Recent News
Graphic Communication Professor Malcolm Keif wins the Hartman and Dennis Support of Education Award
Dec 10, 2020
By Sophia Lincoln
Malcolm Keif
Graphic communication Professor Malcolm Keif was awarded this year’s Hartman and Dennis Support of Education Award by the Graphic Communications Education Association (GCEA) board of directors.
The GCEA is a collaboration of educators from across the country dedicated to sharing theories, principles, techniques and processes relating to graphic communications and imaging technology.
The award annually recognizes one GCEA member “who has devoted many years of service to the association” and is nationally recognized through contributions and accomplishments in graphic arts teaching, research or service, according to the Award’s site.
Keif said that he has been involved in the association for a while, including time spent as an association conference host, association secretary and association president. He was also the lead author on the association’s Five-Year Strategic Plan.
“Collaborating with other faculty outside of Cal Poly not only strengthens my teaching at Cal Poly, but helps the graphic communication education field in general,” Keif said. “Since we are a tight-knit profession, we all support each other.”
“I think of how many senior faculty members from various universities around the country provided mentorship for me as a young professor,” he said. “Now that I am in the senior stage of my career, I plan to continue that tradition and help other [graphic communication] professors from Cal Poly and other colleges and universities’ strengthen their academic skills.”
Keif is grateful for the professional growth that GCEA has helped him achieve, as well as for the recognition of the award.
“So many people have supported me along the way, it seems natural to give back,” Keif said. “Serving in a professional organization is a terrific way to give back and my time serving on the board of directors at GCEA was wonderful.”
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Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Welcomes Five New Faculty Fellows — Four are from the CLA
Dec 9, 2020
The new cohort includes faculty from English, journalism, philosophy, psychology and experience industry management disciplines
Cal Poly’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) has added five faculty to its interdisciplinary cohort of faculty fellows.
This newest group of CIE Faculty Fellows bolsters an interdisciplinary community that is committed to being a resource for the university as it evolves its role in innovation, entrepreneurship, technology commercialization and regional economic development. They join 24 previously appointed faculty fellows who connect students to Cal Poly’s highly regarded and nationally recognized entrepreneurship program.
“CIE Faculty Fellows have reimagined curricula, crossed disciplines, and pushed the boundaries of what interdisciplinary entrepreneurship education can be,” said Lynn Metcalf, director of the CIE Faculty Fellows program and a professor of entrepreneurship in Cal Poly’s Orfalea College of Business. “They are dedicated to creating a culture of proactive and innovative problem-solving students who will thrive in a rapidly changing world and are deeply committed to interdisciplinary collaboration and to strategic research initiatives that create positive economic and social impacts for the region.”
The CIE has fellows from throughout all of Cal Poly’s six colleges; this year’s additions include one professor from the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences and four from the College of Liberal Arts. These educators incorporate innovation and entrepreneurship into coursework, serve as CIE ambassadors within their discipline and help guide motivated students through the different entrepreneurial career paths. This year’s fellows were selected from a pool of applicants based on specific plans to introduce innovative measures into the classroom.
“Entrepreneurship has never been more important to Cal Poly and our region,” said CIE Executive Director John Townsend. “Our students are taking on today’s challenges with the creativity and passion to make a real difference. Our faculty fellows provide the inspiration and insights to make that a reality, whether our students take that entrepreneurial mindset into the workplace or launch their own startup company.”
The latest CIE Faculty Fellows include:
Deb Donig
— Deb Donig is an assistant professor of English literature in the College of Liberal Arts. Her research and teaching focuses on ethical technology: technological understanding and practice that is equitable in process and outcome and that strives to serve human values. As a CIE fellow, she will focus on increasing diversity in tech culture and participation in entrepreneurship.
Kim Bisheff
— Kim Lisagor Bisheff, a multimedia journalism lecturer who has taught classes in the College of Liberal Arts since 2004, will tackle the struggle to provide creditable and comprehensive news through her Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship course. She will incorporate ideas from environmental science, political science, computer science and business to inspire products that appeal to a broad population while strengthening the pipeline to CIE’s Hatchery and Accelerator programs.
Laura Cacciamani
— Laura Cacciamani, an assistant professor of psychology and child development in the College of Liberal Arts, plans to share how cognitive neuroscience provides insights into entrepreneurs, and how their brains are activated differently as well as their decision-making processes and creative approaches to problem solving. She plans to increase her own knowledge in this area and support psychology students with entrepreneurial interests.
Andrew Lacanienta
— Andrew Lacanienta, an assistant professor in the Experience Industry Management Department of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, will spearhead the creation of a new Experience Journey program for the CIE portfolio. The program will prompt student innovators to think about live interactions, services, experiences in addition to products. He will also establish class content promoting participation in the CIE programs.
