Winter Spring 2020

CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING | COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING | WINTER/SPRING 2020 

benchmark 

& beaker 

Getting 

Into Focus 

FARO Technologies donates laser scanner 

to prepare students for careers in 

construction engineering.

INSIDE 

03 FROM THE DEPARTMENT CHAIR 

04 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS 

06 ALUMNI NIGHT 

07 PARTNERS DINNER 

08 MEET THE FACULTY 

11 CELEBRATING SUCCESS 

12 CLUB FEED 

14 THANK YOU PARTNERS 

16 GETTING INTO FOCUS 

18 PARTNERING FOR SUCCESS 

20 SENIOR PROJECT ZOOMS FORWARD 

ON THE COVER 

Hani Alzraiee and civil engineering 

senior Raphael Maciel use laser scanner 

donated by FARO Technologies. 

THIS PAGE 

COncrete Canoe worked hard all year to 

prepare this year’s design. 

ABOUT BENCHMARK & BEAKER 

Benchmark symbolizes civil engineering 

and Beaker symbolizes environmental 

engineering. This publication is 

produced twice a year by the Civil and 

Environmental Engineering Department. 

To view the online version of this edition 

or past editions, visit ceenve.calpoly. 

edu/newsletters. 

22 FAMILY FIRST 

24 CONCRETE CANOE 

27 KEEPING UP WITH ALUMNI 

2 | CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

From 

Department 

The 

chair 

Greetings alumni, Partners, parents, students, and 

supporters, 

These are unprecedented times with a lot of uncertainty. 

But one thing is for sure — the Cal Poly community is 

more united than ever before. These times have shown 

us what we can accomplish when we work together. In 

just two weeks, we worked together to bring our Spring 

classes online and found creative solutions to deliver 

the same quality of instruction virtually. I am proud of 

our faculty and staff for adapting so quickly and proud 

of our students for their resilience and willingness to 

adapt to our new reality. 

celebrate the many achievements of our students and 

faculty. As you will read in this issue of Benchmark 

and Beaker, The Society of Civil Engineers, Concrete 

Canoe, WERC competition team, the Institute of 

Transportation Engineers, and GeoWall celebrated 

special accomplishments. 

Our donors and industry Partners were especially 

insutrmental this year in helping us upgrade technology, 

our lab spaces, and gave students more opportunities 

for hands-on learning. Our Industiral Partnership 

Program completed another year of successful 

recruiting for our corporate partners and we held our 

first consutrction engineering career fair. 

On behalf of the entire department, I want to thank you 

for your support over the past year and as we continue 

this new journey navigating COVID-19 . 

Thanks to our donors, we launched our virtual lab 

desktops which allows students to access lab programs 

and software from their homes. This was especially 

crucial during this virtual quarter so that classes could 

continue and students have the tools they need. 

Although many of our larger competitions were 

postponed or canceled this year, we continue to 

Stay safe and well. We will see you on campus very 

soon. 

Sincerely, 

Charles Chadwell, Ph.D., P.E. 

Department Chair 

WINTER/SPRING 2020 | 3

2019-2020 

Scholarship 

Recipients 

These scholarship recipients 

were selected for their respective 

scholarships after careful 

consideration of their academic 

achievements, extracurricular 

activities and strides they’ve made 

towards their career goals. 

We want to extend a special thank 

you to all our scholarship donors. 

Alex Murray 

John Stephen 

Larson Memorial 

Scholarship 

Environmental 

Engineering, 

Graduate 

Anna Johnson 

Constant J. and 

Dorothy F. Chrones 

Scholarship -- Civil 

Engineering 

Civil Engineering, 

Senior 

Allyson Swain 

Constant J. and Dorothy 

F. Chrones Scholarship 

-- Environmental 

Engineering 

Environmental 

Engineering, Senior 

Ashley Green 

Chevron Scholarship 

for Environmental 

Engineering 

Environmental 


Calvin Wang 

Clark Construction 

Construction 

Engineering Scholarship 


Senior 

Casey Boyle 

Chris Rockway 

Scholarship 

Endowment 


Junior 

Christina Hinson 



Scholarship -- Civil 

Engineering 


Sophomore 

Christopher Aslo 

Harold Frank 

Engineering 

Scholarship 


Sophomore 

Claire Anovick 

Rollo & Ridley Inc. 

