Engineering Commons^™

Health And Wellness Information System, Monica Rangel

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The greatest wealth is health. It is sometimes said your health is a function of what you are not doing, not what you are currently doing. The degree to which individuals can attain, process, and comprehend the necessary health information and services they need to make proper health decisions is vital for optimal health and well-being.

This project documents the analysis, design, development, and implementation of a prototype web-based data-driven health & wellness system targeted for college students. The architecture for this system uses business intelligence to develop a smart online platform for real-time analysis based on inputs entered by …

Security Practices: Keeping Individuals Safe And Aware In The Cyber World, Annie Respicio

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

We currently live in a day and age where nearly everyone uses electronic devices and connects to the web. Whether it be from a desktop, laptop, or smartphone, staying connected and having information at your fingertips is easier than ever. Although technology has become so intermingled with our daily lives, the idea around security is not as momentous as it should be. As mentioned by the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), “based on recent statistics, the average unprotected computer can be compromised in a matter of minutes. The majority of individuals who thought their computers were safe…were wrong.” …

Evaluating Creative Choice In K-12 Computer Science Curriculum, Kirsten L. Mork

Master's Theses

Computer Science is an increasingly important topic in K-12 education. Ever since the "computing crisis" of the early 2000s, where enrollment in CS dropped by over half in a five year span, increasing research has gone into improving and broadening enrollment in CS courses. Research shows the importance of introducing CS at a young age and the need for more exposure for younger children and young adults alike in order to work towards equity in the field. While there are many reasons for disinterest in CS courses, studies found one reason young adults do not want to study CS is …

Cmos Design Of An 8-Bit 1ms/S Successive Approximation Register Adc, Ameya Vivekanand Ganguli

Master's Theses

Rapid evolution of integrated circuit technologies has paved a way to develop smaller and energy efficient biomedical devices which has put stringent requirements on data acquisition systems. These implantable devices are compact and have a very small footprint. Once implanted these devices need to rely on non-rechargeable batteries to sustain a life span of up to 10 years. Analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) are key components in these power limited systems. Therefore, development of ADCs with medium resolution (8-10 bits) and sampling rate (1 MHz) have been of great importance.

This thesis presents an 8-bit successive approximation register (SAR) ADC incorporating an …

Implementing Ipd Principles On Custom Residential Projects: Tools And Best Practices, Giuseppi K. Jenkins

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to see how Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) principles and practices can be used on high end custom residential construction projects to increase the collaboration and efficiency of the project team. A case study was conducted on a custom home project to observe how and what IPD principles were used. Observations, interviews and a survey were used as part of that case study to gain insights. This research found that IPD principles and practices could be used on residential projects. In addition, the research found that those involved found the experience positive and beneficial to …

Robust Visual-Inertial Navigation And Control Of Fixed-Wing And Multirotor Aircraft, Jerel Bendt Nielsen

Theses and Dissertations

With the increased performance and reduced cost of cameras, the robotics community has taken great interest in estimation and control algorithms that fuse camera data with other sensor data.In response to this interest, this dissertation investigates the algorithms needed for robust guidance, navigation, and control of fixed-wing and multirotor aircraft applied to target estimation and circumnavigation.This work begins with the development of a method to estimate target position relative to static landmarks, deriving and using a state-of-the-art EKF that estimates static landmarks in its state.Following this estimator, improvements are made to a nonlinear observer solving part of the SLAM problem.These …

Cej Ankle Support Report, Christine Prothe, James Baldwin, Erik Espinoza

Biomedical Engineering

This document provides information about an ankle support device designed to allow for ankle dorsiflexion and plantar flexion. In this document the product’s specifications, objectives and expectations are outlined. Included in this document is background information, stage gate process, prototype design development and considerations, and qualification requirements.

House Calls Mobile Virtual Stethoscope, Abigail Lindquist, Abigael Donohue, Trey Nahhas

Biomedical Engineering

The purpose of this scope of work is to outline the progress of the Virtual Stethoscope design and development project as sponsored by House Calls Mobile. This device looks to provide accessible at-home care for patients all over the country through the mobile phone stethoscope attachment. With the virtual stethoscope technology, patients will be able to perform high-quality, in-home observation of heart, stomach, and lung sounds to be transmitted to a physician in real time. Eliminating the need to travel to a doctor’s office encourages patients to perform more regular checkups, increasing their likelihood potentially of life-saving early diagnoses. This …

