Net-Zero-Design Competition 2025

Thirty-six Mechanical Engineering and Construction Management students spent a recent weekend competing to design an updated HVAC system for a 40,000 square foot office building, including selecting mechanical equipment, budgeting for labor and materials, scheduling, planning the crane pick to place the equipment, and considering climate impacts. This was all part of the Net-Zero Design […]

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Fall 2024 NorCal Field Trip

At the end of seventh week, fourteen mechanical engineer students, along with ASHRAE Club Adviser Lauren Rueda, traveled to the San Jose area to learn about career opportunities within the HVAC industry. Their first stop was the ASHRAE San Jose Chapter Technical Meeting and Student Night. Students had the opportunity to network with industry professionals, […]

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ASHRAE Diablo Canyon Power Plant Tour

Students and officers from the Cal Poly ASHRAE club were lucky enough to tour Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in Avila Beach, just 30 minutes from Cal Poly! The group was given an extensive tour of the plant, seeing areas like the steam turbine deck, marina, and control room. Two HVAC engineers who work at […]

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Women in ASHRAE Leadership Symposium 2024

At the end of the first week of classes, five mechanical engineering students—Katherine Hennig, Ashley Corona, Madison Kai, Julia McMorrow, Roha Ali—and two faculty—Dr. Jennifer Mott and Prof. Lauren Rueda—attended the inaugural Women in ASHRAE Leadership Symposium in Chicago, IL. Over 200 women mechanical engineers, architects, and other professionals related to the heating, ventilation, air […]

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Senior Design – Energy Modeling for Net-Zero Building Design

The main goal of this project was to evaluate the indoor environment created by the Mount Shasta Institute for Job Creation and Restorative Technology, a proposed net-zero building using no mechanical heating or cooling, to be built in Mount Shasta, California. To do this, we modeled the building in DesignBuilder and ran several simulations. This […]

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Congratulations to Our ASHRAE SoCal Scholarship Recipients!

We are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2023–2024 ASHRAE Southern California Chapter Student Scholarships. These scholarships recognize exceptional students from four-year engineering programs who have shown a commitment to advancing their knowledge and careers in the HVAC&R industry. Katherine Hennig has been awarded the ASHRAE Engineering Scholarship, receiving $3,500 for her outstanding academic […]

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2024 Net-Zero Design/Construction-A-Thon

The Net-Zero Design/Construction-A-Thon had students teams compete on an engineering project with mentors from the industry at Cal Poly from January 26 to 28. There was a high level of student interest in the competition, as evidenced by the 75 applications we received for the 42 available spots. View pictures from the event here. […]

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Cal Poly HVAC&R Programs Wins ASHRAE Decarb Challenge Grant!

Dr. Mott along with her students was awarded $2,000 for their pioneering project, “Sustainable Energy From Organic Waste: Anaerobic Decomposition and Thermoelectric Generation.” In a competitive field of 43 outstanding submissions, 9 ASHRAE chapters, including the Southern California Chapter in collaboration with Cal Poly’s Student Branch and the San Jose Chapter, were selected to receive […]

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Women in ME/ASHRAE Dinner – Fall 2023

We kicked-off our Annual HVAC&R Event 2023 with the Women in ME dinner! Karine Leblanc presented The Power of EQ: bridging the gap between technical brilliance and human connections. Over 50 women students attended the dinner and made connections with one another, as well as with industry and faculty.   […]

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