Mechanical Engineering Summer 2023

News to ME

Bringing Light to Navajo Nation

Mechanical engineering students help install solar panels on 27 Navajo homes — See Page 12

Dear alumni and friends,

Another highlight has been the return of all student activities as the pandemic begins to fade. The results were incredible. The two student shops were a whirlwind of activity all year with students building hardware for class projects, senior projects, club activities and research activities. Please consider donating to our shop tech program (see story inside) to support more Learn by Doing experiences for our students.

For the faculty, it was a busy year of hiring with four new tenure-track faculty joining us this past fall and four more starting this fall. We also celebrated the careers of several longtime faculty members as they moved to a well-earned retirement.

The faculty spent the year putting together our course plans for the new semester curriculum that will roll out in the fall of 2026. Rest assured that the new plans reinforce our strong commitment to hands-on education through a focus on laboratory experiences that best prepare our graduates for the future.

The next steps in the process will be an upgrade and reorganization of our facilities with help from our fabulous

news to ME 12 BRINGING LIGHT TO NAVAJO NATION 14 RETIREMENTS AND NEW FACULTY

supporters like Don and Jean Williams (see article inside). It is support like theirs that keeps our reputation growing as the premier undergraduate-focused mechanical engineering program through the power of Learn by Doing.

For me, this is my final summer as department chair, and I will return as a member of the faculty in the fall. It has been an energizing and exciting six years leading this department and working with our amazing faculty and students. It has been a pleasure and a joy to perform this service.

I am happy that Dr. Peter Schuster will be leading the department starting in the fall, knowing we will continue to grow and improve. Thank you all, and please enjoy the stories inside that give a snapshot of the many activities happening in our vibrant community.

Jim Widmann, Department Chair

Cover Diana Santos, Liam Drew, Liam Janssen, Julian Chavez and Heather Sailor were a part of a group of Cal Poly students who traveled to the Navajo Nation to participate in the Skip the Grid project. Over a three-day span, project partners installed solar-powered systems for 27 Navajo homes.

Welcome to the summer 2023 edition of News to ME. As I reflect on the past year, I am in awe of how much our students and faculty have accomplished. As always, the highlight is graduation and this past year we celebrated almost 300 successful degree completions in mechanical engineering.

A home run for the ME department

Engineering alumnus Don Williams donates $1.1M property to the college

By Emily Slater

Cal Poly alumnus Donald E. Williams had a choice to make when a home in his real estate assets became available: Sell it to buy another property or give it away.

“I elected to give it to the College of Engineering,” said Williams, a 1964 mechanical engineering graduate.

Williams and his wife, Jean D. Williams, made a gift agreement with the college that outlined how the residential property appraised at $1.1 million would be sold, with proceeds going to the establishment of a fund to benefit the Mechanical Engineering Department.

They named the fund after two of Williams’ professors — Morris P. Taylor and Joy O. Richardson — who inspired him as he studied engineering at Cal Poly.

The first two initiatives will result in lab upgrades and support for student projects focused on internal combustion-powered engines. Each initiative will receive $100,000.

Department Chair Jim Widmann outlined plans that include the creation of new measurements and robotics labs along with a new design space. Robotic arms will be added to the existing robotics lab, with installation expected by winter quarter.

“I was brought up with the notion of tithing, and as my wife and I have prospered we’ve given a fair amount of money away,” Williams said. “Giving back is a good thing to do.”

Williams grew up in Santa Barbara and attended UCSB in pursuit of a physics degree. By his junior year, however, he realized he didn’t know what his professors were talking about.

“I thought, ‘This is no way to go through life,’” he recalled.

Williams traded the theoretical for the practical and transferred to Cal Poly in 1961 after he visited the campus and chatted with Dean Harold Hayes. He opted to study

mechanical engineering with a concentration in machine design.

He’d always had an affinity for cars, poring over issues of Hot Rod magazine and rebuilding a couple of engines. When he acquired a 1931 Ford Model A, he tore it apart and rebuilt it completely.

After graduating in 1964, Williams was hired at the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory in Port Hueneme, where he spent the next 30 years working in nuclear defense engineering and energy conversion. His final 10-year stint involved land mine counter measures technology for the Marine Corps which required multiple trips to Camp Pendleton.

In 1983, he started buying and upgrading apartment buildings.

“I got into real estate because I did a terrible job trying to buy and sell stocks,” he said with a laugh.

He bought a Burbank property in 2007 for his son, as he and his fiancée wanted a house in a quiet town with good schools. His son eventually moved, and the house that had doubled in value became available.

He contacted Dean Amy S. Fleischer and Assistant Dean of Development and External Relations Amy Spikes, who had recently visited, to let them know he and his wife wanted proceeds from a property sale to enhance engineering facilities on campus.

