Recent News
Cal Poly Annual Poinsettia Sale Starts Dec. 3
Nov 30, 2022
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cal Poly’s annual poinsettia sale, with thousands of plants and dozens of varieties and colors, will kick off this weekend and be held over two days: Saturday, Dec. 3, and Saturday, Dec. 10, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Poly Plant Shop. Each sale date will offer similar varieties and availability.
The flowering holiday plants are grown by students who work in the Plant Sciences Department’s greenhouses. This year’s poinsettia project offers many shades of red, white, pink and other variegated varieties. Sizes range from small plants in 4-inch pots to large poinsettias reaching 3 feet high, in 14-inch pots. Prices range from $10 to $100.
In addition to poinsettias, the Poly Plant Holiday Sale also features student-made wreaths, centerpieces, succulents, ornaments and gifts. Customers are encouraged to bring their own boxes and wagons for transporting larger purchases.
Christine Theodoropoulos, Dean of Cal Poly’s Renowned College of Architecture and Environmental Design, Announces Retirement
Nov 28, 2022
National Leader in Architectural Education is First Woman to Serve as Dean for the College
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Christine Theodoropoulos, dean of Cal Poly’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED), has announced her plans to retire from the university.
Theodoropoulos joined Cal Poly in 2012 as the first woman to serve as dean of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design. She is the second-longest-serving dean in the college’s 75-year history and the longest serving dean among the current leadership of Cal Poly’s six academic colleges.
Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore, Cal Poly’s provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs, shared the news of Theodoropoulos’ impending retirement with the campus community Monday.
Cadence Empowers Future Engineers Through Computational Software Donation to Cal Poly
Nov 17, 2022
New partnership offers students, faculty and staff access to the most advanced electronic design software for training and research
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly announced an agreement with Cadence Design Systems Inc., one of the leaders in the electronic design automation (EDA) software, to provide students, faculty and staff access to a vast array of its computational software products.
The agreement aims to empower students to explore the development of advanced electronics, utilizing new design methods, allowing them to enter professional life with hands-on experience using widely utilized software.
“This donation provides a great opportunity to offer our students, faculty and staff access to advanced technology from Cadence,” said Amy S. Fleischer, dean of the College of Engineering. “The world-class Cadence computational software significantly enhances our Learn by Doing approach, allowing our students to work with the actual software they would use in their professional lives.”
Cal Poly Students Win Cash Prizes for Their Innovative Ideas at CIE’s 13th Annual Elevator Pitch Competition
Nov 14, 2022
Prize winners Owen Works and Camille Boiteux with their awards at CIE’s 13th Annual Elevator Pitch Competition.
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Two Cal Poly students won $1,500 at the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s (CIE) 13th annual Elevator Pitch Competition, a fast-paced, high-energy competition for student entrepreneurs, held Nov. 2 at the Performing Arts Center’s Christopher Cohan Center.
Ten finalists, selected from an initial pool of 50 applicants, had 90 seconds each to pitch their innovative products, services and startup ideas. They were evaluated by a panel of judges on four criteria: how well was the problem or opportunity explained; was the idea innovative; was the direction was clear; and was the pitch persuasive.
Industrial engineering senior Owen Works from Victoria, British Columbia, received the $1,000 first-place prize with his pitch for DrinkWise, a temporary tattoo that gives users real-time measurements of their blood alcohol concentration, or BAC.
Cal Poly Campus Dining to Host ‘Thank-Ful’ Event on Nov. 16
Nov 9, 2022
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cal Poly’s Campus Dining will be one of 300 college campuses across the nation participating in Thank-Ful, an event on Wednesday, Nov. 16, intended to bring together the Cal Poly community through giving back and giving thanks.
Thank-Ful is a lunchtime celebration that will feature such activities as a “Friendsgiving-” themed lunch, Teaching Kitchen, free food samples, donation and gratitude tables supporting Cal Poly’s Food Pantry and much more. The event will take place at Campus Market from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“We love having the opportunity to give back to our community through food and share gratitude with our students, faculty and staff,” said Campus Dining Director Jess Dozier.
Cal Poly Symphony to Feature Madrone String Quartet on Dec. 4
Nov 3, 2022
SAN LUIS OBISPO — The Cal Poly Symphony will begin its concert season with the Madrone String Quartet at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, in the Performing Arts Center’s Christopher Cohan Center.
