ENGINEERING

Features College News Student News Faculty News Alumni NewsDepartment News

• Geotechnical engineering program receives a boost • Maddren honored for work on Cal Poly HVAC program• Cal Poly contingent tops 100 at Grace Hopper Conference

• Cal Poly EWB members work in Malawi and Nicaragua• Michelle Lam receives 2014 CSU Trustees Award• Engineers pitch in for Cal Poly’s record-setting baseball team

• Tom Katona to lead new entrepreneurial effort • Klisch, Marshall selected as Distinguished Scholars• Meagher, Savage named new department chairs

• Student entrepreneurs receive encouragement from Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship•CalPolyengineerstakefirst at Central Coast TechPitch

• Visiting scholars bring energy to engineering curriculum• Cal Poly to install 12 charging stations for electric vehicles• College of Engineering No. 1 among state-funded schools

Engineers on the March — Page 12

Project engineer Mike Patton examines the LightSail after it was unfurled from a CubeSat. At right, LightSail project members Alex Diaz and Riki Munakata secure the CubeSat before deployment.

Mechanical engineering student Kelvin Lei demonstrates Tande-mech Engineering’s wall-climbing robot at the SLO HotHouse Accelerator Demo Day.

• Tim Weise honored by the Smithsonian for work at JPL • Electrical engineering class of ’64 celebrates 50th • Engineering alumni receive awards for leadership

C o l l e g e o f E n g i n e e r i n g • C a l P o l y S a n L u i s O b i s p o • F a l l 2 0 1 4

Advantage

At Cal Poly, the number of innovations moving from labs and senior projects toward commercialization is grow-

ing — and, as a natural incubator of entrepreneurs, Cal Poly Engineering is a big part of that movement.

The entrepreneurial energy got a power boost with the founding of the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE) five years ago, and it shows no signs of slowing down. The enterprise landscape now includes the SLO HotHouse, a startup incubator in downtown San Luis Obispo, Calif., and the Innovation Sandbox in the Bonderson Projects Center, where students literally play with ideas, technologies and product prototypes. In addition, competitions such as hack-athons, games jams, Startup Weekend, Innovation Quest (iQ) and the Elevator Pitch competition challenge students to generate ideas, develop presentation skills and mix with

Working with the Planetary Society to develop a revolutionary solar propulsion system for small satellites, a team of Cal Poly engineering graduates success-

fully deployed a Mylar LightSail in a key milestone for the $4 million project.“It was a big success,” Doug Stetson, LightSail program director for the Plane-

tary Society, said after the test In the Bonderson Project Center in September. “This was a critical test in order for us to get ready for launch in 2015.”

After more than four years of development and several last-minute delays, the LightSail, a 344-square-foot piece of Mylar foil that looks like a stove-top popcorn foil, emerged slowly from a CubeSat, the nano-satellite technology Cal Poly helped create.

• To watch a video of the test, go to: http://bit.ly/1psVvax• For information on the LightSail program, go to: http://planetary.org/• For more on Cal Poly CubeSat program, go to: http://polysat.calpoly.edu/ n

Ready, Set, Startup

LightSailUnfurledfor First Time

Please see ENTREPRENEURSHIP, Page 16

The entrepreneurial spirit is nurtured and thriving at Cal Poly Engineering

Solar-powered sail could revolutionize satellitepropulsion

ENGINEERINGAdvantage

Jesse Maddren has been honored for rebuilding Cal Poly’s HVAC program.

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Jesse Maddren, a mechanical engineering professor who heads the Heating, Ventilating & Air Conditioning Program

(HVAC), received the 2014 Provost’s Leadership Award for Part-nership in Philanthropy.

Maddren led the effort to revive and transform Cal Poly HVAC through strategic partnerships and collaboration with industry leaders, alumni and donors. Founded in 1939, Cal Poly’s HVAC program was one of the first in the U.S.; it is cur-rently the only program of its kind on the West Coast. The Cal Poly Air Conditioning Club is the second-oldest student club in the College of Engineering, and the student chapter of ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Condition-ing Engineers) is the oldest in the nation. For two decades, however, the program languished as a result of budget cuts and faculty attrition.

In 2001, though, Maddren began the process of rebuilding the program by engaging industry leaders and recruiting volun-teers to serve on an HVAC Industry Advisory Board. In collabo-ration with the IAB, Maddren championed revitalization of the HVAC curriculum, especially in the area of sustainability.

Maddren and the IAB also undertook ambitious fundrais-ing goals that included a lab and program endowments. Under Maddren’s leadership, the HVAC endowment is now worth $1.6 million, an amount that ensures program stability into the future. Because of Maddren’s leadership, Cal Poly has received national recognition for its contributions to the HVAC field, including educating generations of HVAC engineers.

“Many people owe Jesse a huge debt of gratitude for hav-ing the vision, fortitude and commitment required to put our HVAC team together and keep us on course,” commented Ron Sweet, president of tk1sc. “Our company, along with many oth-ers, wouldn’t be who we are today without Cal Poly students we’ve hired and the contributions they make to our industry on a daily basis. His legacy will live on for generations.” n

HVAC Leader Jesse Maddren Receives Provost’s Award

Invest in the BestWith 101 representatives, Cal Poly was

everywhere at the recent Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Comput-ing. The annual event, recognized as the world’s largest gathering of women in technology, was held Oct. 8-10 in Phoenix. Of the 8,000 attendees from 67 countries, approximately 2,800 were students.

One of the more than 400 universities represented, Cal Poly brought the largest cohort of students from outside the host city area. The student participation is sup-ported with generous gifts from industry partners, the department’s Industry Ad-visory Board and alumni. Major corporate donors include GoDaddy, Apple and Cisco. Chevron and Northrop Grumman have also provided funding.

The Cal Poly attendees represented a cross-section of majors, including computer engineering, computer sci-ence, software engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering disciplines. n

Thanks to Support, Cal Poly is Everywhere at Grace Hopper Conference

More than 100 Cal Poly Engineers attended the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference in Phoenix.

Chris Ridley and Quintin Flores share a pas-sion: they both hope to grow the visibility of

Cal Poly’s geotechnical engineering program. To attract and support students in the pro-

gram, Ridley, a 1996 civil engineering alumnus, founded a scholarship endowment; Flores, a civil engineering senior, founded Cal Poly CalGeo, a geotechnical engineering student club. As it turns out, Flores received the first Rollo & Ridley, Inc. Geotechnical Engineering Scholarship.

Ridley is a principal of Rollo & Ridley, a geo-technical and earthquake consulting firm in San Francisco. Having discovered geotechnical engi-neering as a student, Ridley is grateful to Cal Poly for providing him with a valuable career path.

“My education is worth so much more than what I paid in tuition,” he said. “Giving back, in fact, is a priority for both me and my wife Julie, a Cal Poly liberal studies graduate,” he said. “My goal with this scholarship is to raise awareness of the geotech discipline and propel good students into the practice.” The endowment will generate an annual $2,000 scholarship award.

By all measures, Flores is an ideal candidate for the award because of his interest in the field, campus leadership and high academic record. By his own admission, Flores logs a lot of time in the labs, although, like Ridley, he was not aware of geotechnical engineering when he first came to Cal Poly.

“The light came on when I heard a presenta-tion about a home that fell into the ocean when the cliff collapsed,” he said. “I realized that geotech engineering was critical, even though it’s often overlooked until buildings fall down. I committed to the field on the spot.”

Flores has already proved a great ambas-sador for the discipline. In just its second year, Cal Poly CalGeo has doubled in membership and plans to repeat its participation in GeoWall, a competition in which the group placed fifth na-tionally last year. Clearly, the Ridley Scholarship, expert faculty, Cal Poly CalGeo and students like Flores will build a sound and well-known founda-tion for Cal Poly geotechnical engineering. n

n TELEPHONE — 805-756-2131 nWEB — www.ceng.calpoly.edunALUMNI IN THE NEWS — www.ceng.calpoly.edu/alumni/alumni-in-the-news/nCALENDAR OF EVENTS — www.ceng.calpoly.edu/event-calendar/nGIVING TO THE COLLEGE — www.ceng.calpoly.edu/giving/

nTITLE — Engineering Advantagen ISSUE: Fall 2014 • Vol. 12, Issue 1 n FREQUENCY — Published biannuallyn PUBLISHER — Cal Poly College of Engineeringn ADDRESS — 1 Grand Avenue, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 3

Invest in the Best

Shoring Up Geotechnical Engineering Feeling LOOPy

First Propellerhead Scholar Now a Graduate Student

Loyal Order of the Propellerheads (LOOP) scholar Kelsey Engel is pictured here with LOOP donors, including (left to right) Bill Swanson, Dick Hartung, Paul Bonderson and Chuck Harrington.

Civil engineering student Quintin Flores co-founded the geotechnical engineering club Cal Poly CalGeo.

In 2008, seven generous College of Engineering supporters spearheaded a unique scholarship aimed at recruiting the top incoming engineering students

— the group dubbed themselves the “Loyal Order of Propellerheads” (LOOP). The scholarship provides financial assistance as well as guidance and men-

toring. Kelsey Engel, the first student to receive a LOOP scholarship, elected to stay at Cal Poly to earn her master’s degree after completing her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering last June. She began graduate courses this fall.

At Cal Poly’s Evening of Green & Gold, Engel met with several LOOP donors, including Bill Swanson (B.S., Industrial Engineering, 1973), Dick Hartung, Paul Bonderson (B.S., Electronic Engineering, 1975) and Chuck Harrington (B.S., Agricul-tural Engineering, 1981). n

“Learn by Doing really works at Chevron, and Cal Poly does a great job of preparing students for the future,” said Diana Rasmussen, Chevron’s IT operations supervisor, at a meet-and-greet event for Chevron scholars and interns on campus in early October. “We see Cal Poly students able to come in and hit the ground running even if they haven’t had an internship with us,” Rasmussen added. Chev-ron’s annual $100,000 investment in Cal Poly includes funding for Earn by Doing student shop techs, internships, scholarships and program support. Along with Rasmussen, Chevron representatives at the event included Ashley Dahlstrom, Marjorie Dean, Kirsten Towne, Kimberly Beebe, Gaby Cepeda-Rizo and Adam Reeder. n

Chevron Greets Scholars, Interns, Shop Techs

nFACEBOOK — www.facebook.com/CalPolySLOEngineering nTWITTER — https://twitter.com/PolyEngineeringnINSTAGRAM — @polyengineering

When husband and wife Juan and Gabriela Cepeda-Rizo came to Cal Poly they had no reference on what

to expect or how to adjust to college. Each had immigrant parents who did not hold high school degrees, so like many other first-generation students, Juan and Gabriela had to find their own way in a university environment. Happily, they discovered an extended family in the Cal Poly Multicultural Engineering Program (MEP).

“MEP helped us get through,” said Juan. “It provided tutoring and networking with other students from back-grounds like ours. David Cantu, the director at the time, was a great mentor.”

Juan and Gabriela, indeed, made it through Cal Poly and beyond, to advanced degrees, successful careers and three children. Gabriela graduated with a degree in civil engineering in 1995 and now works for Chevron. Juan received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering

in 1994 and his master’s in 1997. He went on to earn a doctorate in engineering and applied mathematics from the Clare-mont/CSU Long Beach Joint Program in 2006.

For the past seven years, Juan has served as a ther-mal systems engineer at JPL. But in the evenings, he is a tinkerer and inventor. The Cepeda-Rizo children, aged 13, 12 and 7, serve as consultants, which comes in handy when Juan has them test his toy products.

Ninja Warrior Chop-sticks, a Cepeda-Rizo family endeavor, have been produced by Hog-wild Toys and marketed by Amazon. To give back to the program that nur-tured them at Cal Poly, the Cepeda-Rizos donate the royalties from the toy sales to MEP.

“We hope to generate at least five years of revenue, and it’s great that Gabriela’s employer, Chevron, matches our gifts,” said Juan. “We know first-hand how energized and motivated the MEP counselors are. We hope our gifts can support their work and lead to the success of other students like us.” n

Invest in the Best

A Family Engineering Affair Juan and Gabriela Cepeda-Rizo give back to support the Cal Poly Multicultural Engineering Program

The family of Cal Poly engineering grads Juan and Gabriela Cepeda-Rizo includes son Salvador, 11, and daughters Maya, 7, and Catalina, 13.

SUPPORT CAL POLY ENGINEERING NOW — AND AGAIN — WITH A RECURRING GIFT

Make your giving simple and painless. Instead of making a one-time donation, become a recur-ring gift partner, and your predetermined gift amount will be automatically charged to your credit or debit card.

