Other Engineering Commons^™

Friends Of The Lester F. Larsen Tractor Test & Power Museum Newsletter, Spring 2013

Friends of the Larsen Tractor Museum

Membership renewal

Annual Meeting, May 17, 2013

Honoring William E. Splinter

Environmentally Friendly Sizing Agent From Corn Distillers Dried Grains, Yue Zhang

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Distillers dried grains (DDGS), the coproducts of corn ethanol production, were used as a textile sizing agent on cotton, polyester and polyester/cotton blends in an effort to find inexpensive and biodegradable alternatives to sizing agents such as poly(vinyl alcohol) that are currently used. Although DDGS is an inexpensive, biodegradable and abundant co-product, it has limited industrial applications. DDGS is a mixture of carbohydrates, proteins and oil which are used as sizing agents or as size additives. The effects of DDGS extraction conditions on sizing evaluation parameters such as fiber adhesion, film properties, viscosity and fabric abrasion were studied in comparison …

Oil Industry, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides an overview of the historical and contemporary development of the American oil industry and how it has impacted U.S. natural resources policies in the American west.

Android Gloves To Control Smart Phone: Providing A Mouse And Keyboard To Every Smart Phone User, Skyler Greenman, Dr. Bret Swan

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I am reporting to the MTC on August 15th. I am therefore submitting my final report a few months early of the December deadline. However, I have put nearly a year’s amount of work into this project as I started researching early knowing that there were many different ideas and concepts that I had to understand before I could begin experimenting with the hardware. For example, I had to understand how an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) when attached to a user’s hand could navigate a phone like a mouse and how to overhaul the Android operating system to create a …

Incorporating Cyberbullying Prevention Curriculum In Technology Classrooms, Andrew Jackson, Dr. Geoff Wright

Journal of Undergraduate Research

With the advancement of communication technology and the increasing influence it has in our lives, the prevalence of a new intimidation tactic, cyberbullying, is multiplying. Recent studies cite that between 25% and 46% of adolescents are victims of cyberbullying or online harassment (Li, 2006; Palfrey et al., 2010). At present there is limited access to a cyberbullying prevention curriculum for educators; cyberbullying prevention resources have not been synthesized into useable curriculum.

Multi-Objective Time-Cost Optimization Using Cobb-Douglas Production Function And Hybrid Genetic Algorithm, Zhigang Shen, Ashkan Hassani, Qian Shi

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Existing research on construction time-cost tradeoff issues rarely explore the origin of the crashing cost. Crashing cost function was either assumed without much justification, or came from historical data of some real projects. As a result the conclusions of the papers can hardly be used to guide allocations of labor and equipment resources respectively. The authors believe Cobb-Douglas function provides a much-needed piece to modeling the cost functions in the construction time-cost tradeoff problem during the crashing process. We believe this new perspective fills a gap of existing time-cost tradeoff research by considering project duration, labor and equipment cost as …

The Video Club, Dr. Peter Rich, Dr. Geoffrey Wright

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The goals of this project was to bring students together to research the use of video analysis in varied contexts. Through two different projects, we were able to successfully carry out research in four different contexts: seminary, a private school for autistic children, the English Language Center at BYU, and BYU-Provo. We initially set up and began an study at LDS Business college, but due to unexpected medical emergencies, were unable to continue our work with the college. Overall, we feel this has been a successful experience, as we have discovered an approach that seems to work best for conducting …

Programming Literacy Needs To Be A Core Content Standard: A Case Study Of Teaching 7th And 8th Grade Students Computer Programming, Dr. Geoffrey Wright

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Just as typing has replaced calligraphy and hand-writing as the most common form of written language, programming is ready to replace many domains of the English language. Regardless of whether you perceive this, as negative or positive, programming is how many students are communicating. In a recent study (paper) a teacher found the following grammatical errors (as she defined them): ttyl, sg, L2G, 2G2BT, 2M2H, 404, 411, 511, LOL (double meaning), NMU, N1, W@, WU

Estimating The Wind Resource In An Urban Area: A Case Study Of Micro Wind Generation Potential In Dublin, Ireland, Keith Sunderland, Gerald Mills, Michael Conlon