Williams asked that his gift be named in honor of Taylor and Richardson, citing their influence as educators and storytellers. He detailed how they would regale him and his peers with tales from Cal Poly’s past while teaching them engineering principles.

“Much of my fond memories at Cal Poly have to do with the faculty who were very likable people,” Williams said.

A sign bearing the names of Taylor and Richardson will be installed outside the Mechanical Engineering office in line with Williams’ request. n

Mechanical Engineering Department Chair Jim Widmann thanks donors Don and Jean Williams with a Cal Poly gift basket during a recent visit.

supporting shop techs

Donations needed to fund the program at the heart of Learn by Doing

By Emily Slater

Melina Ruano was scared the first time she set foot in the Hangar machine shop. The aerospace engineering freshman had to complete her red tag certification but had never seen a drill press, table saw or any such machinery while growing up in east Los Angeles.

“I don’t think I ever would have gone into the shop if I didn’t have to get my red tag,” she said. “I didn’t even know there were different types of screwdrivers!”

Ruano conquered her fear and completed her certification with the help of patient and friendly student shop techs who left a lasting impression.

“I remembered that experience and later thought that I would love to be that person for someone else, guiding them into the world of machining,” she said.

By her senior year, Ruano was proficient on the machines that once frightened her, shaping aluminum chess pieces with a lathe and cutting metal parts of a birdhouse with a water jet.

She also helped build an inclusive, diverse shop culture as the lead student technician, hiring and overseeing the cohort of students who run Cal Poly’s machine shops.

“I want to make our shops even more welcoming because I believe those spaces are critical to the hands-on learning at Cal Poly,” Ruano said.

Soaring Demand

Cal Poly’s machine shops employed 70 student shop techs — the most ever — this year to meet soaring demand, according to Eric Pulse, Mustang ‘60 machine shop manager.

Shop techs provide safety training for over 1,000 new users each year from any major on campus, a number that has grown with enrollment. Additionally, techs train almost all students in the College of Engineering in their first year.

Once students receive their red tag certification, they gain entry to shops in the Bonderson Projects Center and the Hangar facility to complete projects for classes and clubs and develop their technical skills.

A recent survey showed that shops are drawing

Cal Poly shop tech Melina Ruano (aerospace engineering) works in the Mustang ‘60 Machine Shop.

students across almost 100 majors, plus staff members.

“When we returned to campus after COVID and our students realized the shops were still here, our usage peaked, and we haven’t come down from that level,” Pulse said.

He also pointed to expansion efforts over the last few years that have increased the capacity of the shops.

BY THE NUMBERS

Student-run machine shops are a rarity on college campuses, according to Pulse, who added that a program with 70 student techs is practically unheard of.

Cal Poly and Georgia Tech have the largest student-run shops in the country, he added, with Cal Poly certifying more students than any other university.

In 2019, improvements to an outside area at Mustang ‘60 bumped the square footage from 3,500 to 7,000, with the shop now averaging 45 users. And, on most Saturdays, the Hangar hits its 75-student capacity, which triggers a waitlist.

For every 10 students, one shop tech must be present to ensure tools and machines are used safely.

Shop techs are initially hired as “rookies” and receive training from junior and senior techs as they shadow them during their shifts. They can move up the ranks as they learn teamwork, leadership and communication skills.

“We want to hire shop techs who are approachable so that students feel comfortable enough to ask questions,” Ruano said.

Pulse echoed Ruano, adding that shop techs who readily engage with students have a greater chance of heading off poor decisions before they happen.

“In 20-plus years and at least half a million shop hours, the worst thing we’ve had happen is a few stitches on a finger,” said Pulse of the shops’ sterling safety record.

While about $180,000 of state and discretionary funds pay for equipment and facility improvements each year, the shop tech program is primarily funded by donors and industry partners.

Donations have dropped off, however, while the cost per tech has risen 50% due to an increase in the minimum wage.

Pulse is now faced with cutting shop hours as new safety requirements for students have necessitated the need for even more techs.

Because of the Shops

Senior tech Aditya Garg, who just finished his fifth year studying mechanical engineering, has played a critical role in the development of the expanded training program now in effect.

During fall quarter, students who had completed their red tag training could log 10 shop hours, plus an hour of cleanup to receive their yellow tag and access to mills, lathes and welders.

But Pulse said students were not getting enough coaching on the three machines, so he worked with Garg, the training supervisor, to ditch the yellow tag designation and

revamp the program.

After fall quarter, students had to log two shop hours and an hour of cleanup before taking any of the new intermediate-level training courses – two-hour training sessions for each of the three machines.

“The yellow tag training just wasn’t good enough,” Pulse said. “Now, students are getting dedicated skills training but with that comes a greater need for tech support.”

Both Pulse and Garg know the machine shops have untapped potential that can be reached with donor support.