Your recurring gift provides a steady flow of funds that Cal Poly Engineering will use to pro-vide timeless opportunities for students today — and tomorrow.

To set up your recurring gift, go to giving.cal-poly.edu/ and click “Give Online.” Designate the the College of Engineering or a program of your choice. Choose the Recurring Gift option listed under Giving Preference. Recurring gifts can only be set up with an initial gift charged immediately.

If you have questions or would like to modify or stop your recurring gift at any time, send an email to giving@calpoly.edu or call 805-756-1558.

4

Top-ranked in the annual U.S. News and World Report’s America’s Best Colleges guidebook, Cal Poly’s College of

Engineering provides a slew of engineering talent to fuel the future.

Cal Poly Engineering was named the seventh best mas-ter’s and bachelor’s engineering program in the country, behind three private universities — Harvey Mudd College in Cali-fornia, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technol-ogy in Terre Haute, Ind., and the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Need-ham, Mass. — as well as the U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Naval Acad-emy.

“Our ranking makes Cal Poly the nation’s top state-funded engineering college; it’s a wonder-ful acknowledgment of our stellar degree programs,” said Dean Debra Larson.

“I might also note that we’re large — 12th in the nation for awarding engineering bachelor’s degrees,” Larson con-tinued. “In 2012-13, Cal Poly recorded 1,070 engineering bac-calaureate degrees, while the three top privates together graduated 512, and the top three military academies pro-duced 949 graduates, in total. Clearly, Cal Poly on its own is turning out an engineering corps that makes a tremendous contribution in building the economy and fueling industry.”

Among engineering programs, Cal Poly’s Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering was ranked the best in the na-tion. Students in these majors turn ideas into reality for such employers as Cisco Systems, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, 3M and Sony.

Other prominent Cal Poly engineering programs included Electrical and Mechanical Engineering programs, which ranked No. 2 on their respective lists. Civil Engineer-ing was third. Aerospace Engineering — with its patented CubeSat program that is helping create a new generation of cost-effective interplanetary space probes — and computer engineering programs ranked fourth in the nation.

As a whole, Cal Poly again has been rated the best public-master’s university in the West by U.S. News — the 22nd consecutive year the university has earned the badge of honor. n

College News

Fueling the FutureMagazine ranks Cal Poly the nation’s No. 1 state-funded engineering college

Every year, Cal Poly welcomes visiting scholars who come from abroad to

collaborate on research, further interna-tional projects and teach classes in spe-cialized areas. According to Dean Debra Larson, this international presence helps promote global awareness and compe-tency in students — important attributes in the worldwide business of engineering.

Sometimes, visiting scholars even expand curricular offerings that expose Cal Poly students to unique engineer-ing disciplines. This fall, for instance, Cal Poly students had the opportunity to study railway engineering, thanks to Dmitry Maleev, a professor at Far Eastern State Transportation University in Khabarovsk, Russia.

Maleev specializes in engineering geology, geophysics, seismology and rail systems. He knows Cal Poly from his work with Associate Professor Robb Moss, a geotechnical engineering expert. “Dr. Maleev and I work on seismic hazard studies for large infrastructure in Russia’s Far East Federal District,” said Moss.

Maleev’s railway engineering course covers railway tracks, track foundation design, and planning and design considerations for different rail systems. “Students in the U.S. can’t get railway engineering education,” said Maleev. “In fact, I looked up all the English language railway engineering textbooks, and there’s been none published since 1940.”

Certainly, there’s been major advancements in railway technology since 1940 — high-speed rail, in particular. In fact, a 2009 federal allocation of $8 billion for high-speed rail projects has prompted plans for expansion of high-speed services to major rail corridors, including California.

“I would hope that my introduction will encourage Cal Poly students to pursue the field and serve at the forefront of the railroad renaissance,” said Maleev. n

5

International professors bring perspective and expanded curriculum to the college

On Trackwith VisitingScholars

Russian railway engineer Dmitry Maleev, left, and Cal Poly professor Rob Moss check out the tracks near campus. Maleev taught a course in railroad track design for high-speed rail.

Scholars Increasingly Discover Cal Poly Engineering A number of other visiting scholars are currently at work in Cal Poly

Engineering labs and classrooms: • In the Aerospace Engineering Department, Cal Poly CubeSat faculty and

students are collaborating with Simonetta Di Pippo, an individual of such stature that she is both a star and a “knight.” The International Astronomical Union named an asteroid after her, and she was knighted by the president of the Italian Republic (Cavaliere Ufficiale al Merito) in 2006. Di Pippo was recently appointed by the United Nations as director of the Office for Outer Space Affairs. This position follows a distinguished career with the Italian Space Agency. She is also currently heading the European Space Policy Observatory in Brussels, and she is a founding member and president of Women in Aerospace – Europe.

• Another Italian, Michele Ermidoro from Università degli Studi di Bergamo, is working with Professor Stephen Klisch in Mechanical Engineering on human motion biomechanics research.

• The Mechanical Engineering Department is hosting two other visiting scholars: Bart Wijnen from the Netherlands, and Denis Gingras from Quebec. Wijnen is conducting research on athletic shoe cushioning systems under the direction of Professor Tom Mackin. Gingras is teaching a course on intelligent vehicles and collaborating with Professor Charles Birdsong on research.

• In the Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering Department, Yantao Wang from Yantai University in Shandong, China, is conducting research on mechanical manufacturing and automation in conjunction with Professor Jianbiao (John) Pan.

Best known as the host of the PBS kids show about science, Bill Nye

visited campus in August as CEO of The Planetary Society (TPS) for a test of TPS’ LightSail, a kitelike spacecraft built with three CubeSats and designed to sail by solar power. The test, which was performed successfully in late September (see story, Page 1), was to include deployment of 344 square feet of Mylar sails designed to unfurl in space. The test was delayed due to problems with the system’s communications. Despite the delay, Nye kept busy snapping selfies with students like Zach Frangos (mechanical engineering) and posing with Dean Debra Larson. n

Saying ‘Hi’ to the ‘Science Guy’ Bill Nye visits Cal Poly for LightSail test

College News

6PolyHouse

Author Dale Brown, right, and wife Diane pre-sented an auto-graphed copy of his 2012 book “A Time for Patriots” to Dean Debra Larson. Cal Poly Engineering plays a role in the plot of Brown’s new novel “Starfire.”

“We’re delighted that our engineering students and faculty have become so renowned that even the experts at Private — and the future

fictional world of Starfire — would turn to us for help!”

Cal Poly No Stranger to FictionSuspense writers Dale Brown, James Patterson use Cal Poly Engineering in plots

Cal Poly will install 12 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations by the first of next year,

funded by a $150,000 grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC). The initiative is part of a broad vision of sustainability for the campus, improving what is already considered one of the best alternative transportation programs in the state.

“I think this will significantly increase the adoption of electric vehicles on campus and beyond,” said Dale Dolan, an electrical engineer-ing professor who is project manager for the initiative. “Many people have been waiting to purchase an EV until the charging infrastructure is in place.”

Cal Poly’s being a major regional hub, large employer and near two heavily traveled highways was the perfect trifecta, said Dennis Elliot, assis-tant director of energy, utilities and sustainability for facility services. “We hit all three of the CEC’s goals, which made our submission unique.”

“As a university, we are a major destination —

whether it’s to attend the Performing Arts Center, sports events or classes,” said Dolan. “And as one of the area’s largest employers, Cal Poly is using the initiative to help

pave the way for electric car usage in the local workforce.”

The charging stations may also help promote EV usage throughout the state. Cal Poly’s location on the Highway 101 corridor between Los Angeles and San Francisco makes it easily accessible for county residents and travelers alike.

“Charging stations promote usage,” said Karen Webb, interim vice president of Administration & Finance. “Infrastructure like this becomes part of a larger network. It reassures those who drive an electric car — or may be considering buying one — that there are an increasing number of easily accessible places to recharge their battery. It’s a value statement from the university.”

The charging stations will be located at two sites: the Grand Avenue parking structure next to the Performing Arts Center and in a parking area near Kennedy Library that hosts Zip Car parking

and interfaces with the public bus system. Elliott said both locations were chosen because of easy access to the Highway 1 and 101 corridors. n

Cal Poly students and engineers using superior smarts and technical exper-

tise to foil terrorist plots and prevent the militarization of space? These scenarios are not beyond the imaginations of two leading suspense writers, Dale Brown and James Patterson.

Brown’s recent military thriller, “Starfire” (William Morrow, publisher, 2014), features a fictitious Cal Poly Engi-neering student, who is caught at the cen-ter of a battle that threatens to become

all-out global war for control of space. Meanwhile, in Patterson’s “Private L.A.” (Grand Central Publishing, 2014), cyber sleuths known as “the ladies of Cal Poly” confound a fiendish plan to extort and rob $160 million from the State of California.

“We’re delighted that our engineer-ing students and faculty have become so renowned that even the experts at Private — and the future fictional world of Starfire — would turn to us for help!” said Dean Debra Larson.n

Dennis Elliott, Cal Poly assistant director of energy, Professor Dale Dolan, and Cindy Campbell, associate director of the University Police Department, check out the location for one of 12 electric vehicle charging stations that will be built on campus.

Cal Poly to Drive Electric Car Use on Campus with Fleet of 12 Charging Stations

Cal Poly has joined 11 other universities to promote teaching practices that will help undergraduate

engineering students reflect on their experiences.The dozen institutions make up the Consortium to

Promote Reflection in Engineering Education, which was awarded a $4.4 million grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. The consortium is led by the University of Washington’s Center for Engi-neering Learning & Teaching.

“We’re excited to be a part of this consortium that brings together experts from a wide array of back-grounds and focuses their attention on the use of reflection in higher learning,” said Trevor Harding, materials engineering professor and principal investi-gator leading Cal Poly’s role in the consortium.

“At Cal Poly, we intend to use this opportunity not only to promote reflection among engineering stu-dents, but also to get faculty thinking and reflecting on their own teaching practices and how they can struc-ture their courses to generate a more transformative learning experience for undergraduates,” he said.

The nationwide consortium involves nearly 250 edu-cators who will collect data on 18,000 student experi-ences. Cal Poly will receive $200,000 over the next two academic years to develop campus programs that will be shared with engineering programs throughout the country.n

Materials engineering student Kyle Savage works on carbon fiber for the Cal Poly Urban Concept Supermileage Car.

Cal Poly Participates in Consortium to Promote Reflection in Engineering

College News

7

PROJECT EXPO

Above: Mechanical Engineering Professor Glen Thorncroft erects a welcome sign for Project Expo in the Engineering Plaza.

SAVE THE DATE: The 2015 Project Expo will be held on Friday, May 29.

More than 200 senior projects on display around Engineering Plaza

EPICCollege News

EngineeringPossibilities

in Collegesummer

camp hasrecord

attendance

8

A multidisciplinary group of engineering and agriculture students designed and installed

a grid-tie solar-electric system on the Cal Poly BioResource & Agricultural Engineering (BRAE) Building as part of a new BRAE course, Solar Photovoltaic System Engineering.

Using solar panels provided by SunPower and additional donated solar installation components and supplies from SnapNRack, Sunrun (formerly REC Solar Residential) and Quaglino Roofing, the students — supervised by faculty, industry and campus facilities profes-

sionals — completed the entire project in 10 weeks. Prior to the campus installation, the 41 students completed two other solar installations on low-in-come houses in collaboration with the Central Coast regional office of GRID Alternatives, a national nonprofit solar company.

The students, who had less than three months to complete the project, worked on all aspects of a typical residential solar instal-

lation, including site planning, electrical and mechanical design, regulatory approval and permit processes, govern-ment and utility incentives, and financial return-on-investment analysis, said Professor Art

MacCarley, interim BRAE department head. “As a service-learning course, the primary objective was the successful completion of an actual project that will become a permanent part of the campus infrastructure,” he said. n

This summer, 440 teens converged on the Cal Poly campus to build and launch rockets,

design and race solar cars, program robots, delve into cybersecurity and much, much more.

It was all part of EPIC (Engineering Possibilities in College), an annual College of Engineering sum-mer program that immerses campers from seventh to twelfth grade in a wide array of labs and activities that include software design, spaceships and cities of the future. Now in its seventh year, the event targets underrepresented students, as well as those who may

not have considered a career in engineering.

In fact, 34 percent of the 2014 EPIC campers were underrepresented minorities, including Hispanic, black and Native American — and the average female enroll-ment since 2009 has been 36 percent.

