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THE ECONOMIC AND EMPLOYMENT IMPACT OF FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND PROJECTS IN CALIFORNIA’S CENTRAL COAST

May 23, 2023

Cyrus Ramezani, PhD and Mahdi Rastad, PhD

Summary: The transition to clean energy resources, particularly the development of the Floating Off Shore Wind (FOSW) industry, is expected to bring numerous employment opportunities and major private and public investments to California's Central Coast. The Morro Bay Wind Energy Area (WEA) is poised to play a pivotal role in this transition, potentially generating 3 GW of green energy by 2030.

This study presents the findings from an economic impact analysis of the proposed FOSW projects in Central Coast region. Our analysis indicates that globally a 1 GW development will create nearly 31,000 FTE jobs during the six-year construction phase and about 850 annual jobs during its 25-year operational phase. Under the best local content scenario, roughly 40% of manufacturing and construction jobs, and over 80% of the operations and maintenance jobs could be filled in California. Given the 3 GW capacity of the Morro Bay project, this translates into over 2000 annual local jobs closer to the Morro Bay area during the operational phase and nearly 40,000 FTE jobs during the construction phase located mainly at the ports and manufacturing facilities in California.

The report also presents estimates of the labor gap for top FOSW occupations types (by SOC codes) for California, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties. The labor supply gap estimates provide critical information for the development of educational and skill training programs to meet California’s clean energy goals. We show that while the California labor market can partially meet the demand for specialized workers, there will be a significant workforce gap for blue-collar occupations such as wind turbine service technicians, metal/steel production, and transportation workers. To address this shortfall, over the short-term, California's FOSW industry will need to import trained labor from outside the state, and simultaneously invest in local workforce development programs to meet its long-term needs.

To ensure the success of California's FOSW industry, targeted investments in the supply chain, infrastructure and ports, and human capital and vocational training programs will be crucial. Examples of these investments include developing the metal/steel industry, constructing specialized port facilities near the Central Coast, investing in critical infrastructure such as the electrical grid, and prioritizing educational and occupational training programs to build and sustain a skilled FOSW labor force. Meeting California's floating offshore wind milestones will undoubtedly present challenges, but with coordinated efforts, investments in physical and human capital, and effective collaboration among stakeholders, these goals can be achieved.

Acknowledgment: This research was funded as part of the “High Road to Offshore Wind Energy” grant to the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education by the California Workforce Development Board- High Road Training Partnership. The High Road to Offshore Wind Energy is part of the California Workforce Development Board’s High Road Training Partnership, which is funded through California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health, and the environment — particularly in disadvantaged communities.

Continue reading THE ECONOMIC AND EMPLOYMENT IMPACT OF FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND PROJECTS IN CALIFORNIA’S CENTRAL COAST...

Cal Poly's Dr. Matt Haberland Contributes to Open-Source Scientific Solutions

Jan 27, 2023

Python, a programming language, is heavily used by the biomedical research community. Researchers depend on Python tools, and Python tools depend on SciPy. SciPy is an open-source Python library that helps in the solution of complex mathematical or scientific problems - the kind of problems frequently seen in biomedical research. SciPy (short for Scientific Python) has algorithms for use in optimization, differential equations, integration, statistics, and other mathematical problems.

SciPy has recently played a key role in pandemic response, being used for problems such as:

COVID-19 vaccine optimization: determining how to distribute vaccines for maximum societal effectiveness.
Modeling and forecasting the early evolution of COVID-19 in Brazil.
Determining how to most effectively execute pandemic-related lockdowns.

SciPy has also been used in exciting astronomy/physics applications, notably as a tool in the first-ever imaging of a black hole by the Event Horizon Telescope, seen below:

First image of black hole Sagittarius A*, Image courtesy of NASA

SciPy is used to process image data from the James Webb Telescope, a telescope that has been capturing images of the universe in stunning detail. Without data manipulation capabilities such as the ones SciPy provides, the images sent to earth would be almost useless for science.

The edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula, taken by the James Webb telescope. Courtesy of NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

The better SciPy gets, the more capable the library is of helping tackle complex scientific problems. Cal Poly's Professor Matt Haberland is working to improve some of SciPy's shortcomings in partnership with the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), which recently awarded Dr. Haberland with a grant of $325,000 for his proposed work through their Essential Open Source Software for Science (EOSS) program.

As stated on CZI's EOSS website, the program supports software maintenance, growth, development, and community engagement for critical open-source tools. Open-source software is crucial to modern scientific research, advancing biology and medicine while providing reproducibility and transparency. Yet even the most widely-used research software often lacks dedicated funding.

Dr. Haberland's goals for his work are to:

Make SciPy's biomedical research tools faster, more accurate, and more reliable. This will enable biomedical research tools to develop more quickly, because developers can increase their reliance on SciPy to perform lower-level tasks.
Add more features to SciPy so that biomedical researchers can use it for most (if not all) of their analysis pipelines, and in some cases, enable work that was previously impossible.
Improve SciPy's user interface and eliminate unexpected behaviors, allowing researchers to spend less time debugging code and more time on their valuable work.
Enable other biomedical researchers to learn about and use the improvements via outreach and documentation.

There are many tools for biomedical research that can accomplish the same things as SciPy, but SciPy has some important benefits that make it valuable:

Cross-platform compatibility. Many other software tools are restricted to certain operating systems and are limited by graphical user interfaces. SciPy is cross-platform and interfaces with other types of code well.
It is open-source and free. SciPy is accessible for anyone to use. Almost all other statistical analysis tools are proprietary. CZI believes improving access to open-source software is key for scientific breakthrough.
SciPy is more self-contained than other software solutions, allowing users to rely less on multiple programs to accomplish their needs.

