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Architecture Student Receives National Recognition
Cal Poly architecture student John Vierra won first place in the 2009 Bohemian Flats Boathouse Student Design Competition. The competition was sponsored by the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) in conjunction with The Vinyl Institute. This year’s competition focused on rewarding design excellence at a small-scale, highlighting the unique aspects of designing a boathouse and building knowledge about materials, products and assembly contributing to a sustainable and safe environment. The competition site was The Bohemian Flats, a historic parcel of land on the bank of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.
More on Vierra's design
Construction Management Places High in National Competition
Cal Poly Construction Management continues to build on their reputation for excellence. Construction Management students from Cal Poly recently placed sixth out of 39 four-year level teams at the National Association of Home Builder’s (NAHB) Residential Construction Management Competition in Las Vegas.
More on Construction Competition
Search for New Cal Poly President Begins on Campus Tuesday
On Tuesday (Feb. 9), The California State University will hold the first meeting of the committee charged with finding a candidate to replace retiring Cal Poly President Warren J. Baker. This is the first meeting of the search group -- and the only meeting that is an open meeting. It 's set to take place from 9:30 to 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 9 in the Pavilion in the Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center.
More on the Presidential Search Committee.
Faculty, Staff, Students Asked for Feedback on the Future This Week
Wednesday through Friday (Feb. 10-12), Cal Poly will host a visiting team from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Cal Poly is in the middle of re-affirming its WASC accreditation. The 10-year event assures the value of Cal Poly degrees and the university's eligibility for federal funding. On Wednesday (Feb. 9), The visiting team will arrive and will be asking what the campus community thinks about Cal Poly and its ability to provide a high-quality education. Open forums are scheduled for staff on Feb. 10, from 2:10 to 3 p.m. in UU 220, and for faculty on Feb. 11 from 10:10-11 a.m. in UU 220. The visiting team will also make a closing presentation, open to the entire campus community, on Feb. 12, from 11:30 a.m. to noon in room 06-124.
More on WASC
Cal Poly Offering Expanded Summer Term Through Continuing Education
Despite state cutbacks in funding for higher education, Cal Poly Summer Term 2010 will feature expanded class offerings to current Cal Poly students as well as residents of San Luis Obispo County. Registration for summer term begins in late April, and courses will be offered in five- and eight-week sessions beginning June 21. There will be a pre-fall quarter intersession of three weeks starting Aug. 23. Cal Poly’s selection of summer term courses is designed to meet three goals: 1) Provide high-demand classes that students need for graduation; 2) Provide opportunities for non-Cal Poly students to earn transferable course credits; and 3) Offer both career and professional development courses for residents of San Luis Obispo County.
Details on Summer Session 2010
Alumni News
Cal Poly Rose Parade Float
a Double Winner in 2010
“Jungle Cuts,” the float built by students and volunteers from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and the university’s sister campus in Pomona, captured two awards at the 2010 Rose Parade Jan. 1 in Pasadena. Rose Parade judges gave the float the Bob Hope Humor Trophy. And on Jan. 2, the Tournament of Roses and KTLA TV in Los Angeles announced that the Cal Poly float had once again captured the annual Viewers' Choice Award. The float featured a lion getting a perm, a giraffe getting a beehive, and a zebra styling it out with a slick mohawk. The animation incorporated into the float included a toucan flying around a tree, monkeys dangling from trees, a giraffe climbing a tree, and an actual working waterfall.
More on the Cal Poly Rose Float
Students
Society of Women Engineers Honors Five Outstanding Members
The Cal Poly Society of Women Engineers (SWE), in cooperation with Hewlett-Packard, announced the recipients of the 2010 Outstanding Women in Engineering and Technology Award at this year’s “Evening With Industry” held in January at the San Luis Obispo Embassy Suites. In addition, SWE named Lee McFarland from Mechanical Engineering as “Most Supportive Professor” and presented $30,000 in scholarships at the gala.
More on SWE
Cal Poly Offering Free Tax Prep Help on Saturdays Through March
Beginning Jan. 30, Cal Poly’s Orfalea College of Business will again provide free help with tax return preparation for individuals and families with incomes less than $50,000 year. The effort is part of the annual Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program sanctioned and coordinated by the IRS. All returns are prepared by trained accounting seniors and are reviewed by certified tax preparers. Spanish-speaking preparers will be available. Help will be available from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. every Saturday from Jan. 30 to March 13 on campus.
Details on tax prep help
Video on 2009 volunteers and the people they helped
Students Host ‘Change the Status Quo’ Conference Feb. 26 and 27
Cal Poly’s Student Community Services will host the eighth annual “Change the Status Quo: A Student’s Role in Shaping Society” conference Feb. 26 and 27. The conference is open to the campus community and the public. “Change the Status Quo” focuses on educating and connecting activists on a variety of issues, bringing together people who share a passion for making a difference in their community and the world. Participants are encouraged to challenge stereotypes, demand solutions and use education to make lasting changes.
More on the 'Change the Status Quo' conference
Cal Poly Hosting National Concrete Canoe Competition in June
Cal Poly's Concrete Canoe Team will have the home "lake" advantage this year when the university hosts the National Concrete Canoe Competition June 17-19. Racing events are set to take place at Laguna Lake Park in the city of San Luis Obispo. The annual event is sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The competition challenges civil engineering teams from around the nation to build a canoe from concrete - then race it.
