -13924: In the third sentence of the Abstract, the value for suction when completely dried is incorrect. It should be 106 kPa. The label at the end of the suction axes in Figs. 1(a) and 2 is similarly inaccurate. Corrected versions of Figs. 1 and 2 are provided herein. To preserve the published version of record, these details have been corrected only in this erratum. (Figure Presented)

Evaluation Of Radar-Derived Polarimetric Precipitation Estimates For Extreme Rain Events Using A Dense Network Of Rain Gauges, Bong Chul Seo, Witold F. Krajewski, James A. Smith, Alexander V. Ryzhkov

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The study evaluates radar-based quantitative precipitation estimations (QPEs) for 10 extreme rain events that occurred between 2013 and 2019 in the Kansas City metropolitan area, United States. These precipitation estimates were derived at hourly and approximately 0.5-km scales using two polarimetric QPE algorithms}one based on specific attenuation (A) and the other on specific differential phase (KDP)} for the study area covered by two overlapping radars in Topeka, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. The polarimetric QPE assessment for extreme rain events was motivated by improved flood forecasting and precipitation frequency analysis. The analysis utilizes ground reference observations from a dense network …

Computer Vision And Machine Learning Approaches For Defect Detection In 3d-Printed Cementitious Materials: A Systematic Review, Muhammad Ali Musarat, Ruben Paul Borg, Jingjie Wei, Carl James Debono, Kamal Khayat

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

3D printing is evolving at a fast pace in both the manufacturing and construction sectors. These advancements can greatly benefit these industries. However, the 3D printing of concrete structures presents some challenges due to defects in the 3D concrete printed elements. Hence, this study systematically reviews Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven techniques, such as Computer Vision and Machine Learning, to identify surface defects that can occur in 3D-printed cementitious material structures. The adopted methodology was the PRISMA statement with the aim of reporting the systematic review and meta-analysis. Two well-known databases, Web of Science and Scopus, were utilised for data extraction of …

Machine Vision For In Situ Measurement And Control Of Wire Stickout In Lwded Process, Braden Mclain, Remy Mathenia, Todd Sparks, Frank Liou

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This work presents a machine-vision–based measurement and control framework for laser wire directed energy deposition (LWDED) processes. A visible-light camera system is used to capture meltpool images, from which a novel vision algorithm extracts the wire–meltpool interface location. By utilizing a camera that is rigidly mounted to the deposition head, the vision algorithm provides a relative measurement of the distance between the nozzle tip and the workpiece, also referred to as wire stickout. A proportional-derivative (PD) control strategy is implemented using the measured stickout as feedback to adjust deposition feedrate. Results show that the control system successfully compensates for improper …

Calibration Refinement Of Aashto Paveme For Kentucky Asphalt Overlays, Clayton S. Cook, Kean H. Ashurst Jr., Clark Graves

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) uses AASHTOWare’s Pavement ME Design Version 3.0 (PaveME) to develop mechanistic-empirical designs for new and reconstructed pavements. Transfer functions used for estimating pavement distress in PaveME rely on national calibration values derived from the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) database. However, these often fail to reflect Kentucky’s local conditions, materials, and practices. To address this issue, Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) researchers completed local calibrations for several key transfer functions (rutting, reflective fatigue cracking, and roughness (IRI)) to improve the predictive accuracy of and reduce bias in pavement performance models developed for rehabilitation projects that involve placing …

Building Services Engineering March/April 2026

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

An Investigation Of Data Granularity In Rag Pipelines For Personalized Medicine, Paritosh Pandey

Master's Theses

Generative AI, exemplified by large language models like the OpenAI GPT and Meta LLaMA families, can produce diverse content in response to prompts. This capability offers a promising solution to challenges in precision medicine, which seeks to tailor treatments to individual clinical profiles but often struggles with data collection, cost, and privacy concerns. By generating realistic, privacy-preserving patient data, generative AI has the potential to transform patient-centric healthcare. With such motivation, this research develops a comprehensive Generative AI pipeline emphasizing data granularity for accurate prediction of personalized treatments. The pipeline features a central Large Language Model interacting with a Machine …

Simulation Of A Buried Hydrogen Pipeline In Kansas State Soil, Sidney Hines

Master's Theses

Underground pipelines can be used to transport large amounts of pressurized hydrogen gas over several hundred kilometers. The design will be sensitive to the pipe material, diameter, and trench construction, and traffic loads above the pipe. The purpose of this paper is to conduct various geotechnical engineering analyses (seepage, stress, and slope stability) using the software program GeoStudio (version 2025.2.0) on a buried steel or FRP pipe section in a specific soil type, Harney Soil. Harney soil is of particular interest, because it is the Kansas State Soil and the analysis is for a buried gas pipe to run through …

Deep Learning For Predicting Impact Energy And Compression After Impact Strength Of Composite Materials Using C-Scan Images, K. T. Tan, Jason P. Mack, Faizan Mirza, Zhong-Hui Duan

University Research

Traditional assessment of post-impact performance in carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites often relies on simplified scalar metrics that fail to capture the complex spatial interactions driving failure. This study addresses this limitation by developing an automated, end-to-end deep learning framework that shifts from manual feature extraction to the direct interpretation of raw damage morphology from ultrasonic C-scans. Using a ResNet18-based convolutional neural network (CNN) trained on 1,428 augmented images, the model achieved coefficients of determination (R2) of 0.7948 ± 0.0847 for compression after impact (CAI) strength and 0.9436 ± 0.0098 for impact energy. Beyond prediction, this dual-purpose methodology serves …

Design And Evaluation Of A Single-Gate Multi-Threshold Null Convention Logic Architecture For Area Efficiency, John Edward Swaim

