Cal Poly knows food. And wine. And the best ways to farm, feeding more people across the nation and throughout world, using less water and fewer natural resources.

These are some of the takeaways of our feature stories in this issue of Cal Poly Magazine. Cal Poly plays a critical and tangible role in working with industry partners to find, create and implement solutions through Learn By Doing and applied research. That is how we serve California businesses and how we prepare our students for the future.

Learn by Doing in the College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Science means working with the California Strawberry Commission to find solutions to the industry’s problems. This spring our new Cal Poly Strawberry Center harvested its first crop and sold them at campus market locations, to campus dining facilities, and to retailers in the San Luis Obispo area.

Our students work side-by-side with California winemakers, distributors and sellers to learn every aspect of this growing industry. Plans for the new Cal Poly Wine & Viticulture Center are solidly underway, thanks in large part to generous industry partners like Jerry Lohr of J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines.

The 50-acre avocado orchard on campus is a continuing partnership with Mission Produce. The orchard is one of Mission Produce’s most profitable, and it serves as an invaluable outdoor classroom for our students.

These are just a few examples of Learn by Doing in action and how our growing partnerships with California industries — agricultural, engineering, architectural, financial, biomedical and more — enhance student success and strengthen our state’s economy.

Preparing our students and serving California, the nation and the world. That’s Cal Poly.

Jeffrey D. Armstrong
President