Kellogg Honors College
Convocation
May 13, 2016
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
2016 Convocation Participants
Karyna Banuelos¹
Daniela Marquez
Chemical Engineering
Kinesiology
Ashley Binder
Mathew McGuthry
Communicaon
Philosophy
Kevin Bucher
Victoria Medinilla*
Civil Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Daniel Chen
Christopher Nilsen
Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Colin Danahy
David Owens*
Mechanical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Gabrielle De Leon
Teresa Padilla
Microbiology
Apparel Merchandising & Management
Renee Estephan
Sofia Pedroza
Biology
Sociology
Jessica Gallo
Alexandra Rivas Ixtlahuac
Animal Science
Psychology
Zabdiel Garcia
Natalia Rubio*
Civil Engineering
Graphic Design
Samantha Girod
Thomas Smothermon
Theatre
Mechanical Engineering
Malak Habbak
Jocelyn Souza
Communicaon
Communicaon
Elie Hasso
SuƟne SujiƩosakul*
Civil Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Alyssa Howard¹
Nguyet Ta
Animal Science
Markeng Management
Ethan Ito
Joanna Thomason
Computer Science
English
Susan Karakira
ValenƟna Truong
Chemical Engineering
Markeng Management
Gaelle Kazadi Tshiamala
Sara Uffer
Hospitality Management
Management & Human Resources
Pooja Kumar
Kevin Vergara
Biology
Chemical Engineering
Lisa LaFave
Robert Wedge
Finance Real Estate & Law
Biochemistry
Daniel Lucak
MaƩhew WiƩ
Aerospace Engineering
Mathemacs, Physics
Simon Luong
Corinne Worland*
Mechanical Engineering
Foods & Nutrion
Jessica Maldonado
*Presented research in Spring 2015
¹Graduang Spring 2017
Physics
2
Convocation 2016 Program
4:00 PM: Poster Session
5:15 PM: Graduation Ceremony
About the Capstone Project
The Honors Capstone Project is the culminang academic experience
for students in the Kellogg Honors College. Honors students, under the
supervision of faculty mentors, complete an in-depth project which
demonstrates research, scholarship, and creavity in a topic of their
choosing. Capstone projects are formally presented at the Honors
Convocaon.
The Kellogg Honors College gratefully acknowledges the
2016 Capstone project faculty mentors:
Kirk Olescyski
Dr. Hayri Erkan Ozkaya
Alejandra Parise
Dr. Ma6hew Povich
Dr. Vilupanur Ravi*
Dr. Amir Rezaei
Dr. Eleonora Rossi
Dr. Kristen Schiele
Dr. Jaehoon Seong
Dr. Ali Sharbat
Bernardo Solano
Dr. Daisy Tang
Dr. Faye Wachs
Dr. Melody Wallace*
Dr. Gregory Young
Dr. Peter Arensburger
Dr. Frank Bryant
Dr. Arlo Caine
Dr. John Chan
Dr. Todd Coburn
Steven Dobbs
Dr. Donald Edberg
Dr. Sandra Evans*
Dr. Megs Gendreau
Dr. Mehrdad Haghi
Dr. Nell Horowitz
Dr. Marjorie Jones
Dr. Don Kraemer
Dr. Giuseppe Lomiento*
Dr. Rakesh Mogul
Dr. Thuan Nguyen
Dr. Peter Oelschlaeger
*Mentored mulple projects
3
Poster Session Locations
Stage
Seats
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
36
35
34
Karyna Bañuelos (26)
Ashley Binder (7)
Kevin Bucher (29)
Daniel Chen (32)
Colin Danahy (33)
Gabrielle De Leon (20)
Renee Estephan (18)
Jessica Gallo (15)
Zabdiel Garcia (30)
Samantha Girod (11)
Malak Habbak (8)
Elie Hasso (31)
Alyssa Howard (16)
Ethan Ito (22)
Susan Karakira (27)
Gaelle Kazadi Tshiamala (2)
Pooja Kumar (19)
Lisa LaFave (3)
Daniel Lucak (25)
Simon Luong (34)
Jessica Maldonado (23)
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
33
32
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Daniela Marquez (21)
Mathew McGuthry (12)
Victoria Medinilla*
Christopher Nilsen (35)
David Owens*
Teresa Padilla (1)
Sofia Pedroza (13)
Alexandra Rivas Ixtlahuac (14)
Natalia Rubio*
Thomas Smothermon (36)
Jocelyn Souza (9)
Sune Suji6osakul*
Nguyet Ta (5)
Joanna Thomason (10)
Valenna Truong (6)
Sara Uffer (4)
Kevin Vergara (28)
Robert Wedge (17)
Ma6hew Wi6 (24)
Corinne Worland*
*Presented 2015
4
2016 Capstone Project Abstracts
(Alphabecal order by student)
The Effect of Chromium on the
Diffusion of Aluminizing Ni-Cr Alloys
Karyna Bañuelos, Chemical Engineering
Mentor: Dr. Vilupanur Ravi
Metallic alloys oLen degrade when exposed to corrosive, high temperature environments such as in gas turbines or nuclear power plants. To
migate these effects, the surface of the exisng alloy can be modified
by applying a coang that contains the elements to form a protecve
oxide layer. Chromium is a key component in structural alloys, and
thus has a role in promong or inhibing the diffusion of a coang onto the material. The underlying movaon in this study was to understand the mechanisms that create these corrosion-resistant coangs.
In this study, nickel-chromium samples with 2.5 to 10 wt.% chromium
were coated with elemental aluminum through the Halide Acvated
Pack Cementaon method. These coangs were characterized using
Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). Analyses revealed an accumulaon of chromiumrich parcles near the coang-substrate interface. Composion profiles showed that this chromium-rich zone lengthened as the chromium-content in the substrate increased. This is caused by chromium’s
low solid solubility in the nickel-aluminum matrix, i.e. adding more
chromium to the substrate would not be dissolved in the nickelaluminides, but remain as precipitates that diffuse further outward.
