Polycast

This is a show that explores the lives of Cal Poly students, faculty, and alumni, revealing unique experiences and the abundance of opportunities available. We are excited to sit down with some incredible people from a wide range of backgrounds and hear them share valuable knowledge from their fields of expertise.

This is a show that explores the lives of Cal Poly students, faculty, and alumni, revealing unique experiences and the abundance of opportunities available. We are excited to sit down with some incredible people from a wide range of backgrounds and hear them share valuable knowledge from their fields of expertise.

This is a show that explores the lives of Cal Poly students, faculty, and alumni, revealing unique experiences and the abundance of opportunities available. We are excited to sit down with some incredible people from a wide range of backgrounds and hear them share valuable knowledge from their fields of expertise.

This is a show where I explore the lives of Cal Poly students, faculty, and alumni, revealing unique experiences and the abundance of opportunities available. I am excited to sit down with some incredible people from a wide range of backgrounds and hear them share valuable knowledge from their fields of expertise.

This is a show that explores the lives of Cal Poly students, faculty, and alumni, revealing unique experiences and the abundance of opportunities available. We are excited to sit down with some incredible people from a wide range of backgrounds and hear them share valuable knowledge from their fields of expertise.

This is a show that explores the lives of Cal Poly students, faculty, and alumni, revealing unique experiences and the abundance of opportunities available. We are excited to sit down with some incredible people from a wide range of backgrounds and hear them share valuable knowledge from their fields of expertise.

This is a show that explores the lives of Cal Poly students, faculty, and alumni, revealing unique experiences and the abundance of opportunities available. We are excited to sit down with some incredible people from a wide range of backgrounds and hear them share valuable knowledge from their fields of expertise.

Anika Narula, the former president of Cal Poly’s Society for Environmental Engineers, discusses getting involved with her major and how it impacted her academic career at Cal Poly. She explains what an environmental engineer is and their hopes for a cleaner world. She is finishing up her last year as an undergraduate but will be staying at Cal Poly next year to work on a masters in Civil Engineering.

Alison attended Cal Poly as a philosophy major and has since studied to become a massage therapist. She ran her own practice in downtown San Luis Obispo where she performed orthopedic and oncology massage. Alison now lives in Chicago and is getting her Master’s in Occupational Therapy.

Dr. Deffo is a professor in the aerospace department teaching both graduate and undergraduate courses. He recently finished his Ph.D. at Cal Tech with his thesis on dislocation dynamics.

www.davidkozuch.com/episodes/39

Richard Emberley is an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Cal Poly, specializing in Fire Protection Engineering. With years of experience working in Structural Engineering and around Fire Safety, Emberley combined both fields to teach graduate courses in Fire Protection Mechanical Engineering. He provides numerous stories about various projects he has worked on, information about the field, and some advice for current students at Cal Poly. 

Themis Mastoridis is an assistant professor in the physics department with research interests including accelerator physics, beam dynamics, and control theory. He has worked with the Large Hadron Collider and Super Proton Synchrotron at CERN, bringing students with him to assist in his research.

Stavros is an international student from Greece and is currently working towards obtaining his master's degree in aerospace engineering. He is a member of the aerospace team at the Cal Poly CubeSat laboratory, PolySat where he is highly involved in a variety of projects. Through his involvement on campus, he has gained lots of experience working in cleanrooms and performing hands-on work. 

Megan Rivoire is the coordinator for the campus Center for Service in Action. She first became involved with this program during her first year as a student here at Cal Poly. After graduating, she worked for various organizations in the nonprofit sector through Americorps before eventually coming back to work at Cal Poly.  

Kate Ballantyne is a Deputy Director at the County Public Works Department in San Luis Obispo. An alumnus from Cal Poly and University of California Santa Barbara, Kate has worked with different groups including CalTrans, Cal Poly, and the County of San Luis Obispo where she currently works. With a ton of experience under her belt, Kate’s expertise shines brightly. 

Hayley is one of the founders of SLO Motion Film, a new local film company and film festival organizer based out of San Luis Obispo, CA. With tons of experience in the film industry under her belt, Hayley and SLO Motion Film help give independent storytellers the platform to allow them to share their stories, ideas, and experiences to inspire and motivate their audiences.

