Friday, March 13
U.S. Representative Kevin McCarthy Tours Cal Poly,
Meets with Faculty, Students
SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) took time out from Washington, D.C. to tour Cal Poly March 13 and learn about university projects, faculty, students and its historic 'learn by doing' approach.
Congressman McCarthy is the Chief Deputy Minority Whip in the House of Representatives and represents California's 22nd Congressional District, which includes parts of the Central Coast. He toured the Cal Poly Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education (CESaME). McCarthy also met with with CESaME Director Susan Elrod; College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences Dean David Wehner; College of Engineering Dean Mohammad Noori; and Cal Poly President Warren J. Baker.
McCarthy and staff members spoke with Alex Chin, an aerospace engineering master’s student, and Austin Williams, an electrical engineering master’s student. The duo spoke to the congressman in the Bonderson Engineering Center on campus and outlined Cal Poly's participation in the cubesat project.
The congressman also spoke with students Wei Kyi (a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering student) and Gabriel Mountjoy (a freshman in Mechanical Engineering). They spoke about their high-performance vehicle. Kyi and Mountjoy are members of the student team that works on the vehicle, which gets about 2,000 miles per gallon of fuel.
Cal Poly student Josh Smith (a second year Mechanical Engineering student), a member of the university’s Human Powered Vehicle team, shows off the team’s creation to the congressman. McCarthy and staff also spoke with Animal Science professor Dan Peterson and Animal Science students Megan Robinson and Jane Isquith. The professor and students gave an overview of projects going on in Cal Poly’s Animal Science bio-tech labs. Isquith explained work she is doing in equine stem cell research.
The congressman also spoke with Casey Callaghan, left, explains the computer used to operate Cal Poly’s Animal Nutrition Center to Congressman Kevin McCarthy. Callaghan is the manager of the Animal Nutrition Center.
Click here to see photos from the visit on the Cal Poly News Flickr Gallery.