A recent critical SciPy use case involved determining which groups of people should be vaccinated first upon release of the first COVID-19 vaccines in order to most effectively reduce the pandemic's impacts. Researchers used SciPy's optimization capabilities to answer questions like, "If the first vaccine is 50% (or 60%, or 90%, etc.) effective, what percentage of the population must receive it in order to not overwhelm hospital ICU's?"

Vaccine optimization output, representing different scenarios of vaccine effectiveness (VE) and percentage of the population receiving the vaccine, for the purpose of not overwhelming ICU's. (Matrajt et al., "Vaccine optimization for COVID-19: who to vaccinate first?", 15 Dec 2020, https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.08.14.20175257v3.full.pdf)

Results from SciPy-enabled analyses like this helped researchers recommend how to allocate vaccines as they were cleared and released, based on qualities like a particular vaccine's effectiveness against infection.

“SciPy aims to give everyone easy access to reliable and efficient implementations of essential scientific computing algorithms, regardless of their institutional affiliation or financial resources. Satisfying these basic needs of engineers and researchers frees their time to focus on solving important problems,” says Dr. Haberland.

While these attributes are valuable to all researchers, they also make SciPy more accessible to those who might not have access to its more restrictive and expensive alternatives. CZI supports the science and technology that will make it possible to cure, prevent, or manage all diseases by the end of this century. Disease affects everyone, but under-resourced communities are disproportionately affected. Moreover, due to systemic barriers, the scientific enterprise is not a place where all voices and talents thrive.

CZI, Dr. Haberland, and the research community at Cal Poly believes that the strongest scientific teams incorporate a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. They also desire to empower community partners to engage in science. An open-source, powerful, free, cross-platform option such as SciPy is aligned well with these goals and needs.

Open-source software is exciting to me because every contribution could be a step toward discovering a new planet or curing a disease.
- Professor Matt Haberland

Dr. Haberland and his colleague Pamphile Roy are both SciPy core developers with commit rights, meaning they have access and permission to modify the SciPy library. To accomplish their first goal of making SciPy faster, more accurate, and more reliable, the researchers searched the source code and issue trackers for CZI-supported projects. They also surveyed biomedical Python project maintainers to better understand what is needed from SciPy. This helped Haberland and Roy better understand existing issues with SciPy.

To determine what new features are most needed, they reviewed open access articles from the March issues of Biomedical Engineering, Nature Biotechnology, and the New England Journal of Medicine to characterize the types of statistical analysis tools being used in modern research. They also searched 10,000+ citations of SciPy's 2020 Nature Methods article for direct use of SciPy in biomedicine and surveyed corresponding authors of SciPy-citing papers to better understand their computing needs, their current uses of SciPy, and improvements they can expect from SciPy.

From this review, Haberland and Roy found that “scipy.stats” is the part of SciPy most used by biomedical researchers. The two will be adding new statistical features to scipy.stats. They will also be performing essential maintenance throughout the SciPy library and fixing bugs under the guidance of the survey results.

As a member of Cal Poly's BioResource and Agricultural Engineering Department (BRAE), Dr. Haberland's work will continue to strengthen the relationship between statistics and the world of agriculture, food, and environmental concerns. "Much of statistics development has been inspired by the needs of agriculture and related industries," he says, "For instance, many undergraduate students will be familiar with 'Student's t-test'. What they might not know is that 'Student' was a pseudonym of William Sealy Gossett, who developed the test while working on quality control for the Guinness Brewery."

As they perform this work, they will disseminate the results by adding to SciPy documentation examples and tutorials, presenting the improvements at conferences and CZI meetings, and hosting “office hours” in which biomedical researchers can get live help.

Dr. Haberland became interested in this work out of necessity. “In grad school, I used a Matlab function to schedule shifts for the pub in my dorm. Years later, when I no longer had access to Matlab, I looked for a similar function in SciPy,” he said, “It didn't exist yet, so I decided to write it myself. Why not let everyone else use it, too?” He has since become one of the most active contributors to SciPy's success, having made thousands of contributions over the past few years.

Dr. Haberland's work will continue through late 2024, and will involve Cal Poly students in addition to his and Pamphile Roy's efforts. To find out more about SciPy, visit scipy.org.

Acknowledgement Statement: This project was made possible by the work of the units in the Cal Poly Division of Research, Economic Development & Graduate Education to support student research, Learn-by-Doing, the Teacher-Scholar Model, proposal submission, award negotiation, compliance review, and post-award management. See more at research.calpoly.edu.

Continue reading Cal Poly's Dr. Matt Haberland Contributes to Open-Source Scientific Solutions...

Exclusive Networks Grows Global Cybersecurity Talent at Cal Poly Tech Park

Jan 23, 2023

Exclusive Networks is a globally trusted cybersecurity specialist for digital infrastructure that is helping drive the transition to a “totally trusted” digital world. Phishing, ransomware, and other digital threats continue to grow worldwide, and Exclusive Networks' expertise and best-of-breed vendors provide cloud and cybersecurity solutions to help clients safely operate in a digital world.

As cyberattacks continue to increase, cyber skills are in short supply. The recruitment crisis in cybersecurity is currently faced with an estimated shortfall of 2.7 million professionals. Exclusive Networks is working to close this cyber skills gap and to find and nurture the next generation of cyber specialist talent. Senior Vice President of North America Brian Vincik is a Cal Poly engineering alumnus with a vision to raise cybersecurity awareness in the younger generation starting with college students as its first step.