This thicker chromium-rich zone may allow for be6er formaon of the
protecve chromium-oxide layer.
Partnerships Among Public Radio Staons
Ashley Binder, Communicaon
Mentor: Dr. Sandra Evans
This paper examines how a sample of public radio staons was talked
about in newspaper media, specifically which staons are referenced
for partnering with other organizaons. Reasons for partnerships were
the main focus of the analysis of the informaon gathered. Data were
5
quantavely obtained from various U.S. newspapers through the
content archival site LexusNexus. Pernent arcles totaling 1,849 from
the years 2010 to 2015 were coded according to variables of news value, key message, and dominance. These codes were further broken
down into various subcategories that were outlined and defined ulizing a specific codebook developed from previous research. Cing the
codebook itself, this project invesgated “cooperave arrangements”
and “linking.” Inter-coder reliability was used for the research poron
of the project. The effecveness of this double coding was measured
using the Cohen’s Kappa test. A random sample of arcles found that
content sharing was the most popular reason for partnerships between radio staons and other organizaons. Two addional major
themes were also presented: partnering to sponsor an event and collaboraon for a specific project. Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) had the
greatest representaon in the category of partnerships. Addional
conclusions of these findings and suggesons for future research are
outlined as well.
Cal Poly Pomona Carbon Footprint Analysis
Kevin Bucher, Civil Engineering
Mentor: Dr. Ali Sharbat
As awareness of the impact greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have on
the global climate grows various pares, organizaons, and naons are
making an effort to analyze their own carbon footprints and find ways
to reduce them. In 2007 the California State Polytechnic University,
Pomona (CPP) released a GHG Emissions report that summarized the
University’s anthropogenic GHG emissions for the fiscal years 19952005. That report served as a baseline to compare the changes in the
University’s GHG producon over the years. In 2009 CPP released its
Climate Acon Plan which set a goal of achieving climate neutrality by
2030 and followed up with progress reports in 2012, 2014, and 2016.
This report analyzes the data provided in the original GHG Report and
following updates. To determine the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2E)
for the 2014 CPP Fiscal year, this report builds off of the reviewed data
and uses addional informaon from campus resources as well as esmates in accordance with the corresponding Climate Registry Protocols. The data used includes emissions that are a direct result of
sources owned or controlled by the instuon, indirect emissions from
6
outside sources generated by acvies occurring within the instuon’s boundaries, and indirect emissions related to other operaons
of the instuon.
Composite Material Tesng and Analysis
Daniel Chen, Mechanical Engineering
Mentor: Dr. Todd Coburn
The goal of this experiment is to obtain material properes of a carbon
fiber fabric for the design and manufacturing of carbon fiber wheel
shells for the Cal Poly Pomona Formula SAE car. The purpose of using
carbon fiber wheel shell is to create a wheel that is both sffer and
lighter than a convenonal steel or aluminum wheel. The carbon fiber
used in this project is a spread toe plain weave pre preg from Toray
supplied by Space X. The pre preg was used because it typically gives a
more even distribuon of the epoxy resin across the fibers than a
standard wet layup which results in more consistent material properes and lighter parts. The material was tested for its flexural strength
and modulus of elascity using a four point bending test. The Finite
Element Analysis on the wheel was done using the Altair Hyperworks
soLware suite, and a MATLAB script was wri6en in order to use classical laminaon theory to validate the finite element analysis.
Simulaon Modeling of Stenosis Artery Blood flow
Colin Danahy, Mechanical Engineering
Mentor: Dr. Jaehoon Seong
The purpose of this advisor-guided independent research course was
to come up with a working computer model of a non-bifurcang carod artery with and without a stenosised geometry. A stenosis is usually diagnosed by a doctor from unusual blood sounds from a stethoscope. This can be a very serious medical issue for someone diagnosed
with this stenosis which can lead to chronic chest pain, irregular heart
rhythms, and heart failure. The idea behind this research stemmed
from me wanng to relate the same principles I had learned in my fluid
mechanics course relang to pipe-flow to a blood vessel since I recognized the same principles of systemac fluid structure and the similar
geometrical figures in each of the systems. Analyzing these results we
7
can hopefully be able to implement be6er biomedical devices and
medical operaons that could be6er diagnose the stenosis and possibly prevent any restenosis or problems for the paent. Various fluid
mechanic principles will be ulized to analyze the results from the simulaon such as bernoulli’s principle, conservaon of momentum,
boundary layer theory, and flow recirculaon. Analysis and simulaon
will be performed using ANYSYS Fluent 16.1.
Effect of Nicone and Sugars on the Growth and
Biofilm Formaon of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa
Gabrielle De Leon, Microbiology
Mentor: Dr. John Chan
Nicone is the addicve chemical found in tobacco and is consumed
by millions of people everyday. It has been proven that smokers experience more bacterial infecons than non-smokers. Sugars are also a
health risk and can lead to obesity and tooth decay. Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is a gram-negave opportunisc bacterium that is found
in the human body, primarily in the gut, as well as the oral cavity. The
ability of PA to form biofilms allows the bacteria to survive in adverse
condions and to be more tolerant to anbiocs than staonary-phase
planktonic bacteria. The presence of polysaccharide capsules helps the
bacteria to sck together, thus promong biofilm formaon. The objecve of this study is to examine how nicone and various sugars
affect the growth and biofilm formaon of PA. To determine the effect
of nicone on the growth, varying concentraons of nicone were
added to a flat bo6om 96-well microter plate containing a fresh culture of PA in M63 liquid. ALer 48 hours of incubaon, the growth of
the PA was observed using a spectrophotometer. The results were
then analyzed using a sample t-test to observe for significant differences (p<0.05). To study the effect of nicone and sugars on biofilm
formaon, the crystal violet biofilm assay was used. ALer 48 hours of
incubaon of the fresh culture PA, the non-adhered PA bacteria were
washed and decanted and the adhered PA bacteria were stained with
crystal violet. The amount of stain in the bacteria was released with
30% acec acid and was then measured and analyzed using a sample ttest for significance (p<0.05). All data represented quadruplicate runs
and the results indicated that nicone at the concentraons used had
8
no significant effect on the growth of PA, but significantly decreased
the amount of biofilms formed, with higher concentraons of nicone
having a greater suppressing effect (p<0.05). A capsule stain was carried out to observe the effect of nicone on the capsules. The observance of decreased capsule size confirmed the fact that nicone
significantly suppresses biofilm formaon. The results also showed
that of the sugars tested, sucrose, maltose and galactose all significantly suppressed biofilm formaon of PA, while glucose had no significant effect. When combined with nicone at a concentraon of
1x10-3 M, the results showed that the suppressing effect of nicone
with sugar was not summave.