Articles

The micro-turbine wind market in cities faces significant challenges due to the complexities associated with the urban terrain but, if a renewable solution to increasing energy demand is to be achieved, energy conversion systems where populations are concentrated, that is cities, must be considered. This research evaluates the urban wind resource by employing a physically-based empirical model to link wind observations at a conventional meteorological site to those acquired at urban sites. The approach is based on urban climate research that has examined the effects of varying surface roughness on the wind-field between and above buildings. Here, this is applied …

The Future Of Mobile Information And Communication Technology In Austere Environments: A Command And Control Technology Integration Perspective, James W. Harker

Theses and Dissertations

The information and communications technology (ICT) field is undergoing a period of tremendous and rapid change. As ICT develops more rapidly, the United States Air Force needs to remain responsive and adaptive to maintain military advantages. The need to integrate ICT developments sooner than our adversaries prompted an assessment of guidelines evaluating how well the AF is doctrinally positioned from a Command and Control perspective to support integration of emerging ICT. A Delphi Study was commissioned by the 689th CCW to forecast the future of mobile Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in austere environments. Using the ICT forecast data as …

Application Of Assignment Problem Theory To Cal Poly's Week Of Welcome Program Presentation Schedule, Kevin T. Aban

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The Week of Welcome (WOW) is a part of Cal Poly’s Orientation Programs. One of the main objectives of WOW is to provide content to new students on a variety of different topics in the form of Awareness Presentations. The problem being addressed in this paper is that of assigning the orientation groups of incoming students to these Awareness Presentations so that they have a schedule that meets all of the necessary criteria. The most important of those requirements is schedule balance and flexibility for future use. This scheduling problem is solved through the use of operations research and binary …

Csp Desalination/Water Purification Unit, Sean Goodison

Industrial Technology and Packaging

An estimated 3.4 million people die each year from unsanitary water or inaccessible water supply. Most of these deaths take place in the developing, third world (99%). There is a dilemma arising on the world stage as well. The water demand/supply deficit is expected to increase significantly over the next 37 years if preemptive action isn’t taken. 97% of the world water supply is oceanic, making it an attractive solution to the water deficit. Providing autonomous, “deploy and watch” systems for utilizing sustainable energy to provide purified water for unitized low pricing has the potential to penetrate a large world …

Robert E. Kennedy Library Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Fire Protection Analysis Fpe Culminating Project, Isaac De Haro Martinez

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

California State University has acquired fire protection services to conduct a survey of and produce a fire protection report that analyzes the current condition of the existing Robert E. Kennedy Library on the Cal Poly campus. The prescriptive analysis of the Library is based on the 2010 California Building- the analysis considers the building a new building and will not consider the building provision for existing buildings as permitted by Chapter 34 of the CBC. A performance-based design using FDS is also analyzed to determine the tenability advantages of providing fire sprinklers within the Library. Non-conforming conditions include, among others, …

Court House Project- Fire Protection Report, Ryan Rigsbee

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This fire protection report intends to provide Fictitious Architects (The Client) with sufficient information about code requirements and best practices pertaining to occupant and building safety. The chapters within this report include specific design requirements to aid the client during the design of the Court House Project. The following recommendations have been prepared by Ryan Rigsbee to address all major building code requirements for life safety systems. These life safety systems include egress, fire alarm and signaling, water-based fire suppression, structural fire protection, smoke control, and an emergency management plan. This project details the requirements for a new courthouse containing …

Kase, The Laptop Cooling Case, Jana Morrison, Tyler Ries

Biomedical Engineering

This report describes the final design and analysis of a laptop cooling case as a marketable product for a group of entrepreneurial marketing student based out of California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo. Background market research and empirical measurements were taken in order to confirm that this would be a marketable product worth designing. Then previous solutions were researched in order to identity weaknesses and strengths. After rigorous research, it was determined that a passive cooling system, in which channels directed airflow to the computer fan would be the best system in terms of functionality, performance, and cost. A …

Polyparking, Christopher Blackmer, Michael Suttie

Biomedical Engineering

The purpose of this senior project is to analyze the various options for the implementation of a parking lot information system on the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo campus. This system would involve three main components: physical counting hardware, a database and analysis organization system, and a user interface for disseminating the gathered information. The project investigates and provides commentary on various available and commonplace systems, and the benefits and drawbacks of these systems. During the course of the project, a flexible database and user-interface was developed in Microsoft Access, which will allow counter output to be gathered …