Exclusive Networks team

Founded in Paris in 2003 and having grown to offices in 46 countries worldwide, Exclusive Networks opened a location in the Technology Park at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo with the goal of nurturing the next generation of cyber specialist talent and closing this cyber skills gap. Learn-by-Doing has always been Cal Poly's core philosophy - it's a deliberate process in which students, from day one, acquire knowledge and skills through active engagement and self-reflection inside the classroom and beyond. Experiences are a critical part of their curriculum, which shows students how theory combines with application and prepares them to use their knowledge to solve the world's challenges. To do is to learn — that's why their faculty infuse hands-on opportunities in every part of the learning experience.

But it doesn't just happen in the classroom. From labs and internships to launching business ventures while in school, Cal Poly students take what they learn and put it to work. Learn-by-Doing isn't just their signature learning philosophy — it's their way of life.

The result of this experience is that Cal Poly graduates are ready, from day one, to make an immediate impact on the world around them in their careers. This is why Exclusive Networks has chosen to locate itself in the Tech Park - it offers access to a student group that is fully prepared to help fill the cybersecurity employment gap upon graduating. Through the company's university partnership, students have the opportunity to work alongside cybersecurity professionals and gain valuable on-the-job experience throughout their time at Cal Poly. Their goal is to ready these students for a role in cybersecurity (preferably at Exclusive Networks) when they complete their education.

Lunch meeting in Executive Networks' Tech Park space

According to David Yang, Exclusive Networks' senior director of support and services, the students also benefit by getting the opportunity to:

Explore the corporate culture and environment
Experience different professional fields as they seek their career path
Inject fresh and innovative ideas into Exclusive Networks as they work alongside a professional team

“Our partnership with the school helps students gain corporate business experience and develop cybersecurity knowledge before they enter the workforce. Exclusive Networks' goal is to start training cybersecurity professionals early — at the college level — and in turn, we benefit by gaining fresh ideas that lead us to conduct business with diversified perspectives,” says Yang.

Exclusive Networks has a unique positioning in today's marketplace, defined by:

Broad geographic coverage coupled with deep cybersecurity expertise
Engineering-led approach to delivering highly specialized offerings
Strength of vendor and partner network
Strong entrepreneurial culture with superior execution

Their vision for a totally trusted digital world for all people and organizations is dependent upon a high-performance cybersecurity ecosystem, a proposition that Cal Poly graduates are prepared to contribute meaningfully to from day one.

Views from Exclusive Networks' bucolic Tech Park location

Exclusive Networks prides itself on having a balanced portfolio comprising established (market-leading vendors), growth (scale-up vendors) and emerging (start-up vendors) technologies. They have always ensured the right mix of technology segments to help their partners stay relevant, and in North America, their narrow set of best-of-breed vendors, including Fortinet and Juniper Networks, allows them to provide true cybersecurity expertise to channel partners.

Cal Poly's Tech Park offers access to prepared and innovative students - a space where hands-on experience and contribution with Exclusive Networks can begin before graduation day in parallel with university education, and often leads to post-graduation careers.

Exclusive Networks offers associate positions in sales, finance, marketing or any core area to support the needs of a cyber security focused business. For more information or to learn more about Exclusive Networks, visit www.exclusive-networks.com/usa, email them at HR_us@exclusive-networks.com, or visit them at one of Cal Poly's on-campus job fairs.

Continue reading Exclusive Networks Grows Global Cybersecurity Talent at Cal Poly Tech Park...

Cal Poly's Strawberry Center Helps California Strawberry Industry Grow

Dec 8, 2022

Cal Poly's Strawberry Center (CPSC) is a research and education center located on campus at the Cal Poly Technology Park that is having major impacts on the success of the California strawberry industry. Housed within the College of Agriculture's Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) with close ties to the Plant Sciences Department, the Center provides opportunities for student workforce training and fosters interactions between the university and industry. Some of the ways the Center has been instrumental in the success of California strawberries include research programs in the following areas:

ENTOMOLOGY

Lygus bug pesticide resistance evaluations; UV-C technology for management of Lygus and other insects
Predatory mites for two-spotted spider mites control; Best management practices to improve predatory mite quality

AUTOMATION

Bug vacuum optimization
Plastic mulch cross hole puncher

PATHOLOGY

Host plant resistance to soilborne pathogens
Plant disease diagnostic services

The Center is an ideal environment for students to gain applicable industry experience on campus, which aligns well with Cal Poly's Learn-By-Doing philosophy. "The Strawberry Center has given me the opportunity to practice my lab skills outside of class, network with growers and researchers on field trips, and prepared me for my Driscoll's strawberry breeding internship," says student Aidan Inoue.

Hosted at Tech Park, the Strawberry Center's annual Field Day is an important event for the California strawberry industry, attracting over 440 growers, researchers and industry representatives who receive updates about research activities happening at the Center.

Working with many departments across several colleges, Center faculty and staff conduct multi-disciplinary applied research, employ and train students, teach formal courses, and provide guest lectures in related courses. The Center hosts several courses in its strawberry fields and plant pathology/entomology lab as well as a wide array of visitors from national and international research institutions, private industries, and political organizations.

Formed in 2013 as a partnership between the California Strawberry Strawberry Commission (CSC) and Cal Poly, the Center's team was initially focused on soilborne pathogens and soil fumigation alternatives but has since expanded into plant pathology, entomology, and automation.

"I've learned so much about the strawberry industry on both the production and research side, as I work really closely within the communications aspect of the Center," says student intern Colette Smith, "I've become well versed in current strawberry topics within pathology, entomology, and automation. I've been able to talk with industry professionals through our annual Strawberry Center Field Day, who have not only given me wisdom and insight, but also the opportunity to build connections within both the strawberry and agriculture industry."