“Spidey” Sequences: Finding Transposable Elements in the
Genome Sequence of the Common House Spider,
Parasteatoda Tepidariorum
Renée J. Estephan, Biology
Mentor: Dr. Peter Arensburger
The genome of the common house spider, Parasteatoda tepidariorum,
has recently become available and li6le is yet known about the funcon of individual parts of the genome. The goal of this project is to
search for DNA pa6erns, specifically those of transposable elements,
in the genome sequence of the common house spider. Transposable
elements are sequences of DNA that have the potenal to facilitate
their own movement from one genome locaon to another. We used a
bioinformacs program called RepeatModeler to idenfy possible
transposable elements in the spider genome. Results obtained by running RepeatModeler were in the form of computer files that describe
the locaons of the transposable elements on the spider genome. One
of the flaws of RepeatModeler is that it produces extraneous results
that may not actually be transposable elements (i.e. false posives).
Therefore, we reanalyzed the results from RepeatModeler to see
which sequences were likely real transposable elements and which
were not. Much is leL to learn about the features of the spider genome. Ulizing results from this project and related projects can lead
to praccal applicaons of spider silk in the area of armory development and defense.
9
Relaonship Between Genecs and Canine Aggression
Jessica Gallo, Animal Science
Mentor: Dr. Melody Wallace
Canine aggression is a problem that has been known since the domescaon of the dog over 10,000 years ago. Aggression poses a threat to
other animals around the dog, humans, and to the dogs themselves. A
surprising amount of dogs are euthanized every year because of aggressive behavior, but current research has indicated that this may be
a preventable and/or treatable problem. Some forms of aggressive
behavior have been linked to genecs and the current genes currently
being focused on are serotonin related genes because of the drasc
effects that these can have on an animal's behavior. This research assesses which forms of aggression are more heritable than others and
whether or not the gene associated with each form of aggression is
currently understood. It also analyzes the potenal effects that solving
the aggression problem will have on society. The discovery of the genec origins of each form of aggression would potenally allow for the
prevalence of each to be decreased within the canine populaon. This
gives hope that one day science may reach the point to where dogs
can be selected against aggression in order to potenally decrease the
threat that aggressive dogs pose to society, as well as decrease the
number of dogs being euthanized every year.
Enhanced Seismic Protecon of Oil Rigs
Zabdiel Garcia, Civil Engineering
Mentor: Dr. Giuseppe Lomiento
Despite being designed for seismic loads, Alaskan oil rigs are suscepble to damages aLer large near-fault earthquakes. Buckling of lateral
bracing and permanent column yielding could occur, which would result in unwanted use interrupons, and would pose considerable risk
to the surrounding environment. In order to prevent damages, an enhanced level of seismic protecon can be provided by modifying base
connecons into flat fricon seismic isolators. The proposed design
also includes viscoelasc lateral bracing, aimed at providing recentering capability to the structure and addional seismic energy dissipaon. Full nonlinear me-history analyses were performed to validate
this soluon. Results confirmed the effecveness of the proposed solu-
10
on in reducing base shear and axial forces in columns and diagonal
braces, thus avoiding damages in the oil rig structure.
Sarizing the Life of a College Student:
Gaining Tracon Through Laughter
Samantha Girod, Theatre
Mentor: Bernardo Solano
College is a wonderful opportunity to get a specialized educaon, establish long-lasng connecons, and set the groundwork for a successful career. However, the system is by no means perfect. All students
encounter obstacles somewhere along the road, ranging from financial
troubles to plain old stress. This study explores the ailments of the
everyday college student and adds a comedic twist in the form of
sare. Sare is a technique used by writers to expose flaws in society
by using humor, irony, and exaggeraon. By employing sare, a writer
will gain the audience’s trust and a6enon with humor and their message will become more palpable. This study aims to expose some of
the flaws in college educaon in terms of how the system prepares
students for life in the real world. It will also explore the various causes behind student stress and, by doing so, will hopefully inform the
public of the problems millennial college students face. Some of this
research comes from my own personal experience, as well as the experiences of my fellow students. My research and wring process will
be detailed in the study, and will culminate in a full-fledged play script.
Social Relevance and Innovaon in Public Radio
Malak Habbak, Communicaon
Mentor: Dr. Nell Horowitz
Since the beginning of Naonal Public Radio, the government made it
clear it was not interested to invest in it. Since then, NPR has been focusing on its audience for funding. This study explores Naonal Public
Radio’s (NPR) efforts to a6ract an audience by staying relevant and
being innovave in the face of changing technology and new media.