Zachary Rentz
— Zachary Rentz, a lecturer in the College of Liberal Arts’ Philosophy Department, specializes in the ethics of emerging sciences and technologies. He will focus on how abstract and unrelated business concerns, such ethical issues, if undetected and unmitigated, can create significant legal, financial and public relations risks for new businesses.
The 2020-21 fellows join 24 colleagues: Hani Alzraiee, civil and environmental engineering; David Askay, communication studies; Philip Barlow, construction management; Lauren Cooper, mechanical engineering; Enrica Lovaglio Costello, art and design; Bob Crockett, biomedical engineering; Ahmed Deif, industrial technology and packaging; Dale Dolan, electrical engineering; Lorraine Donegan, graphic communication; Mary Glick, journalism; Brian Granger, physics; Christopher Heylman, biomedical engineering; David Janzen, computer science; Bo Liu, bioresource and agriculture; Lynn Metcalf, entrepreneurship; Stern Neill, marketing; Clare Olsen, architecture; Erik Sapper, Western Coating Technology Center, chemistry and biochemistry; Christiane Schroeter, agribusiness; Lynne Slivovsky, computer and electrical engineering; Taryn Stanko, management and human resources; Umut Toker, architecture; Javin Oza, chemistry and biochemistry; and Michael Whitt, biomedical engineering.
For more information on the CIE Faculty Fellows, visit https://cie.calpoly.edu/learn/cie-fellows/.
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Ethics Professor Patrick Lin Joins Artificial Intelligence Task Force
Dec 1, 2020
Patrick Lin
In April of 2020, philosophy Professor Patrick Lin joined the Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and National Security at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a leading think tank in Washington, D.C.
Lin, Director of the Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group at Cal Poly, specializes in technology ethics. His published research includes the ethics of autonomous military robotics, nanotechnology, cybersecurity, and bioengineering. The AI Task Force examines how the U.S. should respond to the national security challenges AI poses and is a component of CNAS' multi-year Artificial Intelligence and Global Security Initiative. It is co-chaired by Robert O. Work, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, and Dr. Andrew W. Moore, Head of Google Cloud Artificial Intelligence. More information can be found on the CNAS AI Task Force webpage.
Cal Poly Debate Team receives national recognition
Dec 1, 2020
By Sophia Lincoln
Cal Poly’s Debate Team has recently received some acclaim for both ranking in the top five teams at the Schuman Challenge and finishing the Social Justice Debates Opener as semifinalists.
The Schuman Challenge is an annual contest hosted by the European Union’s Washington, D.C., Delegation wherein undergraduate students in the U.S. present and defend transatlantic policy initiatives before transatlantic experts, according to Cal Poly Debate Team member and political science junior Parker Swanson.
This year’s contest was carried out from October 28 to 30 via Zoom, and the topic focused on how the European Union and United States should respond to China’s alternative models of governance.
Swanson, along with Cal Poly Debate Team members, Isabel Barbee (History) and Rory Dinkins (Environmental Earth and Sciences) put together a policy proposal for the contest and ultimately placed within the top five out of more than 25 teams that participated.
They were recognized with an honorable mention for their written proposal and competitive oral defense.
At the Social Justice Debates Fall Championship, two Cal Poly Debate Team students placed within the top four teams. The championship, which was hosted by George Washington University, included 35 debate teams from across the country. This year, teams engaged the question of whether social justice movements should make abolition of the police their top priority.
Communication studies major Matia Mathes and computer sciences major Julian Rice finished as semifinalists. Additionally, Swanson and communications major Carly Peeters finished within the top 10 teams, with Swanson being ranked the eighth best overall speaker at the event.
The next event in the series will be the Social Justice Debates National Championship, hosted by Morehouse College January 16-17.
In the video below, Debate Team members Barbee, Dinkins and Swanson discuss what being on the team has meant to them.
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English Major Wins Modern Language Association Student Paper Contest
Dec 1, 2020
Alyiah Gonzales
Senior English major Alyiah Gonzales was selected as one of five winners in the 2019 Modern Language Association Student Paper Contest.
Gonzales’ essay, “Disrupting White Normativity in Langston Hughes’s ‘I, Too,’ and Toni Morrison’s ‘Recitatif,’” written for a literature course at Cal Poly, was chosen out of more than 200 essays submitted by college writers across the nation.
The selection committee wrote that her essay “is a strong, bold essay with a clear thesis and a sound analysis of two pieces," calling her essay “a marvelous work – elegant, insightful, and concise.”