Rapid growth and success meant the Center quickly outgrew its initial location on campus. It found a new home in Cal Poly's Tech Park, where its office and lab space is located immediately adjacent to its research fields, and yet is still within walking distance from the main campus. Having student, office, lab, and field resources in such close proximity is unique and has been a major factor in the continued success and impact of the Strawberry Center.

Strawberry Center Master's student Jack Koster interacts with guests at the 2022 Cal Poly Ag Showcase

In its first eight years, the Center secured over $2.5M in extramural funding and over $1.3M in gifts to conduct 149 projects. More than 110 students have received industry-related work experience, 40 have landed paid internships, and 32 senior projects and 15 Master's theses were mentored by Center staff. As of June 30, 2022, the CPSC team consists of 13 staff and 36 students. This has led to national recognition that is spreading internationally. Center projects and programs are providing research and educational opportunities for many students, thus strengthening academic programs, student experiences, and career opportunities for students across many departments and several colleges.

"The partnership with Cal Poly is essential to our mission. Tech Park provides the facilities and infrastructure that allow this connection to thrive in a way that is mutually beneficial to both parties," says Julie Tillman of the Strawberry Center, "The proximity to the main campus (student access) and to our research fields are key to this success."

Student assistants performing research tasks in the CPSC entomology (left) and pathology labs

"Working at the Strawberry Center has exposed me to a whole new realm of agriculture that I have never experienced before. I was unfamiliar with the strawberry industry going into this job, but I have learned so many attributes to the industry that makes it thrive. Being able to attend and help execute the Cal Poly Strawberry Center’s Annual Field Day was immensely beneficial to my networking skills and overall knowledge of the strawberry industry as well. I was able to meet some incredible people that helped give me direction for after graduation, learned about up-and-coming mechanization within strawberry harvesting practices and maintenance, root impaction, and much more. It has been an overall great experience being able to work at the Strawberry Center on Cal Poly’s Campus," says student intern Sarah Herring.

The Strawberry Center's plans for the near future are to:

Grow/Expand the Strawberry Academy, a student workforce readiness program.
Increase attendance, sponsorships, and content offerings for its annual Strawberry Center Field Day. Campus facilities, the Tech Park, and research fields are essential to the success of this event.
Increase lab space and update/modernize lab/research equipment for both pathology and entomology labs.
Offer workshops for strawberry industry professionals in entomology, pathology, and automation with the purpose of recognizing and managing pests and pathogens.

Continue reading Cal Poly's Strawberry Center Helps California Strawberry Industry Grow...

Mobile Health Unit Improves Access for Hispanic and Indigenous Women in Santa Maria and Guadalupe

Dec 2, 2022

Many Hispanic and Indigenous women from Mexico in the Santa Maria and Guadalupe areas do not have adequate access to healthcare. These individuals often live in poverty despite working as field workers or in cleaning/maintenance. Most have less than an elementary school education, and many cannot read or write. Spanish is the most prevalent language, but around 20% speak the Mixtec or Zapotec Indigenous languages. Poverty and communication barriers make accessing medical services a challenge, and because Mixtec is a less common language than Spanish, the Indigenous population faces an additional challenge: most medical materials (informational texts, intake forms, etc.) are not translated into Mixtec.

The Mobile Health Unit

The Mobile Health Unit (MHU) is a mobile health clinic that offers free medical and preventive healthcare services for these uninsured Hispanic and Indigenous women from Mexico who are living in Santa Maria and Guadalupe, CA. Funding partners include the Santa Barbara Foundation, the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, and donations from Dignity Health and other private donors. The clinic is made possible by a partnership between Cal Poly, the NOOR foundation, and Marian Medical Center, and serves roughly 250 new patients per year including ongoing care and follow-up visits. The NOOR foundation provides free medical care to the uninsured, and Marian Medical Center’s medical residents rotate on the MHU as part of their underserved rotation. Marian’s labs also process many of the MHU's patient biospecimens. Services the MHU offers include:

Women’s annual health exams
Pelvic and breast exams
Pap smears
Blood pressure and blood sugar testing
Cholesterol testing
Family planning
Pregnancy
Menopause
Heart Health
Female cancers
Healthy lifestyle
Mental Health
Referrals to partners in a network of medical, social, educational, and other community providers

The MHU also participates in community events such as health fairs, providing blood pressure and other screenings and distributing educational materials.

In order to better serve the Mixtec women in Santa Maria and Guadalupe, Dr. Suzanne Phelan of Cal Poly’s Kinesiology and Public Health department applied for and recently received $30,000 in grant funding from the Santa Barbara Foundation to strengthen the MHU’s system for serving women who speak one of the Indigenous languages and who may not be able to read or write. These critical communication tools (images and audiovisual) are used by the MHU’s Mixtec interpreters and medical team to better inform women of MHU services, facilitate completion of medical intake and other assessment forms, and engage patients in evidence-based medical educational and health promotion interventions, including diabetes prevention and weight management programs. Hundreds of written materials will be transformed into a fully interactive tool with videos, images, and audio in multiple languages constructed with feedback from patients, medical providers, and interpreters.

While work on these tools is ongoing, examples include digital health history forms with questions represented in text, read aloud via audio playback, and accompanied by images that represent the content of the questions being asked. Since the populations that the MHU serve often struggle with trust of the medical community, research into what kinds of informational images instill trust and understanding among patients is also being performed in order to make these tools as successful as possible.