Pulse dreams of hosting weekend workshops where participants across the university could complete a fun project: “People could learn a new skill, try new tools and meet new people. The social aspect of the shops is undeniable.”

Garg has visions of advanced training on CNC machines, for example, that would remove the barrier to entry for clubs like Cal Poly Racing.

Fittingly, Garg chose Cal Poly after watching a racing club member make cuts with a CNC machine.

Garg had never seen such machinery before he and his mom wandered into Mustang ‘60 after losing their way on a campus visit. The club member directed Garg — a high school senior from San Jose — to the Hangar to see even more machinery and Garg was sold.

“I am at Cal Poly 100% because of the machine shops,” he said. n

If you would like to support Learn by Doing experiences for student shop techs such as Garg and Ruano, please consider giving through this LINK.

Shop techs Ashley Noorian, left, and Melina Ruano work in the Mustang ‘60 Machine Shop.

Engineering a wild ride

By Emily Slater

Cal Poly amusement park club wins national competition

Aclub of themed entertainment enthusiasts claimed first place at a national ride engineering contest with a model roller coaster that showed creativity, ingenuity and a weld strong enough to withstand a nail-biting flight across the country.

Cal Poly Amusement Park Engineers and Designers, or CAPED, wowed Ride Engineering Competition judges with their jungle-themed roller coaster, winning overall and technical writing categories.

“I don’t think it sunk in when they announced we had won,” said Tim Jain, a mechanical engineering master’s student and project manager for CAPED’s Ride Engineering Competition team. “It took a few days to process the fact that all our hard work had paid off, but I had no doubt our team was capable of this.”

CAPED was founded in 2006 to help students from a range of disciplines appreciate, learn about and connect with the themed entertainment industry and its focus on the design and installation of interactive and immersive environments, rides and attractions. The club hosts speakers in the field, sends members to conferences

and organizes projects including an entry for the Ride Engineering Competition, a nonprofit run by a team of volunteer students and young professionals.

The contest was conceived during COVID and held in a virtual format until this year, when teams from universities across the country traveled to Carowinds amusement park in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the April 14-15 competition.

“This competition helped me see behind the scenes of the whole amusement design process, something I’ve always been passionate about,” said Jain, who grew up with a season pass to Disneyland. “And I’m confident that the experience inspired our members for years to come.”

‘Thrilling but Safe’

The Ride Engineering Competition prompt for 2023 –Track Takeover: Roller Coaster Tech Challenge – asked teams to design, engineer and manufacture a section of a roller coaster of a certain size that could run for six continuous hours without an operator.

CAPED’s Jammin’ Jungle roller coaster features a ladybug-shaped car with room for four Starburst candy

Members of Cal Poly Amusement Park Engineers and Designers display their Jammin’ Jungle roller coaster after receiving news of two first-place wins at the Ride Engineering Competition in Charlotte, North Carolina.

chews, representing riders, that follows a winding steel track from the top of the forest to the bottom as it tries to avoid getting eaten by monkeys swinging from branches.

“We wanted to give riders a thrilling-but-safe experience,” said Jain, who also competed in last year’s challenge, when CAPED placed third with its drop tower design.

The project was launched as 30 to 40 members were split into four sub-teams: mechanical; controls; build/theming; and standards. From December through early April, students gathered throughout the week to work on their project assignments, then met as a full team on Sundays to report their progress.

While engineering majors are the most prevalent in CAPED, the club also attracts students outside the college, from English majors who penned the systems engineering report to architecture majors who helped meet industry amusement park attraction standards.

The project called for creativity and lots of manufacturing – bending track, cutting to length and welding sections together.

“There were many chances for people to get into the shop to manufacture prototypes and try different things to see what worked,” Jain said. “It was all Learn by Doing.”

‘No Turning Back Final’

Second-year mechanical engineering student Jackson Reynolds’ excitement about theme parks is palpable.

Both his parents worked for NBCUniversal and whenever their family traveled, they would visit amusement parks –close to 25, he estimates.

Reynolds appreciates the thrill of Universal Studios rides, citing the “Velocicoaster” as his favorite, and the storytelling of Disney parks, where “Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind” ranks as his other top ride. He’ll intern with Disney starting this summer and hopes to work in ride development.

The second-year mechanical engineering major joined CAPED his first year at Cal Poly after spotting the booth at a club showcase and is the club’s mechanical lead this year.

The first design of the Jammin’ Jungle Ride looked great on paper, but bending stainless steel tubing to fit a banked curve was a welding nightmare, Jain said. The next iteration using rubber tubing and epoxy was even worse.

For Reynolds, though, troubleshooting was the highlight.

“When we get to the point where we’re asking, ‘How did we end up in this situation?’ that’s the greatest part, because you never know what the next steps will be,” he said.