The Madrone String Quartet will join the symphony for a collaborative season opener that features side-by-side performances, captivating chamber music and Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.”
The concert will begin with a performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis,” for double string orchestra and solo string quartet. This antiphonal work will feature the strings of the symphony, separated into two groups, and the Madrone String Quartet. The guest artists will then perform Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor, Op. 80.
After intermission, the concert will conclude with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, “From the New World,” which he wrote during his stay in New York City as director of the National Conservatory of Music. Known for incorporating folk songs and dances of his native Bohemia, Dvořák was eager to encourage American composers to find their own voice. Symphony No. 9 reflects his exploration of African American spirituals and Native American and American folk music he encountered during his stay. It is, as he put it, his “impressions and greetings from the New World.”
Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble Fall Concert to Include Morro Bay High School Choirs, Critically Acclaimed Guest Artists on Dec. 3
Nov 2, 2022
SAN LUIS OBISPO — The Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble and Dance Troupe will be joined by the Morro Bay High School Choirs and critically acclaimed guest artists for its Fall Concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, in Spanos Theatre on campus.
A special feature of the concert will be a collaboration between the Arab Music Ensemble and the Morro Bay High School Choirs directed by Katie Bravante, a 1999 graduate of the Music Department. The groups will perform an adaptation of Joy Hirokawa’s arrangement of “Lamma Bada Yatathanna,” a foremost example of Arab art music.
The critically acclaimed guest artists to be featured in the concert include Ishmael on qanun (zither), Fathi Aljarrah on kamanja (violin), and Faisal Zedan and Keeth CrowHawk on riqq (tambourine), daff (frame drum) and darabukka (goblet drum).
The program will feature contemporary works and traditional genres with roots in the Eastern Mediterranean, the larger historical Ottoman Empire and the legacy of Andalusia, as well as some of the most celebrated repertoire of Southwest Asia-North Africa. Improvisation (taqsim) will also feature prominently in the concert.
Cal Poly Choirs to Present Sixth Annual ‘Holiday Kaleidoscope’ on Dec. 2
Nov 2, 2022
SAN LUIS OBISPO — The Cal Poly Choirs, which include Cantabile, Chamber Choir, PolyPhonics and University Singers, will present the sixth annual “Holiday Kaleidoscope” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, in the Performing Arts Center’s Christopher Cohan Center.
This year the Cal Poly Choirs will be joined by the Cabrillo High School Madrigal Singers, directed by Cal Poly alumna Jennifer Peterson (Music, ’95); and the Central Coast Youth Chorus’ Cadence Choir, led by Cal Poly music majors Danna Dumandan and Katelyn Caron.
Cal Poly Director of Choral Activities Scott Glysson established the concert in 2017 to showcase and celebrate Central Coast choral traditions and collaborations. The four university choirs and the two guest ensembles will each perform a short selection of repertoire and then will unite for some larger works.
A 20-piece student orchestra will accompany the choirs on several pieces and during carol sing-alongs. The evening will include other fun features, such as College of Liberal Arts Dean Philip J. Williams narrating “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.”
Cal Poly Professor Co-authors Research Article Examining Strategies to Maintain Weight Loss After Regain
Oct 27, 2022
Study published in Obesity journal surveyed nearly 2,500 WeightWatchers members who lost an average of almost 58 pounds and kept it off for over 3.5 years
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Science shows that weight regain over time is common, but a new study — co-authored by a Cal Poly faculty member — has gathered new data on effective strategies to recover from weight regain.
Suzanne Phelan — director of Cal Poly’s Center for Health Research and a professor of kinesiology and public health in the College of Science and Mathematics — assisted in the article published Oct. 25 in Obesity, a peer-reviewed journal covering topics regarding health and medicine in association with weight-related topics. Phelan’s team surveyed thousands of participants in the WW (WeightWatchers) program.
Cal Poly Names Coordinator of New Off-Campus Housing Support Program
Oct 24, 2022
Program aims to help students successfully transition from on- to off-campus housing
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cal Poly has named Sarah Bacio as coordinator of its Off-Campus Housing Support Program, which seeks to help students successfully transition from living on campus to off campus within the San Luis Obispo community.
Bacio will help students identify and secure affordable and safe off-campus housing, assist in identifying resources to assist with housing expenses, and provide opportunities to help them better understand the off-campus housing market.
In her new role, she will also offer a Renter Certification series to educate participating students on various aspects of off-campus housing to improve the renter experience for both students and landlords.