News & Events from 2008-2014
LAES in the News-2014
- Region's Entrepreneurs Raise Millions with Crowdfunding (Pacific Coast Business Times, June 2014) spotlights LAES alumnus and entrepreneur, Bill Trammel.
- New Center Bridges the Divide Between Technology and the Arts (Impact, Summer 2014)
- Cal Poly Learn by Doing on Display at Second Annual SLO Mini Maker in Mission Plaza (CLA News, May 10, 2014)
- 2014 Hackathon Promotes Student Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Imagination (The Link, Spring 2014)
- Location-Based Tales with Cal Poly App (Mustang News, January, 2014)
- Beatstream: A Revolution in Music Sharing (Mustang News, January, 2014)
LAES Club at Open House
The NEW LAES Club participated in the Computer and Electrical Club Fair at Cal Poly's Open House ion Saturday, April 18th!
Visitors experienced the featured Interactive Adventure with PolyXpress, took pictures at the booth, and interacted with other LAES students.
Students can check out the club here!
LAES Alumni First Gathering
On March 11, 2015, LAES welcomed Paul Cha, Ryan Alba, Justin Alvarez, Ryan Macdonald, Annamarie Fuchs, and Christina Hernandez to campus for lunch and sharing.
The schedule included a tour of campus by current students utilizing the newly developed PolyXpress app, lunch, a time of sharing "tips" with current students and those from the LAES 301/302 classe screening on campus. The event provided a wonderful opportunity of exchange. View additional photos in the CLA Flickr Album.
Students Win Hackathon Award
Congratulations to LAES team members, Tyler Deitz and Massimo Siboldi, and Kelsey Dodge, Chris Taylor and Emily Wang! They worked on Pizza Club, a mobile web app that alerts students to free food offerings on campus while encouraging users to go to clubs they might have disregarded. Their idea won the January, 2015 $1,000 Gold Award for Best Design at this year's Design and Dev Hackathon.
Australian Troupe Visit
DeepBlue visited campus October, 2014 to begin collaborating with LAES students on different forms of audience interaction and stage presentation for future DeepBlue performances.
The troupe also met with local music educators to discuss a potential Young Blue training workshop for 8-15 year old Central Coast musicians. They also ran an audition at Cal Poly for local musicians who might be interested in joining the group in the future.
Read additional DeepBlue info (links open in new windows):
DB YouTube Channel, Cal Poly News Release, and the SLO Tribune: Cal Poly plays host
Australian Collaboration
Due to the professional/academic networks Dr. Gillette established during his sabbatical research in Australia, Cal Poly and the Queensland University of Technology (opens in new window) are now in the early stages of creating a collaborative research and development program between the two universities.
The primary goal of this collaboration is to create a project-learning-based form of student and faculty exchange between the two institutions. Between 2015-2017, the universities will create a series of linked courses and interdisciplinary curriculums to better facilitate the connections between the institutions and to ensure a viable, vibrant exchange of students, research agendas and faculty/administrative collaborations.
ELE Focuses on Paths to Engineering for Women
Jane Lehr, LAES Interim Co-Director presented the paper "Emergent and Individualized Pathways to Success for Women in Engineering" at the Engineering and Liberal Education Symposium June 2014 Conference. The ELE Symposium discussions relate to how engineering integrates into a liberal arts education, and how liberal arts integrate into an engineering education.
LAES in the News-2013
- The art of engineering is a matter of degree and Cal Poly's game designers jam on (Engineering Advantage, Spring 2013, pgs. 16, 17)
- The Provost (Cal Poly Magazine, Winter 2013) (pdf)
ASEE Focuses on Multidisciplinary Learning
June 25, 2013
Michael Haungs, LAES Co-Director presented the paper "Assessing Student and Employer Satisfaction in a Liberal Arts/Engineering Bachelor of Arts Degree (opens in new window)" at the American Society for Engineering Education 2013 Conference. This was one of several in a session showcasing collaborations between Humanities and Engineering and the fusion of Art and Engineering.
SLOIFF at Cal Poly is a HUGE SUCCESS!
March 6, 2013
LAES and the Expressive Technology Group partnered with the SLO International Film Festival to present the opening night tribute to Industrial Light & Magic–Creating the Impossible in the Spanos Theatre. Afterward, a panel discussion, featuring visual effects experts, was held to provide industry insights to students.
LAES in the News-2012
- A curriculum of convergence (Cal Poly Magazine, Spring 2012) (pdf)
- Five questions for President Armstrong and Building homes, building lives, (College of Liberal Arts Magazine 2011-2012) (pdf)
- A liberal dose of engineering, (Mustang Daily, May 1, 2012)
LAES Achieves Permanent Status!