Significantly, almost one fourth of the campers come from “first generation” families in which no fam-ily members have received a college degree. Gifts to EPIC from individual donors, along with support from the President’s Office, provided $166,850 in scholar-

ship funds to defray the camp tuition and residential housing costs for low-income participants.

Highlights of this year’s camp included a lab hosted by JPL that featured the Mars Rover, a cybersecurity lab sponsored by Cisco, and a hands-on manufacturing lab presented by Melfred Borzall.

Said Debra Larson, dean of Cal Poly Engineering: “Studies show that students are more likely to con-sider a career in engineering after learning about the breadth of what engineers actually do. And that’s where EPIC excels.” n

Cal Poly Students

Install Solar Panels on

Campus Building

Cal Poly aerospace engineering graduate Josef Sanchez explains the JPL Mars Rover at EPIC.

Materials engineering students and 2012 EPIC alums Erika Hansen and Mollie Benson now assist with the camp.

by Neal MacDougall Associate Professor, Agribusiness Department

Cal Poly instructors often chalk up student success to good teaching. The true measure of teaching and learning, how-ever, is what happens outside the control

of the teacher.As an agribusiness

instructor, I was invited to accompany four Cal Poly Engineers Without Borders students to Managua, Nicaragua, to facilitate the con-struction of a three-

room school in a poor barrio outside the city. This was my first true experience as a peer in a project that was conceived and managed by students.

The team focused on working with the community to clarify its social and financial commitment, working through the Min-istry of Education bureaucracy to obtain permission to build the school, and func-

tioning as a team that fo-cused on communication and consensus to achieve its goal. It is this last item that truly manifests the success of Learn by Doing in a sustainability context. Students were taking what they knew and applying it in a new and unfamiliar situation; they knew that failure was possible and that no instructor could fix that failure. We were a community supporting and teaching each other with the idea of accomplishing a goal that would support the broader community.

My role on the team was to contribute — I was never asked to make a final deci-sion or fix things. I could speak to aspects of international development, but I learned from the students how construction works

in a resource-scarce environment. In other words, we all learned a lot from each other.

This was the most liberating learning experience I have ever had as a Cal Poly instructor. I was a co-learner along with the students … and I loved it. n

Cal Poly group will focus on food in Malawi project

Student News

Neal MacDougall

Cal Poly engineering students Gordon Coats, Reese Wilson, Fiona Black-burn and Kellie Cochran worked with Doña Margarita, center, in Managua, Nicaragua, with Engineers Without Borders.

Cal Poly environmental engi-neering students Alice Zanmiller, left, and Kristen Stroud walk with a group of children in the village of Kumponda, Malawi. Zanmiller and Stroud were working with Engineers Without Borders to improve food production in the village.

9

EWB Students Learn by Doing — and Going

Faculty Volunteer Reports on Cal Poly EWB from Managua, Nicaragua

After establishing ongoing projects in India, Thailand and Nicaragua,

Cal Poly Engineers Without Borders (EWB) expanded its global reach with a new project team in Malawi. The group established a partnership with Action for Environmental Sustainability, a non-governmental organization that led the Cal Poly team to the small community of Kumponda.

To thoroughly understand the com-plexities of the community, three EWB student representatives, along with a Cal Poly faculty member and a profes-sional engineer, spent three weeks in the community interviewing more than 50 families about their lives and struggles. One resounding sentiment clarified EWB Malawi’s purpose: “There just isn’t enough food.”

When maize reserves run out, hun-ger is widespread. Relying largely on subsistence farming, the local economy provides almost no money to purchase food. Additionally, in order to make Ma-lawi’s food staple, nsima, Kumpondans must spend what little money they have to grind dried maize into cornmeal at a central electric mill, which is expensive and a long journey for many.

To address this problem, EWB Malawi has begun prototyping a bicycle-pow-ered mechanical mill. The team hopes this project will help reduce economic strain on households and provide economic opportunities for operators of the new maize mills. To holistically address hunger, EWB members also hope to introduce the community to more efficient agricultural practices, such as composting, permaculture and irrigation.

This winter, students will return to Kumponda to test prototypes, gain a better understanding of constraints and continue to strengthen relation-ships. Through Learn by Doing (and going), students are gaining a global perspective while harnessing the full capacity of their education to affect change.

For more information, please visit ewb-calpoly.org, or email ewbmala-wicp@gmail.com. n

If the four Cal Poly engineering students on the Mustangs baseball team are as

successful in the classroom as they were on the diamond in 2014, expect academic home runs.

Taylor Chris (mechanical engineering), Jake Lesinski (biomedical engineering), Tommy Pluschkell (general engineering) and Tim Wise (electrical engineering) were members of an historic Cal Poly team that went 47-12, won the Big West Conference championship and hosted an NCAA regional championship tournament for the first time.

During a season that saw the Mus-tangs draw crowds in excess of 2,000 fans to Baggett Stadium 15 times, all four engineering students agreed balancing baseball and schoolwork required plenty of quiet time hitting the books.

“You have to concentrate on putting the time in when you can and expect a few late nights where you’re staying up all night just to catch up,” said Chris, a junior relief pitcher from Gilroy, Calif., who finished with a 4-1 record, five saves and a 1.61 earned run average.

Lesinski, a freshman catcher from Huntington Beach, Calif., said he made

through his biomedical engineering class lineup by “communicating with my profes-sors like crazy and constantly working out times to complete work and turn in projects.”

For Pluschkell and Wise, the demands of the sport and studies — especially dur-ing spring quarter — requires pitching a shutout with some aspects of student life.

“There’s really no time for anything else between baseball and class, so it’s simple — no social life,” said Wise, a se-nior outfielder from Camarillo, Calif., who hit .289 with 20 runs batted in.

Pluschkell, a junior infielder from Plea-sonton, Calif., added: “When we come here as freshmen, coach (Larry) Lee tells us there are three facets of life — there’s

sports, there’s school and there’s your social life. And in order to be successful, you’re going to have to give up one of the three. That means the social life.”

After the successful season, all four agreed the sacrifices were worth it.

“We love baseball and we love engi-neering, too,” Chris said. “So we just have to find a way to make it work.” n

Cal Poly’s Human Powered Vehicle Team Recognized for its Design and Innovation

Engineers in the Lineup

The Cal Poly Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) team’s in-novative tricycle design won third place at the ASME

Human Powered Vehicle Challenge West. “It was Cal Poly’s first rigid three-wheeled trike in

decades — and one of the lightest vehicles we’ve ever produced,” said Will Hilgenberg, team lead.

The design was prompted by changes in the rules that required vehicles to stop on the race course, as well as navigate obstacles at very low speeds.

“Our strategy was to drop the weight as much as possible through the careful use of new materials and methods,” said Hilgenberg.

“This was the lightest and most beautiful three-wheel-er I’ve seen in 34 years of ASME competition,” said George Leone, technical advisor for Cal Poly HPV. “In the innova-tion event, the judges were also impressed by the bladder

compression molding used to make the frame. It was an unprecedented approach that helped the team secure fourth place.”

In one of the final events of the competition, however, a pothole derailed the team’s hopes for a stronger finish,

culminating in a sixth-place finish overall.“While not the result we were looking for,” said Hil-

genberg, “I would have to say that the team is especially proud of the quality of this vehicle. We had one of the few entirely student-built vehicles at the competition and we remain one of the top teams in terms of build quality.”

Hilgenberg, an aerospace engineering senior, led a team made up of mechanical engineering majors, includ-ing Peter Aumann, design lead; Matthew Allen, frame geometry and structures design; Trent Hellmann, frame manufacturing and construction design; and fourth-year students Bryan Cook and Judy Lantaca; third-year students Zachary Yasuda, Marley Miller, Alex Powers and Shannon O’Keefe; and first-year students Brandon Killian, Tyler Cottle, Rama Adajian, Caleb Rounsavall and Mike McNutt. n

Four College of Engineering students contributed to Cal Poly’s historic baseball season. From left: Tim Wise (electrical engineering), Taylor Chris (mechanical engineering), Tommy Pluschkell (general engineering) and Jake Lesinski (biomedical engineering).

Cal Poly’s HPV rolls on the track at the ASME Challege West.

Student News

10

CENG students contribute to historic baseball season

Cal Poly computer science junior Michelle Lam received the 2014 California State University (CSU) Trustees’

Award for Outstanding Achievement, one of the system’s highest student distinctions, at the CSU Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach, Calif., in early September.

As a recipient of the CSU Trustees Award, Lam received $6,000 for the 2014-15 academic year. “It will mean every-thing,” she said.

The CSU Trustees Award scholarship will allow Lam to give her full attention to completing her education and achieving a personal goal: She says that she plans to be the family’s first first-generation college graduate, though she has two older brothers who are computer science students at Sacra-mento State and San Jose State, respec-tively.

Lam grew up in the inner city of Sacra-mento, Calif., one of five children and the only daughter of Chinese immigrants.

“My parents, though supportive, were always working: my father as a bus driver and my mother as a seamstress,” said Lam. When her youngest brother, now 12, was diagnosed with autism, her mother left work to care for him. More recently, her father has been diagnosed with diabetes.

“My mother speaks only Chinese,” said Lam. “My father learned to speak both Spanish and English while working first in Venezuela, then New York City.” Looking back, she sees his early influence on her current interests. “My father has a thing about technology. He always encouraged me in that area, saying, ‘You can totally do this.’”

Factors that helped shape Lam’s academic path in-cluded being admitted into the GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) program, which made her eligible for advanced classes during her elementary and high school years. “I had no expectations for myself. GATE helped provide guidance and motivation. In the sixth grade, in particular, we had a

math teacher who pushed us hard.”In high school, Lam was introduced to the MESA (Math-

ematics Engineering Science Achievement) program, which catapulted her into a variety of competitions and exposed her to various universities and engineering possibilities.

As Lam entered her senior year in high school, her family’s move to the suburbs proved to be pivotal for her future. “I was transported from the inner city to an affluent high school. Suddenly there were plentiful counselors, pas-

sionate teachers. I gained confidence.” She found herself aiming for UC Davis

or other UC schools. Then came a call from members of Cal Poly WISH (Women Involved in Software and Hardware), who invited her to visit the campus. From her first meeting with them, she felt sur-rounded by friends and mentors.

“Some of them, like me, had not known how to code or program prior to college — but they learned. They’ve been my role models. Not long ago, only nine percent of Cal Poly computer science majors were women; now it’s 20 percent. We’re making gains.”

Lam’s student experience was further enhanced by her active involvement with

Cal Poly’s Multicultural Engineering Program.She is excited about the opportunities in the computer

science field and plans to pursue a career in software en-gineering, probably in the cybersecurity field. In addition, she wants to be part of outreach efforts in low-income areas.

“CSU trustees’ scholars have defied the odds, ris-ing above circumstance to become leaders among their classmates and exemplifying the CSU mission of access to a quality higher education,” said CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White. “Through talent, determination and drive, they now grasp the promise of a brighter future — for self, family and community.” n

The Cal Poly Institute of Transportation Engineers student chapter was honored for organizing and hosting the ITE West-ern District Student Leadership Summit. Pictured left to right: Karen Aspelin, western district president; Kaylinn Roseman, Cal Poly ITE president; Monica Suter, western district director; and Jenny Grote, western district director.

Student NewsComputer

Science Student

HonoredMichelle Lam

receives the 2014 CSU Trustees’

Award Scholarship

Michelle Lam, a junior in computer science, was awarded

the 2014 CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement.

11

Cal Poly Transportation Engineers Win the 2014 International Student Chapter of Year Award Cal Poly ITE, a student chapter of the Institute of Trans-

portation Engineers, has been named the institute’s international chapter of the year.

The student group was honored at the ITE annual conference, held in August in Seattle, for organizing and hosting the ITE Western District Student Leadership Summit — ITE’s first-ever conference designed by and for students.

“The Student Leadership Summit was a crowning achievement — it’s what took us over the top,” said Kaylinn Roseman, chapter president and the summit’s lead organizer.

The Western District Student Leadership Summit, held at Cal Poly in February, drew attendees from 13 states. Keynote speaker for the event was Cal Poly alum-nus Randell “Randy” Iwasaki (B.S., Civil Engineering, 1982), former director of Caltrans. Speakers and panelists reflected a cross-section of transportation and traffic engineering expertise.

“I would like to see the conference become an annual event,” said Roseman, who graduated in June with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and plans to pursue a career in transportation. “The summit’s workshops, talks and networking opportunities will strengthen and inspire a future generation of transportation engineers.”