Cristina Macedo, Mobile Health Unit Coordinator, shared the following success story from the MHU:

”A delightful 57-year-old patient came to the MHU for a Well Woman Exam. She worked in the agriculture industry for many years, and she was uninsured. She stated she had not received a complete physical exam in several years nor a breast exam. She was concerned about a mass on one of her breasts. After our health screening and referrals, she was determined to have breast cancer and other health issues such as diabetes and depression. We advocated for her to receive the best cancer care possible at Mission Hope and provided excellent personal support to her and her family by video calling them after chemotherapy and mastectomy. She is receiving treatment and follow-ups for her diabetes, post-cancer surgery, and mental health services. She feels like without the medical screening provided by the MHU, she wouldn’t have been able to be diagnosed and treated in a timely manner, and she is grateful for our advocacy and support.”

Cal Poly's CEI office assisted Dr. Phelan through the grant process. “As the primary office on campus responsible for supporting Cal Poly faculty, staff, and students when applying for not-for-profit funding, Corporate Engagement and Innovation (CEI), within the Division of Research, Economic Development, and Graduate Education (D-REDGE) supported Dr. Phelan’s team in preparing the necessary information to support a competitive proposal," said CEI Associate Vice President Jim Dunning, "We are delighted the Santa Barbara Foundation is supporting this very important effort in the region. This work is in direct alignment with D-REDGE’s recently adopted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Action Plan. Specifically, Goal 4 to engage the Cal Poly community to create innovative scholarship that addresses and responds to real-world problems of justice, equity, inclusion and diversity to create a more just, equitable and inclusive campus, Central Coast and California.”

“One of the most rewarding aspects of working with our women's mobile health program is witnessing the cultural exchange between our staff and patient populations,” says Dr. Phelan. “It's wonderful to hear expressions of gratitude from patients receiving care sometimes for the first time in their lives. Our staff and students are incredible, speaking multiple languages and managing several competing tasks sometimes simultaneously during peak hours of the clinic.”

In addition to serving the patients of the MHU, Dr. Phelan’s efforts include plans to distribute these materials to other health care community partners serving these populations.

In a recent progress report, Dr. Phelan shared the story of mother and daughter refugees from Central America whom the MHU helped:

“The mother was screened and determined to have breast cancer and major depression; now, she is receiving much needed medical care and treatment for both conditions. The daughter was screened and identified to have an extensive history of sexual assault and abuse in her prior country and was experiencing symptoms of depression; she is now receiving much needed psychological services. This mother and daughter have expressed their intense gratitude for the care received on our mobile health unit and the funding from CAFCC (California Association of Free and Charitable Clinics), which has allowed us to expand our hours of operation and reach mothers and daughters in critical need of medical services.”

In addition to the previously mentioned partners, organizations that have been key to the MHU’s efforts include:

Herencia Indigena, which provides translation services
Mission Hope Cancer Center and Every Woman Counts programs, which provide no-cost mammograms and cancer screenings
Lideres Campesinas – Costa Central, an alliance of undocumented farm-working women who spread the word about the MHU and work as lay community health advocates
Corazon del Pueblo, who collaborates on community and training events that promote the MHU, and engages creative expression towards validating the art and heritage of the communities involved
Little House by the Park, the City of Santa Maria, and the city of Guadalupe, who provide private and public parking for the MHU

Part of the MHU team in front of the MHU

Most community members discover the clinic through Facebook posts and word of mouth, and many patients report contacting the MHU after seeing the unit in their neighborhoods. Those interested in the clinic's services can call 805-858-0943 to make an appointment. Clinic staff will coordinate a time to do intake forms over the phone prior to an appointment.

Over the next 2 years, the MHU hopes to expand operations to keep up with demand. The MHU also hopes to offer a second unit, which could allow their team to serve Santa Maria and Guadalupe simultaneously. They hope to be a regional model for other practices interested in this approach and to build a workforce for the future that increases representation of marginalized groups among healthcare professionals.

Continue reading Mobile Health Unit Improves Access for Hispanic and Indigenous Women in Santa Maria and Guadalupe...

New 5G Private Innovation Network Deployed at Cal Poly

Nov 17, 2022

"Federated Wireless today announced it is working with Amazon Web Services (AWS) on a private wireless deployment with California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) to support the university’s 5G innovation network. The deployment will increase research capabilities, enhance bandwidth and advance connectivity across the San Luis Obispo, California, campus." Read More

Continue reading New 5G Private Innovation Network Deployed at Cal Poly...

Hapt-X Opens the X-Lab in Cal Poly's Tech Park

Oct 28, 2022

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA – HaptX announced the launch of the X-Lab, a new research and development facility. Located in the Cal Poly State University Technology Park, the X-Lab is overseen by HaptX co-founder Dr. Bob Crockett, who is a professor of Biomedical Engineering at Cal Poly.

The X-Lab is a space for Cal Poly engineering students to pursue early stage research and development that could lead to new haptic innovations, while also enabling them to get hands-on work experience outside of the classroom.

“Having an industry R&D laboratory on the Cal Poly campus provides a great opportunity for Cal Poly engineering students to apply their hands-on capabilities and can-do attitude” said Dr. Crockett. “Not only do they get to dive deep into some challenging problems, they have the opportunity to make a truly meaningful impact on the future of haptic technology.”

XLab Student Interns

Reestablishing a student presence and returning to Cal Poly brings HaptX back to familiar territory. The company started in half of a room in the Cal Poly Technology Park back in 2012. Now a more mature company, HaptX is primarily focused on delivering on its product roadmap and providing high quality service to its customers. That means there’s less availability for full-time engineers to “play” with unproven ideas and experimental projects.