Students Attend Women Studies Conference
Dec 1, 2020
Students attend Women Studies Conference
The Women’s and Gender Studies Department took 16 students and recent graduates to the annual conference of the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) in San Francisco in November 2019.
This marked the first time that Cal Poly students attended the NWSA conference. Student travel was funded by a successful Spur Change crowdfunding campaign in spring 2019. The students were able to attend the conference thanks to the generosity of 102 donors.
NWSA is the premier conference in women's studies, and it was transformative for the students. Professor Jane Lehr, who organized the fundraising campaign also wrote: "Taking a big delegation of students will impact (positively!) the ways in which other programs engage with Cal Poly as a site for producing new knowledge in [women's studies] areas."
In addition to attending, multiple Cal Poly students had their work accepted to present as part of the main conference program. "Our students are recognized as emerging scholar-activists at the leading conference in our field!" said Lehr.
New Assistant Dean for Development
Dec 1, 2020
Adam Jarman joined the college as assistant dean for development in March. He has been a member of Cal Poly’s development team for 15 years, having served in a variety of positions.
Jarman is well known on campus and brings a breadth of experience in major gift fundraising, gift planning, donor relations and volunteer management.
He has a deep personal connection to the College of Liberal Arts as a two-time alumnus with a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism (minors in psychology and public administration) and a Master of Public Policy degree. As a student, he was editor in chief of Mustang Daily.
“This is an exciting homecoming for me, and I look forward to building positive relationships with college supporters to advance our priorities,” he said.
Six CLA Students Are Participating in Munich University of Applied Sciences Virtual Abroad Program
Nov 28, 2020
By Sophia Lincoln
This fall, six of twelve Cal Poly students selected to the Munich University of Applied Sciences’ (MUAS) International Virtual Innovation Challenge are from the College of Liberal Arts.
Communication studies student Amanda Smith is participating alongside anthropology and geography students Camryn Haubner, Mehr Loomba, Sean Reigelman, graphic communication student Justin Pioletti and communication studies student Kailey Wachhorst.
Smith first came across the program while scrolling through Cal Poly’s Study Abroad site and was drawn to it because of how the challenge aligned with her academic and career interests.
“I decided on a whim that I didn’t have anything to lose so why not just apply,” Smith said.
Smith is currently working with other students in the program to address how municipalities can motivate companies to act on climate protection even in times of crisis.
According to Cal Poly Study Abroad Coordinator Leanna Jenkins, Munich University of Applied Sciences is an established exchange partner with Cal Poly and has launched this exclusive program for students at four strategic partner universities including Cal Poly.
The program is part of the MUAS GlobalXChallenges project, which aims to internationalize academia and share knowledge between different universities internationally, according to GlobalXChallenges Project Coordinator Andrea Schramm.
“The initial idea [of this project] was actually to have joint student innovation projects and student work placements in both directions with Munich students and our strategic partners, Cal Poly students being one of them,” Schramm said.
When the COVID-19 pandemic limited travel, Schramm's team had to pivot to provide virtual opportunities for the students “and that’s how the whole idea of this international virtual innovation challenge evolved,” Schramm said.
The International Virtual Innovation Challenge teams up students from Austria, Finland, Germany, Switzerland and the United States to solve real-life problems proposed by German organizations, according to Schramm.
The best teams compete for a €300 prize on the student idea competition MachWeiter! and the best performing student of each strategic partner university will be awarded a travel stipend to Munich in 2021.
“It’s a really unique opportunity for our students to still gain some really valuable skills here at Cal Poly,” said Jenkins. “I think this has been a really amazing slam-dunk opportunity for our students to still have a great intercultural experience in the virtual format.”
“The main thing that this program focuses on and tries to teach us is first of all, working in an international team and developing those intercultural team skills, which is really valuable especially now since everything is getting globalized,” Smith said. “The program covers a wide range of things, but all of it is really valuable knowledge to carry on as you graduate.”
Smith hopes that this opportunity will allow her to build connections in Munich that she can carry with her if she ever returns to Germany in person and to continue to build on the German language skills that she has.
“Also, the challenge aligns with my interests in communication, sustainability and communicating risk, which are all parts of my academic curriculum,” Smith said. “I found that it was a really good way for me to apply those skills and demonstrate my capability with it.”
This year’s program started on October 13, 2020 and includes weekly live sessions online.
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Packaging and Graphic Design Students Win Gold at National Competition
Nov 18, 2020
With their focus on highlighting the joy and interactivity of unboxing a product, three interdisciplinary Cal Poly teams received first place, honorable mention, and shout-out awards at the Paperboard Packaging Alliance (PPA) 2019 Student Design Challenge.
