Cal Poly Update - July 2010
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Alumni News
Enjoy Baseball and Summer Nights with Cal Poly Alumni - and Sign Up for Fresno State Tailgate
Baseball fans: See the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants with the Cal Poly Alumni Association this summer. Football fans: order your tickets now for the tailgate and showdown game between the Cal Poly Mustangs and the Fresno State Bulldogs in Fresno this October. Hat and horse fans: join alumni for opening day at the Del Mar Racetrack in San Diego. Not a sports fan? Enjoy a summer evening with fellow alumni in Sacramento. Or meet new students and their parents and tell them about Cal Poly at new student welcome events in Monterey and Seattle this August.
Find details for all Alumni Events on the Alumni Events Calendar
Photo by Ben Pollard
PolyLink Alumni Photo of the Month: Dangling from the Treetops in Thailand
Victoria Doerr (Liberal Studies, 2004, M.A., Special Education, 2006) is the August PolyLink Photo of the Month winner for this photo of her adventures on vacation in Thailand. The photo was taken in the jungle just outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand in April 2010. Doerr, a special education teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Cal Poly alum John Denson (Engineering 2004, M.S. Engineering/MBA 2006) were in the middle of a zipline course. Doerr and Denson are just two of the 71,000 Cal Poly alumni you'll find in PolyLink, the university's online directory of alumni and current seniors. Doerr is one of more than 15,000 alumni who have added additional career, personal and contact information (and photos) to their PolyLink pages. Who else is in the PolyLink directory? Log in today at www.calpolylink.com and find out. Alumni: if you haven't logged in to PolyLink yet, look for a separate e-mail with your secure entry code.
See other Alumni Photo of the Month winners anytime - no login needed
College of Engineering Biotech Lab Founded by Alumnus Featured on The Pentagon Channel
Cal Poly's QL+ (Quality of Life Plus) lab was featured on The Pentagon Channel. Founded by 1964 industrial engineering alum Jon Monett, the biotech center partners a cross-section of engineering majors to develop devices that improve the lives of services members wounded in battle. Projects designed for injured veterans so far include a specially-equipped bicycle, an electronic prosthetic limb, and silicone molds to disguise burn scarring caused by explosives.
Watch the video on Cal Poly's YouTube Channel
Read the Cal Poly Magazine Story on the QL+ lab
Alumni in the News: A 'Weird Al' Children's Book, Bicycle Adventures and iFame
Noted architecture alum 'Weird Al' Yankovic (Architecture, 1980) is on tour on the East Coast and writing a children's book. A 2009 business grad has completed his bike trek from the tip of Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. Two engineering alumni were in the news again for disseminating their dissection of Apple's latest gadgets -- and the business they launched in their dorm room now has 25 employees and is in the black. These are just a few of the alumni who made headlines this month. Read about more alumni in the news -- and see if you know any of them.
Details on July Alumni in the News
University News
Concrete Canoe Team is No. 1 in the Nation
Cal Poly's Concrete Canoe team is No. 1 in the nation. Cal Poly hosted and took first place in the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 23rd annual National Concrete Canoe Competition in June. The final races in the three-day event took place at Lopez Lake. The Cal Poly engineers paddled to victory in a 170-pound, white canoe named the Amazona. The annual competition challenges students to design, create and race canoes made of concrete - and submit a research paper and make an oral presentation on their designs. Cal Poly battled teams from 21 top engineering schools for the national title, with top rankings for the team research and presentation as well as the race. The team photo was displayed on a billboard in New York's Times Square after the victory.
More on the 2010 Concrete Canoe Competition | See the team on the Times Square billboard
See the KSBY news coverage |
See the SLO Tribune news coverage
Ohio's Glidden Named Interim Cal Poly President
Robert Glidden, president emeritus of Ohio University, has been named interim president of Cal Poly. He will step into office Aug. 1. Glidden served as president of Ohio University from 1994 to 2004, overseeing six campuses with more than 29,000 students in southeast Ohio. Glidden will lead the university through the California State University System's search for a successor to President Warren J. Baker, who is retiring this month after more than 30 years at the helm of Cal Poly.
More about Glidden's appointment | Glidden's biography
CSU Raises Student Fees in Response to State Budget Cuts
The California State University Board of Trustees voted to raise CSU systemwide fees at all 23 CSU campuses by five percent for undergraduates and graduate students starting this fall. For full-time undergraduates that translates into a $204 annual increase ($68 per quarter). The CSU fee increase means full time Cal Poly undergraduate students will pay a total of $6,480 per academic year starting in fall 2010, including both CSU systemwide and Cal Poly campus-specific fees. The CSU board could raise systemwide fees again in November, depending on California's final state budget, which has yet to be adopted.
Read the full CSU News Release on the system-wide fee increase
Go to the Cal Poly web page on 2010-2011 university fees
Green Campus, Rec Center Projects Make Cal Poly a Winner in Energy Efficiency
Cal Poly will receive two best practice awards and an honorable mention for energy efficiency in June at the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference. The three awards are the most for any CSU. The university received top honors for its Student Sustainability Program called Green Campus and HVAC Design/Retrofit on the Recreation Center renovation, and honorable mention for Lighting Design/Retrofit for the Recreation Center renovation.