The X-Lab provides a return to the company’s roots of exploring untested R&D with a high degree of freedom and minimal downside when ideas don’t yield results. While the breakthroughs that stem from this research could find their way into future HaptX products, the X-Lab operates independently from the company’s main functions.

Karoline Wucherer, a Biomedical Engineering major who joined the X-Lab in August, is among the seven student interns currently at the X-Lab.

“The X-Lab has provided me with a lot of opportunities,” said Wucherer. “It’s been a really unique experience. I’ve been able to see projects through–from day one research to drafting designs.”

HaptX Tactile Telerobot demonstration

Finding a high quality internship during the academic year can be a challenge for students at Cal Poly. There are few startups and hardware engineering companies near Cal Poly’s geographically isolated campus. The X-Lab's on-campus location at the Tech Park enables students to gain startup experience without having to take time off from school or travel outside of San Luis Obispo.

There is also a certain flexibility afforded by X-Labs' Tech Park location that can be hard to find in other high-tech internships. Whether it’s only for a couple of hours between classes or a longer involvement timeframe, students can innovate on their own schedule.

“HaptX works closely with Cal Poly,” said Wucherer, “It’s been really nice for me to be able to balance working throughout the school year with being a full-time student."

The relationship with HaptX reflects Cal Poly’s philosophy of prioritizing practical experience and providing hands-on learning environments for its students. It’s a philosophy that has found a firm hold in HaptX’s DNA and is enabled by X-Lab's on-campus location in the Tech Park.

Dr. Crockett has a bright vision for the future of the X-Lab. “I hope to see the X-Lab continue to develop as a valuable complement to the main organization, one that looks at blue-sky-ideas and maintains that startup-within-a-startup company feeling.”

Continue reading Hapt-X Opens the X-Lab in Cal Poly's Tech Park...

Storytelling Software Company SoCreate Finds an Ideal Home at the Cal Poly Tech Park

Oct 24, 2022

"Screenwriting for Everyone."

San Luis Obispo-based SoCreate is a screenwriting software company that founder Justin Couto created with the vision of making screenwriting more accessible and fun for people around the globe.

Justin tried his hand at screenwriting for movies when he was in college and found the process and software archaic and uninspiring. After graduation he embarked on a software development trajectory, and through the ups and downs of the dot-com crash and the tech-related impacts of the September 11 attacks, Justin gained experience in dealing with both the good times and hard times associated with software development.

Fast forward 15 years or so, and Justin found himself with the right expertise and experience to address the problems with screenwriting software he identified while in college. SoCreate was born, and its flagship software release is right around the corner.

SoCreate's SLO offices

One of the factors that enabled SoCreate’s growth thus far is its unique location: on campus at California State Polytechnic University’s Tech Park facility in San Luis Obispo.

"Everyone is showing up to the Cal Poly Tech Park ready to use technology to change the world. Occupying a space in a building with like-minded companies is inspiring," said SoCreate Founder Justin Couto.

The Tech Park is surrounded by beautiful views, is easy to access, features convenient on-site facilities including plenty of parking, some shared workspaces, and outdoor space to take in the surroundings. SoCreate chose the Tech Park as its headquarters because of its proximity to constant technological innovation at Cal Poly, its bucolic and convenient setting, and its high-end facilities.

SoCreate's main conference room

This proximity to university resources has also enabled unique and beneficial collaboration for SoCreate. Students at Cal Poly are learning, experimenting, and inventing within state-of-the-art facilities and from pioneering educators. "As a technology company, we strive to be at the forefront of what's possible and what's new, and Cal Poly does, too," said SoCreate Founder Justin Couto, “Just steps away, we can draw from a pool of technological talent at Cal Poly that is unmatched in this region, allowing us to build unmatched software.”

Stormtrooper greeter inside SoCreate's main lobby

It is invaluable to be in constant earshot of what students want in storytelling software and which tools writing instructors need to do their jobs. SoCreate will provide students and instructors across many universities, including Cal Poly, with the mechanisms they need to optimize education for content creators and facilitate the next generation of exceptional screenwriting. Cal Poly’s Tech Park has been an ideal facility for SoCreate in this regard.

SoCreate's main entrance

SoCreate's beta list for its software release has over 20,000 screenwriters signed up who are highly anticipating the upcoming release. SoCreate will be far more visual and interactive than staring at a blank piece of paper or a blank computer screen, which is most writers' experience right now with the writing software that's on the market. SoCreate won't just focus on the process and format of screenwriting, but rather on storytelling.

While currently bootstrapped, SoCreate is interested in talking to investors or other people who are motivated by its mission and want to come along for the journey. SoCreate sees itself taking over the storytelling space globally in the next five years. Initially offered in eight languages (with many more to come), their software will be the only one on the market built specifically for writers in their home countries.

Meanwhile, SoCreate offers educational content on the topic of storytelling for free on its screenwriting blog, translated into eight different languages for writers globally.

Soon there will be movies, TV shows, web series, podcasts, and more that originated on SoCreate software, and it all started as a small Cal Poly Tech Park startup! SoCreate envisions its space at the Tech Park as a hub for creatives, students, instructors, and more to visit to be inspired by what they've built and help them build what comes next.

Follow along at socreate.it and sign up to be notified of their beta release, coming soon!

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Cal Poly Studies Identify Solutions for U.S. Supply Chain Inefficiencies

Oct 14, 2022

Port and transportation efficiency is critical in an interconnected world driven by the need for timely and cost-efficient movement of goods. Weaknesses in the supply chain can have long-term negative impacts on the macro-economy, GDP growth, international trade, and inflation, as illustrated by the lingering effects of COVID disruptions on the global movement of goods. Agricultural products, which constitute the largest U.S. exports from the West Coast ports, have been particularly affected by backlogs at various nodes in the logistics chain (trucking, rail, ocean shipping, distributions centers and ports).