“Jedi Master” Jason Linn, as students call him, took many different career paths before ending up at Cal Poly as a lecturer for the History Department.  From dreaming of running for state office to changing his area of study from classics to history, Linn continued to the next challenge of his life: becoming a history professor.  Linn went to CU Boulder and UCSB for his Masters and PhD, and now shares his wide knowledge with Cal Poly students through story-telling with costumes and props. 

Amelia Meyerhoff is a senior at Cal Poly and will be graduating with a degree in English. For her Senior Project, she conducted a research investigation called “The Clapback” where she interviewed 61 survivors of sexual violence. Her research focused on the experiences of each survivor and how the lasting effects of sexual violence impacts their daily lives.  

Owen Main is the sports photographer for Cal Poly Athletics, shooting photography to showcase the best of what our athletics have to offer. An alumnus of Cal Poly, Owen has worked hard to establish himself as a creative and his passion shines through his stories and advice he shares throughout his time as a photographer and as a professional.  

Tyree is a SLO-native and Animal Science senior at Cal Poly. She began participating in rodeos at the age of 4 and has continued all the way through her college career. Recently, she won the title of Rodeo Queen at the Cal Poly Rodeo. Even after college, Cochrane hopes to continue being involved with pro rodeos. 

Rose is the founder of BooBees, a local surf company specializing in creating sustainable surf wax while working to empower women all around the globe. A former student at Cal Poly studying biology, Rose has worked hard to create a brand that is not only environmentally friendly and does the job right but also helps support women in the surfing industry all at the same time. Her passion for surfing and entrepreneurship shines very brightly and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for Rose and BooBees! 

Dr. Watts found her passion for science at a very young age through a science fair project regarding compost and was influenced by her parents who both have PhDs in science fields. She was a chemistry major during her undergrad, originally on the physician track, but switched to studying molecular discovery in natural products in graduate school at UC Santa Cruz. Dr. Watts is very interested in biological activity, isolating molecules and seeing what causes their activity, and enjoys studying accessible natural products, such as soil, with her students here at Cal Poly as a teacher and researcher.

Victor J. Glover, Jr. was selected as an astronaut in 2013 while serving as a Legislative Fellow in the United States Senate. He is currently training for Crew-1, the first post-certification mission of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft – the second crewed flight for that vehicle – and a long duration mission aboard the International Space Station. Glover and his crewmates are working closely with SpaceX to develop their new spacecraft systems, which will provide roundtrip crew transportation services to the International Space Station and, along with Boeing’s Starliner, return the ability to launch humans into space from United States soil.

Jason Reynolds is the founder of Jinxbot 3D Printing, a service business focused in hobby printing, rapid prototyping, and product design for businesses in the Bay Area and around the world! Graduating from Cal Poly in 2009 as an Industrial Technology major, Jason went on to work for a number of different companies before founding Jinxbot 3D Printing. His passion for not only 3D printing but entrepreneurship shines brightly throughout his work in various fields, including medical applications and working with large tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Tesla.  

Haley Pavone was a student at Cal Poly when she had an idea for her very own startup, creating convertible shoes that can go from fancy heel to functional sandal in a matter of seconds. In just a few months, she began pitching her idea to the Hatchery and entering entrepreneurship competitions to progress her business plan. After many months of planning, prototyping, and finding funding, Pavone was able to launch Pashion Footwear.  

Dr. Bridger is an author and history professor at Cal Poly. She earned her undergraduate degree at Brown University and her PhD at Columbia University. Stemming from a postgraduate dissertation, she published “Scientists at War: The Ethics of Cold War Weapons Research.” Now, Bridger is focused on teaching several history classes at Cal Poly, including United States History since 1865 and Cold War Science and Society.  

Dr. Askay is a Communication Studies professor with a background in organizational science, a field that combines sociology, physiology, management and communication. Before coming to Cal Poly in 2013, he taught small group and business communication at UNC Charlotte as well as English in Japan. Dr. Askay shares an eclectic mix of stories from couch surfing across Europe, joining the Yelp Elite Squad and implementing design thinking in his classes at Cal Poly. 

Emma Chow is a conservationist for the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). Her office is based in Santa Maria but covers all of Santa Barbara County. She graduated from Cal Poly with a Bachelor’s degree in environmental protection and management and has been working for the NRCS ever since. She has worked up and down the coast of California to help farmers make their farms more viable businesses. Chow is appreciative of her education and how it has influenced her in pursuing a fulfilling career.