Geotechnical 

Engineering 


Junior 

Davis Ross 

Don Chapin 

Company 

Scholarship 


Junior 

Dustin Lee 

APWA Herbert E. Gerfen 

Scholarship 

Civil & Environmental 

Engineering, Graduate 

Ella Herrmann 

Chevron Environmental 

Education Scholarship 

Endowment 


Senior 


Eric Golant 

Cord Meier Memorial 

Civil Engineering 

Scholarship 


Junior 

Fabian Leon 

Clark Construction 

Construction 

Engineering 

Scholarship 


Junior 

Grace Bowman 

Don Chapin Company 

Scholarship 


Junior 

Grant Smith 

John Tracy Jr 

Engineering 

Scholarship 


Junior 

Jordan Wong 

Boeing Engineering 

Scholarship 


Junior 

Joshua Schipper 

Harold Frank 

Engineering 

Scholarship 

Environmental 

Engineering, 

Sophomore 

Karin Finney 



Scholarship 

-- Environmental 

Engineering 

Environmental 


Madeline David 

Wood Rodgers Civil 

Engineering 

Scholarship 


Junior 

Marissa Kephart 

Dragoslav M. Misic 

Scholarship 

Environmental 


Maxwell Batanian 

Lars Larsen 

Engineering 

Scholarship 

Environmental 


Nicholas Vincent 

Don Chapin Company 

Scholarship 


Senior 

Robert Sprotte 

Adele and Aldo 

Alessio Scholarship 

Endowment Fund 


Junior 


JANUARY 17 – 

The department 

collaborated 

with Industrial 

Advisory Board 

and the student 

chapter of the 

Institute of 

Transportation 

Engineers (ITE) 

for the first CE/ 

ENVE Alumni 

Night. The post- 

Career Fair 

event brought 

together alumni 

friends, faculty 

and current CE/ 

ENVE students 

to celebrate Cal 

Poly and served 

as a fundraiser 

for Cal Poly ITE. 

▲Faculty, alumni and current students 

enjoy the first ever CE/ENVE Alumni 

Night. 

2020 

Alumni Night 


2nd Annual 

Partners Dinner 

DECEMBER 6 – At our second 

annual Partners Dinner, 

students got to network 

with 14 companies and learn 

about the numerous career 

opportunities available with 

our Partners. 

▼ Students enjoy a three-course meal with our 

Partners at our CE/ENVE Partners Dinner. 


Meet the Faculty: 

Sam Vigil 

In 1965, Sam Vigil was a student at CSU 

Hayward (now called Cal State East Bay) 

studying physics. Vigil’s life took a turn 

that year when he received a letter from 

his local draft board on Christmas Eve. 

“So I’m going along, taking 13 to 14 units, 

and then in 1965, on Christmas Eve believe 

it or not, I get a letter telling me that my 

deferment’s gone and I’m now what’s classified 

as 1A (available for military 

service),” Vigil said. 

Despite being a full-time student and 

originally having a valid student deferment, 

Vigil had been listed as eligible for the draft. 

From the experience of his friends, he said 

there was only about one month to take 

action in response to the letter before being 

drafted. 

Vigil initially decided to join the Navy the 

Aviation Reserve Officer Candidate (AVROC) 

program but ended up failing the depth 

perception test in the eyesight 

portion of the physical. The Navy then 

called him and asked that he try out for the 

larger branch called the Reserve Officer 

Candidate (ROC) program. After trying out 

for the ROC program – which this time 

didn’t require a test of strong depth 

perception – he passed the physical and 

waited for six months to hear back. 

Vigil officially joined the Navy in May 1966. 

When he started in his reserve unit, he took 

a test to become an electronic technician, 

since that was his “hobby at the time.” 

Vigil transferred to UC Berkeley in winter 

quarter of 1967, graduating in 1969 with a 

bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. In 

October 1969, he entered active duty as an 

ensign. From communication technician to 

8 | CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING 

commander, Vigil served in the 

Navy Reserve and on active 

duty from 1966 to 1995. 

The military provided him 

with a range of opportunities, 

including the chance to live 

in Puerto Rico for three years 

as part of the Naval Security 

Group – the branch of the 

Navy responsible for signals 

intelligence gathering and 

cryptology. 

After earning his master’s 

degree in civil engineering, 

Vigil transferred to the Navy Civil Engineer 

Corps. He served another 20 years in the 

Navy Reserve with assignments in Navy 

Construction Battalion Two (also known 

as the Navy Seabees) and engineering 

projects in the U.S., Europe and the Philippines. 

He 

retired from the Navy Reserve in 1995 with 

the rank of commander. 

Education still played a crucial role in 

Vigil’s life alongside his involvement in the 

Navy and the Navy Reserve. After his release 

from active duty in 1973, he earned a 

master’s degree in civil 

engineering from Texas A&M in 1974 and a 

doctorate in engineering from UC Davis in 

1981. Vigil’s graduate education was funded 

by the G.I. Bill, RA and TA appointments 

and Navy Reserve pay. 

In 1980, he joined Brown and 

Caldwell, a major environmental engineering 

firm in the Bay Area, where he 

worked on energy conservation, recycling 

and waste-to-energy projects. In 1982, he 

joined the faculty of the Cal Poly Civil and 

Environmental Engineering Department 

where he taught courses in water and 

▲ At the time of his retirement in 1995, Vigil was a commissioned 

officer for the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps on 

reserve duty. 

waste-water treatment, waste management 

and sustainable 

environment engineering. He is now a 

retired environmental engineering professor 

at Cal Poly. 