The Institute of Transportation Engineers is an international association of nearly 17,000 transportation professionals and more than 140 student chapters.

For more information on the Cal Poly ITE Student Chapter, see: http://www.calpolyite.com/. n

“They’ve been my role models.

Not long ago, only nine percent of Cal Poly

computer science majors were women; now it’s

20 percent. We’re making gains.”

Michelle Lamon the members of Cal Poly WISH

(Women in Softwareand Hardware)

With a roster of 222 students, this year’s Mustang Marching Band is the largest in university history —and half of those

band members, 111, are engineering students.Cal Poly is not alone in recruiting scores of engineers to band.

UCLA, Purdue, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ohio State and others report that 40 to 70 percent of marching band members are engineers.

What is it about engineers that make so many of them “attuned” to music? Although theories about the relationship between music and engineering are based on anecdotal obser-vation, it’s clear that both require the ability to solve problems using creative (right brain) and analytic (left brain) thinking. It’s no secret, however, that band provides community, requires rigorous physical and mental exercise — and it’s just plain fun. As Dean Debra Larson noted, “Marching band is a high-impact practice for student success.” n

12

MARCH ON MUSTANGS: General engineering student Mattea Cavagnaro (front) adds high notes on her flute while the band walks down Mustang Way before a football game. At far left, me-chanical engineering student Christian Young plays the tuba.

HORNS OF PLENTY: Thirteen College of Engineering students play tuba in the Mustang Marching Band. They are, left to right: Christian Young, Mark Williams, Aaron Jacobs, Cary Dobeck, Michael Schuster, Clincy Cheung, Lawrence Downs, Zachary Phillips, Kevin Carstens, Alison Wendt, Juan Arambula, Stephen Marshall and Sandy Babich.

BIG BRASS BAND: College of Engineering students make up a large portion of the trumpet section. Engineer-trumpeters include, clockwise from top left: Enoch Tsui, Chris Opperwall, Kurt Ebert, Daniel Yao, Sean Gonzales, Bruce Mitchener, Justin Postigo, David Xenakis, Alex Peele, Andreas Apitz, Andrew Pimentel, Timothy Lee and Gavin Scott.

TONED UP: Computer science student Jacob Garcia adds depth to the sound with his baritone horn.

Student News

Half of the Mustang Marching Band are

engineering students

Engineers on the March

13

Student News

Living up to its name, Cal Poly’s Sky-Barge slowly, deliberately and accu-

rately hovered to a first-place finish at the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) competi-tion held during the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) annual regional conference at Cal Poly in April.

SkyBarge was one of 15 entries in the competition that featured student teams from universities across the western U.S. The contest challenged students to design, build and fly a radio-controlled air vehicle capable of maneuvering through obstacles on a small course and dropping a payload on a target within five minutes allotted time, simulating a hypothetical UAV firefighting mission. Points were awarded for vehicle weight and perfor-mance in negotiating obstacles and drop-ping the payload.

“SkyBarge was the largest vehicle in the contest,” remarked Russell Westphal, faculty advisor to the team. “The sound made by its rotors caused a stir among the assembled crowd of about a hundred spectators as the UAV slowly negotiated the course, made the payload drop and returned to the start.”

Other university entries included sev-eral blimps and smaller multi-rotor UAVs — according to Westphal, some of the navigation attempts featured “a number

of spectacular crashes.” The Cal Poly team included mechani-

cal engineering students Gordon Belyea (project team lead), Garrett Gudgel (pilot), Ethan Juhnke, Brandon-Roy Sadiarin, Eric Dreischerf and Seyhun Oh; aerospace en-gineering students Hank Mandsager and Armand Lim; and agricultural engineering student Shane Thulin.

In addition to claiming the victory and cash prize, the Cal Poly team has been invited to compete at the ASME 2014 Inter-national Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, Nov. 14-20 in Montreal. n

A team of Cal Poly civil engineering students took second place at the

National Concrete Canoe Competition at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in Johnstown, Penn., in June. This makes the ninth consecutive year that Cal Poly has placed in the top five at the event referred to as the “America’s Cup of Civil Engineer-ing.”

Sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the event drew engineer-ing students from schools across the country and as far away as Shanghai. More than 200 teams competed in 18 re-gional competitions to become one of 23 teams competing in the national event.

The teams’ overall rankings in the national competition were based on their scores in four categories: design paper, oral presentation, final product and race performance. The University of Nevada, Reno, won best overall.

Cal Poly claimed first place in oral pre-sentation, second place in final product, sixth in design paper, and fourth and fifth place in the men’s and women’s endur-ance races, respectively.

Team members include Sean Pringle, project manager; Derek Carpenter, Mark Mueller and Raymond Qi, construction

captains; and Kristen Nugent, Chris Ke-hoe and Ryan Morse, mix design captains. Paddlers included Carpenter, Nugent, Morse and Susie White. Art and design

major Emily Hinkamp designed the canoe graphics. All team members are seniors except Qi, who is a junior. Faculty advisor for the team is Gar-rett Hall, a professor in the Civil & Environ-mental Engineering Department.

This was Cal Poly’s 15th trip to the national competi-tion, including three back-to-back national titles in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

The National Concrete Canoe Competition is designed as an opportunity for civil engineering students to gain hands-on, practical expe-rience in project management and work with concrete mix designs. The event also builds public and industry awareness of the versatility and durability of concrete as a construction material.

“It’s very competitive, but they’re all in it together,” said Randy Over, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers. “They learn teamwork. They learn presentation skills. They learn all the things that go along with being a real engineer while having fun at the same time.”n

Cal Poly’s Concrete Canoe Team Takes Second Place in the Nation

Hovering to VictoryEngineering students win unmanned aerial vehicle competition

Top: Cal Poly mechanical engineering students (left to right) Gordon Belyea, Garret Gudgel, Ethan Juhnke and Eric Dreischerf fly their unmanned aerial vehicle SkyBarge near the clock tower on campus. SkyBarge finished in first place among 15 entries at the annual American Society of Mechanical Engineers regional conference in April.

Members of the Cal Poly Concrete Canoe team include engineering students Sean Pringle, Derek Carpen-ter, Mark Mueller, Raymond Qi, Kristen Nugent, Chris Kehoe and Ryan Morse.

2014 Final Overall Rankings1. University of Nevada, Reno

2. Cal Poly3. Université Laval

4. Utah State University5. University of Wisconsin - Madison

14

Student NewsCal Poly Scholars Program: More Support to More Students in More Colleges

Cal Poly wins ASHRAE Engineering Challenge

Cal Poly Engineering Names Outstanding Graduates for 2014

Cal Poly Engineering announced its 2014 Outstanding Graduates at the college-

wide Project Expo in late May. The awardees included the top senior for academic excel-lence and graduating seniors recognized for service to the college, service to the uni-versity, and service to the community. Also announced were the Student Volunteers of the Year.

Biomedical engineering senior Tanner Stevenson from Granite Bay, Calif., was recognized as the College of Engineering’s topmost graduat-ing senior for academic excel-lence. Stevenson earned a 3.994 GPA. He has made the Dean’s List every quarter from 2009 through 2013, and he is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. For his senior design project, Stevenson worked on a three-person multidisciplinary team to develop a device to detect traumatic brain injuries.

Mechanical engineering senior Jenna Becker from Goleta, Calif., was named Out-standing Graduating Senior for Contributions to the College of Engineering. She helped promote Cal Poly by participating in the NASA Reduced Gravity Flight Education Pro-gram. Becker worked with a multidisciplinary team to design, build and test a gyroscopic stabilization system, which resulted in an invitation from NASA to visit the Johnson Space Center, where they tested their ex-periment aboard the reduced-gravity aircraft known as the Weightless Wonder.

The Outstanding Graduating Senior for

Contributions to the University was electrical engineering senior Shaun Villa Koide from Lihue, Hawaii. As president of the Cal Poly Amateur Radio Club Koide served as “the spark plug that makes the amateur radio operation hit on all cylinders in a coordinated way,” according to Department Chair Dennis Derickson. Koide coordinated three radio licensing events, which serve as regional Federal Communication Commission-sanc-tioned testing events for Monterey, San Luis

Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.

Computer en-gineering senior Cecilia Cadenas from Rio Vista, Calif., was named the Outstanding Graduating Senior for Service to the Community for her service and outreach efforts

on behalf of the Society of Hispanic Profes-sional Engineers.

Announced as College of Engineering Student Volunteers of the Year were Michael Haworth from Riverside, Calif., and Christy Carter from Fort Jones, Calif. Haworth-graduated in June with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s in integrated technology management. Carter (B.S., Aerospace Engineering, 2013) is working on master’s degrees in engineering management and business administration.

During the past year, Haworth and Cart-er, both active as Engineering Ambassadors, conceived and initiated a project to turn the lobby of the Engineering IV Building into an Engineering Welcome Center. The rede-signed space will help showcase the College of Engineering to prospective students. n

Initiated in 2012 with 14 incoming fresh-men in the College of Engineering, the

Cal Poly Scholars Program (CP Scholars) has now grown to 154 students, includ-ing 21 freshmen in the Orfalea College of Business. Along with this growth has come universitywide collaboration, including support from Student Academic Services, the Mustang Success Center, University Housing, Admissions & Recruitment and Financial Aid.

Aimed at recruiting and retaining high achieving students from low- and middle-income families, the scholarship program provides an iPad and renewable $3,000 housing grant, along with workshops and events to support academic achievement as well as career and leadership readiness. An important goal of the program is to build community and a sense of belonging.

“All our freshmen scholars live togeth-er on campus — we provide advising and workshops for them right in the residence hall,” said Virginia McMunn in Student Academic Services. “Our goal is to create a powerful living-learning environment.”

Jackie Duerr, an advisor in the Multi-cultural Engineering Program, has worked

with the CP Scholars since the program’s inception. “While the program is still grow-ing, the increased partnerships across campus have been pivotal in retaining these students,” she said. “Working with them is very rewarding as a staff member because we get to know them so well as individuals.”

Ultimately, Cal Poly will grow the CP Scholars Program universitywide. If you would like to know more about the program and how to support it, contact Richard LeRoy at rleroy@calpoly.edu or 805-756-7108. n

A pair of Cal Poly mechanical engineer-ing seniors, Juan Silva and Nelson

Echeverry, took first place in ASHRAE’s 2014 Applied Engineering Challenge.

Their winning design combined sus-tainability, affordability and maintainability to improve the indoor air quality for a low-income family residence in Mexico City. The award includes a $2,000 cash prize.

Another top-performing Cal Poly team placed third in the system selection cate-gory in which students demonstrate what it takes to make a building more comfort-able and energy efficient. Team members included mechanical engineering seniors Joseph Annan, Matthew Boncich, Christo-pher Carlson and Taylor Stone, as well as Kurt Rapp, a business graduate student.

“This was the first time a senior design team from our heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration concentra-tion participated in the Applied Engineer-ing Challenge,” said Steffen Peuker, mechanical engineering professor and faculty advisor. “Their win demonstrates

how outstanding and competitive our students are.”

The challenge is particularly difficult, he said, because it’s posed as an open-ended question, which pushes students’ design and engineering skills to the limit.

“For starters, Juan and Nelson had to choose a location within a develop-ing country that had an urgent need to improve indoor air quality,” explained Peuker. “I thought their choice of Mexico City was excellent because indoor air pollution caused by wood or coal burning for cooking and heating is a major health problem there.”

Starting in the kitchen, the students designed a wood stove with a chimney attached to vent out smoke. The stove provides heat and reduces pollution caused by an inefficient cook stove. In the living room, they modified a window fan to capture harmful contaminants while allowing fresh air to enter the house.

For more information, go to www.ashrae.org/news. n

Cal Poly freshmen students Franzesca Pernez and Isabela Galvez received new iPads as part of their Cal Poly Scholars Program grant.

Senior Tanner Stevenson was recognized by the College of Engineering

for Academic Excellence for earning a 3.994 GPA in biomedical engineer-

ing. At right, he received the award from Dean

Debra Larson.

Jenna BeckerMechanical Engineering

Cecilia CadenasComputer

Engineering

Shaun Villa KoideElectrical

Engineering

For mechanical engineering graduate student Jared Tower,

the highlight of work on a project to develop a rehabilitation apparatus for children in developing countries was showing it to nuns at a clinic in San Marcos, Guatemala. “The experience made me believe that there is a good chance they will use the model as well as devices that are made locally to actually help people,” he said.

