This issue arrives at a meaningful moment for the Mechanical Engineering Department and for Cal Poly. We have just completed the final spring quarter before the university transitions to semesters for fall 2026, marking the culmination of a multiyear effort that allowed us to broadly review and enhance our curriculum. In a year filled with collaboration and planning focused on optimizing our path through these changes, our students and faculty continued to show the qualities that have long defined us: curiosity, persistence, technical depth, and a willingness to take on ambitious work.
Across the stories in this issue, those qualities are easy to see.
Our students earned major recognition in national and international competitions, from Cal Poly Wind Power’s first overall win at the Collegiate Wind Competition Western Regional to our hydropower team’s national championship in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydropower Collegiate Competition. The Cal Poly SAMPE Club earned first place overall at an international student competition, and Cal Poly Amusement Park Engineers and Designers brought home top honors from the Ride Engineering Competition with a student-built attraction that combined design, fabrication, storytelling and outreach.
These achievements are impressive on their own, but the deeper story is how our students were able to excel. It is a testament to the dedication and skill of both the students and the faculty who work with these students. There are a lot of very smart students from a host of great schools, so winning one of these competitions is no small feat! They took what they learned in the classroom and were able to enhance their understanding by also learning from one another. They revised designs, responded to feedback and built projects that had to work outside the classroom. Just as important, they created welcoming teams where anyone could find their place, make a meaningful contribution and prepare to be a team leader.
That same commitment appears in our senior projects and graduate work. Three mechanical engineering senior project teams advanced to the finals of NASA’s Human Lander Challenge, developing ideas tied to the future of human space exploration. Another student, Max Scott, used his master’s project to strengthen Cal Poly’s Microfabrication Lab, creating a framework that can help future students succeed in one of our most complex instructional spaces.
This issue also highlights some of the faculty who carry that work forward. At the Cal Poly Maritime Academy, Professor Mike Holden brings a lifelong connection to engineering, sailing, and hands-on learning into his teaching. At Cal Poly, Professor Marjan Zare is building a research program in fluid mechanics and rheology that connects fundamental science with challenges in manufacturing, energy and environmental systems. Their stories reflect the breadth of the Mechanical Engineering Department and the care our faculty bring to teaching, research and mentorship.
As the new Mechanical Engineering Department Chair, I am proud of what our students, faculty and staff have accomplished during this final year on quarters. I am also grateful to our alumni, industry partners and supporters, whose investment makes so many of these opportunities possible. Student clubs, senior projects, lab experiences and competition travel all depend on a community that believes in the Learn by Doing approach to education.
The calendar may be changing, but our purpose remains the same. We will continue preparing engineers who can think critically, work collaboratively and turn ideas into solutions that matter.
Thank you for being part of our community. Your continued support helps sustain the student projects, lab experiences and faculty mentorship that define our department. Please consider making a gift to the Mechanical Engineering Department.