This study content analyzed five years of news media coverage on NPR
staons for their news values and key messages. From 1,853 arcles
content analyzed, results show that about 23 percent of the arcles
11
were related to social relevance and innovaon. The study then used
descripve analysis to idenfy prevalent themes in arcles about social relevance and innovaon. Six themes emerged from the descripve analysis: three innovaon-related themes – strategizing, investment and future journalism, and online strategies – and three social
relevance-related themes – audience and diversity, acvism, and social
media. These six themes were then interrelated to reveal a linear relaonship of NPR's methods and stages of social relevance and innovaon movement, from strategizing to acvism. Results indicate an audience-centered priority and a connued commitment to act in the public interest. Potenal implicaons of the results and direcons for future research are discussed.
Energy Mapping for the Seismic Design of Structures
Elie Hasso, Civil Engineering
Mentor: Dr. Giuseppe Lomiento
Energy-based design is a recent alternave to tradional force-based
and displacement-based design. The use of energy analysis overcomes
the unavoidable simplifying assumpons made in tradional methods,
which result in inaccurate esmaons of the nonlinear, cyclical seismic
forces that structures are subjected to. By ulizing energy as the basis
for design, structural elements may be sized to redistribute energy
within the structure, thus prevenng undesired damages from occurring during major seismic events. State-of-the-art energy methods rely
on iterave procedures for the sizing of structural elements. In this
study, energy mapping is proposed as a design tool that supplements
the iterave procedures. This method is applied to two variaons of a
four-span highway bridge: one with seismic isolaon atop columns and
abutments, the other without. By ulizing computer soLware to perform nonlinear structural analysis on the two systems, it is possible to
compare the differences between energy dissipaon as a result of seismic isolators and the lack thereof. The comparison is displayed by
means of an “energy map” of each structure. The use of isolaon results in plasc behavior of the lead-rubber isolators while allowing the
columns and deck to remain within the range of desirable elasc behavior. The unisolated variaon, however, ulizes the energy capacity
of the columns and deck to dissipate the energy created by ground
12
moon; effecvely yielding the crical structural members at localized
points and crippling their inial energy capacity.
A Microscopic Evaluaon of the California Polytechnic University,
Pomona Duck Pond
Alyssa Howard, Animal Science
Mentor: Dr. Melody Wallace
Microscopic life plays a major role in any ecosystem. These lifeforms
can have posive or negave effects on their environment based on
their concentraon and parcular species. There are different organisms, like green algae and diatoms, that are good indicang factors of
posive or negave pond health based on their concentraons in the
water. However, there are other organisms, like cyanobacteria and
parasic life, that are associated with negave effects on pond health
as well as the health of the animals in the surrounding ecosystem. The
purpose of this experiment was twofold. The first goal was to evaluate
the water quality based on the microorganisms idenfied in water
samples. The second was to relate their prevalence to potenal health
hazards or health benefits on the wildlife and human populaons
around the pond. This experiment is meant to give a base assumpon
of pond health based on one factor. However, this experiment can
lead to further research that can focus on a more diverse array of factors, like pH and metal content to name a few, to create a more encompassing picture of the health of the pond on the California Polytechnic University, Pomona campus.
A Reliable Control System for Autonomous Roboc Systems
Using Sliding Autonomy and Data Visualizaon
Ethan Ito, Computer Science
Mentor: Dr. Daisy Tang
As autonomous roboc systems are being used more frequently in today's world, it is important to build a reliable control system that can
work in the real world. This project seeks to accomplish this by controlling robots using sliding autonomy and using data visualizaon to display robot informaon. There are four levels of autonomy implemented: fully-autonomous, semi-autonomous, teleoperaon, and peer to
13
peer. Robot locaon, laser data and the path to goal are visualized in a
user interface. By combining these two concepts, the result should
allow for an operator to diagnose and solve errors during a robot’s
operaon and thus increase the reliability of the whole system. I validated this approach by having a Roomba iCreate travel to a goal posion in a predetermined map. Several trial runs were designed to represent various errors that the robot will encounter during execuon. It
is shown that the system switches effecvely between modes allowing
the operator to diagnose and fix the errors when necessary. There are
three performance measurements, compleon me, the operator
workload via the NASA Task Load Index (TLX), and whether or not the
robot has reached the goal. The soluon quality of the trial is determined by the me it takes to complete and if the robot has reached
the goal. I had expected that the average soluon quality would be
high, the average me to complete would takes less than 2 minutes,
and the operator difficulty would fall in the center of NASA TLX’s
range. The test results show that my expectaons were correct, however several issues with the interface became known. The localizaon
algorithm and its supporng code are biased on code by Kwang Jun.
Aluminizaon of Cobalt and a Cobalt-Based Superalloy
Susan Karakira, Chemical Engineering
Mentor: Dr. Vilupanur Ravi
Coang industrial metal alloys is an effecve and cost effecve way to
improve the lifeme of the metal. The pack cementaon method is an
efficient way to achieve a coang and requires that the metal sample
be buried in a mix of powders: the master alloy, filler, and acvator. In
this study, Haynes NS-163 (Co–28Cr–21Fe–9Ni–1.25Ti–1Nb) alloy coupons were coated at different process temperatures and using different acvators. The coated alloys were cleaned, ground, polished, and
imaged with an opcal microscope in order to qualitavely measure
the effect of the process condions by measuring the coang thicknesses resulng from each set of process condions. The superalloy
was successfully coated and was found, through SEM analysis, to contain several phases, including cobalt aluminides. The coangs formed
on the cobalt-based superalloy appeared to be less bri6le than those
produced on pure cobalt coupons. Detailed microstructural analysis
was conducted using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to develop
14
deeper insights into the interacon of the individual constuent elements of the super alloy with the aluminum from the pack.
