Recent News
Cal Poly Honors Community Volunteers, Groups with Service Awards
Jun 4, 2018
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Individuals and organizations in the Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo communities were recently recognized at the 32nd annual Community Service Awards ceremony.
The event, held May 10, honors the contributions of university and San Luis Obispo community members and groups that contribute their time, energy and resources to help build new partnerships and fill unmet needs in the community. The celebration is sponsored by Cal Poly Student Affairs, the Dean of Students and the Center for Service in Action.
Mustang Mile Raises Nearly $4,500 for Carson Starkey-Inspired Research Center at Cal Poly
May 31, 2018
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly’s seventh annual Mustang Mile event raised nearly $4,500 to support Aware Awake Alive, a national prevention program founded after the hazing and alcohol poisoning death of Cal Poly freshman Carson Starkey in 2008.
The event, held May 17, drew nearly 400 competitors in a newly revamped obstacle course at Cal Poly’s Doerr Family Field.
Cal Poly Steel Bridge Team Finishes Second in National Competition
May 31, 2018
SAN LUIS OBISPO — A team of Cal Poly civil engineering students placed second in the National Student Steel Bridge Competition at the University of Illinois — marking the eighth consecutive year Cal Poly has placed in the top 10.
After taking first in the regional competition in April, the Cal Poly team competed against 41 other schools from around the world in the nationals hosted by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on May 25-26. A team from Lafayette College in Easton, Penn., won the contest, while Montreal’s École de Technologie Supérieure, which had won back-to-back national titles in 2016 and 2017, came in third.
Cal Poly Construction Management Students Donate Tiny Home Structures to Hope’s Village
May 31, 2018
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Construction management students in Cal Poly’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design recently put their skills to work constructing miniature cabins on wheels for a local nonprofit organization.
In past years, students have built what has lovingly been deemed the “tiny house” as part of a 10-week-long course, which culminates in an auction of the homes through Cal Poly’s surplus department. During winter quarter, they did something different: The students partnered with local nonprofit Hope’s Village to donate two structures to the homeless.
Cal Poly to Celebrate Grand Opening of New Oppenheimer Family Equine Center June 1
May 31, 2018
SAN LUIS OBISPO — A grand opening celebration will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, June 1, to celebrate the completion of the first phase of the Oppenheimer Family Equine Center at Cal Poly.
The now-complete 60,000-square-foot covered riding area, foaling barn, stallion barn and hay barn at the northern end of Cal Poly’s campus was funded by the $20 million donation made to the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences from longtime Cal Poly supporters Peter and Mary Beth Oppenheimer.
Cal Poly Engineering Students Take Top Three Innovation and Entrepreneurship Awards
May 24, 2018
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Students at Cal Poly’s College of Engineering took the top three honors and shared $30,000 in this year’s Innovation Quest, an annual competition that encourages innovators to pursue their ideas by providing award money that can be used to launch businesses.
The competition, sponsored by Cal Poly’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), was held April 28 at the San Luis Obispo Country Club.
Civil Rights Activist DeRay Mckesson to Speak at Take Back the Night Event May 29 at Cal Poly
May 23, 2018
SAN LUIS OBISPO — DeRay Mckesson, a civil rights activist focused primarily on issues of innovation, equity and justice, will be the keynote speaker at Cal Poly’s annual Take Back the Night event at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 29, in the University Union Plaza.
Take Back the Night is an international event with the mission of ending sexual violence. Cal Poly’s event, organized by the university’s Safer office, will focus on the intersections of race and gender-based violence. It will consist of speakers, an open microphone, march on campus, a campus and community programs resource fair, and a candlelight vigil.
Cal Poly Project Expo on June 1 to Highlight Student Work Benefitting the Disabled, Disaster-Stricken, and More
May 21, 2018
SAN LUIS OBISPO — A motorized surfboard for disabled surfers and a solar power generator that can be air-dropped into disaster areas are just two of the beneficial student creations that will be featured at this year’s College of Engineering Project Expo on campus June 1.
The expo, which will be held at the Engineering Plaza between noon and 3 p.m., will feature more than 200 individual and team senior projects, along with several club projects. A highly visual representation of Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing philosophy, the expo features a variety of projects that can have an immediate impact.
Cal Poly Announces SLO HotHouse Summer Accelerator Program’s 2018 Cohort
May 21, 2018
Cal Poly’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) has accepted eight startup companies into this year’s SLO HotHouse Summer Accelerator program.
The intense 13-week program is designed for students and recent graduates who have developed new ventures that need funding and CIE resources to help launch their companies.
The program provides $10,000 in capital, plus hands-on strategic business guidance from faculty and mentors, weekly programming and dedicated office space in the SLO HotHouse. Companies receive training, introductions to investors, and resources to help move their startups forward. At the end of the program, participants will have an opportunity to pitch their ideas to investors during Demo Day, to be held in September.
Cal Poly Names Adriana Popescu Dean of Library Services
May 18, 2018
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cal Poly has named Adriana Popescu as its new dean of library services effective June 1, Provost Kathleen Enz Finken announced today.
Popescu will be responsible for the direction, development, implementation and evaluation of all aspects of library services and programs to meet the scholarly and intellectual needs of the university community. She was appointed dean following a nationwide search.
She joined Kennedy Library in 2015 as the associate dean for academic services and has filled the dean’s role on an interim basis since 2016, overseeing an annual budget of more than $7 million and about 50 faculty and staff members.