Cal Poly Update - September 2008
Alumni News
Bring the Family Back to Campus for Homecoming 2008 This November
Call some friends and bring the family: Cal Poly's 2008 Homecoming celebration is set for Nov. 7-8. See the Cal Poly Mustangs take on North Carolina Central in Alex G. Spanos Stadium during the big game Saturday, Nov. 8. Cal Poly Athletics and the Cal Poly Alumni Association are teaming up again to put on the annual Homecoming Tailgate. Enjoy a tri-tip barbecue and the CPAA Wine Tasting on the Orfalea College of Business lawn the afternoon before the big game Sept. 8. Are you a member of the Class of 1958? It's your Grand Reunion Friday, Nov. 7. Watch for details and schedules on the Homecoming Web. Get your tickets early - the Homecoming game, barbecue and wine tasting events all sell out at least two weeks ahead of the game every year.
See the Homecoming Web Site - See Photos from Homecoming 2007
Wine, Salmon, Sinbad's and the Dodgers -
Do it all with Cal Poly Alumni
North Bay alumni are heading to their annual harvest party and grape crush in Napa. Los Angeles Alumni are going to see the Dodgers play. Seattle alumni are getting together for some salmon and harbor views downtown. San Francisco alumni are networking at Sinbad's. San Diego alumni are lunching and tasting wine in the vineyards in Temecula, and Tulare alumni are having a wine tasting in Visalia. Those are just a few of the CPAA events across the west this month. All alumni are invited! You don't have to be a member to attend CPAA events. Check out dates, places and times on the
PolyLink Alumni Events Calendar - no sign-in required
Alumni in the News:
Astronauts and Olympic Medallists
Cal Poly alumni made history and headlines this month. At the Olympics in Beijing, industrial engineering alumna Stephanie Brown Trafton became the first U.S. woman to take the gold in an Olympic field event - discus - in 76 years. She also became Cal Poly's first Mustang to win Olympic Gold. Crop Science alumna Gina Miles and her horse McKinlaigh took the silver in the Olympic Equestrian events, held in Hong Kong. And engineering alum Gregg Chamitoff stayed above it all - in orbit in the International Space Station. Find out which other alumni made headlines this month...and if you know them.
Alumni in the News
PolyLink Photo of the Month: Brooklyn Bridges
2003 Art & Design grad Melanie Usas Crabb is the latest PolyLink Photo of the Month winner. She took home a Cal Poly Alumni window decal for this shot of herself and new husband Gavin Crabb (a Cal Poly Engineering alum) with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. For the couple, now living in New Jersey and working in Manhattan, it was a local shot. PolyLink members (more than 8,300 alumni at last count) can check out more of Melanie Usas Crabb's photos on her PolyLink Personal Page (login required). Everyone can see the full photo plus other PolyLink Photo of the Month winners anytime -- no password required -- in the PolyLink University Photos Gallery. Watch Cal Poly Update for this fall for details on the PolyLink Photo of the Year contest.
See the Photo of the Month Gallery on PolyLink - no sign-in required
University News
New Poly Canyon Student Housing Ready for 1,500 Sophomores
The first phase Poly Canyon Village, Cal Poly’s newest student housing complex, is now open and housing its first 1,500 sophomores. The $300 million "apartment-style village complex includes a market square with a post office, organic grocery, restaurants and more. University officials opened Poly Canyon Village with a tour for media, faculty and staff in mid-August. Construction on the second phase of the project will continue throughout the year. When the project is completed in 2009, Poly Canyon Village will offer 615 apartments with 2,661 beds, as well as 1,926 parking spaces and 11,255 square feet of retail space.
Read more about the Grand Opening
KSBY story on the opening - Tribune story on the Opening
Visit the Poly Canyon Village Web Site
See the Grand Opening photos of Poly Canyon Village
See 360-degree video of village commons
New Construction Innovations Center Opening Doors to CM Students
The new Construction Innovations Center, located next to the existing Graphic Arts and Engineering West buildings, is ready to open its doors to students when fall quarter starts Sept. 22. The project includes approximately 30,000 square feet of new labs and classrooms - all centered around educating Cal Poly construction management students. The $28.3 million project broke ground in Winter, 2006. The formal dedication for the new Construction Innovations Center will be in October.