He joked about his team naming their project file “Final,” declaring, “We think this is done,” before realizing. “Oh, wait, we have to make changes.” They named their next file “The Final,” and the one after that “Final Squared” and finally “No Turning Back Final.”

Getting to a competition-ready design taught Reynolds a valuable lesson about perfection.

“Just like Walt Disney said Disneyland would never be completed if imagination is left in the world, we learned that there never will truly be a ‘final,’” said Reynolds, who added

with a laugh that they will change the naming convention for project files next year.

Hard Work Pays Off

Reynolds’ team aimed to build a steel structure so strong that if the plane transporting their ride crashed, the roller coaster would be the sole survivor.

They knew they’d met their goal when they could jump on the track, he reported proudly.

During the final stage, the team built a sturdy crate from plywood and two-by-fours to secure the ride for their crosscountry flight, encased the ride in bubble wrap and headed to the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” said Jain when he spotted four airport officials with a special scale to weigh the ride that came in 60 pounds over the limit for oversized baggage.

Their only choice was to ditch the crate, secure the bubble wrap and hope for the best.

“It was a big ordeal,” he said, laughing now about the incident that led to an anxiety-inducing trip.

They all breathed a sigh of relief when the roller coaster survived the flight and connection, making it safely to the hotel where members who had arrived earlier were scrambling to rewire the ride.

“There was a mess of wires that had to be organized and we had to get the braking system to work,” said Reynolds, who added their last night was a flurry of Home Depot runs and last-minute modifications to the control system.

The morning of the competition at Carowinds, members watched all their hard work pay off as the roller coaster performed perfectly.

“To see a working final product that showcased all our dedication was so rewarding,” he said.

The win is only the beginning of more good things for the club that Jain believes can bolster the themed entertainment industry with an infusion of Cal Poly graduates.

He will finish his blended master’s program this summer, leaving with industry aspirations and a greater appreciation for the roller coasters he’s been riding since he was a kid.

“I am more reassured to ride attractions now because I know the amount of time that goes into it,” he said. “You can trust the engineers.” n

“Just like Walt Disney said Disneyland would never be completed if imagination is left in the world, we learned that there never will truly be a ‘final.’”

— Jackson Reynolds

setting sail

Senior project to help engineering student sail around the world

By Emily Slater

Riley Taft set four goals before entering the College of Engineering: Live in a van, become an engineer, buy a boat and sail around the world.

The mechanical engineering major has achieved two, with graduation and circumnavigation left to go.

“Now, I’m building up everything I need to live a highly aquatic life,” said Taft, who lives in Morro Bay on the boat he plans to use for his nautical crossing. He exudes a surfer vibe, extols the virtue of living life freely and encourages his peers to follow their passions.

He’ll spend the next few months finishing school with a celestial navigation class, celebrating spring commencement and preparing for an eight-year journey that will take him to ports across the globe, where he plans to use his engineering skills to volunteer in nearby communities.

He’s also spearheading a senior project that could provide him with clean drinking water while voyaging – a pedal-powered desalination unit for his sailboat.

Three of his mechanical engineering classmates and an industrial manufacturing engineering lecturer have joined the effort, drawn by the unique nature of the project and opportunity to help Taft achieve his lifelong dream.

‘That’s Me’

Taft’s interest in sailing did not come from proximity to the ocean but from a book.

As a child in Buena Vista, Colorado, he read “Dove” – the true story of a 16-year-old who took his 24-foot sloop on a sailing trip around the world.

“When I was reading, I thought, ‘That’s me!’ even though I’m in Colorado,” Taft recalled.

The youngest of five, he gained insight from his siblings and inspiration from the nature that surrounded them, giving him a strong desire to live free.

His senior year of high school, he bought a Volkswagen van painting the exterior blue, overhauling the interior and rebuilding the engine with his dad. They had to pull out the engine four times but on the fifth try, Taft turned on Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” and by the end of the album, they were finished.

He graduated as valedictorian of Buena Vista High, loaded up his van and headed to Cuesta College, with an eye toward Cal Poly.

In his three years at Cuesta, Taft took a range of courses, lived out of his van and became an ENGAGE Scholar through the cohort-based scholarship and mentorship program

Mechanical engineering senior Riley Taft sails near Morro Rock. He plans to sail around the world after graduating next year.

designed for engineering and computer science students at Allan Hancock College and Cuesta College.

He supported himself by tutoring Cuesta students in calculus, physics, nuclear system design and engineering. When the COVID pandemic hit, he took bike trips from California to Mexico and from Wyoming to California while continuing to tutor, carrying with him sheets of scratch paper and a solar charger for his phone so he could Zoom with students on roadside stops.

“I now see kids I tutored at Cuesta, and they say, ‘You pulled in clutch for me.’ It was a great way for me to get my foundations rock solid before Cal Poly,” he said.

