EngineeringAdvantage

EWB - Cal Poly

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Cal Poly student chapter of Engineers Without Borders finds success in collaboration Engineers Without Borders-Cal Poly was recently named the National Premier Student Chapter. But the group didn't "fight" its way to the top instead, the organization has found that collaboration is the key to success.

Founded in 2005 by a handful of students dedicated to making a global impact, the Cal

Wulf Scholarships Help AERO Students Soar

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

For the past four years, the Robert E. Wulf Aerospace Engineering Scholarship has been attracting top-notch freshmen to Cal Poly engineering.

Scholarship founder Bob Wulf (B.S. Aeronautical Engineering, 1963) takes a personal interest in choosing the scholarship recipients.
Awardees may continue to receive the scholarship for an additional three years if qualified. Wulf hopes that the scho

Donor Don Heye Celebrates Graduation of the First Heye Scholarship Recipient

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Alittle more than four years ago, Don Heye selected Sally Hermansen as an initial recipient of the scholarship he established in his parents' names, the Marvin Arnold & Irene Jaquetta Heye Scholarship.

Last December, he watched Sally graduate with a degree in aerospace engineering.

"It was really a pleasure to see Sally through," said Heye. "She did well at Cal Poly and immediately lande

ENGINEERING Advantage

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Engineering Advantage Frequency: Published biannually Issue No.: Vol. 9, Issue 1 Publisher: Cal Poly College of Engineering · 1 Grand Avenue · San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 Digital issue: http://anax8a.pressmart.com/EngineeringAdvantage/ Website: http://ceng.calpoly.edu/newsletters/

CENG ONLINE

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING WEBSITE http://ceng.calpoly.edu/ ALUMNI IN THE NEWS http://ceng.calpoly.edu/alumni/in-the-news/ CALENDAR OF EVENTS http://ceng.calpoly.edu/event-calendar CENG ON FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/CalPolySLOEngineering GIVING TO THE COLLEGE http://ceng.calpoly.edu/givingback/ CAMPUS CONSTRUCTION: The Cal Poly Center for Science and Mathematics is rising in the heart of the

Corporate Matching Gifts to the College Are on the Rise

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The word has gotten out: corporate matching programs offer donors a painless way to double their gifts to Cal Poly.

As a result of an email campaign that targeted alumni who work at companies that have matching gift programs, Cal Poly Engineering saw a significant bounce this year in the amount of matched gifts.

"The matching gift amount to the College of Engineering almost doubled," said

Gene Haas Foundation is "Making Things" Happen

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Arecent $50,000 gift by the Gene Haas Foundation will help transform manufacturing education at Cal Poly. The foundation is the philanthropic arm of California-based Haas Automation.

The donation includes $30,000 to enhance the Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering Department's already strong laboratory resources with an infusion of new hardware, software and the latest technology. The gift

Goodrich Foundation Helps Grow Future Engineers

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Think robots, spaceships, solar cars and cities of the future. These are just a few career worlds that the Goodrich Foundation encourages a new generation of middle school students to imagine for themselves.

And, to that end, the Goodrich Foundation recently donated $15,000 to the innovative Engineering Possibilities in College (EPIC) summer camp at Cal Poly.

Now entering its sixth year

Learn by Deux-ing: The Two Cal Polys Team Up for Aerial Robotics Project

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Cal Poly students in San Luis Obispo and their peers at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona are joining forces on a project to advance aerial robotics technology and sharpen teamwork skills required in the professional world.

The collaborative project is based on the RMAX, a quarter-scale helicopter donated by Northrop Grumman Corp. The research involves sending an unmanned aeri

Cal Poly Engineering's Debra Larson Meets President Obama at White House Event

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Cal Poly Engineering Dean Debra Larson attended a White House reception Feb. 8 that celebrated the efforts of deans at leading engineering schools for their commitment to retain and graduate more students in the field of engineering.