Female Leadership in the Hospitality Industry
Gaëlle Kazadi Tshiamala, Hospitality Management
Mentor: Dr. Margie Jones
With an increase in women ge[ng college degrees and joining the
workforce, the uprise of female leadership in various industries is foreseeable. Therefore, it is crucial for female college students to be as
prepared as possible to be able to assume a role in leadership and become an exemplary and successful leader in the workforce. This qualitave research explores the field of female leadership in the hospitality industry with the use of literature on the subject and consultaon of
experienced industry professionals in leadership roles. The subjects
used were chosen out of different sectors of the hospitality industry
such as : lodging, food & beverage, private clubs and the financial sector. While conducng this research, I invesgated self-imposed as well
as societal barriers, and the importance of guidance and support by
both man and female leadership figures in addion to the young women's professional and personal environment. The purpose of this project is to invesgate what hinders females in the hospitality industry,
what can be done to overcome these internal and external hurdles and
how to implement these findings as a female newly graduate looking
for a posion in leadership.
Synthesis and Analysis of S115T and S119G Double Mutant of
Metallo-β-Lactamase IMP-1, 14, 18, and 32 Acvity
Pooja Kumar, Biology
Mentor: Dr. Peter Oelschlaeger
Anbioc resistance connues to be a more relevant topic in
healthcare se[ngs and can severely pose a threat to current treatment opons. The mechanism by which mul-drug resistant bacteria
arise is through the acvity of metallo-β-lactamases, enzymes responsible for hydrolyzing beta-lactam anbiocs. To evaluate potenal inhibitors for these enzymes, we must understand its acvity in relaon
to any mutaons present. In IMP-14, 18, and 32, variants of metallo-β-
15
lactamases, the S115T and S119G mutaons present in the L7 loop of
the acve site are conserved. In order to determine if the mutaons
were conngent on its funconality or present due to evoluonary
origin, I introduced S115T and S119G mutaons both in single and
double mutants of IMP-1 variant. To determine the acvity of the enzyme mutants, I tested an anbioc substrate with the four variants,
IMP-1, IMP-1 S115T, IMP-1 S119G, and IMP-1 S115T/S119G double
mutant.
Stemmed from the UN: Modern Internaonal Marime Law
Lisa LaFave, Finance Real Estate & Law
Mentor: Dr. N. Gregory Young
From the early 1800s to modern day, many legal arcles have been
formed regarding marime law. More recently, the United Naons
held a conference in 1982 that resulted in the UN Convenon on the
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This vital piece of internaonal legislature
has in turn created an important instrument in the judicial process for
marime law, the Internaonal Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).
While examining the issues se6led by ITLOS, crics also place issue
with the Tribunal itself such as jurisdicon and sovereignty. Another
large issue with marime law in general involves the United States, in
the fact that they have yet to rafy UNCLOS. This prevents the United
States from parcipang in certain disputes that are pernent to
them. As tensions rise across the world, a few individuals in legislature
are prevenng the United States from adhering to UNCLOS. While
many scholarly experts and policians (biparsan support), such as Dr.
George K. Walker and President George W. Bush, advocate for raficaon, the mulple a6empts have been fule.
The Boomerang Military Flying Straddle Carrier
Daniel Lucak, Aerospace Engineering
Mentor: Dr. Donald Edberg
This design project is in response to the American Instute of Aeronaucs and Astronaucs (AIAA) Request for Proposal (RFP) for an aircraL that is able to rapidly move an ISO standard 20 L. shipping container to and from a combat zone. The container must be carried ex-
16
ternally to the aircraL, and the aircraL must be able to operate out of
short, unprepared airfields with li6le or no support equipment. Speed
and ease of loading are leading figures of merit in the design. With a
very specific, well defined cargo, a tailless configuraon was selected
in order to minimize tail surface drag and unused fuselage volume.
This design also allows for loading directly from the bed of a container
truck with no external equipment required. In order to alleviate some
of the tradional drawbacks of tailless designs and also allow for short
field operaons, longitudinal trim by means of wing flaps forward of
the aircraL center of gravity were ulized. An iterave design process
was used to opmize the design weight, fuel capacity, performance,
and other pernent criteria to meet all of the AIAA RFP design requirements.
Analysis of Head Injury Criterion for Backyard Roller Coaster
Simon Luong, Mechanical Engineering
Mentor: Steven Dobbs
With the development of automobiles, modes of transportaon, and
means of entertainment in the engineering world, safety has always
been the absolute priority. Although many automobile companies and
private roller coaster design companies have many proprietary tabulated values for safe condions of operaon, many of these values can
be quanfied through numerical as well as empirical values. One issue
of high priority in the scope of a homemade backyard roller coaster is
the head injury possibilies under condions of worst case failure of
the a6racon. Although factors of safees as well as redundancies are
designed into the a6racon, measures to protect the rider from injury
in case of failures must sll be taken. In this safety design analysis, the
head injury of the passenger is analyzed to ensure safety in the event
of complete track failure at the most crical points in the a6racon.
17
Unifying Theory and Observaon to
Measure Star Formaon Rates
Jessica Maldonado, Physics
Mentor: Dr. Ma6hew Povich
We aim to both constrain the ages of young massive star forming regions and present a new methodology that combines theorecal models with infrared observaonal data to make those age constraints. By
fi[ng theorecal stellar models to observaonal data we can learn
about the stellar properes of the region and quanfy its age based on
a distribuon of individual ages of the detected stars in the region. The
regions we used for this methodology include the infrared dark cloud
M17 SWex, and the stellar clusters Trumpler 14 and Trumpler 15 of
the Carina Nebula. We have created a Probabilisc HertzsprungRussell Diagram and a Probabilisc Mass-Age Diagram to offer a
straigh]orward visualizaon of the mass and age distribuon of the
region. With this informaon we will calculate the rate of star formaon by dividing total mass of the region by the me during which
the region has been making stars (mass/age). Although we present
preliminary results for the ages of the aforemenoned young massive
star forming regions, this technique will be applied to 18 other regions.
