Cougars & Mustangs 

Despite their infamy for throwing wild, booze-infested parties that disturb the general peace, college students can also be found doing plenty of truly impressive things. This applies at every college, from the halls of Cuesta College to the shores of Cal Poly. Let’s see what the latter’s been up to, shall we?

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Oh, they just made their best finish ever at the American Society of Civil Engineers National Student Steel Bridge Competition, at the Kansas City Convention Center on May 23. The competition challenges students to design, construct, and even test constructed steel bridges, and Cal Poly was one of 47 to make this attempt. For at least the past five years, Cal Poly has finished in the top 10 for this event, but what were the results this time, exactly? Eleventh in display, seventh in economy, fifth in lightness, fourth in stiffness, third in construction speed, and finally, SECOND in efficiency! Cal Poly therefore placed in the top 10 in five of all six categories and made it to the top five in all but two of them. Heck yeah, Mustangs!

Team Captain Shalya Allen of Shoreline, Wash., credited early preparation and Cal Poly’s tradition of cutting-edge design for how well the team did. Speaking of early preparation, how’d that go, Mustangs? Do you feel ready for your finals? You’ve had a long quarter of Learning By Doing, it’s now time to Show Your Work By Doing, Cal Poly’s less-popular and therefore completely nonexistent alternative motto. Congratulations in advance for the mountain of hard work you’ll have climbed by the second week of June! It’s almost time to wield the caps and gowns, and until it is, you’ll always have Cougars and Mustangs.

In other “Mustangs Do Cool Stuff” news, a multidisciplinary team of Mustangs partnered with People’s Self-Help Housing to develop plans for an affordable 30-unit housing complex for at-risk and homeless veterans in Atascadero. The project is named Vestri Vita, which translates from Latin to English as “Your Life.” Included shall be a counseling center, first aid resources, ADA-compliant design, and even a “maker space” facility to allow veterans, through its resources, to reintegrate into the community.

This very project took second place honors at the Bank of America Merill Lynch Low-Income Housing Challenge! To view the team’s presentation video for this wonderful project, please visit youtube.com/watch?v=7nNF_KaNP-E.

Contributor Chris White-Sanborn did something impressive once. No, really! Send collegiate news to [email protected].