Cal Poly Update
Alumni News
Mustang Alumna Heading to Olympics, Mustangs in Space and More
A slew of Cal Poly Alumni made headlines over the past month in sports, space and business. Aerospace Engineering alumnus Gregg Chamitoff is still in orbit, hanging around the International Space Station and fixing things as the flight engineer on the crew. Cal Poly Mustang track stars Sharon Day and Stephanie Brown Trafton made the U.S. Olympic Team and in Beijing. Day will compete in the women's high jump event and Brown Trafton in women's discus. Alumna Gina Miles and her horse McKinlaigh are are also in Beijing to compete in Equestrian events. Which other alumni were in the headlines over the past month? And do you know them? Find out!
Alumni in the News
PolyLink Photo of the Month:
Ag Engineering Majors on Spring Break, 1953
The year was 1953, the car was a 1939 ford and the place was Berkeley. Ag Engineering Seniors Don Lindquist (left) and Miller "Kep" Keplinger (right) headed up to spend some time at the Lindquist's family home during spring break. Keplinger won the August PolyLink Photo of the month title - and a cool Cal Poly Alumni window decal - for this shot of the friends on break. Keplinger graduated in '53 and headed off to the Navy - where Lindquist served after graduating in '54 too. Keplinger went on to marry and have a whole crop of Cal Poly grads in his family. See the full-size photo in the PolyLink Photo of the Month gallery - no sign-in or password required. Are you member of PolyLink, Cal Poly's free online community for alumni? Log in and check out Keplinger's PolyLink personal page - and see more of his great photos.
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John Sweeney is New
Cal Poly Alumni Association President
John Sweeney (B.S., Civil Engineering, 1989), founder and CEO of Dairy Procurement Group LLC of California, is the new president of the 12,000-member Cal Poly Alumni Association, the voice for the university's 130,000 living alumni. In addition to his Cal Poly degree, Sweeney received his MBA from Wharton, and is a Professional Registered Engineer in California. Sweeney currently serves on the College of Engineering Dean's Advisory Council. He is also is a former Member of the Board of Trustees for the California State University System. He lives in Alamo in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two children, and succeeds outgoing CPAA President Al Amaral (B.S., Ag Business, 1964).
More on Sweeney and CPAA
President Warren J. Baker, Bill Swanson
Named to National Business-Higher Ed Forum
Cal Poly alumnus William "Bill" Swanson has been named vice chairman of the Business-Higher Education Forum. Swanson is Chairman and CEO of Raytheon Company. The Business-Higher Education Forum is a national organization of Fortune 500 CEOs and senior executives, prominent college and university presidents, and foundation leaders. The Forum is working to advance innovative solutions to U.S. education problems. Cal Poly President Warren J. Baker was also elected to the BHEF executive committee.
More on the BHEF
San Diego is the Place to Be for Mustang Football Fans Aug. 30
Join the Cal Poly Alumni Association and Mustang football fans before the Mustangs take on the Aztecs Saturday, Aug. 30, in Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. CPAA and Cal Poly Athletics are hosting a Bratwurst and Burgers Tailgate at the stadium before the game. You can also join fans when they catch Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner Aug. 29 in San Luis Obispo and ride the rails to San Diego -- avoiding the traffic, and gas prices.
More details on the San Diego Game
Come to Cal Poly, Cheer on the Mustangs
With Monterey Area Alumni Sept. 6
CPAA's Greater Monterey chapter has chartered a tour bus to Cal Poly Sept. 6 to bring alumni, parents and football fans to campus to root for the Mustangs when they play rival Montana State in the newly renovated Alex G. Spanos Stadium. The bus departs from Monterey and stops in Salinas and King City before arriving on campus at 4:30 p.m. for a pre-game tri-tip barbecue. Cost is $60, which includes round-trip tour bus travel, barbecue, drinks and game tickets. Make your reservations by Aug. 19
Details on the Sept. 6 Charter Bus, Spanos Stadium Tailgate
Continuing Education and University Outreach Outstanding Grad is Cynthia Allen
Cynthia Allen was named Outstanding Student for 2008 by Cal Poly’s Continuing Education and University Outreach. The 44-year old single mother graduated Suma Cum Laude with a 3.9 grade point average. She is one of six graduates in the first class of students to receive a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies through Continuing Education and University Outreach. Allen was on Dean’s list four times and has been accepted into the Master's in Public Policy Program at Cal Poly. She came to Cal Poly with four Associates Degrees from Allan Hancock College. She is currently employed by Vandenberg Village Community Services District in Lompoc, Calif.