The Effects of Chemotherapy on the
Immune System of Cancer Paents
Daniela Marquez, Kinesiology
Mentor: Kirk Olescyski
Chemotherapy is a treatment in which cytotoxic drugs aim to cease
the regeneraon of cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs are engineered
to weaken tumor cells and as a result the body’s immune system has a
be6er chance of eliminang the deadly cancer cells. Although chemotherapy may be pracced on individuals with different diseases, it is
commonly used on cancer paents. Chemotherapy medicaon does
not only affect cancer, but it affects the immune system as well. The
immune system has two branches called the innate and the adapve.
The innate immune system is the first line of defense to respond with
cells and proteins to a6ack abnormal substances entering the body. Its
goal is to slow down the progression of tumor-cells. The adapve immune system responds only aLer foreign substances invade the innate
18
immune system. Chemotherapy drugs are engineered to target fast
growing cells. These types of cells not only include cancer cells, but
cells in the bone marrow, mouth, intesnal tract, nose, nails, and hair
as well. When chemotherapy affects the bone marrow, the count of
red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets is reduced. The lack of
white blood cells caused the body’s defense system to be weak and
therefore more prone to infecon. Paents undergoing chemotherapy
treatments also tend to fague rapidly and lose appete. Therefore,
adequate rest and a good nutrion plan are important. As menoned
earlier, white blood cell count will go down due to the medicaon. It is
vital that doctors monitor the complete blood count in order to take
proper measures if the paent blood count becomes abnormally low.
An important white blood cell to take into account is the neutrophils.
This white blood cell’s job is to engulf bacteria, germs, and fungi. The
normal ranges are from 2,500-6,000 to prevent the paent from risk of
infecon. Although chemotherapy has various effects on the body
there are several measures both the doctor and paent can take
meanwhile the treatment. For example, able paents may engage in
exercise to reap some benefits. First of all, it may reduce fague in
cancer paents. Secondly, it can also help improve muscle strength,
joint flexibility, and condioning. These are all fitness areas that may
be affected by some chemotherapy treatments. In addion to the
physiological benefits, exercise may also improve mood in cancer paents. This would provide good relief if paents experience some depression during their treatment.
Quasi-Realism Is a Strange Loop
Mathew McGuthry, Philosophy
Mentors: Dr. Megs Gendreau and Dr. John Z. Ding
The expressivist plus quasi-realist package (EQP) is a moral theory that
has been proposed by a philosopher named Simon Blackburn. According to the expressivist part of the EQP, all of the moral statements that
we make (statements like, “Stealing is wrong” or “You have the obligaon to always tell the truth”) are merely expressions of our emoonal
a[tudes, not facts about the world around us. The quasi-realist part of
Blackburn’s theory is an a6empt to use expressivism to give us a jusficaon for speaking, feeling, and acng as though our moral state-
19
ments really did express facts about the world. A rather cu[ng cricism, which has been labeled the problem of the schizoid a[tude, has
been raised against the EQP by Sharon Street. In Street’s problem, she
argues that Blackburn’s theory seems to put its proponents in the intolerable posion of having to conclude that moral truths exist but no
one can know anything about those truths. What I argue in my paper is
that the EQP is a strange loop: a structure that gives us the false impression of having a clear highest and lowest level. Because the EQP
has this unusual property, I believe that it manages to avoid Street’s
problem of the schizoid a[tude altogether.
The Effect of Cure Time on Carbon Fiber Pre-Preg
Christopher Nilsen, Mechanical Engineering
Mentor: Dr. Amir G. Rezaei
The goal of the experiment described in this paper was to determine
the effect of curing me for a carbon fiber pre-preg. This was done by
curing the samples for the manufacturers recommended curing me,
30 minutes more, and 30 minutes less. This resulted in cure mes of
100, 130, and 160 minutes. The curing me and temperature are considered some of the most important variables to control properly during the layup process. The purpose of this project was to determine
the sensivity of the epoxy resin to the cure me. This was done using
a four point bending test. The inial plan was to use a tension test
however the samples slipped in the jaws of the tension test rig before
they failed. The four point bending test did not allow for the samples
to slip which resulted in both deflecon and load data being recorded
for each run. Ulmately, the test showed that while there was run to
run variaon of the deflecon and load this variaon did not correlate
with the variaon in the cure me of the sample.
Developing Student Leadership
Teresa Padilla, Apparel Merchandising & Management
Mentor: Alejandra Parise
The development of a leader can stem from many different aspects
like experience, courses, and examples, but in order to effecvely put
these skills into pracce, one must know how to build off their
20
strengths. The goal of this project is to study the effect of adequate
leadership in a student organizaon and how ineffecve leadership
can have negave repercussions in member moral, communicaon,
and delegaon. My goal is to see if I can narrow down the different
qualies that make a strong, effecve leader, then to see what aspects
in someone’s term would deem them a “bad” leader and come up
with tools that would help them improve or prepare someone going
into the posion.
Pro-lifers, Prayer, and Protest:
Resource Mobilizaon and Conservave Social Movements
Sofia Pedroza, Sociology
Mentor: Dr. Faye L. Wachs
Much of sociological research is biased towards covering liberal movements, and groups that seek to align themselves with instuons of
power. This project uses content and textual analysis and parcipant
observaon to do the exact opposite: study a conservave, pro-life
social movement with more interest in its es to religious instuons
than legal or polical ones. Using mixed methodology allows for creang a picture of what it is to be apart of a social movement that is
typically overlooked in the literature, despite having pressured two
clinics in two years. This project makes the argument that for sociologists to truly understand how individuals change a system, they must
work in both sides of the polical spectrum.
Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon in Bilinguals:
Is There an Effect of Bilingual Language Control?
