Cal Poly Maritime Academy
Cadets Embark on 2026 Summer Sea Term
Over 300 cadets set out May 8 for a two-month mission aboard Training Ship Golden Bear on its final Pacific voyage. The 65-day Pacific training session is both a defining part of cadet education and the end of an era for the vessel, which has served the seafaring academy for three decades. The voyage also marks the first since the transition from California State University Maritime Academy to Cal Poly Maritime Academy, now part of Cal Poly. The training cruise provides cadets with immersive, hands-on training operating a working vessel while navigating real-world maritime conditions.
California Impact
Study Finds Building Density Was Strongest Predictor of Home Loss in 2025 LA Fires
A new peer-reviewed study by Cal Poly faculty and scientists found that building density, not urban trees, was the strongest predictor of whether homes were destroyed during the catastrophic Southern California firestorms of January 2025. The team examined 15,082 structures and 52,893 tree canopies within the Eaton and Palisades fire scars and evaluated the relative associations of urban canopy and structure density with structure damage. The study examined two of the most destructive urban-interface fires in California history. Their conclusion was clear: Houses packed closely together were far more likely to burn than homes in less dense neighborhoods.
Environment and Sustainability
Tiny Ocean Life Helps Scientists Estimate Whale Prevalence Off the California Coast
A new approach to assessing whale population data has emerged, led by Cal Poly statisticians and a marine biology research team from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Scientists typically monitor whales through traditional methods such as visual surveys, photo identification, acoustic monitoring, satellite imagery and, increasingly, genomic methods. But a wide-ranging migration area and intermittent surface pop-ups, among other difficulties, create challenges. Using an innovative alternative method, the Cal Poly-Scripps team examined microbial “ecological habitats” as highly accurate predictors of how many filter-feeding whales were occupying California’s coast between 2014 and 2020 from San Diego to Morro Bay.
Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Three Cal Poly Student Teams Win $30,000 at 21st Innovation Quest Competition
Three student startup teams split $30,000 at the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s annual Innovation Quest competition, where students pitched inspired business ideas to a panel of judges to fund their startups. Since the first high-stakes Innovation Quest, or IQ, was held in 2004, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been awarded to student startups that have blossomed into thriving businesses. The top three presentations and proposals in the annual competition received cash prizes: third place got $5,000; second place got $10,000; and first place got $15,000.
Academic Affairs
Alumna Ella Leback Receives EU IMBRSea Award
Ella Leback, a 2025 Cal Poly graduate in Marine Sciences with minors in Environmental Studies and Statistics, received a prestigious EU IMBRSea award and will pursue a two-year International Master of Science in Marine Biological Resources. The program will take her to institutions across Portugal, Spain, France, Sweden and beyond, combining specialized coursework with professional practice and a thesis. This experience will prepare her to address global challenges in sustainable marine resource use. Her success reflects the support of Cal Poly’s Office of National and International Fellowships and Scholarships.
Academic Affairs
Susan Cheng Selected for DAAD Germany Today 2026 Information Tour
Susan M. Cheng, Ed.L.D., MPP, associate provost for student success at Cal Poly, has been selected by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for the Germany Today 2026 Information Tour. The program will take her to Berlin, Leipzig, Jena and Fulda to explore Germany’s higher education system, research landscape and opportunities for transatlantic collaboration. Cheng will engage with global leaders to advance innovation and student success initiatives. Her selection reflects the support of Cal Poly’s Office of National and International Fellowships and Scholarships.
Academic Affairs
Business–Higher Education Forum Faculty Innovation Fellowship Recognition
Cal Poly faculty members David Askay and Leida Chen have been selected as 2026 Fellows in the national Business–Higher Education Forum Faculty Innovation Fellowship, a competitive program supporting faculty leaders advancing innovations in AI skill development and work-integrated learning. The 2026 cohort includes 22 fellows from 20 institutions across 15 states. Askay and Chen will develop capstone projects focused on expanding applied learning opportunities, strengthening employer partnerships and preparing students for a rapidly evolving workforce.
College of Engineering
Hugh Smith Retirement Reception
Please join us from 4–5:30 p.m. Friday, May 29, in Kennedy Library’s James P. Sargen Courtyard as we celebrate and honor a longtime colleague, friend and valued faculty member of our computer engineering and computer science and software community. We’ll toast Hugh’s many accomplishments during his career at Cal Poly and wish him all the best in his retirement!
College of Liberal Arts
Alyson McLamore Retirement Send-off on June 4
Music Professor Alyson McLamore will retire in June after 35 years of dedicated service to Cal Poly. She leaves an extraordinary legacy of scholarship, teaching and leadership. As co-founder of Cal Poly’s music degree, she spearheaded program refinements that led to accreditation by the National Association of Schools of Music. She taught widely across the curriculum, including numerous general education courses. An active scholar, she published a book on musical theater and is a beloved pre-concert lecturer and program-note author. You’re invited to her retirement send-off at 11:10 a.m. Thursday, June 4, in Room 218 of the Davidson Music Center.