More on the Concrete Canoe Competition
Faculty & Staff
Professors, Students Home from January Arctic Research Project
Cal Poly Biology Professor Mark Moline and Computer Engineering Professor Christopher Clark and their students are home from the Arctic. The professors brought their collection of marine robots -- and two Cal Poly students -- to Norway to study the underwater Arctic ecosystem in January in collaboration with Norwegian biologists. Their two-week expedition to Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, was funded through the Norwegian Government, National Geographic, and the United States' National Science Foundation. The two professors and their students worked with divers, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV), a Remotely Operating Vehicle (ROV), and an ocean bottom crawler.
Details on the Svalbard expedition
Professor Explains Roots of Robot Fear in Popular Mechanics
Cal Poly Philosophy Professor Patrick Lin explains the roots of robot fear and which robots to watch out for in the future in the February edition of "Popular Mechanics" magazine. Lin was interviewed by the magazine for two articles in the issue. He is the director of the Ethics + Emerging Technologies Group at Cal Poly, and author of a report commissioned by the U.S. military titled “Autonomous Military Robots: Risk, Ethics, and Design.” He is currently developing ethical guidelines for robots for the United States Navy.
More on Lin's Interview in Popular Mechanics
Architecture Professor Receives National Recognition
Architecture Professor Thomas Fowler IV is the recipient of the 2009-10 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) Creative Achievement Award. Fowler was recognized for his development of the Collaborative Integrative-Interdisciplinary Digital-Design Studio. This studio infuses creativity into collaborative student teamwork and interweaves scholarship with academia and professional development with research and service at local and national levels.
More on Fowler
Events & Entertainment
Hear Professor Explain Ancient Ale at
Kennedy Library's Science Café Wednesday
Think of beer with ingredients from an era when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. How do you make it? What would it taste like? Cal Poly Kennedy Library Science Café focuses on this unusual topic with “Jurassic Beer: the making of a 45 million year old brew” with Professor Emeritus Raul Cano on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the library’s second floor Café Lounge. The event is free and open to the public. Cano, a Cal Poly professor emeritus of biological sciences, is a founding scientist of Ambergene Corporation, and founder and director of the Environmental Biotechnology Institute.
More on Jurassic Beer
Get Ready for 'Fledermaus' with Free Vocal Master Class Wednesday
The Cal Poly Opera Workshop presents a master class with Giorgio Lalov Wednesday, February 10 at 4 p.m. in the Pavilion of the Performing Arts Center. The class will be led by Giorgio Lalov, director of Teatro Lirico D'Europa. Several of the Cal Poly Music Department's vocalists will be featured soloists.
More about the master class
Teatro Lirico d'Europa Returns
with 'Die Fledermaus' Wednesday
Cal Poly Arts presents 'Die Fledermaus' in the Cohan Center Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. In a triumphant return to the Cohan Center, international opera troupe Teatro Lirico d’Europa brings their first rate, full scale performance of Strauss’ highly entertaining comic opera for a delightful Cal Poly Arts engagement. (In German, with English supertitles.)
More on 'Die Fledermaus'
Diversity in America and Pop Culture is Professor's Topic Thursday
Diversity in America and in the Popular Culture is the topic for a lecture by Samuel Betances Feb. 11 at 7:30 a.m. in Sage Vista Grande Cafe. A biracial, bicultural, and bilingual citizen, Betances earned his doctorate from Harvard University, has worked in all 50 states and countries including Japan, Korea, Germany and Mexico. His address is part of Cal Poly's Provocative Perspectives speaker series.
Hearst Lecture Series Continues Friday with Serraino
Cal Poly's Hearst Lecture Series continues Friday, Feb. 12, with Pierluigi Serraino. Serraino is an Italian architect practicing in the Bay Area. His articles and projects have appeared in numerous publications. Among his titles are “Modernism Rediscovered,” “NorCalMod: Icons on Northern California Modernism” and “History of Form*Z.” Forthcoming books are a monograph of mid-century architect Gordon Drake and a study of Digital Design through the work of design architect John Marx of San Francisco.
Details on Serraino
See Late Night's Craig Ferguson in Benefit Show Saturday
Join Scottish-American stand-up comedian and host of CBS's "The Late, Late Show,"
Craig Ferguson, for a Valentine's Day benefit performance at the Christopher Cohan Center. Though he started his career in a Scottish punk rock band, by summer 1994 Craig Ferguson was established as one of Great Britain's leading comedians after a huge success at the Edinburgh Festival. In 1995 he moved to Los Angeles, where he now works as an actor-writer-director-producer-creator, and host of CBS's ultra late night show. See him in Harman Hall; showtime is 8 p.m. and proceeds benefit local youth charities.
Details on Ferguson
Campus Hosting Regional Gay, Lesbian Issues Conference Feb. 19-21
Cal Poly’s Pride Center will host the 20th annual Western Regional Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Ally (LGBTQIA) College Conference on Feb. 19 to 21. Organizers anticipate around 700 people attending from at least 17 universities participating in the conference. Students, faculty, staff, and community members are welcome. This is the first time in its 20 years that the conference has been held at Cal Poly. The three-day conference will include workshops, lectures, roundtable discussions, and special events.
Details on the conference
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