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The Year in Photos

Twenty images that sum up 2022.

By Gabby Ferreira // Photos by Joe Johnston and Dylan Head

What’s in a year? At the end of 2022, we reflected on how the Cal Poly community came together to study, research, build and have fun throughout the year — the first somewhat normal year since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Design Village returned to Poly Canyon for the first time since 2019. Summer undergraduate research projects resumed in full swing. Families packed campus for Open House, and incoming and transfer students found joy and community during the Week of Welcome. We selected our top five photos, but stay tuned till the end for a gallery of the runner-ups.

Dancers and singers dressed in white rehears on a wooden stage

A scene from a rehearsal for Cal Poly Choirs’ winter concert, which involved students from the Theatre and Dance departments along with students from the Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies Program.

Four students examine hardware on a wooden pier near the smoke stacks of an old power plant in Morro Bay

Engineering students crouch on the Coast Guard Pier in Morro Bay. The students worked with civil engineering professor Stefan Talke to develop low-cost wave and tide sensors as part of a summer undergraduate research program.

Students celebrate in green caps and gowns at Cal Poly commencement while green and gold streamers fly overhead

Green and gold streamers rain down around recent graduates during the spring commencement ceremony.

Three students work on a wooden Hoberman's Sphere on a grassy hillside beneath blue sky and clouds

Architecture students set up a structure in Poly Canyon during the first Design Village event since 2019.

Students sort green grapes on a metal table

Wine and viticulture students process grapes harvested from Cal Poly’s Trestle Vineyard in the brand-new JUSTIN and J. LOHR Center for Wine and Viticulture.

Use the arrows to scroll left and right through a gallery of more striking images from the past year.

Volunteer students from the Food Science and Nutrition Department work with staff from Campus Health and Wellbeing to create meals for the Cal Poly Food Pantry from ingredients donated to the food pantry.
Students in Biological Sciences professor Sean Lema’s MSCI 300 – Marine Ecology class visit the tide pools at Montaña de Oro State Park during one of the class’s field trips.
First-year architecture students created wooden models of their designs for the first year design and visual communication studio.
Third-generation Mustang and MLB draft pick Brooks Lee walks across the field at Baggett Stadium with his dad, baseball head coach Larry Lee.
Students perform a daring unicycle stunt at Open House.
English major Sadie Beaumont shows off her tattoo of the ancient Greek poet Sappho, one of the first artists she was excited to learn about, for a Cal Poly Magazine feature on academic tattoos.
Civil and environmental engineering student Corinne Watson works with professor Amro El Badawy of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department on carbon capture.
Nikki Adams, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Center for Coastal Marine Sciences speaks with visiting students from Lindsay High School in the Central Valley as they explore tide pools in Cayucos during an outreach program.
Physics professor Louise Edwards speaks with aerospace student Melina Ruano, a member of her team that will work with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Project to investigate far-away regions of the universe.
Cal Poly football players run through a morning practice on the new artificial turf at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
A WOW leader joyfully waves a sign to welcome incoming and transfer students during Week of Welcome.
A goat mugs for the camera as a student holds it in place so the goat can receive a vaccination.
Student performers during the annual Culturefest celebration.
Daisy Paniagua-Uribe, SDAB Coordinator for Latinx Initiatives speaks at the grand opening and celebration of Cal Poly’s new Latinx Center, named La CASA (Latinx/e Center for Academic Success and Achievement).
A student arranges poinsettias ahead of the annual poinsettia sale, which features the student-grown plants as well as student-made wreaths, centerpieces, succulents, ornaments and gifts.