Spring 2007
The Solar Powered Office
Dr. Tom Bensky
This project aims to implement a very visible use of alternative energy by building a small solar powered generator to supply 100% of the electrical demands of T. Bensky's physics department office at 52-E19. Students will have a 3 part experience in this project. The first is to learn the principles of solar electric generator; the second is to build and test the system in the flexibility of a research lab. The final phase is to move and integrate the system into the office.
Drugs for the Sea: Medicinally Active Compounds from Marine Sources
Dr. Jennifer Carroll
The primary objective of this project is to identify novel compounds from marine invertebrates which show activity against human diseases. Samples of marine sponges and tunicates will be collected by SCUBA and returned to Cal Poly campus for workup. At Cal Poly each extract will be tested for cytotoxicity by simple and inexpensive bench-top disease bioassays such as the Artemia sp. lethality test and the potato disk assay. Samples will also be submitted to collaborators at the University of Mississippi, National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR) for extensive bioassay screening in anti-cancer, anti-microbial and anti-malarial assays.
Optical Coherence Tomography Using Single Chip Tunable Lasers
Dr. Dennis Derickson
The first stage of research is focused on design and construction of a high speed optical coherence tomography (OCT) using single chip wavelength tunable lasers. The second stage of research allows the OCT system to be modified for specific samples under test including the correlation of meat tenderness versus the subsurface structure.
Investigation of the Polarization
Dr. Katharina Gillen
This group will focus on modifying an existing Mathematica code to include the polarization dependence of the trapping potential and will calculate the potentials seen by atoms in certain internal states. The outcome may reveal a new way of enabling the performance of 2-qubit gates.
Elucidation of the Interaction between Proteins and Lipids of the MFGM
Dr. Derek Gragson
This research project's ultimate goal is to explore the molecular level structure of monolayer films, bilayer films, and bilayers in vesicles so a comparison and understanding of the role each component plays in the structure and function of the MFGM can be drawn. MFGM is composed of a complex mixture of proteins, triglycerides, sterols, phospholipids, and fatty acids and acts as an emulsifying agent, suspending milk-fat in the aqueous milk plasma thus preventing coalescence and flocculation of the milk-fat.
Temperature and Gas Conditions at Municipal Solid Waste Landfills
Dr. Jim Hanson
Research is being conducted on 5 different landfills around the world. Data is being documented, and this group will be involved in analyzing the field data as well as development of numerical models to quantify and predict field response.
Interaction between Humans and Robots
Dr. Franz J. Kurfess
The goal of this project is to explore examples of interaction between humans and robots in different disciplines, such as the use of robots in manufacturing, for household chores, or in medical settings.
CSU Honors Program Directors Survey
Jennifer Merriam
The purpose of this research is to conduct a survey of Honors Program Directors throughout the CSU system. The findings will be used in guiding the program expansion of Cal Poly's Honors Program.
Speaking With Hands
Dr. Saeed Niku
This project involves the design and manufacturing of a multifingered hand, conversion of text data to signal data, conversion of signal data to finger motions, and a controller. This is to help aid deaf-and blind individuals who can only communicate with finger-spelling.
Drop Testing Reliability of Lead-Free Solder Interconnections
Dr. John Pan
The objective of this proposal is to investigate the drop testing reliability of lead-free solder interconnections. This proposal consists of two parts. The first part is intended to develop a high-speed resistance measurement system that is capable of measuring the resistance of solder interconnections at a scan frequency of 50KHz and greater with a 16 bit signal width. Both hardware and software will be developed in this project. The second part of the proposal is to conduct drop tests.
Balloon SAT
Dr. John Saghri
A team of four Honors student will design, manufacture, test, implement, and exploit a viable low-cost, low-altitude, helium-filled, tethered-balloon remote sensing station. The station will house a payload of visible, infrared, and thermal imaging sensors (cameras) that will be operated remotely and used to survey the local terrain (Cal Poly campus and vicinity). The collected multispectral data will be digitally exploited to provide surveillance (e.g., traffic condition, security), change detection (e.g., parking lot use status), and classification/mapping information for our local community.
Resistance-Switching Memory Cell
Dr. Richard Savage &Dr. Fei Wang
Recently, a significant amount of interest has been generated in non-volatile memory devices primarily for their potential as replacement for Flash memories in scaled technologies. Chalcogenide glasses have been found to display very unique phase-switching behavior, which can be used in non-volatile storage devices. Binary information is retained in different phases with different resistivities, so no energy is required to retain the stored information. This project will focus on understanding the impact of the structure and stoichometric composition of the silver doped chalcogenide Ag-Ge-S and to understand the physics behind the property changes of this material.
Vestibular Stimulation Apparatus for Cerebral Palsy Therapy
Dr. Brian Self
Vestibular profiles about multiple axes would provide much greater stimulation to the child and could result in greater improvements in motor control, arousal level, reflex development, and possible even behavioral and mental development. This project will focus on designing and building a prototype rotational system used for Cerebral Palsy therapy. This group will also test the prototypes effectiveness using patients in the local community.
Solar Powered Wireless Access Point
Dr. John Seng
This project hopes to further facilitate the cause for providing web access to communities by developing low-cost, solar-powered wireless access points (WAPs). These WAPs could operate as self-contained units that operate independent from the power grid, and act as relays to broaden the effective WiFi coverage of an existing wireless network.
Physics at the Nanoscale: Optical Tweezers and Bacterial Adhesion
Dr. John Sharpe
The overall aim of this project is to measure the force of bacterial adhesion to a number of biologically interesting membrane proteins. We do this using optical tweezers which can manipulate microscopic objects with nanometer positioning resolution.
Altitude Determination
Dr. Jordi Puig-Suari
Attitude determination and control systems for spacecraft require significant computational power. However, very small satellites are limited in their ability to generate electrical power. Therefore, very efficient algorithms designed to run in low power processors are needed to improve the pointing capabilities of these miniature spacecraft.
Integrating Technology into Physical Education
Dr. J. Kevin Taylor
This group will work with Kinesiology students and faculty to develop units of instruction for teachers in the public schools. Students will teach Math and Science using technology through movement activities and games.
Screening of genes encoding type III secretion system in Vibrio parahaemolyticus
Dr. Marie Yeung
Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a natural inhabitant in marine environment. Though the majority of the strains are non-pathogenic, a subgroup has the ability to cause acute gastroenteritis if sufficient amount is consumed via food vehicle. The objective of this study is to screen for the presence of a putative virulence factor, type III secretion system, in V. parahaemolyticus isolates collected from various sources. Students who take part in this project will gain experience in common microbiological techniques and in designing experiments involving PCR.
Heat Pumps in CA Greenhouses
Dr. Ilhami Yildiz & Prof. Virginia Walter
This project focuses on reducing natural gas, electricity, and water consumption in California greenhouses introducing renewable energy heat pump technologies to both open and confined greenhouses in California.
Traffic Signal Control
Dr. Helen Yu & Dr. Art MacCarly
This research investigates a real-time traffic signal control system that integrates a traffic flow prediction model and an adaptive control scheme based on dynamic programming with rolling horizon. The proposed approach estimates the parameter of the arriving traffic flow at the intersection, and then formulates the traffic signal control problem as a decision-making problem of a stochastic system.
San Luis Obispo, California 93407