Wind Turbine Rotor Test Stand

Dr. Lemieux and the mechanical engineering department at Cal Poly are renowned for the countless projects that allow students to be a part of hands-on learning and the “Learn by Doing” experience. One such experience is the wind energy class that requires students to design, build, and test wind turbine rotors; however, a test stand for these rotors is needed. Dr. Lemieux and the senior project team will design and build a test stand that will enable the simultaneous testing of two student-designed rotors at the existing wind turbine site. In addition to energy measurement, Lemieux emphasizes the importance of safety for the project. The team developed a design which consists of two independent test stands, each with a generator that is mounted on the existing platform, connected to their own control panels and heaters. A hub was designed to allow for easy attachment of student rotors which were installed on each generator. The control panels measure power, current, voltage, and energy, as well as have an off switch for emergency stop capabilities. The energy from the turbines is safely dissipated by small heaters. The design was validated using FEA and physical testing to ensure each component functions as designed and are safe. Tests were run on the heaters’ capacities, the time it took to attach and detach rotors to the universal hub, the energy measurement capabilities of the test stand, and the similarity between each test stand. The team strived to develop a safe, effective, and reliable wind turbine rotor test stand that meets the needs of Dr. Lemieux, Cal Poly students, and the mechanical engineering department

The Monday Manure

For my senior project, I wanted to create a new section of Mustang News that includes satire and cartoons. The section is called the Monday Manure to fit with the horse themed titles of other sections. This idea began as a project in the Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship class. While I initially had the idea to have a section that included games, I realized that it was a bit too ambitious after discussing that with the team at Mustang news. Over the course of this project, I have created several satire articles and cartoons, as well as organizing a team to produce them as well. I have worked closely with the web design team at Mustang News to make sure the section looked engaging but not too similar to the normal news, in order to avoid confusion. The final product will be a dropdown section under the opinion header on the Mustang News website

Cal Poly Gateway Decathlon: Cost Estimation and Planning for a Sustainable Mass Timber Home

The Gateway Decathlon is an international collegiate competition that challenges university teams to design, build, estimate, and operate innovative and sustainable housing solutions. Cal Poly SLO’s entry to the competition is a mass timber single family home addressing sustainability, energy efficiency, and climate change issues in California. The research of this paper focuses on cost estimation and project planning concerning equipment and labor specifically. The aim is to create a feasible and accurate construction budget. While previous efforts have been conducted on this project, design changes and new scope additions require a comprehensive reassessment of the material, labor and equipment costs associated with these changes. Through the analyzation of architectural, structural, and MEP design documents, an updated cost analysis using industry resources and past project data has been created. The findings provide an accurate financial framework for the design and construction of the project, ensuring a functional and efficient resource allocation. This research contributes to the broader study of industrialized sustainable construction and demonstrates economic and logistical implications required for designing and constructing a mass timber home