Oct. 2008: Welcome Back Mustangs!

After graduating from Cal Poly, many alumni eventually come back, this time as faculty and staff. That's exactly what Dr. Andrew Holtz, the newest addition to the BRAE department, did.

Originally from the Imperial Valley in El Centro, CA, Dr. "Andy" Holtz is a Cal Poly BRAE graduate from the Class of 1999. This year, as an assistant professor in the bioprocessing area, he will be teaching a wide range of classes from agricultural materials and CAD, to courses in systems engineering. In addition to those responsibilities, Dr. Holtz will be advising senior projects and is more than excited to be back at the place he has called home during his college days. While at Cal Poly, he was involved with the AES, ASABE and the Tractor Pull. He is happy to see the student organizations are still strong within the department.

In the years after graduating from Cal Poly with a degree in BioResource and Agricultural Engineering, Dr. Holtz has worked in many different industries such as construction equipment, mobile agricultural equipment. He says that the skills that helped make him successful in those jobs were built upon the “dirty hands” he got while at Cal Poly.

Dr. Holtz holds a Doctorate of Engineering in Biological & Agricultural Engineering from UC Davis where he worked on ergonomic machinery development for winegrape harvesting. After getting his degree in 2004, he worked in the post harvest chemical industry with Pace International LLC. Dr. Holtz supervised Pace’s equipment engineering program. After developing a number of chemical application systems for Pace that are still used across the U.S., he worked as a mechanical engineer at Schilling Robotics, "a leading global producer of subsea control systems, ROVs (remotely operated vehicles), and other high-technology equipment and services for oil and gas subsea exploration and production". Dr. Holtz worked with many aspects of the ROVs that are rated to dive to depths of up to 4000 meters of sea water. The vehicles serve as a valuable tool for the petroleum, scientific and sometimes the treasure hunting industries. Dr. Holtz says that “ROVs exhibit many functional similarities to agricultural tractors, but they cost about 100 times as much!”

When asked why he chose to come back to Cal Poly, Dr. Holtz has a multitude of reasons why he calls San Luis Obispo home again. "There aren't many [universities] I would consider teaching at", he states, and adds that he likes the method students are taught at Cal Poly. In addition to the academic side, Dr. Holtz expresses that it is simply "tough to beat the weather". While a graduate student at Davis, he taught a handful of undergraduate labs which he found to be one of the most enjoyable parts of grad school. This was one of the major reasons he decided to pursue teaching.

The second time around at Cal Poly, Dr. Holtz says he definitely doesn't miss the homework, but likes the idea of assigning it rather than receiving it. He looks forward to being settled in classes and starting to teach, getting the first run in and just readjusting to school. Another change from college is his marriage in July, so he is still somewhat a newlywed! In his free time, he enjoys snow skiing, hunting, working on his 1946 Ford 2-door coupe.

Dr. Holtz considers himself "extremely lucky" to be back at Cal Poly. The BRAE department is glad to have him back!

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On Wednesday, October 1, BioResource and Agricultural Engineering faculty and students gathered at Lab 4 for the Umpteenth Annual “Meet the BRAE Department BBQ”.  That evening, new freshmen were able to meet upperclassmen and the faculty members they would be working with for the next four years.

Dr. Steve Kaminaka facilitated the evening’s activities; the night’s objective was to “design, fabricate, and test a bioresource package delivery system (BRAExS)”, the package being an egg launched from the mezzanine of Lab 4.  Students were places in eight different teams to compete in the BioResource Aero Express (BRAEx) Design Contest and each team had a bag of materials they could utilize.  Items in the bag included different colored plastic straws, lollipops, a plastic wine glass, a plastic bag, and an egg carton holding the egg. Not only did the egg have to reach its final destination, but it also had to be undamaged.  The catch? The completed package could not weigh more than 500 grams.  With a list of rules in hand and materials on the table, the students set off to work. 

Team 3 decided to use the plastic bag and decided that their system would slide down the rope in to the bucket.  Their egg survived and did not crack. 

Not only did this activity encourage students to work together, but it called upon their previous knowledge of basic science and engineering principles.

Using a preset scoring system, Dr. Kaminaka was able to determine the winning team by the formula.  The winning team, Team 2, had the highest amount of points and the grand prize? Honor and esteem forever.  A handful of teams were disqualified due to rule that “there shall be no human contact with the BRAExS between the mezzanine launch area and the target site”.  The team members, when the launching the system, placed their hands past the railing, automatically disqualifying the team. 

