Alumni in the News - October 2006

Engineering Alum's Work Takes Him to the Arctic
Paulo Younse (B.S., Mechanical Engineering 2002) is now a graduate student at the University of Florida. He spent August interning in the Arctic with a team from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Younse participated in a scientific expedition to test a Cliffbot rover in Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic Circle about 600 miles from the North Pole. The Cliffbot rover was designed to investigate not only how life exists in harsh environments and the mineralogy of rocks, but also to test instruments with the potential to search for life on Mars. “It was the first time I've ever been up to the Arctic, and it's an extraordinary place,” said Younse, 26. “We get to be on the forefront of technology and get to throw around a lot of neat ideas.”
Read the Gainsville Sun article

Arch Alum McCallum Heads Ziba Creative Empire from Portland
Ziba is a pioneering design research firm and Steve McCallion (B. Architecture, 1987) is the creative director for its 146-person shop. McCallion, an architect trained at Cal Poly and Columbia University, is the founding director of Ziba's consumer insights and trends group, an eclectic mix of social anthropologists, cultural ethnographers, user-experience wizards, trend trackers, brand translators, and cool hunters. His team dives into a company's DNA and the motives of its potential customers, trying to connect brand and consumer--and make wallets fly open. Ziba earned four Industrial Design Excellence Awards this year, the most of any single consultancy. And now McCallion is being invited to reinvent not only products but entire cityscapes as well.
Read the Fast Company magazine article

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Weird Al Yankovic...
Wondering what's up with one of Cal Poly's most creative alums, 'Weird Al' Yankovic (B.S. Architecture, 1980)? Check out AOL's "All Music" blogspot on Weird Al, or the interview with him on the music.ing Web site. You'll find most everything you want to know about the artist, plus links to his videos, a discography, and a chance to chat about this famous Mustang with other Yankovic fans. In case you haven't caught it yet, YouTube is currently featuring plenty of lip-synch home-made videos to one of Yankovic's latest parodies -- "You're Pitiful" (a take-off on James Blunt's hit, "You're Beautiful"). Right now you can only hear "You're Pitiful" online (and free) via the official Weird Al Yankovic Web site. Check NPR's 'Weird Al' Web page, or the Official Weird Al Yankovic Web site, for details on why the Internet is the only place you'll find it.

DaVinci Design Alum Behind Electric Motorcycles
In 1989, Neal Saiki (B.S, 1990, M.S., 1993, Aerospace Engineering) headed a Cal Poly group that created the Da Vinci IV, a 97-pound helicopter that took a short ride into history. With a world-class bicyclist pedaling, it left the ground for a few seconds. Since then, he's worked at NASA, helped develop a high-altitude airplane (to be used to confirm global warming and as a spy plane) became a famous mountain-bike designer, and now he's making electric motorcycles with his own company, Electricross.
Read the San Jose Mercury News story

Engineering Grad's Firm Continues Growth Spurt
Mike Cannon (B.S., Civil Engineering, 1983) comes from a long line of engineers. His great-grandfather worked on the Panama Canal and his grandfather, grandmother and father are all engineers. Cannon interned with Contract Survey and Design while at Cal Poly, and got a job there after he graduated. At 27, he bought the firm, and over the last two decades, has grown the business — renamed Cannon Associates — from four employees to more than 110 with multimillion-dollar-projects throughout California.
Read the SLO Tribune profile on Cannon

Architecture Grad Specializes in Restoring Historic Houses
San Luis Obispo architect and general contractor Thom Brajkovich (B. Architecture 1973) and his wife Mary Kay Harrington (B.S. English, 1976) where featured this month in the Tribune Homes section for their loving restoration of a 1912 Arts & Crafts gem. Among the specialties of his firm, Paragon Designs, is the restoration of old buildings. The Cal Poly graduate has been responsible for refurbishing several Central Coast historic buildings, including the Biddle House, a classic downtown San Luis Obispo Victorian home.
Read the SLO Tribune story
See the Tribune photos

Animal Science Grad Brings Organic Farming Home to Colorado
After a post-graduation adventure through South America, Jeff Downs (B.S. Animal Science 2005) has launched a sustainable ranching operation on a portion of his family's 700-acre farm in Montrose, Colorado. He designed a systems where cattle, poultry, goats and pigs work together on the land. The goats clean the ditches, the pigs clean the waste, the poultry fertilize the pasture land and the cattle graze. Downs' naturally grown meat is the toast of local chefs and natural food fans.
Read the Montrose Press article

MATE Grad Now VP for Operations
Joseph Kava (B.S., Materials Engineering, 1991), former managing director of Applied Materials’ global IT operations, has joined RagingWire as its new vice president of operations. Kava has more than 17 years of technical and operational management experience in the technology industry. Prior to joining RagingWire, he held several key senior director and management positions at Applied Materials. Most recently, Kava was the managing director of Global IT Operations, Corporate eBusiness Solutions. His new firm, RagingWire, provides customized managed services and IT solutions for businesses.
Read the wire release

PolySci Alum is Incumbent for State Senate Seat
In the race for state Senate in District 12, Jeff Denham (B.S., Political Science, 1992) isn't taking anything for granted -- even though he's the incumbent, and the chair of the state senate Agriculture Committee. His district includes all of Merced and San Benito counties as well as parts of Stanislaus, Madera and Monterey counties.
Read the Modesto Bee story on the race

Journalism Grad Writes On at the Monterey Herald
Kathryn McKenzie Nichols (B.S., Journalism, 1981) held a string of jobs as a newspaper reporter and editor until she got " completely burned out" in 1988 and went to the Dark Side: public relations." Seven years and two children later, she went back to the Monterey Herald as a features writer. After striking out as a freelance writer, she's now writing a weekly column for the Herald.
Read the Monterey Herald column

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