Larson was among a select group of about 40 engineering deans whose colleges do well in student retention, as determined by the American Society for Engineering

e WEEK FEBRUARY 21-24

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Organized by the Engineering Student Council (ESC), National Engineers Week included a full week of activities, competitions and presentations by sponsoring companies. For more on E-Week 2012, see: http://esc.calpoly.edu/eweek2012/. Nautical engineering was on the agenda when students built and raced boats made of cardboard and duct tape. The races across the Poly Canyon Village pool were sponso

Cal Poly MEP Honors Diversity of High Achievers

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Members of Cal Poly's Multicultural Engineering Program (MEP) who received scholarships for the 2011-12 school year were honored at a MEP banquet at which more than $125,000 in scholarships were awarded.

Debra Larson, dean of the College of Engineering, told the students, "Engineering is the foundation of a sustainable, humanitarian world -- and you are our future leaders. The way to find inn

PURPLE REIGN

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Cal Poly Society of Women Engineers officers and members, along with Dean Debra Larson, right, wore purple in January to promote the award-winning chapter. Cal Poly SWE, one of the largest professional organizations on campus with more than 400 members, has been honored as a Gold Collegiate Section at the annual SWE conference from 2002-06, 2008-09 and 2011.

See http://users.csc.

calpo

IME Loses a Beloved Professor

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Unny Menon served at Cal Poly for 33 years Dr. Unny Menon, a member of the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department since 1978, passed away peacefully in his home on Nov. 3.

Born in Kerala, India, Menon traveled by boat to Sheffield, England, when he was 17. He completed his first degree in mechanical engineering from Sheffield Polytechnic and later received his Ph.D. from Uni

EWB

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

menting latrines in India. Our new Local Projects division is working to pioneer the first septic tank reuse in California in partnership with San Luis Obispo County. With such a motivated and passionate group, it's no wonder that Cal Poly has excelled!" Debra Larson, dean of Cal Poly Engineering, said, "I am struck by the fact that EWB-Cal Poly promotes sustainable engineering solutions that

California's Lt. Gov. Visits Cal Poly's QL+ Lab

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

General engineering senior Kim Glaeser, left, shows Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom her "prosthetic knee leg lift" stair-climbing device in Cal Poly's QL+ Lab. Newsom was one of five speakers visiting the Central Coast in February to talk about the future of California's economy during the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce's inaugural State of the State event.

Student Innovators' Video Receives Social Impact Award

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Cal Poly Engineering's "Earth 2Block" video entry won the Greatest Social Impact Potential award at the Open Minds 2012 video competition.

The annual competition challenges student innovators to take their inventions one more step - to communicate the importance of their ideas to the general public.
The event is hosted by the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) an

Cal Poly Society of Women Engineers Honors Outstanding Women in Engineering & Technology

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Cal Poly Society of Women Engineers (SWE) announced the recipients of the 2011 Outstanding Women in Engineering and Technology Award at this year's Evening With Industry held in mid-January at the San Luis Obispo Embassy Suites. In addition, SWE named Tracy Thatcher from Civil and Environmental Engineering as Most Supportive Professor, and presented more than $21,000 in scholarships at the gal

BMED freshman competes on `Jeopardy!'

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

What could be more competitive than getting into Cal Poly Engineering?
Ask Weston Mangin, a biomedical engineering freshman, who competed against more than 12,000 of the brightest undergraduates in the country to be among 15 players selected for the "Jeopardy!" College Championship, which aired in mid-February. He is the first student to represent Cal Poly in the tournament. The 19-year-old fro

ENVE Student Wins New Hybrid Car

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

A trip to the world's largest exhibition about water paid big dividends on land for Anna Yeutter, a Cal Poly environmental engineering junior from Huntington Beach, Calif.

Yeutter won a new 2012 Ford Fusion Hybrid after participating in a scavenger hunt-like contest at the Water Environment Federation's annual Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC) in Los Angeles in October.

"I tra

ME Student Honored as Emerging Leader

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Megan Adams received the Sonora Region Emerging Leader Collegiate award at the recent Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Region B conference. The mechanical engineering student serves as secretary for Cal Poly SWE.

