Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Development Of Hydrodynamic Channel Routing Model Of The Lower Rio Grande River To Assist In Flood And Stormwater Management, Andrew W. Leeper

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Flooding and stormwater management of the Lower Rio Grande River (LRG) has become a major issue throughout the years with local entities along the river. The purpose of this study is to develop a hydrodynamic channel routing model to predict water surface elevation changes due to flooding. The study area consists of the LRG from Los Ebanos to Brownsville, Texas. This hydrodynamic model displays the hydraulics of the water flow through the LRG and determines where potential flood hazards exist. To verify the accuracy of the model a series of calculated output hydrographs were established at the Progreso Bridge and …

A Comparative Analysis Of Energy Modelingmethods For Commercial Buildings, Spencer Mark Salmon

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis researched the accuracy of measured energy data in comparison to estimated hand calculation data and estimated building energy performance simulation data. In the facility management industry, there is minimal evidence that building energy performance software is being used as a benchmark against measured energy usage within a building. Research was conducted to find examples of measured energy data compared to simulated data. The study examined the accuracy of a simulation software and hand calculations to measured energy data. Data suggests that comparisons may be made between building energy performance simulated data and measured data, though comparisons are solely …

The Sustainability Of Lean Manufacturing As A Competitive Advantage, Louis G. Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Since the early 1990s lean manufacturing has been employed by companies looking to reduce costs, increase efficiencies and improve quality. Academic studies of the financial benefits of lean manufacturing are mixed in their results, where some show benefit and others do not. The objective of the current work was to confirm a financial benefit of lean manufacturing, while also establishing whether such a financial advantage was sustainable. Financial data was collected for a large number of companies in the manufacturing sector, over the period from 1990 to 2010. The data were used to show correlation between inventory turns and return …

Project Based Learning In Engineering Economics: Teaching Advanced Topics Using A Stock Price Prediction Model, Lizabeth Schlemer

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

A graduate level advanced engineering economics class taught at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, includes a thorough review of time value of money, investment evaluation, inflation, risk and return, financing decisions, corporate investment strategies, risk analysis and decisions incorporating non-monetary considerations. Historically this course was taught using an advanced text where the topics were covered sequentially. A redesign of the course now includes the construction of a stock price prediction model for a company of the student’s choice. Through the model, the topics are covered and discussed in the context of the large model-building project. For instance, inflation …

Exploring A High-Tech Approach To Subterranean Dwelling Environments For Commercial Implementation, Matthew Richard Gordon

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

People are always looking to experience something interesting and unique when on vacation. What could be more unique than staying in a hotel that is completely underground? While people have always been amazed at natural caves and other subterranean structures, the idea of spending the night in one of these is a somewhat untried area, although it could be quite the selling point. This being the case, the idea of a subterranean hotel is not so farfetched, however there are a number of issues that arise with this project. These issues include construction and selecting the proper site and building …

Cal Poly Chocolates, Jason Ferrel, Taylor Fitzpatrick

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Our design for this project began with building a strong understanding of the current production process. A meeting with the manager, Anna Nakayama, provided a detailed overview of the entire process and outlined some areas of concern. In addition, she provided us with access to critical data such as standard operating procedures and inventory spreadsheets. From there, time studies were conducted for each of the 8 types of chocolate. These time studies helped identify three main issues facing Cal Poly Chocolates. The first issue is in the packaging area of production. The process is entirely manual and has become a …

Qualification Of A New Glass Bottle With E&J Gallo Winery, Danielle Leanne Medeiros

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This paper will further examine the procedures involved in transitioning to a new bottle type made by Glass Company B, on a specific bottling line within E&J Gallo’s bottling facility. For this project Bottling Line X will require thorough testing as well as the creation of a changeover choreography plan. The testing procedure will follow a 3 phase process utilizing project management and statistical skills to ensure quality standards are upheld with the transition. Since Bottling Line X is not familiar with transitioning between bottle types, lean manufacturing techniques will be required to create a changeover document ensuring operators are …

Application Of Data Envelopment Analysis To Identify Undervalued Equities On The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Ryan L. Kotzebue

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Two factors that drive investors to and away from the stock market are reward and risk, respectively. By using a stock selection strategy that is quantitative, investors may feel more comfortable and secure with their decisions. However, there lacks a quantitative strategy that can produce increased returns with lower risk by purchasing a small number of stocks. The objective of this project was to formulate a quantitative stock trading strategy that produced exceptional returns with low risk while also fulfilling additional requirements to benefit the common investor.