Aging Effect On Foot Dynamics During Unexpected Slips, Jian Liu, Thurmon E. Lockhart

Computer Sciences and Electrical Engineering Faculty Research

Slip-induced fall accidents have been recognized as a serious threat to the health of the elderly.The objective of the current study was to investigate the aging effect on the biomechanical reactions of both perturbed foot and unperturbed foot to the unexpected slips. Nineteen younger (mean age: 25.0 years old) and twenty-one older (mean age: 71.2 years old) adults were involved in a laboratory study,in which slippery surface was induced during walking without their awareness.The reactive responses of both slipping foot and unperturbed foot were quantified by optical motion capture system and force platforms.The results indicate a characteristic toe-touch strategy by …

Local Dynamic Stability Associated With Load Carrying, Jian Liu, Thurmon E. Lockhart

Computer Sciences and Electrical Engineering Faculty Research

Objectives: Load carrying tasks are recognized as one of the primary occupational factors leading to slip and fall injuries. Nevertheless, the mechanisms associated with load carrying and walking stability remain illusive. The objective of the current study was to apply local dynamic stability measure in walking while carrying a load, and to investigate the possible adaptive gait stability changes.

Methods: Current study involved 25 young adults in a biomechanics research laboratory. One tri-axial accelerometer was used to measure three-dimensional low back acceleration during continuous treadmill walking. Local dynamic stability was quantified by the maximum Lyapunov exponent (maxLE) from a nonlinear …

Silver Nanoparticle Removal From Drinking Water: Flocculation/Sedimentation Or Filtration?, Desmond F. Lawler, Anne M. Mikelonis, Ijung Kim, Boris L.T. Lau, Sungmin Youn

All Engineering Faculty Research

Silver nanoparticles are used in a wide variety of consumer products and are therefore rapidly becoming ubiquitous in the natural environment; they can be expected to be found in the natural waters used as drinking water supplies. This research investigated whether such particles could be expected to be removed in conventional water treatment plants such as flocculation and filtration. Both flocculation and granular media filtration experiments with citrate-capped silver nanoparticles were performed at different ionic strengths and in the presence and absence of natural organic matter. The results were generally consistent with theories of particle destabilization that have been developed …

Nuts & Bolts, Volume 1, Issue 2

Friends of the Larsen Tractor Museum

New Exhibit Opens
Bill Splinter Memorial
Museum Needs
Fun Facts ... and other non-sense
From Lou's Desk by lou leviticus
Flipping A Fordson
What I've Learned notes from the manager
Museum Updates
Nuts & Bolts Staff:
Museum Guidance Committee:

Recession And Renting: The Future Of The Private Rented Sector In Ireland, Lorcan Sirr

Conference papers

No abstract provided.

Modeling Of Biorefinery Supply Chain Economic Performance With Discrete Event Simulation, Joseph S. Amundson

Theses and Dissertations--Manufacturing Systems Engineering

As competition for fossil fuels accelerates, alternative sources of chemicals, fuels, and energy production become more appealing to researchers and the layman. Among the candidates to fill this growing niche is lignocellulosic biomass. Many researchers have examined supply chain design and optimization for biofuel and bioenergy production throughout the years. However, these models often fail to capture the variability and uncertainty inherent to the biomass supply chain. Multiple factors with high degrees of stochasticity can have major impacts on the performance of a biorefinery: weather, biomass quality, feedstock availability, and market demand for products are just a few. To begin …

Technology Management Competencies, Mark Doggett, Pam Mcgee, Sophia Scott

SEAS Faculty Publications

In order to meet the increasing expectations of industry, technology management programs combine the application of technical skills with management competencies. The aim of the Association of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering (ATMAE) is to develop professionals committed to solving complex technological problems, while advancing the technologist and applied engineering workforce. However, there is a wide variability of perceptions regarding the technologist and the technology manager. Clarity concerning the required competencies for an entry- level technology manager is essential. In order for technology management programs to be relevant, their competencies must be acknowledged and agreed upon. In addition, these technology …

Learning From Learning Groups, Mike Murphy, S. M. Chance, Gavin Duffy, Brian Bowe