Tower was part of a Cal Poly mechanical engineering team that included seniors Nicole Cooper and Gonzalo Hernandez. Led by Professor Jim Widmann, the group developed a prototype they called STAND on campus before traveling to Guatemala last April to build the mo-bility device using local materials.

Called a strider, the device aids rehabilitation for indi-viduals who have trouble walking and supporting their full body weight. Made possible by funding from a National Science Foundation research grant to aid people with dis-abilities, the project goal was to use low-cost appropriate technologies to create a strider that could be easily repro-

duced in clinics abroad and for children to use at home. The team chose to create a device made from

bamboo and held together with composite joints, but they found that the materials in Guatemala differed from what they expected. “We had to make do with the resources and workspaces available,” explained Coo-per. “We ended up having to put a lot more time into planning and figuring how different materials reacted to various weather conditions.”

“The experience in Guatemala required us to adapt to our environment,” added Tower. n

15

Project-Based Learning

Engineering Students Stand and Deliver with Rehab Device

Students Jared Tower and Nicole Cooper built a strider for children in Guatemala.

While the public and sports fans are becom-

ing used to seeing athletes with disabilities, few are aware of the collaborative support — and the adaptive engineering technology — that enables special needs athletes to participate in competitive events.

Twenty-year-old Joseph Cornelius is a seasoned Special Olympian, having competed in six marathons, six half-marathons and approximately 50 5K and 10K races. Because he lives with spastic quadriple-gia, he is confined to a wheelchair and cannot swallow or talk. Members of his running team — including his father, John Cornelius; Michael Lara, sports manager for San Luis Obispo County Special Olympics; and William Walthers, special education teacher at San Luis Obispo High School — push his chair in race events.

Cornelius and Team Joseph, however, have never competed in a triathlon, the sprint distance of which includes a half-mile swim, 15.3 mile bike race and a 5K (three-mile) run.

Thanks to three Cal Poly students, Cornelius partici-pated in the SLO Triathlon in late July.

Mechanical engineering students Paul Sands and

Lilly Hoff, and kinesiology senior Andrea Voigt created a hydrodynamic watercraft called the Aquabullet, a 6-by-4 foot flotation device that allows Cornelius to lie on his stomach and see through a clear shield that protects his face while his father and members of Team Joseph pull him through the water.

The project is one of eight student team projects produced every year at Cal Poly that promote physical activity for people with disabilities. Kinesiology Profes-sor Kevin Taylor, director of the adaptive technology program, said, “Our research indicates that projects like this help make our engineering students more attentive to their clients’ needs and broadens their perspective on engineering for inclusion of people with disabilities.” n

Tri Team Joseph succeeds with the help of Cal Poly Engineering students

Senior Project Brings Solar Power to Elementary School

Designing and installing solar panels on the roof

of the SciTechatorium at Bellevue-Santa Fe

Charter School in Avila Beach was the senior

project for four College of Engineering students.

At top, industrial and manufacturing engineering student Timothy Iafrate bolts down one of the 16 solar panels that will power the SciTechatorium, a hands-on lab and museum at the elementary school. The project was sponsored by the CP Connect fund and REC Solar.

The installers included, left to right, mechanical

engineering senior Moises Quiroz and

industrial and manufac-turing engineering seniors

Henrik Lee and Timothy Iafrate, along with

Professor John Pan, faculty adviser on the

project.

Pooling Their Resources

With the help of the hydrodynamic watercraft Aquabullet designed and built by Cal Poly Engineering students, Joseph Cornelius competes in the San Luis Obispo Triathlon.

Cal Poly’s Newest StartupsEngineering students and graduates have figured

prominently among recent Cal Poly startups. A sam-pling of these business ventures includes:

• Papyrus, an Android app for notetaking, had its genesis in Andrew Hughes’ (B.S., Computer Engineer-ing, 2011; M.S., Electrical Engineering, 2011) master’s thesis on pen technology for touchscreen devices. Quickly becoming a top-rated productivity tool in Google Play Store and Windows Phone Store, Papyrus became a full-time business almost immediately — propelling Hughes from someone who had never thought of himself as an entrepreneur to an “overnight” startup founder. He formed his own company, Stead-fast Innovation, and invited Professor David Jansen, his Android application development instructor, to sign on as co-founder. The support from Cal Poly didn’t stop there. “Even after I graduated, Cal Poly helped me get a head start through the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship,” said Hughes.

• Hydrex, a wearable device that monitors the user’s hydration status, is another thesis-turned-startup. The concept was developed by Zoe Engman, a biomedical engineering graduate student, who then teamed up with Danielle Nishida, an electrical engineering graduate student, to win second place and $10,000 at last year’s Innovation Quest (iQ) competition. “We had both enrolled in the engineering entrepre-neurship class taught by Professor Robert Crockett,” said Engman. “Going through the process to develop the project into a product introduced us to the excitement of the entrepreneurial world. I now plan to follow up the validation of placing second at iQ by expanding our team and developing a market-ready device.”

• Tandemech Engineering’s wall-climbing robots began as a senior project for maintenance of Boeing 747s. The company was founded after Kelvin Lei, Eric Mar and Cameron Venancio, all 2013 mechanical engineering graduates, won $5,000 at last year’s Innovation Quest. On top of that, they were one of only four iQ startups accepted in CIE’s SLO HotHouse Accelerator program, which provided $7,500 in funding, mentorship, workspace and business guidance for participating teams. Now based in San Francisco, the company is developing safe, efficient and portable vehicles that can be used for inspection of aging infra-structure, search and rescue, construction, aerospace, military and, yes, aircraft maintenance.

• AutoBuds, an ingenious earbud concept, was developed by electrical engineering freshman Namjoon Joo. He won first place at the Elevator Pitch contest in the Idea Cloud and Freshman Prize cat-egories. Notably, all 150 members of electrical engineering’s freshman class were required to submit an entry to the contest, and three were among the 10 finalists. Joo’s proposed product would stop streaming media when users remove their earbuds, then automatically resume play whenever the buds were donned again. n

TechPitch may conjure images of high tech apps and software, but a pair of

Cal Poly mechanical engineering alumni won this year’s regional competition with a pickup truck device.

Superior Solutions Manufacturing, a startup launched by mechanical engineering graduates Justin Russo and Marty Affen-tragner, took home the $5,000 Grand Prize Award and the Audience Choice Award for the LiftGator, a removable lift gate that at-taches to any pickup truck and is capable of lifting up to 1,000 pounds.

The TechPitch event was a joint effort of the Cal Poly Center for Innovation & Entre-preneurship (CIE), the Cal Poly Small Busi-ness Development Center (SBDC), Softec and the Economic Vitality Corp.

“Superior Solutions Manufacturing came across as the startup with the most credibil-

ity,” said Judy Mahan, director of SBDC for Innovation and the CIE Incubator programs. “Justin and Marty built a solution to address a real problem they had faced in their lives working on ranch land.”

“We hope to continue to attract entrepreneurs whose focus involves new technology or new uses of existing technol-ogy,” Mahan explained. “As long as your technology is based on intellectual property or a new application with a strong competi-tive advantage in the marketplace, then we think you’re onto something.”

TechPitch seeks to reward local tech startups by allowing them to gain exposure in their community and meet with potential investors. Russo and Affentragner will pitch LiftGator in Santa Barbara in November to Tech Coast Angels, the largest angel invest-ment group in the U.S. n

Department News

16

Superior Solutions earns top prize at Central Coast TechPitchA Startup Winner

Above, mechanical engineering graduate Marty Affentragner details the history of pickup truck lift gates while making a pitch for Superior Solutions’ LiftGator at the SLO HotHouse Accelera-tor Demo Day. At right, Affentragner, center, and his Superior Solutions teammates demonstrate the LiftGator at Demo Day. Affentragner and Justin Russo had the winning pitch at the Central Coast TechPitch competition.

Team Tandemech Engineering demonstrates its wall-climbing robot at SLO HotHouse Demo Day.

potential investors. Events like like Demo Day and SPECTACLE showcase students’ work and create networking opportunities. This winter, a learning lab and hatchery is expected to open in the Cotchett Education Building, creating a go-to place for post-launch student entrepreneurs to further develop their businesses.

“I can’t imagine another institution mov-ing faster than this,” said Jonathan York, co-founder of the center and an associate professor in the Orfalea College of Business. York attributes the rapid adoption of entre-preneurialism as a natural progression of the school’s polytechnic bandwidth.

“At Cal Poly, we believe that collaboration across disciplines and between students and faculty cultivate innovation and entrepreneur-ship,” York noted. “Add to that the expanded access through CIE to top-flight mentors, busi-ness resources and fresh ways for students to think about what they’re doing — and where they could take it. All in all, it makes the cam-pus an ideal launch pad for startups.”

Not that startups are for everyone, he

adds. “Large numbers of graduates will con-tinue to enjoy exciting careers in existing com-panies, large and small. But helping students find the ‘entrepreneur within’ will help them be leaders within those companies.”

All these new entrepreneurs will soon join the ranks of other Cal Poly students and alumni who have contributed successful products to the marketplace and innovations that make the world a better place. Think of the ubiquitous Clif Bar developed by Gary Erickson (B.S., Business Administration, 1980); Tricia Compas-Markman’s (B.S./M.S., Civil Engineering, 2009) water treatment system for disaster relief zones; and iFixit, founded by Kyle Wiens (B.S., Computer Science, 2005) and Luke Soules (B.S., Industrial Engineer-ing, 2006), the revolutionary company that publishes free electronics repair guides. And who can forget Burt Rutan (B.S., Aerospace Engineering, 1965), pioneer in aeronautical and aerospace design, who has catalyzed space entrepreneurialism?

“Entrepreneurship is nothing new at Cal Poly,” said Debra Larson, dean of the College of Engineering. “It’s embedded in the school’s Learn by Doing DNA, and it’s now reinventing itself for a new generation of innovators.” n

Entrepreneurship From Page 1

Robert BertiniAssociate Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Ph.D., UC BerkeleyResearch & Expertise: Sustainable transportation solutions, intelligent transportation systems, and big data for transportation improvement.

Bertini is working on developing a “roadmap” for the introduction of connected and autonomous vehicles at the state level. He said, “I try to connect students with the profession through community-based projects using real data, interactions with professionals, and pursuing scholarships, internships and other opportunities.”

Andrew DanowitzAssistant Professor, Electrical Engineering/ Computer Engineering

Ph.D., Stanford UniversityResearch & Expertise: Very-large-scale integration (VLSI) design, computer architecture and embed-ded systems.

Danowitz is conducting research in energy efficient microarchitectures, system-on-chip integration, engineer-ing education and mental health in engineering programs. With a goal to attract more students of all back-grounds to computer and hardware engineering, Danowitz is embedding

hands-on learning into his classes. “As their systems final proj-ect, I’m having students build an all-electronic game,” he said.

Aaron DrakeAssociate Professor, Aerospace Engineering

Ph.D., Washington State University, PullmanResearch & Expertise: Aircraft design, unmanned aircraft and experimental aerodynamics.

In addition to working on aircraft energy efficiency, Drake is undertaking research in applications of autonomous flight, one of the College of Engineer-ing’s strategic initiatives. “I hope to strengthen this initiative in order to position Cal Poly graduates to be at the forefront of this rapidly growing segment of the aerospace industry,” he explained.

Jean LeeProfessor, Materials Engineering

Ph.D., Cornell UniversityResearch & Expertise: Environmental sustainability, nanomaterials and materials characterization.

One of Lee’s research projects is the environmental characteriza-tion of microscale versus macroscale materials and synthesis processes. “From my experience in industry, I’ve learned that strong technical expertise is a necessary but not suf-ficient condition for being an excel-lent engineer,” said Lee. “Consistent demonstration of qualities such as integrity, initiative and inclusiveness in addition to being facile in ancillary skills such as teamwork, communication and leadership are among the key characteristics that distinguish superb engineers.”

Shinjiro SuedaAssistant Professor, Computer Science

Ph.D., University of British Columbia, VancouverResearch & Expertise: Biomechanics, compu-tational fabrication, computer animation and computer graphics.

“I want to get students excited about visual computing,” noted Sueda. “I’m happy to be at Cal Poly because of its great students and many interdisci-plinary opportunities.”

Xuan WangAssistant Professor, Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering

Ph.D., UC San DiegoResearch & Expertise: 3D printing, semiconductor packaging and cloud-based manufacturing information systems.

With extensive industry experi-ence, Wang hopes to help prepare stu-dents for success in their professional careers. “I really appreciate the Learn by Doing philosophy because that’s how engineering education should be,” he said.