Following the launches, students were able to dine on a delicious barbecue dinner put on by the BRAE faculty.  Dr. Rich Cavaletto closed the evening, ushering a welcome to the new students of the department and to the returning students as well, reminding them of the department’s long legacy.

Noe Gonzalez, a third year BRAE major, emphasized the importance of social events like the barbecue, where freshmen could become acquainted with the department and feel at home.  By mingling with the upperclassmen, new students could learn more about the various clubs and find more opportunities to get involved.

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You start seeing people in groups, walking around with wristbands with two leaders in tow… you know it’s that time again!  It’s time for WOW!

Scheduled on the Wednesday, September 19 of Cal Poly’s Week of Welcome, “College Connections: Academic Success” aims to give new students the chance to meet other people in their academic department and to just find out more about their major.  Every department hosts a wide array of activities during this time, with faculty and staff ready to guide the incoming freshmen. 

First, students from the College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences met at Mott Gym at the start of the day for some morning festivities and announcements.  From there, the students dispersed to their respective departments and that’s where the fun began!

The BRAE department hosted an amazing barbecue, definitely starting on the right note with some delicious food.  As they were eating, students had the chance to talk to the faculty and upperclassmen that were present as well.  As the eating wrapped up and the activity was about to begin, Dr. Richard Cavaletto emphasizing the important of staying on track as a student within the BRAE department. 

Because of the five quarters of math required for a BRAE or ASM major, it is crucial for a student to be focused and not fall behind on their academic plan.  Dr. Cavaletto also placed a lot of weight on the Cal Poly’s program for academic success, to study 25-35 hours a week for classes in order to develop a strong academic work ethic.  Many of the students from the various organizations affiliated with BRAE, such as the Agricultural Engineering Society (AES), Quarter Scale, and Tractor Pull were able to talk about their purpose.  This allowed them to introduce freshmen to new opportunities of involvement within the department.

As the activity began, students were separated in to their individual advisor groups, conveniently giving them the chance to meet and work with their advisor.  The activity started like this: “It is approximately 10 am in mid-August and you have just crash landed in the Sonora Desert in the Southwestern United States.  The light twin-engine plane containing the bodies of the pilot and co-pilot has completely burned.  Only the airframe remains.  None of the rest of you has been injured”.  The situation went on to describe the environment and the materials left from the crash.  Only fifteen items were able to be salvaged from the wreckage.  The list of items includes tools such as a red & white parachute, a cosmetic mirror, a magnetic compass, and a pair of sunglasses per person.  The challenge was to rank the items according to their importance to survival.

First, each member of the team individually ranked the items.  Then the group got together to rank the items as a team and discuss the reason for ranking items in a certain order. The six teams were scored at the end by how accurate their rankings were to the real thing.  The scenario was extremely interesting because there were many low-ranked items that turned out to be crucial to survival.  The activity gave everyone a chance to offer their input and draw on past knowledge, potentially building survival skills and changing many thought processes.  Not only that, the freshmen were able to meet their peers and work together in a fun environment!

Overall, the day was a great way for the freshman to connect to BRAE and also gave the faculty a chance to work with the incoming students. Who knows, the next time you’re stuck in a desert, you might want to keep this information handy!

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On Friday, September 19, clubs and organizations gathered together for the annual WOW Block Party.  The Block Party is a combination of three separate events: the UU Showcase, the Rec Center Showcase, and the Club Carnival, all providing interactive activities and fun sources of entertainment for the WOWies.  In addition, many clubs set up camp and advertise for new membership and involvement.

BRAE made a presence as well, with the Agricultural Engineering Society (AES) and Tractor Pull with a booth.  Members of the club had a booth to display and were on hand to answer any questions the freshmen and other interested people had to ask.  On the table, information about the BioResource & Agricultural Engineering Department and the Irrigation Training & Research Center (ITRC) was readily available.  Behind the booth was a display of the various tractors associated with Cal Poly Tractor Pull.

Near the end of the Block Party, Tractor Pull surprised the entire crowd with the loud cracking noise of the engine starting.  Spectators packed the area around the tractor to see what the commotion was all about and were able to discover more about BRAE!

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