Cal Poly professors Cyrus Ramezani and Chris Carr have been conducting funded research (nearly one million dollars in grants since 2019) for the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA-AMS). Their research is aimed at improving the efficiency of the intermodal transportation and logistics system, particularly for agricultural exporters.

Port of Los Angeles, where 30% of exports are agricultural products.

“COVID forced people to stay at home, shifting their normal and discretionary expenditures (travel and entertainment dollars) to online shopping. So we began to import a whole lot more stuff, and that put pressure on the entire logistics system,” Ramezani said. “It snowballed into a major growth in imports, while our exports remained stagnant or declined. COVID also impacted labor conditions at all nodes in the logistics chain. The upshot was an unprecedented backlog at every point in the supply chain. Our research developed recommendations to remove or reduce these backlogs and increase the fluidity of the logistics system as a whole, but with particular attention to the needs of agricultural exporters.”

A summary of the solutions their research has proposed includes the following:

Optimizing the supply of the "right" type of container and chassis. Ramezani and Carr’s research found no “one size fits all” solution for container and chassis shortages across all U.S. ports, but instead presents three strategies to mitigate and potentially alleviate equipment shortages that impact agricultural exporters at the ports studied (Port of Los Angeles, Port of Long Beach, Port of Oakland). One of the problems identified is the return of empty containers to Asia taking priority over filling those containers with agricultural exports. The researchers recommend solutions to ensure both containers and chassis are available to agricultural exporters during the harvest and export season. For example, shared ownership of a neutral chassis pool, subsidizing purchases of chassis and containers, and other incentive schemes (long term forward contracts) to serve agricultural exporters.

Increasing the availability of refrigerated containers. As global incomes have increased, demand for perishable goods has grown significantly, which in turn has increased demand for refrigerated containers. Ramezani and Carr studied the factors that impact the provisioning of refrigerated containers and proposed an econometric model to estimate the impact of key variables, including income, commodity prices, seasonal factors, political uncertainty and exchange rates on U.S. perishable exports and the "derived demand" for refrigerated containers.

Improving supply chain communication and coordination using new information technologies. Large companies such as Costco, Amazon, FedEx, UPS, Walmart, and Target utilize a central logistics system and backbone to provide data visibility across the entire logistics chain, but when it comes to containerized agricultural transport, data sharing tends to be broken and fragmented.

“Major companies often own much of their logistics chain and can negotiate preferential treatment in terms of shipping costs and speed of delivery. These firms also have access to best practices software to trace products' location around the globe, manage warehouses, schedule pick ups and drop offs, and run an efficient logistics system,” said Carr.

Smaller exporters, such as agricultural firms, do not posses the same advantages, but such enterprises can be helped by “subsidizing their technology purchases, and offering educational programs to assist in the adoption of digital technologies to manage shipments. We also proposed the creation of purchasing cooperatives so farmers can obtain better terms when buying digital technologies, or critical equipment like containers and chassis,” recommended Ramezani.

Improving fluidity at terminal and port facilities. Port fluidity - the speed by which containers are moved within port facilities - is impacted by the way containers are loaded at the port-of-origin and then unloaded and stacked at the port-of-destination. If this loading, unloading, stacking, sorting and re-stacking are pursued in ways that “optimize” stakeholders' needs, then appointment systems can make a significant difference and add value. However, this requires the stakeholders to share data in a timely manner, so that there is sufficient time to plan operations at each node in the logistics system. Without comprehensive data sharing platforms, port appointment systems fail to improve fluidity at port facilities. This research identifies procedures that enhance fluidity through adoption of new digital technologies at U.S. ports and marine terminals.

Port of LA from the air - @trekandphoto Adobe Stock

Alleviating congestion at seaports by constructing inland logistics facilities. Inland container ports handle shipping containers at locations away from a seaport and are typically linked to nearby ports by highways and rail. They have long been viewed as a solution to congestion and pollution at the San Pedro Bay (SPB) port complex, which includes the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Multiple feasibility studies have identified inland port locations to reduce pollution and congestion at the SPB complex, but the development of such facilities has been slow. Ramezani and Carr’s research addresses the impediments to the creation and utilization of inland facilities.

These studies have been positively received by the logistics industry, agricultural enterprises, and state and federal transportation agencies. For example, the Federal Maritime Commission invited the Cal Poly professors to present their research to their senior staffers and industry representatives. The authors also briefed Congressman Carbajal's staff on their findings. Finally, their findings have been highlighted in national press, including leading logistics publications such as the Journal of Commerce. To view Ramezani and Carr’s reports in more detail, click the following links:

Intermodal Chassis Availability (Supply) for Containerized Agricultural Exports (2021) SSRN: Click here
Determinants of Refrigerated Container Provisioning (2022) SSRN: Click here
Integrating Terminal Gate Appointment Systems at the Port of Los Angeles (2022) SSRN: Click here
The Impact of New Digital Technologies on U.S. Containerized Exports (2022) SSRN: Click here
The Prospects for Developing Inland Logistics Ports in California (2022) SSRN: Click here

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Cal Poly’s Tech Park Expansion and Cal Poly Pier Create Opportunities in Blue Economy Innovation on the Central Coast

Sep 23, 2022

Cal Poly’s on-campus Technology Park Expansion and Avila Beach-based Cal Poly Pier are poised to support upcoming high-tech marine initiatives on the Central Coast.