See the New Construction Management Building via Live Webcam
WOW Set to Welcome
3,500 New Students - And Go Green
Cal Poly is welcoming 3,500 new students and their families this weekend. The university's residence halls open to freshmen Saturday, Sept. 13. Cal Poly's unique Week of Welcome program starts with family orientation then, and moves on to a full WOW week through Sept. 19. It's WOW's 51st year - and the first WOW to make a major commitment to going green. Instead of paper schedules this year, all WOWies will receive a computer flash drive full of programming. Cal Poly's annual Fall Conference, welcoming new and returning faculty and staff back to campus, runs Sept. 15-19. Fall Quarter classes start Sept. 22.
Sweet 16 - Cal Poly Is Best in the West in U.S. News Rankings
For the 16th year in a row, Cal Poly has been rated the best public-master's university in the West by U.S. News & World Report, in its 2009 America 's Best Colleges guidebook. Cal Poly ranked 10th in the magazine's overall list of the West's best universities, including both public and private institutions, that provide "a full range of undergraduate and master's-level programs but few, if any, doctoral programs." U.S. News ranks colleges that grant doctoral degrees, such as those in the University of California system, in a separate category.
Read about the ranking
Cal Poly Sustainability Praised by National Wildlife Federation
Cal Poly's sustainability efforts have been honored by the National Wildlife Federation. The NWF named Cal Poly the "Leading School" for environmental sustainability goal-setting and as a leading employer of environmental management and sustainability field professionals. The recognition came in the NWF publication "Campus Environment 2008, A National Report Card on Sustainability in Higher Education.” The NWF and Princeton Survey Research Associates International reviewed roughly 1,068 colleges and universities in creating the national report.
More on Cal Poly's honor from the NWF
City and Regional Planning Ranks No. 1
Cal Poly’s master’s in city and regional planning (MRCP) ranked No. 1 in the nation by Planetizen in the Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs. The master’s program was ranked 25th in the nation overall and 15th by professional practicing urban planners. “This ranking validates the quality education at Cal Poly. It’s the best value in the country for a professional planning education and an outstanding achievement for a state university,” said department head Bill Siembieda.
Read more about the Planetizen ranking
Cal Poly Continuing Education Turns 40
- Celebrates First Bachelor's Degree Graduates
Cal Poly's Continuing Education Program turned 40 this year -- and is showing no signs of slowing down. In June, the program graduated it's first "class" of bachelor's degree graduates in its Adult Degree Program -- designed to enable working students to finish their college degrees. Cynthia Allen, Kass Wixom and Rene Castellanos were part of the first graduating class in Cal Poly’s Continuing Education bachelor’s degree program. Atascadero resident Wixom began her college career at Cal Poly in 1971 -- and finished her degree in June through the program.
Read the SLO Tribune story and interview with Continuing Education Dean Dennis Parks
Faculty & Staff
Architecture Faculty Bring Skills to Students in Summer Program
Architecture Professor Michael Lucas coordinated a summer program that brought 43 high school students from across the state to Cal Poly for a month of learning and exposure to architecture careers. Students considering architecture as a career received an in-depth view of Cal Poly's program and were able to develop a portfolio through hands-on experience in studio design exercises, lectures, projects and field trips.
More on the annual summer workshop
College of Engineering Announces
Outstanding Faculty, Staff Awards
Cal Poly’s College of Engineering has announced its 2008 faculty and staff awards. Professor Roya Javadpour won the Northrop Grumman Excellence in Teaching Award. Professor Chris Clark won the Northrop Grumman Excellence in Research and Development Award, and Professor William Murray of Grover Beach won the Raytheon Excellence in Teaching and Applied Research Award. In addition, Professor Rob McDonald received the two-year Lockheed Martin Endowed Professorship award. The college's 2008 Outstanding Staff Awards were given to Kay Kibbe and Kim Marsalek.