More on the award
Cal Poly Hosts Hands-On Construction Camp for Teen Girls
Cal Poly and the Central California Coast Chapter of the National Association for Women in Construction hosted MAGIC (Mentoring a Girl in Construction) Camp on campus for a week in June. The free summer day camp that taught basic skills of the trades (carpentry, electrical, plumbing, sheet metal, masonry, surveying etc.) and introduced the professional aspect of construction management, architecture and engineering to 25 young women aged 14-17.
More about the camp
New Students (and New Cal Poly Parents):
It's Time to Sign Up for Student Advising in August
It’s time to make reservations for SOAR – Student Orientation, Advising and Registration. The one-day workshops for freshmen and transfer students are held the first two weeks of August. New students meet with advisors talk about schedule planning, get help registering for classes, find out about department policies and expectations, and more. SOAR includes orientation sessions for parents and families too. Sign-ups for sessions end July 26.
Get details and sign up on the SOAR Web site
Stay in Poly Canyon "Summer Village" on campus for your visit
Today's Students
Cal Poly Wines, Student Winemakers Earn Gold Medals in Orange County
Two Cal Poly wines took gold medals at a professional competition in Orange County recently. The winning wines were the 2008 Mustang Red, a red blend, and the 2008 Cal Poly ‘Poly Royal’ red dessert wine. Both were made by student winemakers in Cal Poly’s Wine and Viticulture Program from grapes grown in San Luis Obispo County. The competition is one of the state’s largest and the wines were judged a double-blind test by wine industry peers. The winning “Mustang Red” and “Poly Royal” wines will be featured at the Orange County Fair between July 16 and Aug. 15.
The Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture Program is part of the Crop Science Department in Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. Since it launched in 2008, the Cal Poly Wine Program has grown to produce more than seven wines. Student winemakers are selected for each vintage through a mentoring program. Purchase Cal Poly wines online at www.calpolywine.com.
Read about the latest gold medals for Cal Poly wines | Find out more about the degree program
Engineering Students Heading to International Antenna Design Competition
Cal Poly electrical engineering students Alex Hempy and Michael Civerolo are heading to Toronto, Canada, compliments of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. They'll compete in the first international Antenna Design Challenge in July. In Fall 2009, the duo submitted a proposal to design a wireless demonstration system that teaches antenna principles to high school physics and college engineering students.The system had to be safe, durable, easily reproducible, inexpensive, and portable.
Details on the antenna competition
English Major is a $600,000+ Poker Champion
Michael Linn, a 22-year-old English major, is having an interesting summer. Linn won the top prize -- $609,493 -- in the seventh No-Limit Hold'em championship at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. During interviews after the win, he said he enjoys playing online poker in his spare time and intends to finish his degree -- and that his favorite novel is "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemmingway.
Read more about Linn's win
Grads Seize The Day, And Success
Cal Poly said farewell and good luck to more than 3,000 members of the Class of 2010 June 12. Many had inspiring stories about how their Cal Poly experience transformed their lives.
Read three student success stories
See the photo slideshow: Commencement 2010
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Watch video of the commencement on YouTube
Faculty & Staff
Change in the College of Engineering
Cal Poly is searching for a new dean for the College of Engineering. Mohammad Noori, who held the post for five years, has returned to teaching in the Mechanical Engineering Department. Cal Poly Vice Provost Erling Smith will assume the dean’s duties until a new dean can be identified sometime in 2011. Cal Poly Provost Robert Koob announced the changes in late June.
More about the change
Graphics Professor Brian Lawler Receives National Educator Honor
Cal Poly professor Brian P. Lawler – a writer, historian, photographer, typographer, entrepreneur and balloonist – has won this year’s Educator of the Year Award for Higher Education from the Electronic Document Systems Foundation. The award is presented to academic professionals who have made significant contributions to the communications industry in the classroom and in the marketplace. Lawler teaches color management, digital printing, and typography at Cal Poly. He is a graphic arts and photographic expert with more than 30 years of experience in photography, typography and prepress.
More on the award for Professor Lawler
Taxpayers May Pay for Gulf Oil Mess, Orfalea Business Professors Write
The public may end up footing a good portion of BP's legal damages, fees and costs for the Gulf oil spill because they are tax deductible, according to Orfalea College of Business professors Rodney Mock and Arline Savage. The two wrote a column published on the San Francisco Chronicle Web site June 27.
Read the column on SF Gate
Coming Up
Find Out about Cal Poly Santa Barbara MBA Program July 21
Cal Poly’s Orfalea College of Business is offering a new MBA program tailored specifically for Santa Barbara’s working professionals. Prospective students can earn an MBA in two years by taking evening classes at downtown Santa Barbara’s Canary Hotel beginning in September. Find out more about the program at a special information session Wednesday, July 21, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Canary Hotel, 31 West Carrillo St.
Details on the program and the July 21 information session
Cal Poly Arts Announces 2010-11 Season Performers
Bill Cosby, Steve Martin, Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, The Blind Boys of Alabama, author David Sedaris, Ellis Marsalis, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Diane Schuur, The Russian National Ballet, "Spamalot," and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" are just a few of the performances set for the 2010/11 Cal Poly Arts season lineup. New subscription orders are available June 26. Single tickets go on sale to the general public on August 2.
More on next season's performances