By using a linear programming based operations research technique known as data envelopment …

Facility Redesign At The Systech Corporation, Jacob J. Rucker

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This senior project is a redesign of Systech’s manufacturing floor as they move to their new facility to be able to support the expected increase in customer demand. As of January 2013, Systech was working near full capacity, and because of their new product release, they expect the demand to outstrip the production capabilities of the current facility. Because of this, Systech is moving their final testing operations in San Diego to a larger building. During this transition, they have expressed interest in redesigning the current floor layout in order to maximize the productivity of their employees. To accomplish this, …

Wart Eliminator Project Report, Colton Story, Kyle Shipman

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The Wart Eliminator is a product based on the theory of resonant frequency and its ability to devitalize pathogens with the use of electronic pulses. Using the resonant frequency of the wart’s pathogen, the device is operated by the user with two switches for power and a probe connected by a wire to the device for applying to the affected area of the user while running three minute cycles. The product is in the beginning stages with only a prototype made. The product needed a proper ergonomic design to be easily used by the user and a cost analysis to …

Simulating The Flow Of Students Through Cal Poly's Undergraduate Industrial Engineering Program For Policy Analysis, Alexander Clayton Weber

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The purpose of this project is to analyze the flow of Industrial Engineering students at California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo in order to measure various graduation metrics by use of a simulation. Currently, graduation rates are relatively low in comparison with the rest of the state of California and future growth and decreased budgets may threaten graduation rates for incoming students. This simulation will identify bottleneck classes [those that hold up students from graduating] and provide a basis for a sensitivity analysis in which different scenarios are constructed to determine their effects on graduation metrics. The simulation will offer …

Lunalight - Bringing Light To The Expanding World, Gabriela M. Igel, Daniel J. Patrick, Kimberley M. Smith

Materials Engineering

The LunaLight, a solar rechargeable light and cell phone charger, addresses the lack of access to electricity faced by 1.4 billion of the world’s population (International Finance Corporation). The LunaTech team has developed a product that is bright, simple, compact, versatile and competitive with existing products. Through a partnership with the non-profit organization One Million Lights, LunaTech has improved a previous team’s design to address user feedback, concerns of durability, and manufacturability.

The LunaLight design includes a 5 component plastic housing held together by 4 screws, a surface mounted PCB, a lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery, one high-brightness LED, a solar panel, …

Application Of Systems Engineering And Project Management For Algae Photo Bioreactors, Andrew S. Balberchak

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Today there is much talk about different sources for biofuel to replace the decreasing supply of fossil fuels. Algae seem very promising with its abundance across the globe and relatively simple growing conditions. Lipids can be extracted from this organism which is then converted to biofuel. Although biofuel production from algae is not economically viable at this stage, researchers are suggesting using the by-products of algae for supplemental and healthcare use. If true, this could justify the economics of obtaining fuel from algae by creating more markets from various algae products.

Cal Poly State University’s Food Science and …

Convertible High Heel Design, Mathew Caspari, Tyler Shelton

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Many women feel pain and discomfort when wearing high heels to certain events. This is a problem because it can lead to a variety of health issues. It would be beneficial and convenient if a woman could remove the heelpiece from her shoe while still wearing the same product. However, there is currently no popular high heels that can convert to a flat shoe on the market today. Our goal was to perform an in depth human factors analysis with regards to high heel use and formulate a solution to these problems. After reviewing literature, conducting a survey, and analyzing …

Thermal Characterization Of A System On Chip (Soc), James Gilstrap

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Electronics are getting more and more advanced. Companies are designing their product to be more powerful, but at the same time they are designing them to be smaller and more user friendly. Heat becomes a major factor with the limited amount of surface area. The objective of this project is to measure the junction temperature of three system on chips (SoC) under various loading conditions and their time constant. The junction temperature was measured based on the diode’s I-V linear relationship. Both calibration and measurement of the junction temperature were conducted for three different SoC packages. The measurement results can …

Reason-To-Reuse: A Sustainable To-Go Food Storage Container System For Restaurants, Ryan Christopher Labuda

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

A food storage container (FSC), also known as a to-go box, is a very popular way for Americans to pick up food when in a rush and take it with them or store leftovers after dining. Some of the more popular materials that make up FSCs include Styrofoam, paper and plastic. These FSCs are meant for one time use and subsequently the majority end up as waste in their local regions. Reason-To-Reuse is a sustainable business that provides an alternative to the current model of disposable FSCs at restaurants by cutting down on waste. The objective of the Reason-To-Reuse project …

Design And Analysis Of A Materials Management System For Boeing Commercial Airplanes' (The Boeing Company) Metallic Raw Material Supply Chain With A Focus On Lead Time Manipulation And Corresponding Effects On Inventory And Cost, Henry Lu

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The purpose of this project is to identify the costs associated with an aggregation strategy run by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. In order to identify these costs, a rudimentary replenishment system must be designed for the supply chain due to the fact that there is currently no such system in place. This replenishment system will be used to create a model (created in Excel) to calculate the total annual costs of the system. The model must allow changes to some of the important inputs such as mill performance measures and lead times and report the resulting changes in the total annual …

Companion Pass Program, Andrew Toney

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

At the end of each quarter the students of Cal Poly prepare to sign up for their classes for next quarter. This process is more difficult for seniors who must meet very specific requirements in order to graduate on time. Students can spend hours trying to find the “perfect schedule”, that one schedule that fits their personal schedule and their graduation requirements, while not over taxing themselves during that quarter by having too much class work. This Cal Poly explores the creation and implementation of an extra scheduling tool to address the weaknesses of the current scheduling system, PASS, and …