Vigil credits his Navy experience in the 

Civil Engineer Corps and his 

consulting experience at Brown and Caldwell 

with helping provide his 

students with “real world” problems. 

In addition to teaching, Dr. Vigil has been 

involved in various research projects in 

waste management and sustainability. 

He is also a co-author of the widely used 

textbook “Solid Waste Management: 

Engineering Principles and Management 

Issues” published by McGraw-Hill in 1963. 

He is a professional engineer, a board-certified 

environmental engineer, a Leadership in 

Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) 

accredited professional and a fellow of 

the Air and Management 

Association.

Meet the Faculty: 

STEFAN TALKE 

Stefan Talke graduated from 

UC Berkeley with a bachelor’s 

degree in mechanical 

engineering before working 

for a couple years in the software 

industry. Talke decided to 

return to his alma mater, wanting a 

better fit for his desire to get outside 

and do more field work. 

“It’s different in the field. You know, 

these days we tend to see things behind 

a computer, and you miss some 

stuff when you’re doing that,” Talke 

said. “Literally you might miss it, but 

figuratively or conceptually we 

simplify things too much sometimes 

and we don’t see the details that are 

important.” 

He earned master’s and doctorate 

degrees in civil and environmental 

engineering, with a focus in physical 

oceanography. The faculty member 

said he now jokes that his plan 

worked, because as a coastal engineer 

he “only spends 99 percent” of 

his time behind a computer. 

In 2005, Talke moved to the 

Netherlands to work as a post-doc at 

the University of Utrecht, researching 

the hydrodynamics and effects 

of changing conditions in the Ems 

estuary. While he originally took the 

job because he thought it would be 

an interesting place to live, he ended 

up loving the research as well as the 

people he interacted with. 

From 2007 to 2010, he worked as a 

research associate at the University 

of Washington, focusing on 

variation in highly turbid estuaries 

and surface boils in a tidal river. He 

went on to do research and work 

as an assistant and eventually as 

an associate professor at the University 

of Portland from 2010 until 

his recent move to Cal Poly. 

Between an opportunity to be closer 

to friends and family and a job description 

that seemed like a perfect 

fit, Talke said he couldn’t pass up the 

offer to come to San Luis Obispo. 

“I really enjoy being close to the 

ocean again. I’ve been an 

oceanographer and a coastal engineer 

that hasn’t seen the coast in a 

while,” Talke said. “I like the hiking 

and the wide-openness, people are 

friendly – it reminds me a little bit 

more of what California used to be 

like before it got really stressed out 

and full of traffic.” 

Talke’s current projects include 

collaborative research on the relation 

between sea-level trends and tidal 

variability to disaster risk on the east 

coast. The new faculty member is analyzing 

historical records of tidal data 

and their significance in understanding 

cities’ differing vulnerabilities to 

flooding and hurricanes. 

“When you overlay all of this – all of 

the human-induced changes in our 

coastal regions – with sea level rise 

and changing floods due to more 

▲ Stefan Talke is a new faculty member for the Civil 

and Environmental Engineering Department at Cal 

Poly SLO. 

intense storms, let’s say, then you 

have a real infrastructure problem 

that you have to figure out [to 

protect the coastline],” Talke said. 

“And what do you do about that?” 

It’s questions like these that drive 

Talke’s research. Upon his arrival 

to the central coast, Talke said 

he looks forward to starting work 

with the Center for Coastal Marine 

Sciences at the Cal Poly Pier and in 

Morro Bay. 

As for wisdom to impart on his 

students that he wishes he knew 

as a young engineer, Talke said 

he wants them to simply take 

advantage of office hours. 

“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. 

None of us are perfect. None of us 

are just supernaturally intelligent,” 

Talke said. “Part of the learning 

process is getting to that point 

where you’re like, ‘Hey, I don’t 

know this.’ And it’s okay to ask for 

help and you don’t have to just try 

to figure it out yourself all the time.” 


Rebekah Oulton 

Rebekah Oulton graduated from 

Harvey Mudd College with a 

bachelor’s degree in both general 

engineering and environmental 

policy. Oulton’s first job was a 

marketing position at Southern 

California Gas Company (SoCalGas) 

in San Luis Obispo (SLO). 

While at SoCalGas, Oulton earned 

her mechanical professional 

engineer license. After five years 

with SoCalGas, the professor 

returned to SLO to work for Cannon 

as a professional engineer. 

Having been involved with Harvey 

Mudd’s Society of Women Engineers 

(SWE) chapter, Oulton wanted to 

charter a chapter in SLO. Here, she 

met faculty advisor Helene Finger. 