Academic Affairs
CSU Talent Exchange Grant Award
Cal Poly — in collaboration with CSUs in Bakersfield, Fresno and Monterey Bay — has received $100,000 in funding through the CSU Regional Pitch Contest to advance the CSU Talent Exchange (CSU-TX), an initiative focused on expanding access to paid, high-impact experiential learning opportunities. The proposal — developed by Susan Cheng and Amie Hammond with colleagues across participating CSU campuses — was recognized for its cross-campus collaboration and alignment with the CSU Student Success Framework. The pilot will support coordinated employer engagement and increased paid placements in priority sectors, including agriculture, food systems, energy and clean technology, with potential for future systemwide expansion.
Faculty and Staff Housing
Vista Meadows Housing Project Update
The Vista Meadows faculty and staff housing project continues to advance at the corner of Grand Avenue and Slack Street. The development will include 34 single-family homes designed to support a connected campus community. Interest in the program has been strong, with a prioritized lottery process used to allocate the limited number of homes. Homes will be delivered in phases, with the first phase planned for completion in July 2026 and a dedication ceremony anticipated in fall 2026.
Learn More About Vista Meadows
Cal Poly Print and Copy
Print and Copy Survey Draws Strong Response
Thank you to the 831 students, faculty and staff who participated in the Cal Poly Print and Copy survey. Your feedback is invaluable as Print and Copy evaluates opportunities to better serve the campus community and strengthen its services. The team is now reviewing and tabulating survey results, with plans to incorporate many of the findings into future business practices and improvements. Congratulations to Jennifer Fanning, Lilly Wade, Camille Marcelino and Sabrina Harper, winners of the $25 Visa gift cards.
Campus Community
Center for Health Research to Host May 21 Spring Symposium
The Center for Health Research welcomes the university community to its spring symposium, “Advancing Health Research for Impact: From Discovery to Real-World Change.” The event takes place 4–6 p.m. Thursday, May 21, in the Cal Poly Tech Park Conference Room on the first floor. The engaging symposium will showcase innovative health research from across Cal Poly’s campus and highlight how faculty are generating evidence that strengthens scientific recommendations and improves health outcomes — both in our local communities and worldwide. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served.
View a full speaker lineup and RSVP
College of Liberal Arts
‘Finding the Sunny Side: Design in California Then and Now’ with Louise Sandhaus
Louise Sandhaus will present on California design in Building 3, Room 112 at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 21. This lively presentation by the author of the seminal book on California graphic design history, “Earthquakes, Mudslides, Fires & Riots: California and Graphic Design, 1936-1986,” celebrates resiliency, reinvention and imagination in times of upheaval and change. Sandhaus will share tangents of her work as a California designer and observations about California design’s past to consider how alternative visions lead to other possibilities for design and for our lives.
Music Department
Cal Poly Choirs to Present ‘Who is My Neighbor?’ on May 22
Two Cal Poly Choirs — Chamber Choir and Cantabile — will present a concert of two cantatas at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 22, in the San Luis Obispo United Methodist Church: Benjamin Britten’s “Cantata Misericordium,” which asks the question: “Who is My Neighbor?” and Dan Forrest’s cantata “Lux: The Dawn from on High.” John Buffett, baritone, and George Gorrindo, tenor, will be guest soloists for the Britten piece, and faculty and student string players will perform for both. Scott Glysson will conduct the concert, and Paul Woodring will accompany on piano and organ.
Music Department
Cal Poly Soundings to Present ‘Music of the Spheres’ May 28-29
Soundings will present “Music of the Spheres” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, May 28–29, in the Pavilion of the Performing Arts Center. Soundings is an interdisciplinary program that joins original compositions by music technology and composition students with contemporary choreography by dance students. The performances will feature visiting artists T.J. Borden, cello, and Mari Kawamura, piano, of the [Switch~ Ensemble], a group dedicated to the creation and performance of new acoustic, electroacoustic and multimedia works. Music faculty member Julie Herndon is the show’s director, and dance Professor Emeritus Diana Stanton is the dance director.
College of Engineering
Engineering Expo is Slated for May 29
Please join the College of Engineering and the Noyce School of Applied Computing at the annual Engineering Project Expo. The event will be held noon to 3 p.m., Friday, May 29, in the Engineering Plaza, Bonderson, the Advanced Technology Lab and Engineering IV. More than 200 projects will be on display throughout these engineering spaces.
Culture and Institutional Excellence (CIX)
Artist-Writer Thi Bui Comes to Cal Poly May 27
In celebration of Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Heritage Month, CIX presents an evening with award-winning author Thi Bui at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 27, at Chumash Auditorium. A book-signing will follow. Thi Bui is a Vietnamese-born American cartoonist and graphic novelist. Her best-selling debut memoir, “The Best We Could Do” (2017), follows her parents’ lives in Vietnam, escape during the Vietnam War and migration to the U.S. as refugees. She is working on a graphic nonfiction book about immigrant detention and deportation. The event is free and open to the public and co-sponsored by CIX and APIDA Center.