Adams took home one of several Cal Poly honors and awards.
Former Cal Poly SWE President Jennifer Harris (B.S., Industrial Engineering, 2003) won the Sonora Emerging Leader Pro

BMED Student Renders a Winning View

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Aaron Rowley's penchant for writing has influenced his engineering career goals and generated accolades. The biomedical engineering (BMED) senior won first place in this year's Al Landwehr Creative Writing Contest for his story, "A New View," which will appear in Cal Poly's literary magazine, Byzantium.

For all his writing chops, Rowley remains passionate about his major. "BMED struck a chord

Sponsor Cements Relationship with Concrete Canoe Team

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Some wear team pride on a shirt. Some on a button. But for Hanson Aggregates, a local sponsor of the Cal Poly Concrete Canoe Team, where better than the drum of a concrete mixer truck?
The novel tribute was officially "unveiled" at Casting Day on campus, where the two-time American Society of Civil Engineers National Concrete Canoe national championship team was joined by numerous team alum

"Hello Space Station, this is Cal Poly, Over"

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Cal Poly Electrical Engineering Department and the Cal Poly Amateur Radio Club, left, hosted a 10-minute radio conversation with astronaut Daniel Burbank aboard the International Space Station. Local elementary school students got a chance to chat with Burbank as he floated more than 200 miles above the Pacific Ocean at the event held in the Advanced Technical Laboratory.
As a cooperative p

Engineering Students Make Winning Pitches

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

By effectively communicating a new business plan to a group of potential investors in less than two minutes, engineering students Christopher Pagador, Marcus Foley and Davis Carlin connected on their pitches at the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneur ship's Ray Scherr Elevator Pitch competition in late November.

Competing in four categories -- Freshman, Idea Cloud, Launch Pad and

IEEE Balloon Project Reaches Great Heights

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Cal Poly students with a passion for high altitude balloons successfully reach the stratosphere The images of Earth from lofty altitudes as high as 92,000 feet are breathtaking.

"It's quite a sensation to be able to verify for yourself that the Earth is round and that space is black," said Justin Jordan who led a team of electrical engineering students with an out-of-thisworld passion for hig

Testing Your Metal

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Foundry class takes students from basics to cutting edge Acouple of years ago, Cal Poly industrial and manufacturing engineering lecturer Martin Koch knew he had struck gold in his foundry class when he offered the students an optional metal casting project after the completion of the regular coursework.

"When 123 the 125 students in the five sections stayed for the optional project, it was

The Surprising Powers of Algae

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Three Cal Poly Engineering projects delve into algae's unique ability to clean wastewater, remove toxins and produce biofuels 1 Cal Poly Engineering is partnering with the California Energy Commission to launch an algae-based wastewater treatment plant in San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly faculty members Tryg Lundquist and Ian Woertz and more than a dozen environmental engineering students are working

CPSS Builds a Hybrid Rocket

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

In May, Cal Poly Space Systems (CPSS) aims to test a hybrid rocket designed and built by a multidisciplinary team of undergraduate students. The flight will take place in the Mojave Desert at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry facility.

"It's quite impressive that a group of undergraduate students design, build and fly their own 250-pound thrust rocket," said Dianne DeTurris, faculty adviser.

Into the Wind

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Cal Poly's AMELIA model tested in massive wind tunnel Researchers from Cal Poly traveled to the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex at Moffett Field, Calif., in January to test a future aircraft concept model in support of the NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Program.

The model, called AMELIA (Advanced Model for Extreme Lift and Improved Aeroacoustics), has a 10-foot wing span and is 1/11th

Faculty Notes

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Dean's Office George Bekey, research scholar, with Cal Poly philosophy professors Keith Abney and Patrick Lin edited "Robot Ethics: The Ethical and Social Implications of Robotics" (M.I.T. Press, 2012).