Catching the Vision

Taft started studying mechanical engineering at Cal Poly in fall 2021 to hone his skills as an inventor, problem solver and trailblazer.

He also bid farewell to his Volkswagen van but not after inspiring at least 15 others to pursue the van life, including Nick Tanksky, the founder of Cal Poly Van Life Club and Andrew Cummings, a former Cuesta College student who launched The Van Man – a Morro Bay business specializing in custom van builds.

“The van was always a steppingstone to a sailboat,” said Taft, who taught himself to sail and moved into a cutter rigged sailboat he’d bought from a longtime Morro Bay resident eager to see Taft finish the boat he’d begun.

The 31-foot sloop, with two head sails, a single mast, full keel and diesel engine is parked in a boatyard while Taft equips it for long voyages. The size of the boat prevents it from holding enough water for a long passage, which led to Taft’s idea for a desalination unit.

A group of his classmates are bringing that idea to life through a mechanical engineering senior project.

Brendan Dizon, Hudson Kispert, Allen Malfavon and Taft are designing a bike frame that will fit into the framework of the boat, where it will be attached to a unit that houses

a $3,000 car wash pump donated by one of Taft’s boat neighbors.

Ocean water will be brought into the system via a rotary hand crank pump, which will prefilter the water and store it for bicycle-driven desalination. Taft estimates pedaling for an hour would produce 7 gallons of freshwater.

His project teammates are working to ensure the bike frame withstands the stresses as they create manufacturing plans and design reviews, with assembly slated for fall quarter.

“This was very different from the other senior projects,” Malfavon said. “I want to be a good problem solver and this project will help me do that to a greater degree.”

Dizon met Taft in an earlier lab class and was inspired by his outlook on life, and Kispert was excited about helping his peer.

“I’m all about creating change and seeing the impacts of that effort,” Kispert said.

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering lecturer Kevin Williams is advising the team and co-sponsoring the project that he and Taft dreamed up while talking about their shared passion. Williams has lived on a boat since he was a student at Cuesta and regularly sees Taft while sailing.

The team will wrap up their project by the end of fall quarter, making four extra units with frame material donated by Taft that he plans to load on his sailboat for gifts to communities in need of freshwater. He will continue to balance his schoolwork with sailing as he envisions a future on the open ocean: pedaling for freshwater from his custom chair within reach of an oil lamp, vinyl record player and Royal 10 typewriter to chronicle all his adventures. n

The mechanical engineering senior project team of Brendan Dizon, from left, Allen Malfavon, Hudson Kispert and Riley Taft are designing a pedal-powered desalination unit for Taft’s sailboat.

Riley Taft’s 31-foot sloop, with two head sails, a single mast, full keel and diesel engine, is parked in a boatyard while Taft equips it for long voyages.

building a better BOT

Four-legged robot challenging students to think outside the box

By Emily Slater

Aprofessor and lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department are on a yearslong mission to build a four-legged robot — a project that is teaching students to embrace challenges and celebrate milestones.

Professor Siyuan (Simon) Xing and lecturer Charlie Refvem teamed up in 2020 as both were excited by the idea of designing a robotic quadruped with a dynamic gait. Most quadrupedal robots move forward and backward

at low speeds, but Xing and Refvem wanted to create a machine that could run, walk and jump at different speeds.

They haven’t yet decided what type of creature the robot will be, but a dog and mustang are in the running. There is much to complete before aesthetic decisions are made, but Refvem and Xing are in no rush; they recognize the benefits that come with a long-term project.

“Students have to develop resilience and adapt, because there are 100,000 things that can go wrong with a project

Mechanical engineering students Phillip Shafik, Jack Butler, Tarun Sreesaila Ganamur and Baxter Bartlett worked this past school year to modify a treadmill for a quadrupedal robot that includes a restraint system with winch and pulleys, allowing the team to quickly lift the robot off the deck if it maneuvers into a risky or unstable position.

like this,” Refvem said. “We’re asking students to do abstract things, but their solutions have surprised and amazed me.”

During the 2021-22 school year, the team hit a major milestone when their robot hopped on its four legs for the first time. This year, Refvem and Xing took their robot to the next level with the help of a treadmill and a group of adaptable, tenacious students.

Getting a Leg Up

The project kicked off during the Summer Undergraduate Research Program, when two students began working on a single leg of the robot to gain control of the limb.

The Mechanical Engineering Industrial Advisory Board supplied funding for the project that was slowed in the beginning by COVID-19 and an inability to order parts during the pandemic.

When classes moved to a virtual format, Refvem and Xing shifted gears, directing their first group of mechanical engineering undergraduate and graduate students as they completed simulation-based projects through much of 2021.

Once back on campus, students began developing the first prototype — a robot with four operational legs — they planned to show off at the department’s Senior Project Expo in spring 2022.