Finger invited Oulton to be a parttime 

lecturer for civil engineering at 

Cal Poly one day over lunch. 

“She caught me on a good day. I had 

always said I would never want to be 

a teacher, because my parents were 

both teachers — my mom taught 

high school and my dad taught 

college,” Oulton said. 

Realizing she wanted to teach 

full-time and consult on the side, 

Oulton went back to school and 

earned her doctorate in environmental 

engineering. She then returned to 

Cal Poly, this time as an assistant 

professor. 

In June 2019, Oulton moved from 

assistant professor to associate 

professor for the university. Oulton 

said she still feels as at home as she 

did when she first showed up. 

“It’s like I figured out when I was 

lecturing; this is what I should be 

doing,” Oulton said. “I just feel like 

I’ve kind of found my right work, and 

that’s what I really hope for all of my 

students; that they find the right work. 

Because when you do that, then every 

day is just a joy.” 

Anurag Pande 

Anurag Pande earned his Bachelor 

of Technology degree in civil 

engineering from the Indian 

Institute of Technology, Bombay in 

2002. In 2008, Pande came to teach 

in the civil and environmental 

engineering department at Cal 

Poly. 

“You know, that’s the great thing 

about a faculty position, because 

you pretty much never have to 

do work that you don’t like to do, 

right?” Pande said. “You always get 

to teach your classes that you love 

to teach, and in terms of research, 

it’s always the work that [you] want 

to do.” 


For Pande, producing “good work with 

good students” has been a highlight of 

his time at the university. 

“What I’ve found is [my students] have 

really valuable feedback and I’ve been 

able to work on my teaching,” Pande 

said. 

Two projects that he is most excited 

about concern the “big picture idea” of 

looking at before-and-after situations 

in a different light. Pande said a naïve 

approach focuses strictly on outcomes 

before and after a change and simply 

compared the two. 

One thing that Pande missed as 

a young engineering student was 

“learning the ability to focus” and 

learning how to learn. 

“I think the secret is that pretty much 

everything that you will do in your careers 

is going to depend on your skills to be 

able to learn new ideas and approaches, 

because things change, from what we 

learned in school,” Pande said. “So you 

should absolutely try to learn what is 

being taught in the classroom, but not 

necessarily only for that content, but to 

gain an ability to learn new things.”

▲ SCE Members at the 2019 Pacific Southwest Conference, results of which went 

towards the decisions for chapter awards. 

CelebraTing Success 

Cal Poly’s Society of Civil 

Engineers (SCE) student 

chapter recently received the 

Distinguished Chapter award 

for 2019. This honor is awarded 

by the American Society of Civil 

Engineers (ASCE) to outstanding 

student chapters within each 

region. 

Structural engineering professor 

Daniel Jansen served as faculty 

advisor to the club this past year. 

“SCE is a great group of students 

and they really don’t need much 

advising,” Jansen said. “They 

have good internal leadership and 

a dedicated core of officers.” 

Civil engineering senior Rebecca 

Maloney is the president of this 

core of officers. Maloney got 

involved with the chapter as 

a freshman. She started in the 

mentorship program, moved on 

to join the events committee the 

next year and became the Vice 

President of Events in her third 

year. 

“SCE has become my community 

on campus, it’s where I have 

found people that I know will be 

in my life long past when we all 

graduate,” Maloney said. “Being 

a part of the club has given me 

many opportunities to pursue 

leadership roles and, in turn, I 

attribute a lot of my personal, 

academic, and professional 

growth to these opportunities 

(such as starting to overcome 

my never ending fear of public 

speaking).” 

Over the years, Cal Poly SCE has 

become known for planning 

and executing the Civil and 

Environmental Engineering 

Career Fair alongside the student 

Society of Environmental 

Engineers (SENVE) chapter. 

▲ SCE President Rebecca Maloney says that the 

club will be what she misses most about Cal Poly. 

“To me, this award is far more 

meaningful than any single 

event, because it recognizes 

the collective excellence of 

the student chapter and the 

contributions of so many,” said 

Daniel Jansen, SCE Club Advisor 

and Civil Engineering Professor. 


SENVE 

calpolysenve 

Check 

out 

our CLUB FEED 

... 

SCE 

sce_calpoly 

... 

Liked by ceenvecalpoly and others 

calpolysenve Thank you to everyone that made Snow Trip 2020 a blast! 

CG 

calpolycalgeo ... 


sce_calpoly On the weekend of January 24th, a group of SCE officers and our 

faculty advisor, Dr. Jansen, went to the annual WSCL (Workshop for Student 

Chapter Leaders) Conference in San Francisco. Throughout the weekend our 

representatives learned about current topics in the industry, met students 

from other schools, and discovered ways to improve our club. Thanks to ASCE 

for putting on an amazing event! #thisisasce #ascelocalnews @asce_hq 

SB 

calpolysteelbridge ... 


calpolycalgeo This year’s GeoWall team took home 10th place at Nationals. We 

had a great time competing against 19 other schools and are looking forward 

to PSWC in 5 weeks! #geocongress2020 #geowall #calpoly #fullsand 


calpolysteelbridge Thank you to our members who have continued to help us 

through this journey. We’re grateful to have such an amazing team! 


