Alumni Highlights
Daniel Holtz
Cal Poly experience:
B.S. BioResource and Agricultural Engineering, 2010
What he does now:
Agricultural Engineer, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Escondido Service Center
As the Engineer at the Escondido Field Office, covering all of San Diego County, Daniel's main duties are to design and plan engineering practices such as water management, animal waste management, erosion control and irrigation systems. He works with farmers and landowners in the field to develop conservation plans and do quality assurance on the construction of the conservation practices.
Why he recommends Cal Poly's BRAE department:
"An ag engineering degree itself is the best engineering degree because it combines all aspects of engineering. You get civil (roads and pipelines); mechanical engineering, which is tractors and heating/cooling, electrical; and then we've also got environmental engineering and the bio resource aspects of fermentation and aquaculture. BRAE is part of the College of Agriculture so we get hands on training in irrigation and real world problems. You might learn hydraulics and concepts from a civil engineering degree but you don't get the hands on application that an ag engineering degree at Cal Poly offers. Plus, with the ag engineering degree you get your lessons from professors that have been learning directly from the agriculture sector."
Contact:
Natural Resource Conservation Service
Escondido Field Office
332 S. Juniper Street, Suite 110
Escondido, CA 92025-4941
* Direct: (760) 745-2061 ext. 111
* Fax: (760) 745-3210
* daniel.holtz@ca.usda.gov