Alexandra Rivas Ixtlahuac, Psychology
Mentor: Dr. Eleonora Rossi
The Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon -TOT- is considered to be a type of
speech error in which speakers feel they do know the word but fail to
retrieve it. Previous research has demonstrated that bilinguals show a
higher number of TOTs than monolinguals (Gollan, 2006). One explanaon that has been proposed suggests that the higher number of
TOTs in bilinguals reflects the relave lower use of each of the two languages (i.e., Weaker Links Hypothesis, Gollan 2006). At the same me
21
the Inhibitory Control Hypothesis -IC- (Green, 1998) posits that bilinguals might need to control their languages by temporarily inhibing
the strongest language to allow fluent speech producon in the weaker language, when required to switch between languages. The goal of
this study is explore the TOT phenomenon in the context of a blocked
naming switching paradigm in bilinguals. This will provide an opportunity to understand how theories of TOTs can be informed by more
general theories of cognive control in bilingual speech producon
(IC). Parcipants will be exposed to low-frequency words to elicit TOTs
during a blocked language switching paradigm. This research will provide a deeper understanding of TOTs in bilinguals and will allow a new
interpretaon for this phenomenon. In addion, it will lead to an examinaon of the findings for this relavely unexplored field.
Size-Dependent Failure and Material Properes of Fused
Deposion Modelled Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene
Thomas Smothermon, Mechanical Engineering
Mentor: Dr. Mehrdad Haghi
Fused deposion modelling (FDM) is a relavely new 3D-prinng manufacturing process. In this process a stereolithography (STL) file of a
parcular part is processed by a soLware package that controls the
movement of a heated nozzle which deposits beads of thermoplasc
material in layers to construct the part. Primarily used for rapid prototyping of a part due to fast producon me and low cost, it would be
highly desirable for such a manufacturing process to be used to generate fully funconal parts ready for immediate use. In order to design a
FDM part for funconal applicaons, the material properes and failure modes of the unique thermoplasc structure created by the FDM
process must be well understood. A variety of parameters in the manufacture of a FDM part are known to affect the failure and material
properes of the part, including raster angle and air gap. For this project, an invesgaon into the effects of part size on the failure and material properes of FDM acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) that
were noted in previous works from Cal Poly Pomona was conducted
using tensile test data and theory from a variety of sources; including
data from tensile tests performed at Cal Poly.
22
Social Media within Basketball Organizaons
(Jocelyn) Kalei Souza, Communicaon
Mentor: Dr. Sandra Evans
This study seeks to understand how social media affects basketball
organizaons’ public relaons. Specifically, this study analyzes the Los
Angeles Clippers (LAC) and how the Naonal Basketball Associaon’s
(NBA) use of social media compares with collegiate basketball social
media usage. Different types of social media are used differently for
each basketball organizaon and produce different results from targeted publics. They also use different ways or methods of measuring public relaons success. Exisng research has been done to analyze social
media performance metrics from the number of followers, likes/
comments, etc., but there has been minimal research done to analyze
and measure effecve social media engagement, meaning the targeted publics’ responses and interacons with social media. Research
also lacks the connecon between social media engagement and parcipaon in events such as games, fundraisers, or as simple as support
towards a team (clothing, buying ckets, social media posng). To analyze this, I interviewed people affiliated with the LAC and Californiabased college basketball programs. Analyzing the Sterling case and
“We Are One” campaign from the LAC stresses the need and importance of social media usage to maintain a posive image of an organizaon, even at the collegiate level. I found that the numbers are
only one concept of measuring social media and public relaons success. Basketball organizaons need to be able to define and track social media strengths, weaknesses, etc. in order to strategize towards
improving their outreach and publicity. This can affect media a6enon, revenue, and overall success in the organizaon. The collegiatelevel basketball programs oLen lack the resources and staff the NBA
has access to carefully analyze interacons on social media and how
this affects real-life events and games.
23
Viral Content of 2014: Case Studies of Internet Viral Campaigns
Nguyet Ta, Markeng Management
Mentor: Dr. Frank Bryant
In biology, viruses are hard to pinpoint and source. They are seen as an
infecon that needs to be treated. However, in markeng, a virus or
rather viral content is the dream of every marketer. A marketer that
can dissect what makes content go viral and create content that goes
viral is praised as a paragon of markeng. This research paper analyzes
four different case studies to break down the components that made
four different types of content go viral in 2014. Emoonal appeal and
movaon were shown to be the strongest contributors to viral content based on analysis of the four cases discussed in this paper. Research in this field is important if we can understand how to create
digital content that is effecve in reaching millions of people, we can
revoluonize the markeng and adversement industry.
The Magic of Storytelling
Joanna Thomason, English
Mentor: Dr. Don Kraemer
This creave wring project is centered on the genre of Young Adult
Fantasy novels. Through the assessment of different novels and novelwring techniques an outline for the basic novel in this genre has been
created, not only to show typical tropes in this genre but the developments of novel structure in general. It serves as both a visual model of
story construcon and an interacve guide to novel-wring. Because
there are so many genres of story, I narrowed my focus to look at this
one genre and its common tropes and elements. I focused my research
mainly on the elements of plot and story structure, looking at ways
stories progress and how characters overcome obstacles and reach
their goals. What makes a complete story arc? How do you combine
the parts of a story and integrate subplots, side-characters, and plot
twists? I also studied the parcular contribuons of my chosen genre.
Young Adult Fantasy novels are characterized by their imaginave
se[ngs, realisc and creave components combined with a freedom
to explore rules of existence that are different from what we experience in our daily lives. While its appeal is chiefly younger audiences,
24
the sense of adventure and discovery made it a fun topic to center my
capstone project on.
How Millennials Perceive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Efforts Promoted on Social Media Pla]orms
Valenna Truong, Markeng Management
Mentor: Dr. Kristen Schiele
Today’s generaon has developed a dependency on technology as a
form of communicaon because of its convenience and accessibility.