RW 

cprainworks ... 

SWE 

cpswe ... 



cpswe On Jan 23rd we had our 44th Annual Evening With Industry! This year’s 

theme was “The Future is 2020” and in honor of this we celebrated some 

wonderful female engineers and future leaders. 28 Cal Poly students received 

scholarships and 10 Outstanding Women Engineers were acknowledged for 

their achievements. We were lucky to hear from some amazing speakers such 

as Malia Farkas, Dean Fleischer, and President Armstrong. This event wouldn’t 

have been possible without our company sponsors and swe members. Thank 

you to everyone who attended and hope to SWE you all again next year! 

cprainworks Happy Thanksgiving! Late post from the Earth Shrine River Walk 

Clean-Up event earlier this month - thanks to those who came, and thank 

you to our members and supporters for making this club what it is! Happy 

holidays! 

ESW 

eswcalpoly ... 

CE 

xecpweb ... 


eswcalpoly Camping trip social was a success! We had a great time around 

the campfire, setting up tents, eating s’mores, exploring the beach, and more!! 

(Make sure to keep a look out for new socials coming up next quarter!) 


xecpweb Welcome to our new members! 


Thank 

You Partners 

On behalf of our entire department — students, 

faculty, and staff — we want to say thank you to 

all our Partners. Because of your support, we 

were able to complete many impactful projects 

to benefit our students, faculty and staff. 

Key Accomplishments 

• Complete upgrade of our main classroom space 

with new tables, chairs and audio/visual system. 

• Integrated a virtual lab program which gives 

students access to important software and 

programs from anywhere in the world. 

• Created the first construction engineering career 

fair to connect students with career opportunities. 

• Completed the third successful year of our 

Industrial Partnership Program. 

• Support faculty development through conferences 

and research travel. 

• Purchased a department vehicle for student, 

faculty and staff use. 


“Our Partners are part of the CE/ENVE family. You are 

what keep us going and allows us to continuously 

rank as one of the top civil and environmental 

engineering programs in the country— thank you,” 

said Charles Chadwell, department chair. 

Our Industrial Partnership Program has 

opportunities to create a presence on campus 

and build relationships with our students, clubs, 

and faculty. Our program connects you to top-tier 

students through unique recruitment and branding 

opportunities. This program helps fund student 

competitions and projects, research, instructional 

materials, lab renovations and department 

improvement projects. 

For more information about becoming part of our 

Industrial Partnership Program visit 

ceenve.calpoly.edu/ipp.

Lab Sponsors 

Platinum Donors 

Gold Silver Bronze 

h Blois Construction 

h Wallace Group 

h DeSilva Gates 

Construction 

h Gregory P. Luth & 

Associates, Inc. 

h Mott McDonald 

h GS Bridge 

h Truebeck Construction 

h Murphy Structural 

Engineers 

h Huitt-Zolars 

h Stratus Environmental 

Inc. 

h Diablo Engineering Group 

h Kittleson & Associates 

h Fehr and Peers 

h BNBuilders 

h Provost & Pritchard 

Consulting Group 

h Rick Engineering 

Company 

h GeoSyntec 

h Van Sande 

Engineering 

h Pet Doors 

h W.E. O’Neil 

h FTF Engineering 

h Condor Earth 

h EL Montgomery 

h RJA-GPS 

h Diversified 

Project Services 

International 

h Churchill Cost 

h Parisi 


Consulting 

h Arcadis 

h DKS Associates 

h MSD 

Professional 

Engineering Inc. 

h Carollo 

h Engeo 

h W-Trans 


Getting into 

Focus 

► Construction 

engineering professor 

Hani Alzraiee assists 

civil engineering 

senior Raphael Maciel 

with the laser scanner. 


FARO®’s donated laser scanner gives 

students hands-on experience with 

the latest construction 

engineering technology. 

With just a few clicks, students can accurately measure 

complex objects and buildings. Thanks to FARO’s donation 

of their latest FocusS series laser scanner, students will be 

trained and ready to use these tools when they graduate. 

Our department has prioritized advancing construction engineering 

curriculum as civil engineering students have shown increased interest in 

entering the construction field. Construction engineering professor Hani 

Alzraiee created the Advanced Building Information Modeling for Civil 

Engineering (CE 415) course to prepare students interested in the field. 

With the donation of the FARO® Focus Laser Scanner, Alzraiee aims to 

train CE 415 students to use the scanner and analyze the data it collects 

in the design and construction process. The classes focuses on managing 

vertical structures, BIM based quantity take-off, clash detection, and 4D 

modeling. 