“We weren’t sure if we’d be ready, and it came down to the last minute,” Refvem said. “It took us 46 hours out of 48 to get it working.”

The robot’s four legs ended up functioning beautifully — bending, extending and even hopping — for the expo demonstration.

They hope to one day create a robotic quadruped with the capability to traverse irregular terrain inaccessible to other robots, making it the perfect candidate for search and rescue missions, agricultural tasks like monitoring harvests or even a trip to the rocky surface of Mars.

“The main purpose is a research and teaching tool,” said Xing of the project he expects will run five more years.

Treading Lightly

The next phase will involve testing so Refvem and Xing can develop the quadruped’s dynamic gait — an agile way of walking or moving that accommodates different surfaces, inclines and obstacles while maintaining stability and fluidity.

Controlling the gait will require a platform for testing, which is where this year’s project comes in.

A group of senior mechanical engineering majors are modifying a treadmill for the robot that includes a restraint system with winch and pulleys, allowing the team to quickly lift the robot off the deck if it maneuvers into a risky or unstable position.

Phillip Shafik, Jack Butler, Tarun Sreesaila Ganamur and Baxter Bartlett gathered in the lab before the end of spring quarter to put the finishing touches on the treadmill they

found on Craigslist. The former owner sold it to the seniors at a discount and in turn, the group invited him to this year’s Senior Project Expo.

Bartlett said some students wonder why they are building one treadmill from another, but he said those with a mechatronics background appreciate the complexity of the modifications that will enable the team to control the treadmill with a laptop.

“The electronics are done,” Sreesaila Ganamur said, “but we just have to figure out the wiring and the software.”

Sreesaila Ganamur learned better time management and communication, which he will use beyond college, while Butler said he has changed his approach to projects.

“This was the first time doing a project beyond my own wallet,” Butler said with a laugh. “My goal this time was to figure out how to do something right, not how to do something cheaply.”

Shafik didn’t have much shop experience but has learned to use tools such as the band saw and waterjet. “The main takeaway, though, was the friendships that have grown over the course of the project,” he said as his teammates agreed.

Work will continue next year, with treadmill testing, more mechanical design, development of software and controls, as more Refvem and Xing lead the way.

“The students are learning a lot, but it’s also been a big learning process for me,” Xing said. n

“Students have to develop resilience and adapt, because there are 100,000 things that can go wrong with a project like this.”

— Charlie Refvem

Above and top of preceding page: A professor and lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department are spearheading a project to build a fourlegged robot. They haven’t yet decided what type of creature the robot will be, but a dog and mustang are in the running.

Bringing light to navajo nation

ME students help install solar panels on 27 Navajo homes

By Emily Slater

Mechanical engineering senior Liam Drew hadn’t truly grasped the concept of life without light until a spring break trip to the Navajo Nation where close to 40% of homes have no access to electricity.

He watched a young girl study with a camping lantern as her only light source, and families turn to generators and expensive gasoline to heat their small homes when temperatures dipped in the desert landscape of the Four Corners region of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.

“There’s no way to gain a sense of what it is to live without light until you experience it firsthand,” said Drew, who grew up in Oceanside, California.

He joined a group of 20 Cal Poly students — including eight from the College of Engineering — and representatives from education foundation Heart of America and solar contractor SOLV Energy to provide Navajo families with clean electricity, battery storage and light.

Skip the Grid project partners installed solar-powered systems for 27 Navajo homes in three days.

“You could feel the excitement when we were installing a system,” Drew said. “Learn by Doing is about learning skills in the classroom but also about going into communities and experiencing some of the issues they face.”

On their mission to bring light to families, Drew and his teammates gained a new understanding of energy inequality in disadvantaged regions that is strengthening their resolve to use their education for good.

“I know I’m heading down the right route if in my career I can stay involved in projects like these,” Drew said. “I realize that I need to give back more.”

Sharing a Common Goal

Nine students and three professors joined the Skip the Grid project in spring break 2022, installing solar panels and supplying 11 families with power.

The group brought back valuable lessons and compelling narratives from their time in the Navajo Nation along with momentum that carried into planning a return in 2023.

“When you put together a bunch of people with a common goal, the energy that comes out of it is impressive,” said Mechanical Engineering Professor Jacques Belanger, who along with professors Joseph Clearly and Jeong Woo of Construction Management, went on both trips. “It’s rewarding to do something for the Navajo Nation and to see students in that environment work together.”

This year’s group of 20 students, mainly in their third year, represented majors across campus: mechanical and

Liam Drew and Julian Chavez install solar panels on the roof of a Navajo Nation home. The two were part of a group of 20 Cal Poly students – including eight from the College of Engineering – to provide Navajo families with clean electricity, battery storage and light.

environmental engineering, applied mathematics, architecture, construction management, economics, Spanish and graphic communication.

