Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
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- Creators: Sebold, Brent
- Creators: Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Eng Program
Description
As a student and then an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (UGTA), I have had the opportunity to personally witness the learning process of both myself and approximately 75 additional incoming Civil Engineering students taking the Mechanics courses after me. While watching the student learning process as an UGTA, I realized that there were consistent points of confusion amongst the students that the teaching staff could not efficiently communicate with the electronic or physical classroom materials available. As a physical learner, I am able to learn more comprehensively if I have a physical model to manipulate, and often found myself in the position of wanting to be able to physically represent and manipulate the systems being studied in class.
ContributorsCamillucci, Allyson Nicole (Co-author, Co-author) / Hjelmstad, Keith (Thesis director) / Chatziefstratiou, Efthalia (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Eng Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
After freelancing on my own for the past year and a half, I have realized that one of the biggest obstacles to college entrepreneurs is a fear or apprehension to sales. As a computer science major trying to sell my services, I discovered very quickly that I had not been prepared for the difficulty of learning sales. Sales get a bad rap and very often is the last thing that young entrepreneurs want to try, but the reality is that sales is oxygen to a company and a required skill for an entrepreneur. Due to this, I compiled all of my knowledge into an e-book for young entrepreneurs starting out to learn how to open up a conversation with a prospect all the way to closing them on the phone. Instead of starting from scratch like I did, college entrepreneurs can learn the bare basics of selling their own services, even if they are terrified of sales and what it entails. In this e-book, there are tips that I have learned to deal with my anxiety about sales such as taking the pressure off of yourself and prioritizing listening more than pitching. Instead of trying to teach sales expecting people to be natural sales people, this e-book takes the approach of helping entrepreneurs that are terrified of sales and show them how they can cope with this fear and still close a client. In the future, I hope young entrepreneurs will have access to more resources that handle this fear and make it much easier for them to learn it by themselves. This e-book is the first step.
ContributorsMead, Kevin Tyler (Author) / Sebold, Brent (Thesis director) / Kruse, Gabriel (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
From 2007 to 2017, the state of California experienced two major droughts that required significant governmental action to decrease urban water demand. The purpose of this project is to isolate and explore the effects of these policy changes on water use during and after these droughts, and to see how these policies interact with hydroclimatic variability. As explanatory variables in multiple linear regression (MLR) models, water use policies were found to be significant at both the zip code and city levels. Policies that specifically target behavioral changes were significant mathematical drivers of water use in city-level models. Policy data was aggregated into a timeline and coded based on categories including user type, whether the policy was voluntary or mandatory, the targeted water use type, and whether the change in question concerns active or passive conservation. The analyzed policies include but are not limited to state drought declarations, regulatory municipal ordinances, and incentive programs for household appliances. Spatial averages of available hydroclimatic data have been computed and validated using inverse distance weighting methods. The data was aggregated at the zip code level to be comparable to the available water use data for use in MLR models. Factors already known to affect water use, such as temperature, precipitation, income, and water stress, were brought into the MLR models as explanatory variables. After controlling for these factors, the timeline policies were brought into the model as coded variables to test their effect on water demand during the years 2000-2017. Clearly identifying which policy traits are effective will inform future policymaking in cities aiming to conserve water. The findings suggest that drought-related policies impact per capita urban water use. The results of the city level MLR models indicate that implementation of mandatory policies that target water use behaviors effectively reduce water use. Temperature, income, unemployment, and the WaSSI were also observed to be mathematical drivers of water use. Interaction effects between policies and the WaSSI were statistically significant at both model scales.
ContributorsHjelmstad, Annika Margaret (Author) / Garcia, Margaret (Thesis director) / Larson, Kelli (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Eng Program (Contributor, Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
I currently run a used off-road shop that buys, sells, trades, and repairs off-road vehicles such as dirtbikes, ATVs, and UTVs. Given the success of our current location in Mesa, Arizona, I have decided to explore the possibility of expaning the business. There are a plethora of ways I could expand the business, but I chose to research opening a new location in California. After looking at many different criteria for franchising a business, I narrowed my criteria down to the six most important factors: Number of riding locations, number of repair shops, pricing, cost of real estate, taxes, and cost of labor. After thorough research, I have concluded that opening another location in California would not be a viable option. My next area of research will be regarding opening a location in Colorado, Texas, or even another location here in Arizona.
ContributorsJarvis, Nick bruce (Author) / Peck, Sidnee (Thesis director) / Faris, Kay (Committee member) / Sebold, Brent (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor)
Created2013-12
Description
Entreprenurshift: An Era of Transition asks the questions: what is an entrepreneur? Has the definition changed? Or is the landscape changing around the individuals? The thesis surveys the entrepreneurial landscape, starting with early inventors in the 19th century to today's top minds in technical fields, finding common characteristics all entrepreneurs share. Then, the analysis focuses on how the entrepreneurial landscape has shifted, specifically looking at the change in technological advances, avenues for fundraising capital, and the concept of virality, which ultimately create an entirely new playing field. In the end, although the process of being an entrepreneur is the very different, the landscape attracts the same type of people, all who are willing to risk everything in order to see success. In short, the entrepreneurial landscape is changing drastically, but the individuals successful in entrepreneurship today seem to attain the same characteristics as all the successful entrepreneurs who came before them all.