Businesses have recognized this trend and in efforts to keep up, they
have begun using various social media pla]orms to incorporate markeng strategies. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), is a form of self
-regulaon integrated into business models aimed to increase profits
through public relaons and making posive impact on the environment, consumers, employees, investors, and communies. By highlighng their commitment to CSR, companies use social media to
demonstrate their philanthropic endeavors and cause-related iniaves in addion to building their reputaon and gain consumers’ loyalty. This project consists of observing how companies that contribute to
charitable organizaons communicate CSR efforts using social media.
There will be content analysis of social media posts of brands that engage in CSR and surveys to find out percepons of brands. CSR programs are cricized for creang an arficial connecon with consumers and claim allegiance to causes they don’t really care about. At the
same me, CSR efforts have greatly improved the quality of life and
created awareness and advocacy for social causes. There are differing
views on the percepon of CSR iniaves and this study is being conducted to observe how millennials perceive CSR efforts promoted on
social media.
Factors Enhancing the Probability of Cold Calling Success:
A Literature Review
Sara Uffer, Management & Human Resources
Mentor: Dr. H. Erkan Ozkaya
This assembling of findings presents a literature review of factors influencing the success of cold calling in the modern workplace, with an
25
emphasis on business-to-business transacons. This review will examine current processes speculated to increase the likelihood of a cold
call turning into an appointment, meeng, or established relaonship
with the prospect. These situaons demonstrate what can be considered a successful outcome. A common definion for “cold calling” can
be accumulated from the literature, describing this process as contacng someone never met, and personally unknown to the caller,
with the intenon of making them a customer for the caller’s business.
There is li6le empirical data on the subject and this review serves to
call a6enon to the need for addional research to test the highlighted methodologies.
Computaonal Modeling of a Flue Gas Desulfurizaon Reactor
Kevin Vergara, Chemical Engineering
Mentor: Dr. Thuan K. Nguyen
As industry emissions of sulfur dioxide have led to a significant increase in acid rain, the government has mandated that various industries restrict sulfur dioxide emissions to various levels, depending upon
the locality of the given plant. Typical industries that produce a significant amount of sulfur dioxide include the ulies and waste treatment
industry. Due to these mandates, the government, scholasc instutes, and the industries affected by such mandates have been determined to model the sulfur dioxide absorpon and reacon process
within a Ca(OH)2 slurry droplet in a Flue Gas Desulfurizaon reactor. A
computer program was developed using Visual Basic which was capable of predicng the efficiency a FGD reactor has in terms of removing
sulfur dioxide given the inlet condions of the flue gas and lime slurry
used to treat the flue gas. The program was able to solve various mass
and energy balances occurring within the control volume at hand in
order to calculate the outlet flue gas temperature, outlet sulfur dioxide
and water vapor composion, and reactor efficiency. A parametric
study was then conducted in order to determine what inlet parameters effect the reactor’s efficiency and in what way. This provided a
guideline of how to characterize the inlet streams in order to opmize
SO2 removal efficiency.
26
Effects of Hydrogen Peroxide Exposure on Survivability and the
Metabolome of Acinetobacter radioresistens 50v1
Robert Wedge IV, Biochemistry
Mentor: Dr. Rakesh Mogul
The effects of contaminaon can have big implicaons of test results
that lead to false conclusions. Acinetobacter species have the ability to
live in cleanroom facilies which consist of low humidity and oligotrophic environments. Not only can they survive, but tests have shown
that these bacteria species can even grow under such environments.
These cleanroom facilies that these bacteria are found in are used in
the assembly of spacecraL for exploraon. Acinetobacter radioresistens 50v1 has been isolated from the spacecraL surface of the Mars
Odyssey Orbiter. This could cause potenal of forward contaminaon
of Mars and would violate several pieces of legislaon and policies including the UN Outer Space Treaty and Planetary Protecon Policies.
The goal of this study is to understand if spacecraL cleaning agents
have the potenal to be carbon and energy sources to these bacteria
that would help them proliferate. This was done by having control and
exposed condions of hydrogen peroxide and counng for survivability. The next step was performing GC-MS on the isolated cells to study
the effects of the metabolome. If hydrogen peroxide has an effect on
the metabolome there should be a difference in the GC-MS data that
would indicate hydrogen peroxide being used as a carbon source or
energy source. Research in this area is important, as the curiosity in
future Mars exploraon increases as well as the search for life beyond
our own planet, as such contaminaon creates the possibility of a false
life reading on a foreign planet’s surface that can lead to more money
being used on a result that isn’t true. Studies into this area will help in
understanding the funcons of Acinetobacter bacteria as well as be6er
ways to contain its spread in facilies.
Deformaon Quanzaon of the Harmonic Oscillator
Ma6hew Wi6, Mathemacs and Physics
Mentor: Dr. Arlo Caine
One of the quesons at the heart of quantum mechanics is whether
there exists a mathemacal scheme directly relang classical mechanics and quantum mechanics. A potenal answer to this queson is ca-
27
nonical quanzaon, a technique where classical observables
(funcons) are mapped to quantum observables (operators). Another
is given by deformaon quanzaon which changes the algebra of observables from commutave (as for funcons) to non-commutave (as
for operators). First, we give a brief introducon to the subject, defining the mathemacal tools necessary for performing calculaons using
formal deformaon quanzaon. Then we apply the tools developed
to the problem of calculang the energy spectra of the quantum harmonic oscillator. Following a seminal paper on the subject, we show
that the energy spectrum recovered with this method is an exact
match to the spectrum found using the Schrödinger and Heisenberg
methods of canonical quanzaon.
28
29
30
31
The Kellogg Honors College wants to thank the following for their
support, encouragement and collaboration:
Keith and Jean Kellogg
Capstone Project Mentors
Office of the President
Office of the Provost
College of Agriculture
College of Business Administration
College of Education and Integrative Studies
College of Engineering
College of Environmental Design
College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences
College of Science
Collins College of Hospitality Management