Sand Foot: A Prosthesis For Walking On Sand, Samantha A. Galicinao, John Dewing, Daniel Dugan Dotson, Christopher Urasaki

Biomedical Engineering

This critical design report describes the product development of a prosthesis for use on sand. Quality of Life Plus (QL+), a national non-profit organization aimed to develop prostheses for veterans and people with disabilities, introduced this project and its accompanying challenger, Sgt. Brady, to Cal Poly’s Interdisciplinary Senior Project class in September 2018. After consulting with Sgt. Brady and QL+ and performing extensive research, the Sand Foot team defined customer requirements and engineering specifications to meet these requirements. Comfortability, durability, and sandproof were key customer requirements. Several conceptual models were brainstormed and a final design was selected based on the …

Poster: Life After Sports: Black Males Pursuing Engineering And Related Stem Fields, Leroy L. Long Iii, Robert A. Bennett Iii, Morris R. Council Iii, Mckenna James

Publications

This poster summarizes findings and offers recommendations from a research study involving Black males who majored in engineering or a related STEM field and played a collegiate sport. Specifically, the poster highlights ways in which the research participants were able to transition from playing sports to pursuing an engineering or related STEM career. For this particular poster, the presenters focused on the experiences of four Black men. Two of the Black men played college football at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeast. Two other Black men ran track at Division 2 (D2) predominantly White institutions (PWIs) in …

Simulation Of Human Balance Control Using An Inverted Pendulum Model, Joshua E. Caneer

Maseeh Summer Undergraduate Research Experience

The nervous system that human beings use to control balance is remarkably adaptable to a wide variety of environments and conditions. This neural system is likely a combination of many inputs and feedback control loops working together. The ability to emulate this system of balance could be of great value in understanding and developing solutions to proprioceptive disorders and other diseases that affect the human balance control system. Additionally, the process of emulating the human balance system may also have widespread applications to the locomotion capabilities of many types of robots, in both bipedal and non-bipedal configurations.

The goal of …

Toward Using Empirical Mode Decomposition To Identify Anomalies In Stream Flowdata And Correlations With Other Environmental Data, Saul Gallegos Ramirez

Theses and Dissertations

I applied empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and the Hilbert-Herbert transforms, as tools to analyze streamflow data. I used the EMD method to extract and analyze periodic processes and trends in several environmental datasets including daily stream flow, daily precipitation, and daily temperature on data from the watersheds of two rivers in the Upper Colorado River Basin, the Yampa and the Upper-Green rivers. I used these data to identify forcing functions governing streamflow. Forcing functions include environmental factors such as temperature and precipitation and anthropogenic factors such as dams or diversions. The Green and Yampa Rivers have similar headwaters, but the …

Follow-Up And Kinetic Model Selection Of Dinitro Pentamethylene Tetramine (Dpt), Hany A. Elazab, M. M. Seleet, Said M.A. Hassanein, M. A. Radwan, M. A. Sadek

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Synthetic route of Cyclotetramethylene Tetramine is implemented through the reaction of hexamine and nitrating mixture that is formed as a result of a reaction between ammonium nitrate and fuming nitric acid. The reaction medium includes acetic acid, acetic anhydride and p-formaldehyde. This synthetic pathway is relatively long and both of hexamine dinitrate and Dinitro Pentamethylene Tetramine (DPT) are considered as the two main intermediate compounds. The former compound (hexamine dinitrate) was prepared, purified, and then characterized. Conversion of hexamine dinitrate into DPT has been followed up experimentally at different temperatures. Various factors including temperature and time has been investigated. …

Slightly Fluorination Of Al₂O₃ Ald Coating On Li₁.₂Mn₀.₅₄Coo.₁₃Ni₀.₁₃O₂ Electrodes: Interface Reaction To Create Stable Solid Permeable Interphase Layer, Han Yu, Yan Gao, Xinhua Liang

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Improving the performance of cathodes by using surface coatings has proven to be an effective method for improving the stability of Li-ion batteries (LIBs), while a high-quality film satisfying all requirements of electrochemical inertia, chemical stability, and lithium ion conductivity has not been found. In this study, a composite film composed of Al₂O₃ and AlF₃ layers was coated on the surface of Li_1.2Mn_0.54Co_0.13Ni_0.13O₂ (Li-rich NMC) based electrodes by atomic layer deposition (ALD). By varying the ratio of Al₂O₃ and AlF₃, an optimal …