Robert Bertini Civil Engineering

Jean Lee Materials Engineering

Shinjiro SuedaComputer Science

Xuan WangIndustrial &

Manufacturing Engineering

Aaron DrakeAeronautical Engineering

Andrew DanowitzComputer Engineering

Faculty News

17

n Dean’s Office

Debra Larson, dean, appeared in “Four Engineering Colleges and Their Women Deans,” an article posted on StemJobs (http://stemjobs.com/four-engineering-colleges-women-deans/). Larson was appointed to serve on the national board of governors for the Order of the Engineer and was appointed vice chair of the executive board of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Engineering Dean’s Council. She serves as co-chair of the ASEE Engineering Dean’s Council committee on the undergraduate experience. In recognition of her accom-plishments in education, Larson was se-lected for membership in Michigan Tech’s Presidential Council of Alumnae.

n MultidisciplinaryKathy Chen (Materials Engineering), Jackie Duerr (Multicultural Engineering Program), Fred DePiero (associate dean), Helene Finger (Women’s Engineering Program), Andrew Kean (Mechanical Engineering), Jane Lehr (Women’s and Gender Studies), Maria Manzano (Mul-ticultural Engineering Program) and Liz Schlemer (Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering) received $600,000 National Science Foundation grant for PEEPS (Program for Engineering Excellence for Partner Schools). The goal of PEEPS is to recruit, retain and graduate academi-cally talented, low-income students. The PEEPS program includes financial sup-port, programming, engineering success courses, advising, coaching, mentoring, and block scheduling of gateway engi-neering support courses with supplemen-tal workshops.

n n n

John Chen (Mechanical Engineering), David Janzen (Computer Science), Karen MacGoughey (Statistics), Jennifer Pedrot-ti (Psychology & Child Development) and James Widmann (Mechanical Engineer-ing) were awarded a three-year, $200,000 National Science Foundation grant for a project titled “Actively Building the Drive

FacultyNotes

to Achieve through Everyday Engineering Learning.”

n n n

Bruce Golden (Dairy Science), Chris Lupo (Computer Eingineering/Computer Science), and graduate students Trevor DeVore and Scott Winkleblack published

“A Heterogeneous Compute Solution for Optimized Genomic Selection Analysis” in the Proceedings of the Institute of Elec-trical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Bioinformat-ics and Biomedicine.

n n n

David Hey (Kinesiology), Brian Self (Me-chanical Engineering), Lynne Slivovsky (Electrical Engineering), Kevin Taylor (Kinesiology), and James Widmann (Me-chanical Engineering) published “Learn-ing Design through the Lens of Service: A Qualitative Study” in the International

CENG Welcomes New Faculty

Journal for Service Learning in Engineer-ing (Vol. 9, no. 1, Spring 2014).

n n n

Lily Laiho (Biomedical Engineering), Rich-ard Savage (Biomedical Engineering) and James Widmann (Mechanical Engineering) published “Initiating and Sustaining an Interdisciplinary Capstone Design Course” at the 2014 National Capstone Design Con-ference in Columbus, Ohio.

n n n

Liz Schlemer (Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering) and Linda Vanasupa (Materi-als Engineering) published “Relational versus Transactional Community Engage-ment: An Experience of the Benefits and Costs” at the ASEE 2014 Annual Confer-ence in Indianapolis.

n n n

Linda Vanasupa (Materials Engineering), Liz Schlemer (Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering), R. Burton, Courtney Brogno (English), Ginger Hendrix (English) and Neal MacDougall (Agribusiness) co-au-thored “Laying the Foundation for Trans-disciplinary Faculty Collaborations: Actions for a Sustainable Future” in Sustainability (Vol. 6, pp. 2893-2928, 2014).

n Aerospace Engineering

Dan Biezad, professor emeritus, authored and presented “Ethics as Philosophical His-tory for Engineers” at the 2014 IEEE Inter-national Symposium on Ethics in Science, Technology and Engineering in Chicago.

n n n

Faysal Kolkailah has served as director of the Cal Poly Society for the Advance-ment of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) Composite Workshop for three years. He published three co-authored papers in the Proceedings of the 2014 SAMPE Conference in Seattle, including “A Study on the Performance Characteristics of Isolators after Outgassed and Baked,” “Effects of Low-Velocity Impact on Strength of Different Composite Sandwich Materials,” and “Effect of Bio-Composites Embedded into Sandwich Panels under Buckling Loading.”

n Civil & Environmental Engineering

Tryg Lundquist presented Cal Poly’s three

algae biofuel research projects funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) at a DOE plenary session. Lundquist and researchers with the Cal Poly Algae Technology Group published “Life Cycle GHG Emissions from Microalgal Biodiesel — A CA-GREET Model” in Envi-ronmental Science Technology (Vol. 48, no. 11, pp. 6060-6068, 2014).

n n n

Robb Moss celebrated the graduation of Justin Hollenback (B.S., Civil Engineering, 2008), who received his doctorate from UC Berkeley. Moss funded his former student’s graduate work with grants from

the Department of Homeland Security for research on seismic risk assessment of levees. Moss was invited by the U.S. Geologi-cal Survey to speak at the Earthquake Sci-ence Center Seminar in Menlo Park, Calif., on work related to reverse faults, and he and colleagues founded LMMG Geotechni-cal Testing in South America, a subsurface investigation company in Chile. Moss co-authored the following papers: • “Closure on Discussion of ‘Shear Wave Velocity-Based Probabilistic and Deterministic Assessment of Seismic Soil Liquefaction Potential,’” Journal of

Linking Engineering and BusinessNew joint engineering/business faculty member to promote Cal Poly students’ entrepreneurial efforts

Tom Katona, an “engineer’s engineer” with extensive experi-

ence in technological innovation and startup ventures, has been appointed to a joint teaching position in Cal Poly’s Orfalea College of Business and College of Engineering, with an eye toward fostering student entrepre-neurial activity.

Katona will play a pivotal role in expanding collaboration among the College of Engineering, the Orfalea College of Business, and the Cal Poly Center for Innovation & Entrepre-neurship (CIE).

“Dr. Katona is an engineer of depth and breadth who moves easily and naturally between business and engineering environments,” said Debra Larson, dean of the College of Engineering. “No one could be better qualified to help us break new ground.”

Katona sees his role as “advanc-ing innovation across disciplines, using principles of design thinking and product development to nurture successful entrepreneurial activity on campus and in the local community.”

That all-encompassing approach will start in the classroom, where he will teach a multidisciplinary design course in the College of Engineering and co-teach an entrepreneurship course with Jonathan York, professor in the Orfalea College of Business and co-founder and faculty director of the CIE.

“I see this as a major next step in advancing our goals to weave diverse disciplines with entrepreneurship across campus and throughout CIE,” said York.

The CIE manages and supports a wide variety of entrepreneur-ial programs, including the Innovation Sandbox, In-novation Quest Competition, and SLO Hot-House Summer Accelerator.

“The challenge now is to expand the reach of those programs through-out the university,” Katona said. “My key role is to be an advocate for students and faculty who are working on interesting research or have great ideas. I want to connect innovators to the entrepreneurial support system that we’re putting in place at CIE.”

Katona has been working in start-ups for the past decade in capacities varying from hardcore engineering and development to marketing and business development. He earned his master’s and doctorate degrees in electrical and computer engineering from UC Santa Barbara and holds an MBA from the University of South Carolina. n

Tom KatonaCal Poly Center for Innovation &

Entrepreneurship

18

Faculty NewsGeotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engi-neering (Vol. 140, no. 4, March 2014). • “Dynamic Response of a Model Levee on Sherman Island Peat: A Curated Dataset,” Earthquake Spectra (Vol. 30, no. 2, May 2014). • “Discussion of ‘Problems with Liq-uefaction Criteria and their Applications in Australia,’” Australian Geomechanics Journal (March 2014). • “Analyst B: Passive Surface Wave Analysis of the UTexas1 Surface Wave Dataset,” American Society of Civil Engi-neers GeoCongress. • “Verifying Liquefaction Remediation beneath an earth dam using SPT and CPT based methods,” Soil Dynamics and Earth-quake Engineering (Vol. 53, pp. 130-144). • “Lifelines Annex to the 2013 Califor-nia State Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan.” http://hazardmitigation.calema.ca.gov/plan.

n Computer Science & Computer Engineering

Foaad Khosmood was named primary investigator for the Digital Democracy project proposal by Cal Poly’s Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy (IATPP). Funded with a $1.2 million grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foun-dation, Digital Democracy is an online searchable database of state legislative committee hearings, a new data set that is currently unavailable to the public. Alex Dekhtyar and Franz Kurfess are also IATPP institute fellows working on the project. Khosmood was elected president of Global Game Jam, an educational non profit organization dedicated to game develop-ment with more than 20,000 participants in 72 countries. He co-authored two papers, “Retelling Chess Stories” and “Procedurally Generated, Adaptive Music for Rapid Game Development.” He attended the Founda-tions of Digital Games conference in Ft. Lau-derdale, Fla., along with graduate students Eric Buckthal and Timothey Adam, who presented the papers. Khosmood and Mahdi Rastad (Or-falea College of Business) received an interdisciplinary research grant to study offshore cash holdings of U.S. multina-tional corporations.

n n n

Chris Lupo, Aaron Keen (Computer Sci-ence), John Oliver (Computer Engineer-ing) and Doug Gallatin (B.S., Computer

John Oliver is known by students as a go-to professor for help and advice. Recent recipi-

ent of the university’s Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award, Oliver is a professor in the Electrical Engineering Department and the director of the Computer Engineering Program (CPE).

Oliver’s goals for CPE are inclusive in nature and intended to increase diversity in the program’s student body. In working with transfer students as well as those on academic probation, he targets those students who may be struggling to achieve academic success. His interaction with stu-dents helped him realize that many individuals lack the strong social network needed to suc-ceed in computer engineering. In his advising capacity, Oliver has increased peer, faculty and industry mentoring to put a face to the field of computer engineering. His work at Cal Poly includes mentoring student-developed re-search projects with NASA and ongoing grant writing for projects that will be implemented on campus.

“I find that if I actively listen to the students, they feel valued and leave better in-formed,” said Oliver. “Misinformation is often our biggest hurdle to academic success.” n

Computer Engineering Director John Oliver Recognized for Advising

19

Faculty News

Engineering, 2014; M.S., Computer Sci-ence, 2014) published and presented “Twill: A Hybrid Microcontroller-FPGA Framework for Parallelizing Single-Thread-ed C Programs” at the IEEE International Symposium on Parallel and Distributed Processing Reconfigurable Architectures Workshop in Phoenix, Ariz.

n n n

John Seng and students Connor Citron and Brian Gomberg published “The Aithon Board: A Case Study in Commercialization of a Student Project” at the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges, South-western Regional Conference held at Cal State Northridge.

n Computer Science & Software Engineering

John Clements gave an invited talk at RacketCon in St. Louis on “Stumbling Around in the Dark: Failure Partially Averted.” He served as program chair of the Scheme Workshop in Washington, D.C.

n n n

Zachary Peterson was awarded a Na-tional Science Foundation grant to build and evaluate an introductory course in computer security for incoming students. The objectives of this course, the first of its kind in the nation, are to engage

undergraduates with authentic problems demonstrating the relevance of cyberse-curity, highlight the role of computers in solving problems and constructing prob-lems, and challenge students with creative puzzle-solving. Peterson was awarded an Intel-Georgia Tech Security Education micro-grant for building new security cur-riculum modules designed to be integrated into core computer science courses.

n n n

Zoë Wood developed a computational art class for the new Computer Science Acad-emy at Santa Barbara High School. Using Wood’s curriculum, students will learn to write code to generate images.

n Electrical Engineering

Dean Arakaki published two papers at the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Interna-tional Symposium held in Memphis, Tenn. “Organic-Based Microwave Frequency Absorbers Using Corn Stover” was co-authored and presented by Ben Smythe (B.S., Electrical Engineering, 2013) and Sean Casserly (B.S., Electrical Engineering, 2013). Arakaki presented “Multi-Technique Broad-band Microstrip Patch Antenna Design” at the IEEE conference.

n n n

Xiao-Hua (Helen) Yu chaired a session and presented “Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Mechanical Engineering

Jim Meagher is returning to the role of Mechanical Engineering Department chair after a hiatus of 10 years. Meagher joined Cal Poly in 1988 after receiv-

ing his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley.His earlier research involved hip implants and pacing leads. He developed

a method to convert CT scan images into finite element models in order to perform virtual surgeries. More recently, he has worked in the field of rotor dynamics and was the founding director of the Donald E. Bently Center for Engineering Excellence. “The most exciting prospect of being chair is being part of the team that replaces our World War II-era Aero Hangar with a first-class student projects workshop,” he said.