Read more about Allen
Tour 'The Geysers' Geothermal Plant in Sonoma County Sept. 20 with CPAA
The Geysers is the largest geothermal electrical generation facility in the world, and two of its top managers are Cal Poly engineering graduates. Alums Dennis Gilles (B.S., Mechanical Engineering, 1981) and Karl Urbank (B.S., Mechanical Engineering, 1977) will give fellow alumni and university friends an overview of geothermal energy at the Calpine Geothermal Visitors Center Saturday, Sept. 20. They'll also guide a first-hand look at the steam fields and a powerplant tour.
Details on the Geysers tour
University News
Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi Talks Sustainability at Cal Poly
One day after announcing that he will run for Governor of California, Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi attended the seventh annual UC/CSU/CCC Sustainabiltiy Conference, held at Cal Poly. Following his speech, he hosted a news conference at Cal Poly’s award-winning solar decathlon house. Flanked by two alternative fuel vehicles, he spoke to students, faculty, staff and the local media about the importance of changing the way Californians look at sustainable practices and green building.
Read more about Garamendi's visit
Read the Tribune Article
Cal Poly Receives $10 Million Anonymous Gift
A record-breaking year for fundraising at Cal Poly ended with yet another extraordinarily generous gift from anonymous donors. The most recent gift, a $10-million bequest commitment, brings private support for the fiscal year which ended June 30 to more than $91 million, the highest committed total ever for annual fundraising at Cal Poly. According to the most recent report from the Council of Aid to Education regarding voluntary support of education, Cal Poly ranked third in gifts received and had the largest endowment out of 144 public master’s degree institutions that participated in the ranking.
More on anonymous gift
Forbes.com Ranks Cal Poly #3 Public in National Compensation Study
Cal Poly has ranked third nationally among public universities in a Forbes.com ranking of college campuses, based on a recent study that looks at earnings of alumni at colleges around the country.Forbes.com says it bases its ratings on the salaries of college degree holders who have 10 to 20 years of work experience. Cal Poly followed only Berkeley and University of Virginia in the public rankings, tying for the third spot with UCLA and UC San Diego.
Read more about the ranking
Cal Poly Algae-to-Biofuel System Awarded
A Cal Poly research effort on how to turn algae into biofuels won a Grand Challenge award in July. The competition was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the 25x’25 Alliance. The aim of the Grand Challenge was to encourage development of technology systems that will help farms and ranches produce 25 percent of the nation’s energy by the year 2025 -- without impacting food production. Cal Poly’s winning entry, “Sustaining Civilization Under Cover,” used photobioreactors, a system of enclosed solar tubes, to mass-produce algae, one of the most promising forms of biofuel.
More about biofuel system
25 Robotics Teams Vie for $750,000 in NASA Robot Competition on Campus
Some 25 teams from across the United States came to Cal Poly Aug. 2 for the 2008 Regolith Excavation Challenge and it's NASA-funded prize of $750,000. The competition challenged teams to build a better lunar backhoe - or backhoe robot. The teams -- 21 from private industry and four associated with universities -- were required to build a robot that could excavate 330 pounds of lunar rock mantle -- called “regolith.” The Cal Poly College of Engineering partnered with Slobotics in the competition.
Details on the challenge
CSU Board of Trustees Recognizes Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
The California State University Board of Trustees has officially recognized the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Cal Poly. Cal Poly Continuing Education and University Outreach Dean Dennis “Skip” Parks informed the OLLI Board of their official status on Aug. 1, presenting a framed “Recognition of an Academic Naming” to OLLI President Dorothy Schlitz.