Phased Array Digital Beamforming Algorithms And Applications, David Moyle Marsh

Theses and Dissertations

With the expansion of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) technologies, there is a growing need for UAS Traffic Management (UTM) systems to promote safe operation and development. To be successful, these UTM systems must be able to detect and track multiple drones in the presence of clutter. This paper examines the implementation of different algorithms on a compact, X-band, frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar in an effort to enable more accurate detection and estimation of drones. Several algorithms were tested through post processing on actual radar data to determine their accuracy and usefulness for this system. A promising result was …

Replacement Rates Of Initially Hydrocarbon-Filled Microscopic Cavities With Water, Hans Christian Larson

Theses and Dissertations

Wetting behaviors influence many aspects of life and industry from consumer product goods to oil recovery to cosmetics. While the traditional solid-liquid-vapor (SLV) system has been studied for many years now, wetting transitions in the solid-liquid-liquid (SLL) system has remained relatively unexplored. The purpose of this work is to bring light to the wetting transition of the solid-liquid-liquid system and to understand the replacement rates of initially hydrocarbon-filled microscopic cavities with water and the factors affecting these rates. Factors studied were viscosity, density, diffusion related properties, and surface related properties in both hydrocarbon-saturated and hydrocarbon-non-saturated conditions. Cylindrical microscopic cavities were …

Analysis Of Disengagements In Semi-Autonomous Vehicles: Drivers’ Takeover Performance And Operational Implications, Francesca M. Favaro, Sky Eurich, Syeda Rizvi, Shivangi Agarwal, Sumaid Mahmood, Nazanin Nader

Mineta Transportation Institute

This report analyzes the reactions of human drivers placed in simulated Autonomous Technology disengagement scenarios. The study was executed in a human-in-the-loop setting, within a high-fidelity integrated car simulator capable of handling both manual and autonomous driving. A population of 40 individuals was tested, with metrics for control takeover quantification given by: i) response times (considering inputs of steering, throttle, and braking); ii) vehicle drift from the lane centerline after takeover as well as overall (integral) drift over an S-turn curve compared to a baseline obtained in manual driving; and iii) accuracy metrics to quantify human factors associated with the …

Fatigue Performance Of Rc Beams Strengthened With Near Surface Mounted Cfrp Composites, Tamer Ghaith Mousa Eljufout

Dissertations

Bridges have a fundamental role in improving the effectiveness of highways and providing an expedient and express traffic system. Over time, Reinforced Concrete (RC) bridges degrade due to gradually increased traffic loads and environmental deteriorations. Subsequently, service loads might cause higher stresses in concrete and steel reinforcement than stresses considered in the design stage. This affects the structural performance of RC beams and leads to sudden fatigue failure. As such, there is an essential need for rehabilitation to avoid hazards and tragedies.

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) composites are becoming widely used to strengthen RC bridges. Near Surface Mounted (NSM) …

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.

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 …

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 …

Adversarial Contract Design For Private Data Commercialization, Parinaz Naghizadeh, Arunesh Sinha

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The proliferation of data collection and machine learning techniques has created an opportunity for commercialization of private data by data aggregators. In this paper, we study this data monetization problem as a mechanism design problem, specifically using a contract-theoretic approach. Our proposed adversarial contract design framework provides a fundamental extension to the classic contract theory set-up in order to account for the heterogeneity in honest buyers’ demands for data, as well as the presence of adversarial buyers who may purchase data to compromise its privacy. We propose the notion of Price of Adversary (PoAdv) to quantify the effects of adversarial …

Electrical Machines For Harsh Environments, Ayman M. El-Refaie

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

There have been several megatrends over the past several years that have been driving research activities in the area of electrical machines and drives. These include transportation electrification (land vehicles, aerospace, ships, locomotives), expanded role of renewables (wind, solar, wave…etc.), and smart grid among others. One of those megatrends that continues to become more critical is electrical machines for harsh environments. In many applications, production has been moved to remote locations and harsh environments. These include subsea oil exploration, sour/acid gas compression, downhole and geothermal pumps, underground mining, and aerospace applications. This paper will provide an overview of electrical machine …

Creating A Learning Environment That Engages Engineering Students In The Classroom Via Communication Strategies, Eleazar Marquez, Samuel Garcia

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

In this research effort, the authors claim that possessing technical knowledge is not a sufficient asset to establish a learning environment that renders engagement with engineering students during lecture sessions, but rather the integration of various communication strategies that support students’ academic development. Research has noted that classroom context and conditions impact the degree of student learning and engagement and are further enhanced when students feel comfortable communicating with the instructor and with their peers. If such acquaintance is nonexistent, student participation may be stifled and limited despite the technical concerns arising during lecture sessions. Thus, it is imperative for …