Senior Raphael Maciel was one of the first students to use the laser 

scanner, “Hani got us really excited about the class. When we went 

outside actually started using the scanner, it was really interesting and 

that got me more excited about it.” 

FARO’s FocusS series laser scanner has a built-in 8 mega-pixel, HDRcamera 

that captures detailed imagery easily while providing a natural 

color overlay to the scan data in extreme lighting conditions. The scanner 

is light weight, small and has a 4.5-hour battery runtime per charge 

making the FocusS Laser Scanner truly mobile for fast, secure and reliable 

scanning. The point cloud data captured by the scanner can be used with 

FARO programs or third-party programs like Autodesk. 

FARO’s gift has transformed and enhanced our construction engineering 

curriculum. With industry support, our students will receive the training 

they need to be successful in their careers. 

“I want to thank FARO® for this gift,” Alzraiee said. “I also want to 

thank them for the training they have provided for me in order to 

get up to speed with using their tool and their software. As well as 

the continuous support we are having and their contribution to the 

classroom.” 


Partnering 

For Success 

▲ Milton Carrasco, 

CEO, Transoft 

Solutions, spoke to 

Cal Poly students 

about his inspirational 

journey at the oncampus 

training on 

February 7, 2020. 


Transoft Solutions 

Partners with Cal Poly 

to Prepare Students for 

Careers in Transportation 

Transoft Solutions Inc., a global leader 

in transportation engineering design, 

analysis and operational software, has 

partnered with California Polytechnic 

State University, San Luis Obispo to provide the Civil 

and Environmental Engineering department with 

its key flagship products AutoTURN® and TORUS® . 

These products are intended to help civil engineering 

students gain the necessary skills on industry-leading 

software and prepare them to take on challenges in the 

urban transportation design profession. On February 7, 

Transoft Solutions President and CEO, Milton Carrasco, 

spoke to over 30 Cal PoSly students interested in 

transportation engineering careers. Carrasco discussed 

the Transoft Foundation and the company’s reach 

across the globe and amongst universities. 

“Investing in education is our way of giving 

back to the profession, and it is imperative that 

technology companies and educators work 

together to ensure a highly skilled workforce,” 

said Milton Carrasco, Transoft Solutions, CEO. 

Cal Poly’s program has quickly grown into one of 

the top undergraduate civil engineering programs in 

the nation according to U.S. News & World Reports. 

We consistently attract top student candidates with 

modern, well-equipped laboratories, close interaction 

between undergraduates and full-time faculty and 

strong reputation among employers in the civil 

engineering and construction industries. 

“Our partnerships with industry leaders like 

Transoft Solutions strengthen our program 

and ensure we are preparing students with 

the latest technology so that they are ready to 

solve real-world problems from the day they 

graduate,” said Charles Chadwell, Civil and 

Environmental Engineering department chair. 

The Transoft Education Program (TEP) was launched 

with a mission to help future civil engineers develop 

critical knowledge and build the technical skills they 

need to succeed in this dynamic field. The program has 

provided over 700 software licenses to classes in higher 

education institutions and to individual students 

conducting degree-related research across the US and 

Canada. 

With rapid urbanization, various types of traffic such as 

commuter cars, commercial vehicles, AVs and bicycles 

need to co-exist. Transportation professionals are 

now faced with designing safe, reliable and integrated 

infrastructure. Cal Poly provides practice-oriented 

education, emphasizing design project experiences. 

With “hands-on” laboratory activities and teamwork, 

the program helps prepare students for successful 

careers in civil engineering. 

Transoft Solutions’ AutoTURN® Pro will help students 

model design vehicle turning maneuvers in 3D, and 

check space allocations as they maneuver through 

intersections and other traffic facilities. TORUS®, 

the industry leading roundabout software of its kind 

and used by Departments of Transportation (DOTs) 

including Caltrans, will give students a chance to learn 

how to produce roundabout geometry considering 

speed profile, design vehicle swept path, and sight 

distance checks. 

“With the incorporation of Transoft Solutions’, 

AutoTURN® and TORUS® software – both of 

which are widely used by State DOTs and Architecture, 

Engineering, and Construction (AEC) 

companies - into Cal Poly’s instruction, our students 

will be further prepared entering into the 

Transportation Engineering industry,” said Paul 

Valadao, Civil Engineering lecturer and senior 

design coordinator. 


Spring 

Senior 

Projects 

Zoom 

Forward 

Cal Poly has adapted to the new 

normal and found ways to 

continue delivering the same 

quality of education virtually. 

Senior design is the capstone class of 

the ciivl engineering curriculum and 

is the culminationg of all four years of 

undergraduate program. Faculty and staff 

have worked together to deliver the same 

senior design experience virtually. 