American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Cal Poly Engineering faculty members are highly involved in engineering education research. The following paper was published at the 2011 ASEE An

Biomedical Engineering Professor Kristen Cardinal Receives Raytheon Excellence in Teaching Award

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

I t's not surprising Cal Poly Assistant Professor Kristen Cardinal has a contagious enthusiasm for the Biomedical Engineering Department (BMED). After all, Cardinal, who received the 2011-12 Raytheon Excellence in Teaching and Applied Research Award in December, has seen and nurtured the department's lifespan since inception.

"I was a general engineering student with a strong interest in b

Visiting Industry Scholar Jeffrey Puschell Expands the Frontiers of Space-Based Learn by Doing

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

CubeSat Cal Poly's pro gram in which students design, build and launch small satellites sits foursquare among the factors that drew Jeffrey Puschell to Cal Poly to serve as this year's visiting industry scholar.

A principal engineering fellow at Raytheon, Puschell is an internationally recognized expert in space-based imaging and remote sensing systems. During his Cal Poly assignment, he

Pan Receives IMAPS Teaching Award

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Over the years, Professor John Pan has given almost 30 pre sentations at international conferences and also given the same number of invited talks at universities and professional societies. Those accomplishments plus a record of involving students in research have earned Pan the 2011 IMAPS (International Microelectronics and Packaging Society) Outstanding Educator Award.

Pan received the awa

Vigil Elected Fellow of Air & Waste Management Association

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Civil and environ mental engineering professor Samuel A.
Vigil was elected as a fellow of the Air & Waste Management Association and will be recognized at the group's 105th Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas in June.

Founded in 1907, the Air and Waste Management Association is an international organization of more than 7,500 environmental engineers and scientists from more than 60 cou

Classic Model T Brakes for the Cal Poly Supermileage Team

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

A dramatic juxtaposition of American automobile in genuity was on display in Engineering Plaza when one of the first super cars from another century met Cal Poly's Supermileage team in mid-February.

Cal Poly was on the itinerary of a Cal Poly Engineering alum's sentimental journey from Phoenix to Eureka.
The trek commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Ford car dealerships founded in thos

CAL POLY SAN LUIS OBISPO Alumni in the news

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

1960s Burt Rutan (B.S., Aerospace Engineering, 1968) Smithsonian Awards Rutan Lifetime Achievement Trophy Burt Rutan was awarded the 2012 Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Trophy in the Lifetime Achievement category on March 21 at a black-tie dinner in Washington, D.C. "Burt Rutan has inspired the aeronautical community to reach beyond the conventional for innovation and achievement," sa

Dealing With Diablo Cal Poly grads form backbone of the nation's first training program for nuclear planners

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

At nuclear power plants, no bolt is turned without a written work order. In an industry in which safety is paramount, work order instructions for every action provide documentation and help ensure safe and proper plant operation.

It's the job of nuclear planners to develop work packages and, additionally, provide technical support for field personnel for design modifications, construction, pr

A Ph.D. in Hand, Cal Poly Alum Hopes to Improve the Environment

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Thomas Abia, a 2008 environmental engineering graduate and wastewater specialist, recently received his Ph.D. at Texas A&M. Now he wants to put his education to work making clean water accessible to everyone.

"My ideal job would be in research and development of wastewater treatment technology," said Abia.
"I would like to develop a treatment process, optimize it and bring it out of the l

A Personal Note from Overseas

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

My name is Russell Fenton (BS, Civil Engineering, 2008). I thought I would share this photo with you.
I am currently deployed to Afghanistan and ran into one of my old Cal Poly ROTC buddies, Alex Magginetti (BS, Ag Business, 2010), pictured left. This picture was taken at FOB Sharana-Paktika Province, Afghanistan. Of course, I had to bring Cal Poly to Afghanistan!

"Venture Capital" Goes a Long Way for Student Projects

authour@pressmart.com (authour) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Student projects -- the hallmark of a Cal Poly education are at the heart of the innovative, systems thinking that defines student success.

But project costs for materials and expenses can run anywhere from $50 to $1000 or more, money that often comes out of student pockets.

By providing "venture capital," you can help ensure that all students have the opportunity to undertake projects tha