June, 2012
The Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies, B.A. degree program achieved permanent University status after going through a rigorous Program Review process. We received overwhelming support of the Resolution on Proposed New Degree Program from the Academic Senate Members and President Armstrong has sent the proposal to the Chancellor's Office for final approval.
On February 8, 2013, CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White gave the final approval to convert from pilot to regular permanent status, the Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies major.
Celebration and Outreach
June 8, 2012
We got together at the Expressive Technology Workshop to celebrate the end of the quarter, the end of the school year, and most importantly, the accomplishment of finally becoming a permanent part of the Cal Poly curriculum. CENG Dean, Debra Larson and CLA Dean, Linda Halisky, LAES Directors, Staff, and Students, and other dignitaries got to meet some visiting parents and prospective students. Along with some great discussions, Chef Michael slow cooked the best Tri-Tip many of us ever ate!
SLO International Film Festival Panel Discussion
March 10, 2012
Over 100 Cal Poly students, faculty and staff attended a panel discussion, workshop and awards ceremony honoring and discussing the work of Richard Taylor, one of the founders of New Zealand’s Weta Workshop. The awards presentation was a part of the SLO Film Festival event.
During the interactive technical discussion, several students seized the opportunity to ask questions about the important role that "learning by doing" plays when creating movie props. The panel discussion included our very own David Gillette and was promoted by the Cal Poly Expressive Technology Group.
Global Game Jam Event
January 27-29, 2012
LAES students participated in the 48 hour Global Game Jam (opens in new window) event. Cal Poly was one of eight California sites to participate in the event and was supervised by the Cal Poly Game Development Club (CPGD) advisors: professors Foaad Khosmood and Zoe Wood. The LAES Lab was one spot on campus used as a place for inspiration during the around the clock event.
Homecoming for the Mind Festival
Fall 2011
The first annual Homecoming for the Mind Featured Student Video by LAES student, Roman Couvrette on “Sustainable Community Development: Using Technology to Build Better Communities.”
The Homecoming for the Mind festival showcases the knowledge, skills, and achievements in the liberal arts. Whether it's performing on stage, serving in the community, or conducting research abroad, liberal arts students and faculty exemplify Learn by Doing through the creative expression of culture, values, and self and through contributions to solving real-world problems.
Graduate Celebration & Ribbon Cutting
June 10, 2009
LAES Program Directors, students and CLA Dean, Linda Halisky, congratulated our program's first two graduates, Bill Trammel and Donovan Loomis. Additional festivities included a ribbon cutting to celebrate the completion of our Building 4 lab/project/demo room, also called the Expressive Technology Workshop.
LAES students set up and inventoried equipment consisting of a new screening facility, sound editing/creating station, computing systems, and a fully functional Intimate Transactions.
LAES Directors Attend Symposium
June 5-6, 2009
LAES Directors, Alypios Chatziioanou and David Gillette attended the 2009 Symposium on Engineering & Liberal Education. The event was hosted by Union College in Albany, NY and participation included colleges from around the country.
LAES Forms Academic Advisory Board
Spring 2009
The new Academic Advisory Board will provide suggestions on curriculum planning, course scheduling, and student advising and help guide the program's future goals. The Board participants include the LAES Directors, Kathy Chen (CENG), James Keese (CLA), Elizabeth Lowham (CLA) and Trygve Lundquist (CENG).
Program Outreach
November 19, 2008
LAES students, potential students, and their guests participated in an open discussion about the program, including what we are doing now and what our future plans are. These twice per year gatherings provide a great opportunity to meet current LAES students, learn more about who we are and the exciting projects we are working on.
China Intimate Transactions Show
June 7-17, 2008
Cal Poly’s Liberal Arts & Engineering Studies Program, in collaboration with the Transmute Collective of Australia and the National Art Museum of China, presented Intimate Transactions. The interactive art exhibit was presented as part of the pre-Beijing Summer Olympics show, “China International New Media Arts Show 2008.” Intimate Transactions is an exciting form of interactive art that allows two people in separate locations to interact and respond to each other using body movement. The Cal Poly "American Node" ran daily from Building 58.
Jason Calacanis Webcast, Weblogs, Inc. Founder
June 2, 2008
The LAES 301 class connected with Jason Calacanis in a live discussion on the subject of entrepreneurship and current conditions for starting a business. Jason was CEO and co-founder of Weblogs Inc. which became a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL in November of 2005.
Hollywood Visits
April 24-25, 2008
LAES 301 Spring Quarter students took a field trip to Los angeles to visit the production studios and workshops for a number of our new commercial partners. Students visited the studio and office facilities for Warner Brothers, THX Best Practices Lab, Raleigh Studios, Paramount Studios and one of the major design workshops for Disney Imagineering.