Read more about OLLI
Today's Students
CENG's High School Engineering Camp is a Blast
Cal Poly's College of Engineering hosted a week-long engineering camp for high school students in July. The event was aimed at underserved students, including minorities and young women. Some 96 students from Paso Robles to Santa Maria spent the week in and around the Cal Poly Engineering Complex, taking daily classes including 16 different interactive lab sessions. The event was possible because of support from the engineering industry, including $9,000 in scholarships allowing some students to attend. Student class sessions covered aerospace, biomedical, general, civil, environmental, computer science, software, electrical, industrial and manufacturing, materials, mechanical, and architectural engineering.
More on the engineering camp
Grad Student Receives Sustainable Energy Fellowship
Sean Kaylor, a materials engineering graduate student, was selected this spring from a highly competitive pool from around the country as a Sustainable Energy Fellow. Kaylor began the year-long fellowship process at an intensive week-long program to explore technologies, policies and economics of sustainable energy at Duke University. Researchers from Arizona State University, Cornell, Duke, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Michigan designed and directed the fellowship.
More on Sean Kaylor
Faculty & Staff
Erling Smith named Vice Provost
for Strategic Initiatives and Planning
Cal Poly has strengthened its leadership team once again, naming Erling Smith as vice provost for strategic initiatives and planning. Smith comes to Cal Poly from the University of Connecticut, bringing 12 years of leadership and administration experience and more than 30 years of teaching experience to the vice provost position.
More on Erling Smith
Learn by Brewing: Professor Cano Unveils Ancient Ale at Tasting
Professor Emeritus Raul Cano and colleagues held special event to unveil Fossil Fuels Beer, brewed using ancient yeast extracted from 26-million-year old amber samples. In 1995, Professor Cano reported in Science magazine that he’d extracted living bacterium from a bee entombed in amber 25-45 million years ago. His research was a key inspiration for the “Jurassic Park” movies. Now, more than a decade later, Cano is playing a key role in the Fossil Fuels brewing venture.
Read more about event with ancient brew
Read the Cal Poly Magazine story about Ancient Ale
Coming Up
Join the Begonia Festival Nautcial Parade in Capitola Aug. 31
Join Cal Poly alumni, friends and family on Sunday, August 31 to cheer on the Cal Poly alumni entry in Capitola's Begonia Festival Nautical Parade. End the afternoon with a visit to Cal Poly's own Swanton Pacific Ranch for a traditional Cal Poly BBQ hosted by local alumni.
More about the parade and bbq
Sign Up Now to Play the Forbes Pipe Organ at the PAC Sept. 7
The Performing Arts Center is holding another Open Keyboard session on the Forbes Organ Sunday, Sept. 7, from noon to 4 p.m. in Harman Hall. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to hear your fellow community members play the Forbes Pipe Organ. Sign-ups for the PAC’s second annual Open Keyboard event began August 1. The public is welcome to attend these 10-minute “performances” at no charge – cameras and recording devices are welcome.
More on the PAC Open Keyboard session
Last Chance to Catch 'Little Women' on Spanos Stage This Weekend
Catch the finale performances of "'Little Women: The Broadway Musical" in the Spanos Theatre this weekend (Aug. 15 and 16). It's a new production based on the classic American novel by Louisa May Alcott, brought to the Central Coast by Cal Poly Arts. The story of sisters Jo, Beth, Meg and Amy March is presented in a family musical guaranteeing a night filled with laughter, tears and spirit. Showtimes are 7 p.m., with an additional 2 p.m. matinee Saturday.
More on 'Little Women'
Tour the Performing Arts Center at Sept. 6 Open House
Arts lovers are in for a treat: The Performing Arts Center, San Luis Obispo is opening its doors to the community for a special Open House event Saturday, Sept. 6. Come learn about the inner workings of the magnificent Performing Arts Center on the Cal Poly campus. Guided tours will be held throughout the day. Arts lovers can also take a self-guided tour. You can try your hand at the light and sound consoles, step out on stage, and learn exactly what goes into putting on a world-class performing arts event at the PAC. Admission is free, and there will be behind-the-scenes access, activities for kids, food, drinks and more!
More on the PAC Open House