California’s goal of meeting 100% of its energy needs with carbon-free generation by 2045 has spurred significant interest and growth in offshore wind electricity generation along the coastline for up to seven gigawatts (GW) of supply. Offshore energy development is set to be a significant driver of jobs and economic growth in California including San Luis Obispo County, an area earmarked for offshore wind leases and significant investment in offshore electric generation.

Total United States investment in offshore wind is estimated to reach $17 billion by 2025. By 2030, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) estimates that 30 gigawatts of generation will have created more than 80,000 jobs nationwide. San Luis Obispo (SLO)-based economic development organization, REACH (Regional Economic Action Coalition), estimates that 3GW of offshore wind development in California would result in 1098 jobs statewide (617 in SLO County) and $396 million of economic output. 7GW of development would result in 2,488 jobs statewide (1,389 in SLO County) and $1.04 billion of output. The planned BOEM Morro Bay Wind Energy Area in San Luis Obispo County auction set for fall 2022 will catalyze the need for feasibility and impact assessments of the lease area in the very near future.

In addition to offshore wind, wave energy research along the California coastline continues to grow. U.S. marine energy resources are significant and geographically diverse. The national combined technical resource (wave, tidal, current) of at least 2,300 Terawatt Hours (TWh)/year is equivalent to two-thirds of total U.S. electricity generated. The U.S. wave energy resource is large (1,400 TWh/year), and the west coast is particularly attractive for wave energy because the resource is substantial (240 TWh/year). Commercialization of technologies to safely capture these renewable resources at scale will support localized economic development opportunities, dramatically reduce harmful emissions from nonrenewable energy generation, and create high-value employment for waterfront communities.

Cal Poly’s Tech Park expansion and Cal Poly Pier modernization efforts represent shovel-ready, permitted, master-planned facilities that are ready to assist with both offshore wind and wave energy research and implementation leveraging university faculty and student research and expertise. Investment in these two university facilities is a prime accelerator for economic growth in the region and Cal Poly is poised to be an early and significant resource for private and public sector development in these emerging sectors.

To date, Cal Poly’s Tech Park has created over 750 high-tech jobs supporting over 50 companies and creating $60 million in economic impact to the region. The Phase I Tech Park completed in 2010 has provided an 11x return on investment. The Cal Poly Tech Park is a facility dedicated to developing the intersection between student/faculty research and development and corporate workforce and innovation needs. Upcoming expansion will add an additional 100,000-120,000 square feet across multiple buildings in direct support of emerging high-growth, high-wage industries on the Central Coast such as Ag-Tech, Alternative Energy, Aerospace, and Biotechnology. The expanded Tech Park is expected to result in over 900 additional jobs, $150 million in annual economic impact, and continue the progress made by Cal Poly over the past decade in the innovation-entrepreneurship ecosystem that is an integral part of a broader regional economic development strategy. Combined with other regional investments, it is anticipated that the Tech Park expansion project will support $1 billion in planned private sector investment in the clean tech sector over the next decade. See more at https://cei.calpoly.edu/technology-park

In conjunction with the Tech Park expansion, Cal Poly’s Pier in Port San Luis Harbor District is poised to play a key role in the expanding Blue Economy supporting offshore wind, marine energy, aquaculture, desalination, and systems and subsystem development/demonstration projects. The pier provides an ideal location for Blue Economy developers that require a commercial grade platform to access the marine environment.

Critical information technology, water, and electrical utility upgrades are planned to expand the ability of the pier to capitalize on upcoming development opportunities. The Cal Poly Pier has already played a key role in marine research and testing highlighted by the following select projects: Subsea Electronics and Instrumentation Testing; Sonar-based Underwater Leak Detection Testing; Scale-model Wave Energy / Upwelling Systems Testing; Induced Upwelling Testing; Infrared Camera Testing; Bioluminescence Detection; Loading and Unloading of Seismic Survey Equipment; Radar Altimeter Testing; Polymer Film Degradation Testing; Testing/Deployment of Underwater Camera Apparatus.

Cal Poly’s Center for Coastal Marine Sciences has over 40 faculty and staff, 150 undergrad students, and 20 graduate students engaged to strengthen future relationships with other research institutions, community organizations, industries, and policymakers to supply sound scientific solutions to issues in marine science along the California Central Coast and beyond.

The continued investment in marine research facilities at the Cal Poly Pier, leveraging student/faculty expertise at Cal Poly, and the available proximity to these resources for corporate/nonprofit interests through the on-campus Tech Park supply a robust pathway for enabling high-tech economic development.

Cal Poly is centrally located to the Morro Bay offshore wind lease area and industrial re-use opportunities represented in the Diablo Canyon and Morro Bay Power Plants. In conjunction with its Pier and expanding Tech Park, Cal Poly supplies existing R&D capital and expertise for entities looking to capitalize on the growing Blue Economy opportunities on the Central Coast. These facilities lie within a 13-mile radius of each other:

Cal Poly's faculty and student knowledge in applied solutions through our Learn by Doing philosophy gives corporate and nonprofit interests a way to engage their future workforce, benefit from innovative university research, strengthen higher education at Cal Poly, spur economic growth in the region, and increase sustainability of our power generation, food supply, and water usage.

Continued investment in Cal Poly’s Tech Park and Pier will drive economic growth and high-tech solutions to challenges that the ocean can help us solve locally and globally.

Inquires:

Jim Dunning, Associate Vice President, Corporate Engagement & Innovation

Division Research, Economic Development, and Graduate Education Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

(805) 756-5551 - jdunning@calpoly.edu

http://research.calpoly.edu

Continue reading Cal Poly’s Tech Park Expansion and Cal Poly Pier Create Opportunities in Blue Economy Innovation on the Central Coast...

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