Biomedical & General Engineering

Richard Savage, new chair of the Biomedical & General Engineering Department (BMED), first came to Cal Poly in 2002 as a professor in ma-

terials engineering. Known for his work in micro systems technologies and his efforts to enhance multidisciplinary opportunities, Savage is a natural fit with BMED because it is an interdisciplinary field that embraces the integration of science and engineering. “We have a dynamic faculty with active research in the fields of regenerative medicine, human biomechanics and innovative med-ical devices that involve micro/nano scale technologies,” he noted. “I look for-ward to working with our faculty to develop strategic plans that will continue to equip our students to be leaders in the global health care fields.” n

New Department Chairs: James Meagher and Richard Savage

Jim Meagher and Richard Savage will chair the Mechanical and Biomedical & General Engineering departments.

John Oliver Computer Engineering

Eugene Jud Receives Award from ITECal Poly Civil & Environmental Engineering Lecturer Eugene Jud, second from left, received the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Western District Outstanding Educator Award in September after being nominated by engineer-ing students including Kaylinn Roseman, Alex Chambers and Karl Schmidt. Winners of the ITE award “demonstrate extraordinary creativity in teaching, take exceptional measures to spark student interest in the transportation profession, or provide unwavering encouragement for student endeavors in the past year.” n

20

Faculty NewsEngineering Faculty Named Distinguished Scholars

Registration with Artificial Neural Net-works” at the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Las Vegas. The paper was co-authored with Pramod Gadde (M.S., Electrical Engineering, 2013). Yu also co-authored “Short Term Wind Speed Pre-diction Using Artificial Neural Networks” with Alexandra Lodge (B.S., Electrical Engi-neering, 2013) published in the Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Information Science and Technology. Yu served on the program commit-tees of various international conferences, including the International Conference on Intelligent Computing, the Interna-tional Conference on Signal Processing & Integrated Networks, and the IEEE Inter-national Conference on Awareness Science and Technology.

n Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering

John Pan published “A Control-Chart-Based Method for Solder Joint Crack Detection” in the Journal of Microelectronics and Elec-tronic Packaging (Vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 94-103, 2014).

n n n

Liz Schlemer led a workshop at the Teach-ing Professor conference in Boston on “Do They Want to Learn? Examining Our Assumptions about Students.”

n Materials Engineering

Kathy Chen, chair, co-authored “Well, That Didn’t Work: A Troubled Attempt to Quan-titatively Measure Engineering Students’ Lifelong Learning Development Over Two Years of College,” which was presented at the 2014 Frontiers in Education confer-ence. Co-authors included Roberta Herter (School of Education) and Jon Stolk (Olin College of Engineering). Chen also co-au-thored “Designing Engineering Curriculum for Pre-Service Teachers in Preparation for Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): Medical Mission Drop,” published in the ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings. Chen is supervising AmeriCorp VISTA members Noya Kansky (B.S., Anthropology & Geology, 2014) and Jeffrey Cabenez (B.S., Liberal Arts & Engineering Studies, 2014), who are developing programs to increase the success of students from low-income and underrepresented groups who major

in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Chen was also a Cal Poly Service Learning Faculty Fellow. She orga-nized an engineering design challenge for the Science for Girls summer camp at the Central Coast Salmon Enhancement Cen-ter, and she serves on the SLO Mini Maker Faire Planning Committee.

n n n

Jean Lee received grant from the College of Engineering for research on “Environ-mental Characterization of Microscale vs. Bulk Methods of Materials and Product Synthesis.”

n Mechanical Engineering

Mohammad Noori received the Keating Award for Innovation and Leadership in Lifelong Learning in Graduate Engineer-ing Education from the ASEE – Graduate Studies Division. He was invited by the ASEE board of directors to participate on an executive working group, which will examine access to and affordability of engineering majors. Noori was invited to speak on “Per-spectives on Emerging Research Direc-tions in Structural Health Monitoring,” at the NSF Civil, Mechanical and Manu-facturing Innovation Division meeting

in Arlington, Va. He co-authored “Modal Analysis of Cable-Tower System of Twin-Span Suspension Bridge” published in the Journal of Vibroengineering (Vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 1850-1863, 2014) and “System-Reliabil-ity-Based Optimization for Truss Struc-tures Using Genetic Algorithm and Neural Network” published in the International Journal of Reliability and Safety (Vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 51-69, 2014).

n n n

Steffen Peuker, the James L. Bartlett Jr. Endowed Professor, published and presented two papers and one workshop at the 6th Annual First Year Engineering Experience Conference at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. In “Improving Student Success and Reten-tion Rates in Engineering: One Year After Implementation,” Peuker and co-author Nova Schauss (Oregon State University) assessed the impact of a new approach to teach first-year engineering seminars. Results of research presented in “Imple-menting Team-Based Learning in First-Year Engineering Courses” show that Team-Based Learning is an ideal tool to be used in first-year engineering courses that are currently taught in a traditional lecture style format. Peuker collaborated with instructor Jennifer Mott on the research. Peuker’s workshop presented a proj-

ect titled “Design Your Process of Becom-ing a World-Class Engineering Student — A Powerful Project for Enhancing Student Success.” See http://discovery-press.com/discovery-press/studyengr/NewRe-source/0.asp.

n n n

Brian Self and James Widmann co-au-thored “Development and Assessment of an Inquiry-Based Learning Activity in Dynamics: A Case Study in Identifying Sources and Repairing Student Miscon-ceptions” published at the ASEE Annual Conference in Indianapolis. Self, Widmann, mechanical engi-neering undergraduate Kathryn Bohn and graduate student Jeffrey Georgette published “The Study of Gyroscopic Motion through Inquiry-Based Learning Activities” at the 2014 ASEE Pacific Zone Conference in Long Beach, Calif. Self, Widmann and undergraduate Baheej Saoud also published “Using Inquiry Based Learning Activities to Teach Dynamics” at the conference. Self, Widmann, Saoud and biomedical engineering student Morgan Zandonella presented “Talk-Alouds to Determine Effectiveness of Inquiry-Based Learning Activities” at the 17th CSU Symposium on University Teaching held at Cal State San Marcos. n

The two recipients of Cal Poly’s pres-tigious Distinguished Scholarship

Award included a pioneer in biomechani-cal computer modeling of cartilage and a researcher whose work has the potential to influence the next generation of com-mercial air transportation.

Mechanical Engineering Professor Stephen Klisch has developed theoretical, analytical and experimental methods in biomechanical engineering to explore the prevention and treatment of osteoarthri-tis. His innovative approaches to under-standing cartilage growth and computer modeling have the potential to reduce individuals’ suffering and the associated economic cost to society. He has received research funding from the National Science Foun-dation and the National Institutes of Health.

Klisch is co-founder of the joint Cal Poly-UC San Diego Under-graduate Research Program in Articular Cartilage Mechanobiolo-gy, in which two to four Cal Poly undergraduates spend summers in San Diego working with advanced researchers and one or two UCSD undergraduates. He also involves students in summer re-search opportunities at Cal Poly, helping students bridge the gap

between theory and application. Aerospace Engineering Professor

David Marshall focuses on improved modeling techniques to design qui-eter and more fuel-efficient aircraft. As principal investigator for the NASA-sponsored project AMELIA (Advanced Model for Extreme Lift and Improved Aeroacoustics), Marshall collaborated with colleagues and students at Cal Poly and Georgia Tech to design and execute a $4.7 million wind tunnel study. The AMELIA project was awarded a NASA Group Achievement Award, while two Cal Poly graduate students won the

prestigious NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate As-sociate Administrator High Potential Award.

Marshall’s team was the first to implement tests to measure how powered-lift aircraft might achieve quicker lift-off while also measuring the sonic implications of that lift-off. Quicker, quieter lift-off means the possibility of shorter runways, holding the po-tential to improve the convenience of air travel, reduce fuel burn and environmental impact, alleviate air traffic congestion and increase transportation network capacity. n

Stephen KlischMechanical Engineering

David MarshallAerospace Engineering

Innovation Quest co-founder Carson Chen has been named the College of Engineering’s Honored Alum.

Following the axiom to “leave tracks,” or institute positive change, Carson Chen (B.S., Electrical Engineering, 1973)

returned to Cal Poly after a successful career to co-found Innovation Quest (iQ), a nonprofit, philanthropic corporation that fosters innovation and entrepreneurship, while helping to create companies and jobs.

A pioneer in the broadband industry, Chen knows a thing or two about innovation and entrepreneur-ship. In fact, he garnered a reputation as a visionary and leader. He was the 70th engineer at Cisco and helped direct the company to capture more than 70 percent of the market. A retired member of Cisco System’s executive team, Chen served as vice president and general manager of the cable and wire-less platform division. He held senior positions with National Semiconductor Corporation, Ford Aerospace and West Coast United Broadcasting Co., and is responsible for issuing more than 30 U.S. patents including six of his own. He currently serves on the boards of several technology companies.

Chen believes that Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing education gives students the confidence and experience they need to become immediately engaged and productive in industry. He also knows that many great ideas get filed away at Cal Poly as senior projects and master’s theses — so he helped found iQ

to provide a platform for those ideas to become products and companies.

The program is best known for its annual innovation contest, which offers no-strings-attached funding and assistance for the best ideas presented by students and faculty on campus.

“Through iQ, we’re helping stu-dents see the full value of their ideas,” said Chen. “They can see that, rather than just work for a business, they can be the business. It’s our hope to plant the seed that says, ‘You can.’”

In recognition of his distinguished career, his generous support of Cal Poly and his farsighted and philanthropic es-tablishment of iQ, the College of Engineering named Chen its 2014 Honored Alumnus. n

Innovation Quest Founder Selected as College of Engineering Honored Alumnus

2000sJohn Kilpatrick (B.S., Environmental Engineering, 2000; M.S., Engineering Management, 2001)

New Engineering Manager for New York American Water

John Kilpatrick recently joined New York American Water as engineering manager. In this new role, Kilpatrick will be manag-ing the engineering team, handling capital projects, producing designs, and support-ing the advancement of GIS mapping and planning. A native of Northern Ireland who moved to California at the age of six, he recently moved from California to Melville, N.Y., with his wife and two children. http://bit.ly/1tlfSMx

Kristen Maitland (B.S., Electrical Engineering, 2000; M.S. Electrical Engineering, 2002)

New Society Director for SPIE

Kristen Maitland, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineer-ing at Texas A&M University, has been elected society director for SPIE, the inter-national society for optics and photonics. Maitland’s research interests focus on the development of optical instrumentation for improved detection and diagnosis of disease, primarily cancer and bacterial infection. To improve detection of early cancer, Maitland’s lab has developed a multi-scale, multi-modal optical imaging system that is being evaluated in a clinical trial. http://bit.ly/1oW5Cp0

Ben Curren (B.S., Computer Science, 2003)

Founder of Green Bits

The San Jose Mercury has a Q&A feature with Ben Curren, founder of Green Bits, a fledgling startup with four employees that provides point-of-sale and inventory man-agement software for the legal marijuana industry. http://bit.ly/1DiLvtS

Alumni i n t h e n e w s

21

Faculty NewsAlumni News

“Through iQ, we’re helping students see the full value of their ideas.”

Carson Chen (B.S., Electrical Engineering, 1973)

1973 electrical engineering graduate Carson Chen known as innovator

Silvia Osuna (B.S., Industrial En-gineering, 2008) was honored as

an outstanding role model in science, technology, engineering and mathe-matics at the annual Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Confer-ence held Oct. 3 in New Orleans.

An electromechanical engineer in Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector, Osuna received a Most Promising Engineer - Undergradu-ate Degree award. After starting as a Northrop Grumman intern, Osuna moved to full-time industrial engineer-ing and became a manufacturing engineer supporting navigation system manufacturing assembly and testing for the James Webb Space Telescope and other space programs.