Articles

Collaborative learning is a key, and complementary, component of student-centred enquiry-based pedagogy. Today, many educators understand that students learn effectively when working together with their peers to construct new knowledge. Many teachers are working to help their students develop such ability. Teachers do this to help students better understand the relevance of new content, connect new ideas into existing frameworks of understanding, and construct new neurological pathways and connect synapses in their brains. In addition, group learning has been shown to increase students’ critical thinking skills, creativity, collaborative behaviours, understanding of ethics, and the like. In the literature, attention has …

The Integration Of Sustainable Development Competencies In Irish Engineering Education: Findings Of A Curriculum Content Investigation Of Four Engineering Programmes, Iacovos Nicolaou, Eddie Conlon

Conference papers

This paper presents the initial findings of an investigation of the Sustainable Development (SD) content in five professional engineering degree programmes in a large Irish Institute of Technology.

A comprehensive investigation of the modules content was conducted to see to what extent the learning outcomes for SD as set out in the Barcelona Declaration and SD competencies were covered by the modules. It was found that 40% of the 137 modules included SD learning outcomes and/or addressed SD competencies. The modules have a focus on environmental issues and tend to address only one of the three dimensions, environmental, social and …

Achieving A Holistic View Of The Life Cycle Performance Of Existing Dwellings, Albert Famuyibo, Aidan Duffy, P. Strachan

Articles

Models which fully evaluate the life cycle energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of national housing stocks are not reported in literature. Capturing a holistic view of energy and emissions of the residential sector is an important process that can lead to a more effective policy making. This paper presents a methodology which evaluates the life cycle energy and GHG emissions of retrofitting housing stocks considering all life cycle stages and incorporating, to the greatest extent possible, all upstream inputs.

To achieve this, we developed a hybrid model of the existing Irish housing stock, comprising a process-based approach supplemented by …

Using Gis To Delineate Headwater Stream Origins In The Appalachian Coal-Belt Region Of Kentucky, Jonathan A. Villines

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Human activity such as surface mining can have substantial impacts on the natural environment. Performing a Cumulative Hydrologic Impact Assessment (CHIA) of such impacts on surface water systems requires knowing the location and extent of these impacted streams. The Jurisdictional Determination (JD) of a stream’s protected status under the Clean Water Act (CWA) involves locating and classifying streams according to their flow regime: ephemeral, intermittent, or perennial. Due to their often remote locations and small size, taking a field inventory of headwater streams for surface mining permit applications or permit reviews is challenging. A means of estimating headwater stream location …

Indeterminate Masses, Elements And Models In Information Fusion, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In this paper at the beginning, we make a short history of the logics, from the classical Boolean logic to the most general logic of today neutrosophic logic. We define the general logic space and give the definition of the neutrosophic logic. Then we introduce the indeterminate models in information fusion, which are due either to the existence of some indeterminate elements in the fusion space or to some indeterminate masses.

The best approach for dealing with such models is the neutrosophic logic, which is part of neutrosophy. Neutrosophic logic is connected with neutrosophic set and neutrosophic probability and statistics.

Analysis Of Integrated Engineering And Social Science Approaches For Projects In Developing Communities, Parry F. Garff, Eric C. Dahlin, Carol Ward, Randy Lewis

Faculty Publications

Current design methods such as appropriate technology, human-centered design, and participatory design are intended to generate development projects that resonate with users in communities in developing countries. These approaches are extremely useful, but often lack adequate documentation about how to collect data on and incorporate users feedback into the project’s design. To address this gap, we introduced social science research methods into a service-learning course for undergraduate engineering students, which culminated in a trip to the communities for whom they were designing, to help students incorporate user feedback into the design of their projects. This paper documents our efforts. One …

Effects Of Reverberation And Noise On Speech Comprehension By Native And Non-Native English-Speaking Listeners, Z. Ellen Peng, Lily M. Wang, Siu-Kit Lau, Adam M. Steinbach

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Previous studies have demonstrated the negative impact of adverse signal-to-noise-ratios on non-native English-speaking listeners' performance on speech recognition using recall tasks, as well as implied that comprehension skills were more impaired than recognition skills under reverberation and noise. The authors have themselves previously conducted a pilot study on three native and three non-native Englishspeaking listeners to examine the effects of reverberation and noise using speech comprehension tasks. Those results suggested that speech comprehension performance is worse under longer reverberation times (RT), and that a longer RT is more detrimental to speech comprehension by non-native listeners than native listeners. This paper …