“We had a more diverse group this time,” Belanger said, “and we were better prepared and more efficient.”

Prior to departure, members practiced installing solar panels on Cal Poly’s construction management buildings, completed cultural sensitivity training and learned about the significance of the reservation.

The Navajo Nation is the largest reservation in the United States with its 16 million acres but also is one of the poorest, with almost 40% of households with incomes below the federal poverty threshold.

“Students put Learn by Doing into action on this trip and made an impact,” Belanger said. “It’s a powerful feeling to see the faces of the people they end up helping.”

Shedding Some Light

Diana Santos had visited tourist sites in Arizona while growing up in Burbank, California, but was taken aback by what she found on the reservation.

“For five years, I lived in the developing country of Guatemala, where my Indigenous grandma had spent her whole life,” she said. “I saw correlations between my grandma’s experience and life on the reservation, and I got very emotional. There is a need right here, not just in developing countries.”

The first-generation college student joined Drew’s team as the only environmental engineering major on the project. She was in charge of deciding where the solar panels would be most efficient, then installing them on the roof with construction management student Julian Chavez.

They traveled in four-wheel drive trucks loaded with equipment as a Navajo Nation liaison used coordinates to find the homes that had been identified by Red Mesa School District officials as those without transmitted power. The average drive between homes was about 30 miles.

During one installation, two young schoolchildren arrived home as Santos and Chavez installed panels on their roof, tumbling out of the car giggling as they raced to play on the trampoline.

“Their laughs were so contagious; it’s a core memory for

me,” Santos said. “In the middle of nowhere, these four solar panels will give these kids energy and light, bringing them more comfort and happiness.”

While Santos was on the roof, Drew was inside the homes that often had just one room figuring out the best spot for the battery and lights. He explained the system to families with help from their liaison who translated for the group.

Drew also served as the project’s education lead, helping host the first Education Day for 400 children in Red Mesa Schools. He joined mechanical engineering students Zoey Camarillo and Raul Espinoza and Spanish major Alejandro Martinez, along with SOLV Energy and Heart of America officials, to give presentations in the K-12 classrooms about solar power. Students then built their own mini solar cars.

“There is an education inequity tied to energy inequity and we wanted to address a little bit of that by supplying lessons, materials and cars. We shed some light on the installed systems so students weren’t left in the dark,” said Drew, chuckling at his choice of words.

Staying the Course

The trip left an indelible impression on Drew and Santos, cementing their career goals and lifelong friendships.

“I have a new perspective on lower income communities right here in the U.S.,” Santos said. “We were all inspired after seeing the difference that we made.”

She will be the first in her family to graduate this summer and hopes to use her engineering major and architecture minor to link up with an organization providing clean water to remote areas such as the Navajo Nation.

Drew will intern with SOLV Energy this summer after making a connection with a presenter during Education Day. He hopes to stay involved with Skip the Grid next year as he looks toward a career in renewable energy.

The teammates said their group has remained close after bonding during long car rides where they exchanged music and shared stories.

“Whenever I see them on campus, it makes me happy,” Santos said. “I have a love for all of them, and they will forever be ingrained in my mind.”

The level of interest is still sky-high for the project, with organizers now considering two annual trips, according to Belanger. n

The Navajo Nation is the largest reservation in the United States at 16 million acres. Canyons on the reservation are considered spiritual sites.

Retirements & New Faculty

RETIREMENTS

The Mechanical Engineering Department is celebrating the work of six retiring faculty members.

Andrew Davol

Davol served as a professor at Cal Poly since September 1999. Prior to that, he worked at Boeing Co. as a structural design and stress analyst. He is a Cal Poly alumnus, receiving a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. Davol earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego.

His research interests include design, composites, stress analysis, tissue engineering and bicycle design.

Thomas Mackin

Mackin has worked as a professor at Cal Poly since 2005 and served as the chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department from 2005 through 2008. His goal was to extend research more broadly into the undergraduate curriculum, create entrepreneurial engineering options for undergraduate students and expand startup opportunities for undergrads. He developed a Center for Collaborative Engineering Research and Education in conjunction with the University of California, Santa Barbara to provide research opportunities for faculty and undergraduate students. He also started a robotics company, Synbotics, which was staffed with Cal Poly undergraduate engineering students and has helped student teams create start-ups. He currently serves as an engineering design consultant at Cal Poly’s Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and as an adjunct faculty member in the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, where he teaches Critical Infrastructure Protection.

Tom Mase

Mase joined the Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering Department in January 2007. He is currently a professor of mechanical engineering and Cal Poly’s Faculty Athletic Representative, or FAR, overseeing academic integrity, institutional control and student-athlete well-being. Mase received a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical

engineering from Michigan State University in 1980. He obtained master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley in 1982 and 1987, respectively. At Michigan State, he played on the golf team and was co-captain his senior year.