More about Engineering Awards
Engineering Quake Test
Leaves Wine Barrels Shaken, Not Smashed
Cal Poly Engineering Professor Charles Chadwell is researching how to create wine barrel racks that can take a major earthquake and remain standing. Chadwell and graduate students working on his project sailed through a new quake simulation test Aug. 4 and came out on solid ground. The professor and students stacked wine barrels five rows high on a quake simulator "shake table" and ran them through earthquake ground motions recorded from the Northridge Earthquake.
See the SLO Tribune video of the Aug. 4 test
Read the Spring 2006 Cal Poly Magazine Article on Chadwell's Research
Passings: Retired Engineering Professor Irvin Kogan
Irvin J. Kogan, 86, of San Luis Obispo passed away Monday, Sept. 1, 2008, at a local care center. At his request, there will be no funeral service. In 1957, Kogan and his wife moved to San Luis Obispo where he had accepted a position as instructor on the faculty of the Department of Electronic Engineering. He later taught in the Department of Electronic Technology until 1984 . In lieu of flowers, it is suggested that friends make donations to their favorite charity.
Read the obituary in the SLO Tribune
Today's Students
Honors Program Students Bringing Sustainable Ag Technology to Africa
An interdisciplinary team of students and professors from the Cal Poly Honors Program is traveling to Malawi in east Africa in September to teach sustainable rural irrigation practices designed to foster social and economic equality and stability. The Cal Poly Honors students designed, manufactured and produced prototype applications, including a bicycle-powered water pump. The students will also be teaching sustainable soil and planting techniques to combat erosion.
More on the Honor Program's Mission in Malawi
Cal Poly Team Places in National Floral Competition
Cal Poly’s Floral Design Team placed third overall in the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD) student competition in Chicago. Individual honors were awarded to Nicolette Lynch, a Journalism major who won first place in the bridal bouquet category, and Horticulture and Crop Science (HCS) major Shannon Carlisle, who placed fifth.
More about the team win
Tractor Design Team Takes Award for the 'PolyBuilt'
Students from Cal Poly’s BioResource and Agricultural Engineering Department scored a national first place finish in team presentation with the unveiling of their “PolyBuilt” Quarter-Scale Tractor. The competition was sponsored by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE).
More on the Quarter Scale Tractor Team
Coming Up - Events
Music Department Announces 2008-2009 Season Performances
The Cal Poly Music Department's 2008-2009 season has something for everybody, including discounts for those who purchase tickets to multiple events. The opening recital will feature mezzo-soprano Jacalyn Kreitzer and pianist Susan Azaret Davies in “The Great Poets in Song: 1900 and Beyond!” at 8 p.m. in the Spanos Theatre.
More about the Music Department's events
More Please:
Cal Poly Arts Brings 'Oliver' September 26 & 27
Consider yourself enchanted by Oliver! Hailed the world over as one of the best-loved family musicals of all time, Oliver! brings to the stage some of Charles Dickens’ most unforgettable characters, along with one of Broadway’s most beloved scores. Rousing hits such as “Consider Yourself (At Home)” and “Food, Glorious Food” plus the touching “Where Is Love?” and the aching “As Long As He Needs Me” surround this heartwarming tale of the young orphan Oliver Twist in this all-new production of Lionel Bart’s magical musical.
More on Oliver
Oct. 2 Dinner Feast to Benefit Cal Poly Sustainable Agriculture Program
Cal Poly’s Sustainable Agriculture Resource Consortium (SARC) is holding its fourth annual fundraising dinner Thursday, Oct. 2, at 5:30 p.m., featuring guest speaker Timothy J. LaSalle, CEO of Rodale Institute. Organic dishes will be prepared by a host of the area's top chefs, under the direction of Maegen Loring from The Park Restaurant. The dinner will be held at the new LEED-certified synagogue at Congregation Beth David in San Luis Obispo.
More Dinner and Program Info
Cal Poly to Host Second Annual Green Media Conference in January
Cal Poly’s Graphic Communication Institute (GrCI) and SustainCommWorld are joining forces once again to offer the second annual The Business of Green Media Conference on Jan. 22, 2009, at Cal Poly. The conference will explore the current state of the printing industry with regard to green sustainable products, certifications and solutions. The program will include addresses on “The Sustainability Shakeout and What it Will Mean to You,” and other topics.
More on the conference