- If you have an idea for a senior project and are in search of an
advisor, please contact me if you think our areas of interest might
overlap. Check out some GUIDELINES
for senior projects and thesis projects. Drop by my office (20-304)
or send an e-mail to dbraun@calpoly.edu.
Sustainability
Use your senior project to enable future generations to meet their
needs. Perhaps you see an opportunity on campus. Off campus opportunities
abound, too.
Three ongoing sustainability projects on-campus require contributions from senior projects:
- Energy Harvesting from Exercise Machines (EHFEM) pronounced "FM"
1. A team of ME & EE students--Vann Chau, Jennifer Roecks, Sean Spurr, and David Webb--has modified an exercise bike to produce DC & AC power as a standalone system. Completed Spring 2007.
2. A team of ME students--Zach Goldstein, Sean Gouw, and Alex Clarabut--has modified a Concept2 Model D rowing machine to produce DC & AC power as a standalone system.
Completed Spring 2008.
3. A team of EE students--Rogan Guild, Kevin Kinoshita, Sameer Pangrekar, Stephen Queen--converted an Elliptical Trainer to generate electricity. Completed: Fall 2008.
4. A team of EE students--Jonathan Chan, Chris Cinkornpumin, Michelle Lum, Jonathan Yuen--is currently converting an Elliptical Trainer to generate electricity. Expected completion: Fall 2009.
5. A team of ME students--Jared Rounsevell, Claire Shubert, Matt Snitowsky, Andy Wong--is currently modifying an exercise bicycle to generate electricity. Expected completion: Fall 2009.
6. A team of EE students--Christiopher Henry and Henry Ureh--is currently designing and building a DC-to-DC converter for the exercise bicycle. Expected completion: Fall 2009.
- Efficient Deployment of Advanced Public Transportation Systems (EDAPTS)
Jeff Gerfen's research project developed the Smart Transit System for San Luis Obispo, most visible until Summer 2009 as bus signs predicting bus arrival times. The smart signs rely on GPS position data obtained from the SLO city bus system.
1.
Aniefon Ekanem has developed a lower cost version of the stand-alone intelligent sign to allow deployment at more bus stops.
2. An upgrade completed Spring 2008 by CPE students Joey Civin and Ben St. Clair incorporated new tools for firmware development.
3. Another project involves testing the stand alone power system under actual operation. Completed Fall 2008.
4. Jeff Tikkanen developed a web-based real-time bus location and prediction system. The current version uses the Summer 2009 bus routes and schedules.
- 2700K White Light LED Luminaire Development
Energy efficiency needs and global warming concerns have driven incandescent lighting from its primary position. Similarly, fluorescent lighting will give way to LED lighting. White LEDs are now available with warm light, color temperatures such at 2700K, which people tend to enjoy more than harsher 5600K lighting.
A joint ME & EE team
designed and built a white LED lighting system with warm white light. Completed Winter 2009.
Polymer Electronics Lab Projects
I am quite interested in solid-state electronics in general and polymer
electronics in particular. These areas include solid-state devices
such as light-emitting diodes [LEDs], lasers, photodetectors, solar
cells, and field-effect transistors [FETs]. Other interests arise from
electronics used to drive displays, low power electronics, and VLSI.
Device fabrication and characterization overlap with practical issues
in the areas of laboratory automation, vacuum systems, and inert atmosphere
processing. Specific projects appear below.
-- Device characterization projects focus on electronics,
but they can also reach into the realms of software and other disciplines.
-- For a research oriented project, you could make polymer
LEDs or solar cells and improve their efficiency.
-- If you like Chemistry, you could make new molecules and
polymers for polymer LEDs.
-- Improving the lab entails a variety of EE, CPE, ME, MATE,
Chemistry and/or Physics activities.
-- Completed Fall 2009: Studied packaging schemes to allow using the polymer LEDs outside of the glove boxes.
- If you have an idea for a senior project and are in search of an advisor,
please contact me if you think our areas of interest might overlap.
Check out some GUIDELINES for
senior projects and thesis projects. Drop by my office (20-304) or send
an e-mail to dbraun@calpoly.edu.
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