Civil engineering lecturer and senior design 

project coordinator Paul Valadao notes that, 

in light of recent events, guiding student 

online has its positive qualities. It makes the 

faculty more accessible to the students. 

“It is important to note from the onset the 

‘Learn by Doing’ experience is at its core, 

best harnessed in-person,” Valadao said. 

“There is no denying this. Although it is also 

worth recognizing that transferring the spring 

quarter and latter portion of civil engineering 

Senior Design to an online distance-learning 

format has made the faculty more easily 

accessible to our students.” 

Similar to most departments at Cal Poly, civil 

and environmental engineering faculty are 

utilizing the conferencing platform Zoom 

Video Communications. Through Zoom, more of the 

focus lies in team-based project submittals, rather than 

individual exams. Students are encouraged to take the 

opportunity to further develop project communication. 

“Civil engineering Senior Design students are most 

successful if they willingly and effectively work together,” 

Valadao said. “The refined skills derived from this 

student-team collaboration will be directly applied to our 

graduate’s first job in industry, allowing them to be ready 

day one.” 

For civil engineering senior Jose Chalapa Diaz, the 


▲ CE Senior Design students meet over Zoom during spring quarter 2020. 

news of moving to online for Senior Design 

was particularly crushing. Chalapa Diaz is the 

project manager for Cal Poly’s Steel Bridge 

competition team, which serves as fulfillment of 

his required capstone project. With school shops 

closed, completing his project became virtually 

impossible. However, Chalapa Diaz and his team 

are making the best of the situation with meetings 

that correspond to the usual phases of steel bridge. 

“The presentations are filled with pictures, videos, 

tips and experiences from our current experience,” 

he said. “We hope that the new team can utilize all 

the knowledge to create a better team, compete at 

competition and get high rankings.” 

For Valadao, working with the seniors on their final 

projects is “one of the coveted highlights” of his 

job. He’s been involved with CE Senior Design for 

over a decade, and he still looks forward to it every 

year. 

“I truly cherish the opportunity each academic year 

and find it tremendously rewarding to take this 

journey with our graduating seniors in this valuable 

course,” Valadao said. 


▼Cal Poly ITE at 2020 Student Leadership Summit. 

Family first 

As a freshman in high school, Kezia 

Suwandhaputra’s father took her to an 

event for women in engineering. There, 

she met a woman who studied at Harvard 

and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 

and who encouraged Suwandhaputra to pursue 

civil engineering. 

It hasn’t always been easy pursuing civil 

engineering for Suwandhaputra. Being less inclined 

toward math and science, she struggled in the 

first couple of years in the major. She considered 

switching to city and regional planning (CRP), 

instead, but got through with hard work and the 

constant reminder that there was an end goal to 

reach. 

“It’s been a blast,” she says. “My major classes have 

been a really big help because now I’m actually 

applying the things I learned first and second year 

to real life applications.” 


Today, she is 

president of Cal 

Poly’s Institute of 


Engineers 

(ITE) chapter. 

Suwandhaputra 

recalls going 

to the club fair 

as a freshman, 

trying to choose 

from the various 

engineering 

organizations. 

Ultimately, ITE 

was the one that 

stuck out to her the 

most. 

▲Suwandhaputra is a third year civil 

engineering student at Cal Poly. 

ITE is an organization that aims to connect and 

educate transportation students and professionals. 

The Cal Poly chapter provides peers with the 

opportunity to learn from professionals, learn 

more about the field and make lasting change 

within the SLO community.

Club member Emily Linn was instantly intrigued by 

the club her freshman year. Although it was nerveracking 

at first to dive into something new, she felt 

at home after the first meeting she attended. Later, 

she attended the Student Leadership Summit 

(SLS) with ITE. 

“Going with ITE to SLS 2019 only cemented the 

“family” motto the club nurtures,” Linn says. 

“The club slowly became a place where I truly felt 

accepted, surrounded by people who would cheer 

me up when I felt down.” 

Suwandhaputra reiterates the “family” dynamic 

of the club. She says that while a significant 

part of ITE is networking with professionals and 

professors, it’s the students in the club that make 

ITE so special. 

“A lot of my close friends are in ITE,” she says. “And 

we all bond over the nerdiest things; like taking 

public transit or biking to school or ‘Oh, there’s a 

new bike lane here.’” 

▲One of the events that ITE puts on is a Mario Kart race using kids’ size 

bicycles. ▼ITE Transportation Mixer in fall 2019. 

Additional to SLS, ITE hosts firm tours, has events 

such as Mario Kart and the SLO Transpo Mixer, 

and competes in competitions like the James H. 

Kell Student Design Competition and the Student 

Traffic Bowl. 