ContributorsUnderseth, Kyle Philip (Author) / Peck, Sidnee (Thesis director) / Sebold, Brent (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
A growing number of stylists \u2014 cosmetologists \u2014 are finding it harder to afford the basic necessities such as rent. However, the ever-increasing presence of smartphones and the increasing need for on-demand services like Uber and Uber Eats creates a unique opportunity for stylists \u2014 Clippr. Clippr is an application that aims to connect individual stylists directly to their customers. The application gives stylists a platform to create and display their own prices, services, and portfolio. Customers get the benefit of finding a stylist that suits them and booking instantly. This project outlines the backend for the Clippr application. It goes over the framework, REST API, and various functionalities of the application. Additionally, the project also covers the work that is still needed to successfully launch the application.
ContributorsKamath, Sanketh (Author) / Olsen, Christopher (Thesis director) / Sebold, Brent (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Smartphones have become an integral component of lifestyles worldwide, acting as mobile computers capable of life organization. They remain the most quickly cycled consumer electronic, owned for no more than 3 years on average. Individuals continue to upgrade their smartphones quickly, stemming from the desire for more power and better features. In 2016, there were 1.15 billion smartphone upgrades, resulting in a growing used smartphone market valued at \$18 billion. Individuals continue to invest time and effort to sell their smartphone, receiving payment of less than market value. In regards to value-minded users with solidified schedules, I created Trusted Trade-in. This startup provides the bustling middle class with the ability to upgrade their smartphone in an efficient and valuable manner. Compared to current solutions, Trusted Trade-in offers an all-in-one upgrade system. The creation of this startup involved the complete creation of a business model in addition to the coding of a responsive website. An online-based business, customers will be able to visit the Trusted Trade-in website and be given the options to trade-in or trade-up. Competing against Craigslist, eBay and Verizon, Trusted Trade-in features a combined smartphone resale and upgrade process. If the decision is made to trade-in, the customer will be quoted for their current smartphone according to specific physical criteria. The trade-up option will request the same information from the customer and allow them to select a new model for their upgrade. This exciting and innovative marketplace will completely transform the way people upgrade their smartphones through financial and time-based savings.
ContributorsWoods, Quintin Delane (Author) / Sebold, Brent (Thesis director) / Lin, Elva S. Y. (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
With a rapidly decreasing amount of resources for construction, wood and bamboo have been suggested as renewable materials for increased use in the future to attain sustainability. Through a literature review, bamboo and wood growth, manufacturing and structural attributes were compared and then scored in a weighted matrix to determine the option that shows the higher rate of sustainability. In regards to the growth phase, which includes water usage, land usage, growth time, bamboo and wood showed similar characteristics overall, with wood scoring 1.11% higher than bamboo. Manufacturing, which captures the extraction and milling processes, is experiencing use of wood at levels four times those of bamboo, as bamboo production has not reached the efficiency of wood within the United States. Structural use proved to display bamboo’s power, as it scored 30% higher than wood. Overall, bamboo received a score 15% greater than that of wood, identifying this fast growing plant as the comparatively more sustainable construction material.
ContributorsThies, Jett Martin (Author) / Ward, Kristen (Thesis director) / Halden, Rolf (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems & Operations Engineering Prgm (Contributor) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Eng Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
What if unplanned free time could be spent with friends instead of trying to contact them? This app will do that by connecting you with friends who are ready to hang out. Kickback is a mobile app designed to connect individuals with their friends and businesses that offer opportunities to socialize in a group setting. The idea had been floating around in my head for a few years and this creative project gave me the opportunity to try my hand at making the idea into a reality. This thesis is a combination of technical efforts and business know-how that I had to learn in order to keep up along the way.
ContributorsFegard, Nathan (Author) / Sebold, Brent (Thesis director) / Trujillo, Rhett (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Current practice and a new technology for mitigating fugitive dust on construction sites are compared on the basis of economic, environmental and social impacts for this assessment. Fugitive dust can have serious health impacts, such as repertory illnesses and valley fever, on affected persons and is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency and enforced by state and local agencies. Current practice consists of either relatively continuous application of potable water, a valuable resource, or application of expensive polymers, however, water application is considered the best available technology (BAT). The new technology, developed by the Center of Bio-medicated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics at Arizona State University, consists of application of Enzyme-Induced Carbonate Precipitate (EICP) to create an erosion-resistant crust. This crust is considered a "one and done" solution, until it is disturbed, however will last longer and stay more effective than quickly evaporating water. Future work will need to include how much disturbance is required to disturb the crust until ineffective towards mitigating fugitive dust. Results of the comparison show that a single EICP treatment produces 37 times less pollutants, uses 41 times less water and is 1.14 times cheaper than using water treatment to mitigate fugitive dust on a 7 acre site for 2 weeks (14 days). 14 days is the threshold at where EICP treatment becomes less expensive than water application for the purpose of mitigating fugitive dust. The EICP treatment benefits include lowering global warming inducing emissions, providing better air quality, becoming more cost effective, staying constantly effective to mitigate fugitive dust, and saving potable water.
ContributorsFabian, Aaron Jacob (Author) / Fox, Peter (Thesis director) / Kavazanjian, Edward (Thesis director) / Woolley, Miriam (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Eng Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12