May 18, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jo Ann Lloyd
(805) 756-1511

Cal Poly Electrical Engineering Student Takes First
In State University Research Competition

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- A Cal Poly electrical engineering student won first
place in the undergraduate division of the engineering and computer
science category of the California State University's recent 2004
Student Research Competition.

Sarah Ahrendes, a senior from Clovis, won for her paper “Design of
High-Density, Light-Weight DC-DC Power Converter.”

In addition, a computer science graduate student and an undergraduate
physics student each won a second-place award in their respective
categories. Ching Kang Cheng of Singapore won second place in the
graduate division of the engineering and computer science category for
his research on “Ontology-Based Semantic Classification of Unstructured
Documents.”

Physics senior Christopher France from Shingle Springs, took second
place in the undergraduate division of the physical and mathematical
sciences category for his paper “Theoretical Investigations of
Polymer-Blend Solar Cells.”

This year's competition took place at Cal State Northridge. The
competition, one of the largest student-achievement events of its kind
in the CSU system, gives students the chance to perform research
relevant to their field of study and showcases the high-caliber research
conducted by undergraduate and graduate students in all academic
programs offered by the CSU.

This year, six Cal Poly students were among some 200 students from the
23 CSU campuses competing for cash prizes and the honor of being named
top researchers among the system's 409,000 students.

The other Cal Poly students selected to compete in the final judging,
their hometowns, and the titles of their research papers, were:

• Biology senior Eugenia L. Hurlbut, Half Moon Bay, in the undergraduate
division of the biological and agricultural sciences, for her paper
“Changes in Membrane Properties of Glial Cells After Ischemia in Vitro”

• Business administration senior Robert Rendler, San Jose, undergraduate
business, economics and public administration category, “The Economic
Impact of Cal Poly on the City and County of San Luis Obispo” and

• Physical science senior Jeff Sevadjian, San Diego, undergraduate
physical and mathematical sciences category, “Using Ocean Current
Information to Track Biological Movement.”

Each of Cal Poly's six colleges nominates deserving students, whose
presentations are then heard by a faculty committee that selects which
go forward to the statewide competition. Each CSU campus can enter 10
papers. Final competitors submit written papers and make oral
presentations to juries of experts from major California corporations,
foundations, public agencies and universities.

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