2019-2020 ITE Officers 

Vice President Zachary Caipang, Treasurer Kiera 

Bryant, Secretary Katherine Lee, Professional 

Coordinator Ashley Yao, Social Coordinator 

Cody Lim, Outreach Coordinator Zachary Fucini, 

Marketing Coordinator Bryant Lee, and Historian 

Megan Mannion. 

SUPPORT 

Suppport the mission of ITE. Your support provides 

educational and training opportunitites for students. Visit 

ceenve.calpoly.edu/giving to support now. 


This is 

Concrete 

Canoe 

The Cal Poly Concrete Canoe Team designs, 

produces and races a canoe made 

out of concrete every school year. The 

concrete is designed 

according to rules and regulations that 

change from year to year. 

Students work as a team 

throughout the year and compete at the 

regional Pacific Southwest Conference in 

the Spring. Due to COVID-19, this year’s 

competition is postponed. 

In June 2019, the Cal Poly team traveled 

to Florida for The American Society of 

Civil Engineers (ASCE) 

National Concrete Canoe 

Competition. The team earned 1st place 

in the Final Product of their canoe, 

Yggdrasil. Cal Poly’s current 5 National 

Championships ties the all time record 

for most championships by a single university. 

Staying 

Afloat 

THE 2020 TEAM 

Project Manager Yin Ding, Senior Construction 

Captains Lauren Tigue and Max 

Morgan; Senior Mix Design Captains Isela 

Dy and Nicko Ma; Junior Construction 

Captains Michael Daly, Jaxon Silva and 

Nick Baker; Junior Mix Design Captains 

Carson Bak and Michael Wang 


National 

Chamption 

Titles 

5 

National 

Rankings 

12 

Tradition 

Since 

‘80s 

◄ The 2018-2019 Cal Poly Concrete 

Canoe team at ASCE Nationals in 

Melbourne, FL. Their canoe 

“Yggdrasil” won second place in 

the nation. 

▼ Project Manager Yin Ding casting the team’s final competition canoe on January 18. 

Concrete canoe 

has taught me 

valuable skills 

that put me 

ahead both 

academically and 

in a project 

environment. 

“ 

Carson Bak, Junior Mix 

Design Captain 


◄ Team members, captains, family, 

friends and alumni came together 

on November 9 to make the 

team’s practice canoe. From this 

stage, the team tests the practice 

cast to make sure the final casting 

goes smoothly. 

“Canoe has by far been 

the most impactful of 

my college 

experiences because 

of both the 

friendships it’s brought 

me and all that it’s 

taught me about 

engineering and 

myself. 

Lauren Tigue, Senior 

Construction Captain 

▲Senior Mix Design Captain Isela Dy works on a refined concrete mix on final casting day. 

SUPPORT 

We started an endowment to support the concrete canoe 

team for years to come and continue this tradition. Suppport 

the mission of Concrete Canoe. 

Visit ceenve.calpoly.edu/giving to support now. 


Keeping up with 

Alumni 

Marianne Ghobreal 

Graduated: 2018 

Major: Civil Engineering 

Timothy O’Connor 


Major: Environmental Engineering 

▲ Marianne Ghobreal on her travels 

around the world. 

After graduation, Ghobreal 

traveled around the 

Mediterranean Sea to five 

countries. She now works as 

a Project Engineer at Kier & 

Wright. 

Evan Perez 


Major: Civil and 

Environmental Engineering, 

MS; Civil Engineering, BS 

▲ O’Connor as a student in 1973 

at an engineering conference in 

Monterey, CA. 

▼ O’Connor’s current 

LinkedIn profile photo. 

Accomplishments: 

hCal Poly CE/ENVE Industrial Advisory Board 

member 

hPresident/CEO of Robson Woese, Inc (regional 

east coast MEP firm) 

hMerged Robson Woese with GHD, 2011 

hAdvisor to the President of State University 

of New York -Environmental Sciences & 

Forestry 

hFacilitator of civil engineering student and 

faculty exchange program between SUNY – 

ESF and the Polytechnic University of Timisoara, 

Romania 

hLicensed Professional Engineer in 13 states 

Cal Poly has given 

me the foundation 

for my career and 

the developmental 

ability to contribute 

to the engineering 

profession. 

“ 

In 2014, Perez became a licensed professional engineer. Working for 

Stantec as part of the Sacramento water group gave him the opportunity 

to work with several of California’s foremost experts in water resources 

management, including those who influence water policy state-wide. 

◄ Perez graduated from Cal Poly in 2013 after completing both his Bachelor’s degree and Master’s 

degree. 


California Polytechnic State University 

1 Grand Ave. 

San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 

LEARN BY DOING 

WERC 

Competition 

Every year, students compete in the WERC Environmental Design 

Contest for over $30k in cash prizes. Students are awarded for their 

solutions to engineering tasks proposed by industry partners and 

government agencies. Their research papers, designs, presentations 

and models are judged by engineering professionals.

Winter Spring 2020

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