Bicycle Mounted Iphone 5 Case With Charging System, Patrick Goebel

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This purpose of this project is to design and manufacture a bicycle handlebar mounted case that will house Apple’s iPhone 5 and a charging system that utilizes a charge from a generator hub in the front wheel of a bicycle. The charging system and software for this project will be developed by an Electrical Engineering Graduate student. The case and charging system must be a self-contained unit that is weather-proof and aesthetically pleasing. It must allow the user to use all of the features of the iPhone 5 under a wide range of speeds. It must be adjustable between portrait …

Analyzing The Costs Of Different Energy Storage Systems For California Polytechnic State University, Christian Royer

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The goal of this project was to analyze the different ways to release energy from an energy storage device into the grid to save money. This project was worked in conjunction with a Master’s of Science student. An entire year of Cal Poly’s energy usage was examined and multiple trends were observed about when the maximum amount of energy was used. These trends looked at the time of day, the day of the week, and season to see what would be the best way to release energy into the grid to save money. There were two different batteries sizes examined …

The Decision Process Of Transitioning From A 3-Axis To A 4-Axis Or 5-Axis Mill Machine, Andrew Van Cleve, David Sherman

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Companies are always looking for new ways to increase productivity and help the company save money. The way this is done is by researching new and more efficient ways to produce whatever it is the company is selling. Since there are always new technologies coming forward it can be difficult to distinguish which ones are viable and which ones are not. This paper looks at the decision of moving a company from a traditional 3-axis milling set-up to a 4-axis or 5-axis milling set-up. Through research and analysis this report will guide a company through the decision making process and …

Reducing Customer Wait Time And Improving Processes At Abc’S Atv Rentals, Thomas Allen Merrill Jr.

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This project serves to explore the system bottlenecks of a small, family owned ATV rental company. The main objective is to reduce the average time a customer spends in the system, focusing on customer wait time as well as other areas that can be improved. This was done by collecting time studies and inputting the values into simulation software, which was run to represent the current system as well as various other possible scenarios encountered by rental companies. While creating the simulation, adaptive techniques were incorporated into the simulation. These techniques aim to increase the durability and reusability of the …

Evaluation And Redesign Of Potting Shed For The Non-Profit Organization, Growing Grounds Farms, Adya Sinha, Julianna Levy

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Growing Grounds, a local nonprofit organization, operates as a fully functioning nursery in San Luis Obispo. Their planting facility is outdated and the process is inefficient. They have new funding available and need to determine if they should automate certain processes or improve existing methods. This report details the current process and presents two possible ergonomic solutions and the accompanying layouts and improvements. An analysis is conducted to determine which new layout is recommended for Growing Grounds based on their current production and revenue, and future recommendations are given.

Edwards Lifesciences - Skirt To Frame Attachment Manufacturing Aid, Samuel Joda, Cesar Grimaldo, Patrick Hutchinson

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Drape Forming Machine, Adam Johnson, Will Schlosser, Brian Miller

Mechanical Engineering

The goal of this project was to build a prototype machine that formed multiple sheets of debulked pre-preg OOA carbon fiber into a 2-foot long trapezoidal shape. The machine was required to do this process semi-automatically.

Rapid Decompression Containment System, Evan Domingue, Michelle Rudney, Daniel Trees

Mechanical Engineering

Cal Poly students; Evan Domingue, Michelle Rudney and Daniel Trees; are working with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA, ASI) and engineer John Wilcox to complete a senior project. The senior project is focused on finding a solution to meet the requirement set forth in MIL-HDBK 1791 4.2.5.2 for rapid decompression which requires cargo items to be designed with pressure relief devices or to be configured for air shipment as to prevent any part from becoming a projectile in the event of catastrophic loss of aircraft cabin pressure. The goal of this project is to design a safe, cost-effective, and …

Titan 130 Engine Aft-Mount, Woody Newell, Michael Haworth, Dylan Perry

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Loaded Shift Tester Sram, Nick Cox, Sam Shaffer, Michael Polka

Mechanical Engineering

This report details the design, manufacturing, and testing of a loaded shift tester for the SRAM Bicycle Corporation. The machine is used to perform developmental and qualification tests on various bicycle drivetrain components. Using SolidWorks, the design team created a solid model of the machine on the computer, then ordered and manufactured the parts required to build it. The machine was tested to ensure that all the parts worked together, and was finally delivered to SRAM when it was deemed ready.

Bicycle Wheel Test Machine, Dylan Harper, Kevin Hom, Ross Williams

Mechanical Engineering

In recent years, the cycling industry has witnessed huge advancements in bicycle components and materials. The age old goals of speed and low weight are still present today, but the pursuit of these goals may be reducing the structural stability of various components integral to wheel performance, including the wheel hub bearings. These bearings are invaluable to bicycles but little is known about how the forces and loads applied to a bicycle affect the performance of these bearings. Broken axles and hubs are indicators of significant stresses within the hub, but little is known about how the resulting deformation affects …

Hoist To Transfer Athletes From Wheelchair Into A Kayak, Jennifer Batryn, Javier Mendez, Kyle Mooney

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.