Cal Poly Packaging "Party Box"
The PPA event is considered perhaps the most rigorous packaging design competition in the nation. The challenge is open to universities throughout North America and seeks to foster awareness and appreciation of paperboard packaging with university educators and the next generation of packaging design decision-makers. This year more than 50 student teams from 13 universities—including Fashion Institute of Technology, Indiana State, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rutgers, Ryerson University, San Jose State, University of Florida, University of Wisconsin Stout, and Virginia Tech—submitted entries.
Students were challenged to design packaging for a gaming platform that enhances the unboxing experience and can be used while playing the system. Winners were chosen by a panel of paperboard packaging industry professionals, which rated submissions based on their response to the competition scenario, innovative structural and graphic design, functionality, and the quality of the finished product.
Cal Poly Packaging "Oblivion Impact"
The university’s top entry earned first place with “Party Box,” an innovative portable packaging system for a gaming console that becomes a projector and gameboard. The design was created by a student team consisting of Sam Baber (Art and Design, Graphic Design concentration), Morgan McKean (Graphic Communication, Packaging minor), Vance Perkins (Industrial Technology and Packaging), and Samantha Phan (Business Administration, Consumer Packaging Concentration, and Packaging minor). The team presented its project to executives from top North American paperboard packaging manufacturers at the Paperboard Packaging Council’s annual fall meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on October 24.
A second Cal Poly team designed the entry “Pokémon Battle Arena” and earned one of the two honorable mention awards. The project was the work of Amber Huang (Graphic Communication, Packaging minor), Briana Jackson (Art and Design, Graphic Design concentration), Marilyn Nguyen (Industrial Technology and Packaging), and Evan Williams (Industrial Technology and Packaging).
The top three student teams received cash prizes, while their respective schools also received a cash award to support academic programs, with first-place earning $5,500 for the team and $5,000 for the university.
Cal Poly Packaging "Battle Arena"
All award-winning Cal Poly teams were advised by professors Javier de la Fuente (Associate Professor of Industrial Technology and Packaging), Irene Carbonell (Lecturer of Industrial Technology and Packaging), and Mary LaPorte (Professor Emeritus of Art and Design). The projects were the result of an ongoing collaboration between Industrial Technology and Packaging (ITP 408) and Art and Design (ART 437) students. In previous ITP-ART collaborations, Cal Poly teams finished in second place at the PPA Student Design Challenge, both in 2018 and 2017, and in first place in 2015.
The program has been using the income from their past and present victories to outsource printing services for their projects. They’ve also been banking the leftovers to save for a $45,000 Roland plotter, capable of printing directly on paperboard. They’re hoping to find a donor in the near future to match those efforts, putting a tool that would allow teams to be even more creative within reach. “These victories are the results of a lot of hard work for all the parties involved,” say Professor de la Fuente. “No special magic is enabling them. Just dedication.”
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Cal Poly Joins Network to Help Ensure Technology Creates Public Benefit
Nov 18, 2020
In January of 2020, Cal Poly joined the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN), a partnership that fosters collaboration between universities and colleges committed to building the field of public interest technology and training a new generation of civic-minded technologists.
The public interest technology field is dedicated to leveraging technology to support public interest organizations and the people they serve. At Cal Poly, research projects related to this field are being funded by the university’s Center for Expressive Technologies, including research into using image classification technology to formulate better public health messaging on social media. Another project works with a group of multidisciplinary undergraduate research assistants to develop virtual reality scenarios meant to increase bystander behavior to reduce sexual harassment among college students.
In the university’s first year in PIT-UN, an interdisciplinary team of Cal Poly faculty and staff will establish the groundwork to build a field called “ethical technology” — comprised of inquiry and training that bridges humanistic and technical domains to create innovation that is equitable in both process and outcomes. This team will be led by Matthew Harsh, an professor in the Interdisciplinary Studies in the Liberal Arts Department and the director of the Center for Expressive Technologies.
“Cal Poly has made tremendous progress in building trans- and interdisciplinary opportunities for students and faculty, including four minors in science, technology and society; the interdisciplinary studies major; a data science minor and a computing for interactive arts minor,” Harsh said. “Building upon these, we can train the next generation of technologists to think with a humanist frame of mind and the next generation of humanists to gain technological skills.”
By joining PIT-UN, member institutions commit to launching or strengthening initiatives on their campuses that enable interdisciplinary education of students, develop experiential learning opportunities, support students who want to pursue careers in public interest technology, and provide faculty with the support and resources needed to build public interest technology as an area of inquiry.
PIT-UN has a total membership of 36 colleges and universities, including UC Berkeley, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, among other top-ranked institutions. The network is funded through partners in the philanthropic and public policy sectors, including the Ford Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, and New America, a think and action tank dedicated to public problem solving.