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Asynchronous circuit design paradigms, such as NULL convention logic (NCL) and Multi-Threshold NCL (MTNCL), offer increased energy efficiency over synchronous equivalents and robust pipelines with minimal timing analysis. However, their dependency on dual-rail signal encoding causes significant overhead compared to single-rail equivalents. Previous single-gate and single-rail NCL paradigms have sought to reduce circuit area, but most compromise their quasi-delay-insensitivity and correct-by-construction nature with logic gate and system-level design choices. This thesis presents Single-Gate MTNCL (SG-MTNCL), a register controlled, single-gate, and dual-rail asynchronous architecture to improve the area efficiency of MTNCL without compromising the reliability of previous paradigms. The benefits of …

Design And Optimization To Advance Silicon Carbide Modules For Medium Voltage High Power Applications, Ahmed Ismail

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The commercial availability of the first 10 kV silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET removes the principal semiconductor barrier to medium-voltage power conversion, enabling converter topologies that are structurally inaccessible to silicon IGBT solutions at this voltage class. This dissertation presents the characterization infrastructure, device-level data, and preliminary system-level validation needed to advance the deployment of the third-generation 10 kV SiC MOSFET in converter applications. A custom-built 10 kV double-pulse test platform is developed with a fully documented component-sizing methodology, custom medium-voltage magnetics, and a measurement infrastructure capable of high bandwidth waveform capture at kilovolt common-mode potentials. On this platform, the third-generation …

Automated Circuit Design Algorithm And Implementation For Asynchronous Reset (Ares) Physically Unclonable Functions, Andrew Michael Felder

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Technology is increasingly interwoven in all aspects of society as it solves new problems, creates new possibilities, and enables new conveniences. With its unceasing evolution, environments handling protected information such as military, finance, and medicine demand ever-evolving threat mitigation. Combating attackers’ abilities to spoof devices, uncover cryptographic keys, and bypass security features is a never-ending task which drives technological advancement to improve existing capabilities and develop entirely new methodologies. In this dissertation work, the hybrid Asynchronous RESet Physically Unclonable Function (ARES PUF) is evaluated at the circuit to determine its merits as a PUF. As part of this evaluation, results …

Study On The Effects Of Molecular Layer Deposition Coating And Mechanical Pressure On Lithium Metal Anodes, Cameron Mondl

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lithium (Li) metal is a highly promising anode material for next-generation energy storage systems due to its outstanding theoretical capacity and low electrochemical potential. However, its commercialization implementation has been hindered due to interfacial instability and uncontrollable dendrite formation, leading to poor cycling efficiency and thermal runaway. Among the most promising stabilization strategies, protective interfacial coatings have emerged as an effective solution to promote more uniform Li deposition and suppress erratic morphological inconsistencies. In particular, molecular layer deposition (MLD) enables uniform film thickness through layer-by-layer deposits, offering a highly versatile approach to protective interfacial layers. In addition to interfacial engineering, …

An Efficient Implementation Of Gibbs-Duhem Integration For Solid-Liquid Phase Coexistence In Binary Lennard-Jones System With Relevance To Aav Capsid Separation, Muhi Muntaka

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gene therapy using adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) holds promise for treating genetic diseases, but high manufacturing costs limit its widespread use. A major challenge is separating functional (full) AAV capsids from non-functional (empty) ones, which are produced in similar amounts and have nearly identical structures. Conventional purification methods, such as density gradient ultracentrifugation and chromatography, face drawbacks like low yield, poor scalability, and high cost, often requiring multi-step processes. Recently, selective crystallization has emerged as a promising alternative, offering improved efficiency, scalability, and product quality. However, optimizing this method requires a deep understanding of thermodynamic phase behavior in multicomponent systems. In …

Recovery And Evaluation Of A Germanium Infrared Camera, Michael Paszek

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Short-wave infrared imagers made of germanium are a promising way to extend silicon-compatible imaging beyond the visible spectrum. They also use mature CMOS fabrication and readout electronics. This thesis details the recovery, initialization, and evaluation of a germanium focal plane array (FPA) infrared camera system using both a sealed TriWave camera and a modular prototype platform. Functionality was restored to this legacy hardware, and repeatable testing workflows were established for evaluating packaged infrared imagers under controlled indoor and outdoor conditions. The prototype used a custom software interface named Merlott for evaluation, and it followed a standard sequence that included checking …

The Effect Of Hydroflow Devices On Calcium Carbonate Buildup., Holton Shults

Master of Engineering Theses

Water containing high levels of dissolved minerals, mainly calcium and magnesium, is known as hard water, which is commonly found across the world due to calcium’s abundance in the earth’s crust. Hard water can lead to calcium carbonate buildup (also referred to as limescale) that reduces flow, clogs pipes, and lowers heat exchanger efficiency, all of which can drive up costs. This work evaluated two commercially available chemical-free treatment devices from HydroFLOW USA LLC, called the Pearl Plus and s38 devices. These electromagnetic devices are designed to alter calcium carbonate crystal structure, potentially reducing the amount of calcium …

Simultaneous Carrier, Cargo, And Functional Tracking Of Lipid Nanoparticles, Hannia Vanessa Balcorta Muñoz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have become effective delivery vehicles in nanomedicine, particularly for nucleic acid-based treatments. However, a major limitation remains in the field regarding the simultaneous monitoring of the nanoparticle carrier, its encapsulated payload, and the resulting functional protein production in both in vitro and in vivo systems. Furthermore, traditional lipophilic dyes employed for labeling LNPs frequently exhibit incompatibility with tissue-clearing methods, such as CLARITY, due to signal loss following lipid removal. This research developed and evaluated a new fluorescent labeling method using CM-DiI, a dye that reacts with thiols, for multimodal tracking of LNPs. CM-DiI was included in the …