Development Of A Parameterized Reduced-Order Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine Wake Model, Eric Tingey, Andrew Ning

Faculty Publications

Analyzing or optimizing wind farm layouts often requires reduced-order wake models to estimate turbine wake interactions and wind velocity. We propose a wake model for vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) in streamwise and crosswind directions. Using vorticity data from computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations and cross-validated Gaussian distribution fitting, we produced a wake model that can estimate normalized wake velocity deficits of an isolated VAWT using normalized downstream and lateral positions, tip-speed ratio, and solidity. Compared to CFD, taking over a day to run one simulation, our wake model predicts a velocity deficit in under a second with an appropriate accuracy …

Data-Driven Integral Reinforcement Learning For Continuous-Time Non-Zero-Sum Games, Yongliang Yang, Liming Wang, Hamidreza Modares, Dawei Ding, Yixin Yin, Donald C. Wunsch

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper develops an integral value iteration (VI) method to efficiently find online the Nash equilibrium solution of two-player non-zero-sum (NZS) differential games for linear systems with partially unknown dynamics. To guarantee the closed-loop stability about the Nash equilibrium, the explicit upper bound for the discounted factor is given. To show the efficacy of the presented online model-free solution, the integral VI method is compared with the model-based off-line policy iteration method. Moreover, the theoretical analysis of the integral VI algorithm in terms of three aspects, i.e., positive definiteness properties of the updated cost functions, the stability of the closed-loop …

Estimation Of The Region Of Attraction Of Underactuated Systems And Its Enlargement Using Impulsive Inputs, Nilay Kant, Ranjan Mukherjee, Dhrubajit Chowdhury, Hassan K. Khalil

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Stabilization of an equilibrium point is an important control problem for underactuated systems. For a given control design, the ability of the system to remain stable in the presence of disturbances depends on the size of the region of attraction of the stabilized equilibrium. The sum of squares and trajectory reversing methods are combined together to generate a large estimate of the region of attraction. Then, this estimate is effectively enlarged by applying the impulse manifold method, which can stabilize equilibria from points lying outside the estimated region of attraction. In this paper, the generality of the approach is demonstrated …

Theoretical Analysis And Experimental Realization Of Highly Effective Acceptor Ionization In Gan Via Mg Co-Doped With 4d-Element (In), Zhiqiang Liu, Xiaoyan Yi, Junxi Wang, Ian Ferguson, Na Lu, Jinmin Li

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this work, we clarify the underlying physics and the acceptor ionization process in the In-Mg co-doping GaN. The fundamental understandings are also applicable for other co-doping nitride systems. We show the effective acceptors ionization stems mainly from the band structure tuning effect of the 4d orbitals of In atoms. In addition, temperature dependent defect-related photoluminescence analysis was proposed to examine the energy position of Mg impurity levels, which is crucially important in the design for high p-doping. Finally, a hole concentration, which is nearly one order of magnitude higher than what is typically achievable by direct Mg-doping, was achieved.

Analysis Of Geometric Accuracy And Thickness Reduction In Multistage Incremental Sheet Forming Using Digital Image Correlation, Mercedes M. Gonzalez, Nathan A. Lutes, Joseph D. Fischer, Mitchell R. Woodside, Douglas A. Bristow, Robert G. Landers

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Incremental Sheet Forming (ISF) is a freeform manufacturing method whereby a 3D geometry is created by progressively deforming a metal sheet with a single point tool following a defined trajectory. The thickness distribution of a formed part is a major consideration of the process and is believed to be improved by forming the geometry in multiple stages. This paper describes a series of experiments in which truncated cone geometries were formed using two multistage methods and compared to the same geometry formed using the traditional single stage method. The geometric accuracy and thickness distributions, including 3D thickness distribution plots, of …

A Phenomenological Model Of Non-Linear Loss In Ferrimagnetic Frequency-Selective Limiters, Anatoliy Boryssenko, Scott Gillette, Marina Koledintseva

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Operation of ferrimagnetic frequency-selective limiters (FSL) is based on non-linear absorption in magnetized ferrite films at RF/microwave power levels exceeding some threshold. A new phenomenological model of non-linear loss in a ferrite medium has been proposed, and it has been implemented in an efficient numerical algorithm for an FSL performance prediction.