Most of his career has been in academia, using his mechanics background to work on applied problems in golf and sports in general. Mase stepped out of academia a couple of times to work full time on research and design in the golf industry. He continues to consult with the golf industry on research and design and is named on six U.S. and two Japanese golf-related patents. Every fall, Mase serves as a scientific panelist on Golf Digest’s Hotlist.

Joe Mello

Mello is a mechanical engineering professor with interests in composites and structural systems and stress analysis. He came to Cal Poly to have an impact on student career paths. Highlights of his career include learning with design teams and seeing his former students become lead engineers.

Saeed Niku

Niku recently completed his five years of the Faculty Early Retirement Program after over 40 years of teaching at Cal Poly in the Mechanical Engineering Department. Niku came to Cal Poly in January 1983 and has taught 15 classes in mechanics, design and robotics. He has published textbooks in design, robotics and general engineering subjects. He was also the graduate adviser of the department for 23 years.

Niku taught a multitude of subjects over the years, and many of his senior project students developed devices for the disabled, some with national attention. His research focused on robotics and related subjects. His graduate students developed countless new devices for a variety of purposes, including walking machines, robot creatures, vision routines, a 7-degreeof-freedom “monkey” robot, animatronic lips, skin sensor, Stewart platform-type parallel robot and many more. Three of his graduate students also developed finger-spelling hands for communication with blind-deaf individuals.

Joe Mello

Saeed Niku

Thomas Mackin

Tom Mase

Andrew Davol

Mohammad Noori

Noori joined Cal Poly in 2005 as the dean of the College of Engineering. Prior to that, he was the Reynolds chaired professor and head of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University and held the position of liaison professor at the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) and the director of NIA programs at NC State.

Since 2010, Noori has been a professor of mechanical engineering at Cal Poly and has enjoyed teaching several courses and advising numerous senior design projects, many of which revolve around sustainable development issues. He is also the executive editor of a major journal, and has served as the associate editor, academic editor and member of the editorial board for more than 16 other journals.

Noori has made original contributions in the development of analytical models for the prediction and analysis of complex hysteresis behaviors observed in dynamic response of structural and mechanical systems and in electromagnetic fields. His smooth hysteresis model, known as BWBN, the first model to predict shear pinching, has been highly cited in the topic’s literature. Throughout his career, Noori has authored over 300 refereed publications. Noori is a fellow and life member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and had the honor of being invited as a national expert by President Clinton’s Special Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection in 1996.

NEW FACULTY

The Mechanical Engineering Department has welcomed four new faculty members.

Amanda (Johnston) Emberley

Emberley joined Cal Poly during fall 2020 as a part-time lecturer and started as an assistant professor in mechanical engineering in fall 2022. Prior to Cal Poly, she was at Purdue University where she received a Ph.D. in engineering education. She also has a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering and master’s degree in education, both from UC Davis. Her research is focused on improving the understanding of teaching and learning of engineering, currently focused on developing teaching materials to contextualize mechanics teaching and working to understand how students conceptualize design.

Behnam Ghalamchi

Ghalamchi received his master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Zanjan and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from LUT University. He has certifications in data analysis, data visualization and databases and structured query language. He has worked as instructional faculty at Cal Poly since 2019 and joined as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering in August 2022.

Mohammad Hasan

Hasan has a bachelor’s degree from Jordan University of Science and Technology in mechanical engineering with a focus on mechatronics. For his graduate studies, he worked on a combination of robotics and sensor technologies, earning a degree from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He remained at the university for an additional two years, earning his Ph.D. in mechanical and materials engineering, where he focused on implementing machine learning using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) in a nondigital manner using the dynamics of MEMS for calculation.

His work currently focuses on nontraditional robotics and machine learning and self-learning robots. He is working with a group of undergraduate students on an origami robotics project. An origami work design project was also approved for funding through the Summer Undergraduate Research Program.

Alan Zhang

Zhang joined Cal Poly as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering in fall 2022. He received his B.S. (2016), M.S. (2018) and Ph.D. (2022), all in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. While in graduate school, he worked as a researcher at NASA Ames Research Center and Squishy Robotics, a spinoff startup based on his lab group’s work.

While his prior work focused on designing impactresistant tensegrity structures for use as planetary landers, his current research interests are on leveraging the inherent strength and flexibility of tensegrities in the development of assistive medical devices to augment human dexterity. He is particularly interested in exploring innovative, sustainable and low-cost designs that are accessible to all members of the community. n

Alan Zhang

Behnam Ghalamchi

Mohammad Hasan

Mohammad Noori

Amanda (Johnston) Emberley

Cal Poly Racing Baja SAE members celebrate a top 10 finish in May at the Oshkosh, Wisconsin, competition. Team lead Joshua Wright waves the Cal Poly Racing flag from the car they designed and built.