Osuna has held leader-ship positions in Adelante, Northrop Grumman’s Hispanic Employee Re-source Group; presented the workshop “Latinas in STEM” at the Adelante Mujer Latina Annual Career Conference; and served as an engineering club mentor at Lennox Middle School, which has a 95 percent Hispanic enrollment. n

Cal Poly Alumna Honored with Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award

Silvia Osuna Industrial Engineering

Mark Perry (B.S., Computer Engineering, 2005)

In the Major Leagues of Coding

Tall and lanky, Mark Perry looks like the professional baseball pitcher he once dreamed he’d become. But it’s his coding, not his fastball, that got him into the major leagues. Perry is a lead engineer for Sport-vision, developing software to analyze pitches, hits and, soon, the movements of the players themselves. It’s the perfect job for a baseball fanatic-turned-engineer.http://bit.ly/1oVGJ2z

Tyler Hill (B.S., Aerospace Engineering, 2012)

Simulating a Lunar/Martian LifestyleCal Poly alumnus Tyler Hill explored what it might be like to inhabit the moon or Mars in a terrestrial live-aboard module. As mission engineer, Hill is part of a three-person lunar/Mars mission simulation by

Jeff Davids (B.S., General Engi-neering, 2004) noticed something

interesting in his travels in developing countries: cell phones are pervasive, even where paved roads and electricity are scarce.

That observation, along with experi-ence using smartphones to measure water flow in the Netherlands, led Davids to found SmartPhones4Water (S4W), a nonprofit program that har-nesses smartphone technology to col-lect accurate, verifiable data on water resources — data that can improve water management, thus enriching lives and livelihoods in the developing world.

A water resources engineer with a master’s degree in geosciences/hy-drogeology from CSU Chico, Davids explained that fundamental information about the amount, location and quality of water is lacking in most developing

countries. “SmartPhones4Water aims to develop the information necessary for wise stewardship of water resourc-es, while at the same time making a difference in people’s lives,” he said.

S4W leverages a hydrologic moni-toring technology called MobileTracker, which allows individuals to take field measurements by taking a picture with a smartphone. “One of the wonderful things about the technology is it lowers the bar as far as who can collect data,

which opens a sustainable employment opportunity in low-income communi-ties,” Davids said.

Reflecting on his Cal Poly engi-neering education, Davids noted, “My education has served me in a lot of ways. I was technically prepared for my profession, plus, getting anything done in developing countries is a hands-on process — every step is an adventure.”

For more information, go to http://www.smartphones4water.org/.n

Alumni Newsthe University of North Dakota Human Spaceflight Laboratory. The project, which ended Nov. 6, included experiments from the Kennedy Space Center, JPL and the German Aerospace Center. http://bit.ly/1tAWDiG

1990sLori A. Blanc (B.S., Computer Science, 1993; M.S., Computer Science, 1995)

Teaching Scholars Award Winner

Lori A. Blanc, a research scientist in the Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Science at Virginia Tech, has re-ceived Virginia Tech’s 2014 Diggs Teaching Scholars Award. http://bit.ly/1pUKC2y

Marissa Schmidt (B.S., Computer Engineering, 1995)

Schmidt on CPE Advisory Board

Marissa Schmidt, director of product man-agement at Citrix Systems, writes about her new position on the Industrial Advisory Board for Cal Poly’s Computer Engineering Program. “It’s an honor to be on the IAB and help the department stay apace of the changes in technology and the Internet of Things.” http://bit.ly/1hhPzOK

SmartPhones4WaterGeneral engineering grad Jeff Davids creates hydrologic monitoring technology for use in developing countries using cell phones

Cal Poly alum Jeff Davids, center, is working in Nepal with SmartPhones4Water, which uses cell phone technology to improve water management practices in the developing world.

When the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Trophy presented its highest group honor

to the Dawn Flight Team last spring, Tim Weise (B.S., Aerospace Engineering, 1994; M.S., Aerospace Engineer-ing, 1995) was among the recipients. Weise is a system engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The Current Achievement Trophy for 2014 recognized the Dawn team for transforming an experimental technol-ogy into an operational system that has advanced the development and use of solar electric propulsion.

“These winners have moved the needle in the ad-vancement of aviation and space exploration in major ways,” said Gen. J.R. “Jack” Dailey, director of the museum. “The Dawn Flight Team’s innovative use of new technology will open pathways to further deep-space exploration,” he said.

NASA’s Dawn mission explored some of the last uncharted worlds in the solar system. After a successful

orbit around the giant asteroid Vesta, the Dawn space-craft is now on its way to the dwarf planet Ceres, which it will orbit in 2015. The Dawn spacecraft was designed to conduct an in-depth and up-close study of these two ce-

lestial bodies. In 50 years of space exploration, no other spacecraft has orbited a distant solar system body, then left to travel to — and eventually orbit — another extrater-restrial body. n

Tim Weise: Going BeyondCal Poly alum honored by Smithsonian

Tim Weise (standing to right of trophy holder Robert Mase), a system engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was part of the Dawn Flight Team, which received the 2014 Trophy for Current Achievement from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Members of the team (from left to right): Grant Faris, Carol Polanskey, Chris Russell, Steve Joy, Greg Whiffen, Marc Rayman, Robert Mase, Tim Weise, Brett Smith, Nick Mas-trodemos, Paul Fieseler, Carol Raymond and Don Han. Photo: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

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Cal Poly’s Sandra Garde-bring Ogren Leadership

Award honors an individual who has made a significant contribution to the success of Cal Poly, embraced the uniqueness of a comprehen-sive polytechnic education and successfully improved the world we live in.

That pretty much describes Jon Monett and the work he has done on behalf of the university.

The 1964 industrial engi-neering alumnus founded the Quality of Life Plus Laboratory (QL+) in 2009. The multidisciplinary facility is dedicated to the development and appli-cation of technology to improve the quality of life of wounded and disabled veterans.

A veteran himself, Monett served in the U.S. Air Force before entering Cal Poly. Following graduation, he spent 26 years in the CIA. On his return to civilian life, Monett started a company that became

known as Telemus Solutions, a global security consulting and intelligence advisory services provider.

“When I sold Telemus, I started to think about ways to acknowledge the role Cal Poly played in my life and to show my appreciation for the men and women who, in the course of serving their country, have been wounded or disabled,” he said.

QL+ is the outcome of Monett’s wish to give back, while investing forward to pro-duce solutions that enhance

an individual’s ability to reach their potential despite traumatic injuries incurred in service to their country.

Monett is the recipient of the CIA’s Intelligence Medal of Merit and was the 2009 Honored Alumnus from the College of Engineering. He is a member of the Cal Poly President’s Cabinet and the Foun-dation Board of Directors. n

An enthusiastic contingent of the Electrical Engineering Class of ’64

returned to campus in May for a 50th reunion dinner and two full-tilt days of tours, activities and reminiscences. Pictured above in the Capstone Lab, from left to right: Glenn Stuck (Santa Barbara), Wayne Allen (Car-son City, Nev.), Don Fowler (Colo-rado Springs, Colo.), Bob Goldsmith (Middletown, Calif.), Indar Sethi (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.), George

Rauchwerger (Sunnyvale, Calif.), Fred Stephens (Fallbrook, Calif.), Walter Tufts (Moorpark, Calif.) and Jack Dupre (Santa Rosa, Calif.). A reunion highlight was the alum-ni’s speakerphone conversation with Linda (Miller) Hatta (Central Point, Ore.), the department’s first female graduate. Check out photos from the event at http://www.ee.calpoly.edu/newslet-ters/connections-fall-2014/ n

Alumni News

Ray Patel (B.S., Mechanical Engineering, 1997)

Latest Startup Venture

A staff engineer working in advanced weap-on design and development at Dallas-based Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control for almost 10 years, Ray Patel is also a prolific entrepreneur. His latest startup venture, Rocketmeter, allows users to rapidly proto-type and debug electronics gear. While at Cal Poly, Patel recalled that “I pretty much lived at the hangar. I headed up the HVP team for a year and participated in the For-mula SAE and Formula Hybrid programs.”http://bit.ly/1xAxXpI • http://linkd.in/1zEM1UD

Bradley E. Hagemann (B.S., Environmental Engineering, 1981)

Wallace Group’s New Public Works Administrator

The Wallace Group recently hired former Paso Robles city employee Brad Hagemann as the director of the public works adminis-tration department for the firm. http://bit.ly/1wDDjR3

Brad Underwood (B.S., Civil Engineering, 1984)

City of San Mateo’s New Public Works Director

After completing a statewide search, the City of San Mateo announced that Brad Under-wood, Foster City public works director, has crossed city lines to begin the next phase of his career as San Mateo’s public works direc-tor. He began his new role with San Mateo in September and brings 30 years of public works experience to the position. He lives in Foster City with his wife and has two grown daughters. http://aol.it/1oW4PEl

Barry L. Dorr (B.S., Electronic Engineering, 1984)

Sharing the 10 Essential Skills for Electrical EngineersBarry Dorr’s new book, Ten Essential Skills for Electrical Engineers, has been published by John Wiley–IEE Press. The textbook is a fundamentals-based review of practical skills that students learn in the electrical engi-neering curriculum and is intended to help students prepare for technical interviews. http://amzn.to/1p9BhVj n

QL+ Founder Receives Ogren Award

Electrical Engineering Class of ’64 Reunites

50th reunion

Jon Monett (B.S., Industrial Engineering, 1964)

SAVE THE DATE!Saturday, April 18, 2015

Join us for the 2nd annual

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERINGBEER & WINE GARDENat Cal Poly Open HouseApril 17-18, 2015

For more information,contact Brenda Flood at(805) 756-5374 or bflood@calpoly.edu

1980s

California Polytechnic State University College of Engineering

1 Grand Ave.San Luis Obispo, CA

93407-0350

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Parents please note: If your son or daughter is no longer at this address, please share

his or her current address with the College of Engineering

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING ceng.calpoly.eduDean’s Office (805) 756-2131Debra Larson, Dean dslarson@calpoly.edu Fred DePiero, Associate Dean fdepiero@calpoly.eduRakesh Goel, Associate Dean rgoel@calpoly.eduCollege AdvancementRichard LeRoy, Asst. Dean (805) 756-7108 rleroy@calpoly.eduAmanda Oeser, Dir. of Development (805) 756-5711 aoeser@calpoly.eduBrenda Flood, Admin. Support (805) 756-5374 bflood@calpoly.eduCollege Publications & Communications (805) 756-6402Amy Hewes, Director ahewes@calpoly.eduMiles Clark, Web Administrator (805) 756-6582 mmclark@calpoly.eduGalen Ricard, Writer (805) 756-6623 gricard@calpoly.eduDennis Steers, Photography & Design (805) 756-7167 dsteers@calpoly.eduEngineering Advising (805) 756-1461Kim Marsalek, Coordinator kmarsale@calpoly.eduMulticultural Engineering Program (805) 756-1433Maria Manzano, Coordinator msmanzan@calpoly.eduWomen in Engineering Program (805) 756-2350Helene Finger, Director hfinger@calpoly.eduDEPARTMENTSAerospace Engineering (805) 756-2562Eric Mehiel, Chair emehiel@calpoly.eduBiomedical & General Engineering (805) 756-6400Richard Savage, Chair rsavage@calpoly.eduCivil/Environmental Engineering (805) 756-2947Daniel Jansen, Chair djansen@calpoly.eduComputer Engineering (805) 756-1229John Oliver, Director jyoliver@calpoly.eduComputer Science/Software Engineering (805) 756-2824Ignatios Vakalis, Chair ivakalis@calpoly.eduElectrical Engineering (805) 756-2781Dennis Derickson, Chair ddericks@calpoly.eduIndustrial & Manufacturing Engineering (805) 756-2341Jose Macedo, Chair jmacedo@calpoly.eduMaterials Engineering (805) 756-2568Kathy Chen, Chair kcchen@calpoly.eduMechanical Engineering (805) 756-1334Jame Meagher, Chair jmeagher@calpoly.eduFire Protection Engineering (805) 756-7834Fred Mowrer, Director fmowrer@calpoly.edu

Engineering Advantage is a biannual publication of the College of Engineering, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Editorial Staff: Amy Hewes | Publications Director

• Galen Ricard | Staff Writer • Dennis Steers | Photography & Design

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On Tuesday, Dec. 2, nonprofits, families, businesses and students will come together to celebrate generosity and to give. #GivingTuesday is a special call to action on a national day of giving.

For the first time, Cal Poly College of Engineering has partnered with #GivingTuesday to conduct a 24-hour giving campaign to support the Learn by Doing promise. Your gift will contribute to the essential elements of a Cal Poly Engineering education: projects, labs and clubs. Without your support, the Cal Poly Engineering experience would not be what it is today. #GivingTuesday is your day to give back and support the Learn by Doing promise.

Learn more at ceng.calpoly.edu/giving • Follow us on: