On April 28 and 29, a contingent of 13 Cal Poly students participated in the 31st Annual CSU Student Research Competition, held at Cal Poly. They were among approximately 240 students presenting the results of their research and creative efforts. The Cal Poly students were selected in a campus-wide competition to represent us at the event and they all did so with distinction. The university has announced that five Cal Poly projects received awards:
- Trevor Lowe, an undergraduate student in Business Administration, received a second-place award in the Undergraduate and Graduate Interdisciplinary category for his project, “Using Eye-Tracking and Task Analyses to Understand Human-Package Interactions.” (Faculty adviser: Javier de la Fuente, Industrial Technology and Packaging)
- John Stepanek, an undergraduate student in Biological Sciences, received a first-place award in the undergraduate Biological and Agricultural Sciences category for his work, “Stress-Induced Color Change in Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes (Crotalus helleri).” (Faculty adviser: Emily Taylor, Biological Sciences)
- David Bilger, an undergraduate Chemistry student, received a second-place award in the undergraduate Physical and Mathematical Sciences category for his work, “Multi-Scale Assembly of Polythiophene-Surfactant Supramolecular Complexes for Charge Transport Anisotropy.” (Faculty adviser: Shanju Zhang, Chemistry and Biochemistry)
- Laura Fleischman, an undergraduate student in Physics, received a second-place award in the undergraduate Physical and Mathematical Sciences category for her work, “Black Holes Stuck on Black Strings: Saving Cosmic Censorship.” (Faculty adviser: Scott Fraser, Physics)
- Julia Roche, an undergraduate student in Mechanical Engineering, received a second-place award in the Undergraduate Engineering and Computer Science category for her work, “Reverse Sprinkler: Solved!” (Faculty adviser: Russ Westphal, Mechanical Engineering)
The other Cal Poly participants (listed by name, department, advisor, competition category) were:
- Lauren Bell, Sarah Quon, Camille Tolleshaug, and Elaina Gates; Food Science and Nutrition; Peggy Papathakis; Undergraduate Health, Nutrition, and Clinical Sciences
- Emily Matthews; Political Science; Shelley Hurt; Undergraduate Behavioral and Social Sciences
- Wren Thompson; Biological Sciences; Clinton Francis; Undergraduate Biological and Agricultural Sciences
- Katelyn Tomasello; Music and Psychology; Alyson McLamore and Debra Valencia-Laver; Undergraduate and Graduate Interdisciplinary
- Sayaka Tsugai; Political Science; Ning Zhang; Undergraduate Humanities and Letters
The accomplishments of these students attest to the excellence of Cal Poly’s academic programs and the commitment and quality of our faculty. More information on the competition and complete results can be found on the competition website: http://research.calpoly.edu/csusrc31.
Cal Poly Packaging Professor Jay Singh Travels to China
Over winter break, Cal Poly Packaging Professor and Program Director Jay Singh traveled to China, where he visited premier packaging programs at four universities and met with distinguished professors and administrators to discuss the Cal Poly Packaging Program and to develop international connections for Cal Poly.
After landing in Hong Kong, Singh began his university visits at the Packaging Engineering Research Institute at Jinan University in Zhuhai in the Guangdong province of China. Here, Singh visited the Guangdong Key Laboratory of Packaging and Logistics and also met with Assistant President and Professor Dr. Zhi-Wei Wang to discuss potential scientific research cooperation and student exchange programs between Cal Poly and the university.
Singh then traveled to Beijing, where he visited the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication and met with the university’s vice-chancellors and discussed the opportunity for international cooperation. Following this visit, Singh visited the Tianjin University of Science and Technology and met with the Director of the Department of Packaging Engineering. While in Tianjin, Singh also took advantage of the opportunity to visit the leading packaging testing and research facilities of the China Packaging Research and Test Center (CPRTC).
Finally, to end his university visits, Singh traveled to Waxu in the Jiangsu province and visited the Jiangnan University. During this final visit, Singh gave a presentation titled, “Distribution Environment Measurement and Simulation” to students and faculty and shared ideas with the university’s Dean of Packaging Engineering regarding teaching, training, and research.
Throughout these visits, Singh discussed the Cal Poly Packaging program and worked to develop international academic and research collaborations between Cal Poly and these universities. Through the exchange of information and the discussion of potential academic and research collaboration opportunities, Singh aims to create channels for undergraduate student exchanges, collaborative research projects, and M.S. in Packaging Value Chain opportunities between the universities and Cal Poly.
As packaging supply chains continue to grow in global stature, international connections for the Cal Poly Packaging Program have become more important than ever. Thanks to Jay Singh, Cal Poly’s Packaging Program looks to expand into a Center for Packaging Value Chain in the coming years.