Success Stories
Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering
The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mechanical Engineering Department is making strides towards an alternative fuel and eco-friendly future. Students in the department, who are advised, and overseen by George Leone, are proactively creating and innovating designs to build an energy-efficient environment through the creation and use of alternative fuel transportation. (Please show this first paragraph, but hide rest of article and make it optional to put drop-down option to view rest of article).
George Leone, an electro-mechanical technician, has lived in the San Luis Obispo area for over 30 years and began his career at Cal Poly as a 20-year volunteer for the department. Leone’s passion for energy-efficiency was inspired when he owned and operated his own solar company from 1983 to 1994 in San Luis Obispo. When the technician began working closely with faculty and students after moving to the Central Coast, Leone recognized the dual importance of engineering and efficiency. “Good engineering is using the appropriate materials for the project. If we can design things that are light enough we could put electric motors and batteries in them, and reduce energy usage and gasoline,” Leone said.
The Cal Poly Human Powered Vehicle Club, which is the oldest club of its kind in the world, works closely with Leone to create human-powered vehicles that travel at high speeds. Inside the composite fairing of the vehicle is a bicycle that is powered solely by human force. Competition rules require that the vehicles utilize no motor or other energy source; riders wear a helmet and have a safe means of stopping the vehicle. The 40-member club participated in Earth Day San Luis Obispo in April 2011 with their human-powered vehicle Atlas. Other Cal Poly Engineering clubs s
howcased their 2,700 mpg super-mileage vehicle, a 400 mpg urban concept vehicle, an electric powered RX-7 Mazda and a hydrogen fuel-cell powered golf cart.
The innovation of students, coupled with the support of engineering professors, has yielded both successful clubs and a department that are at the forefront of energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The formation of the Cal Poly Human Powered Vehicle Club in 1978 was done in response to the energy crisis of the 1970s. “What I thought was going to happen with energy efficiency in the 1970s is finally starting now. It’s exciting to be living in this period of time,” Leone said.
To expand and grow the awareness and participation of students throughout the Mechanical Engineering Department, Leone and faculty are seeking to gain scholarship funding for an individual student assistant to train fellow and futuristic peer student assistants for the on-campus mechanical shop. The shop is open to all majors, students and faculty throughout the Cal Poly campus and is seeking donors to financially aid mechanical engineering Student Technicians to increase the participation of students with the mission of energy-efficiency and innovation.
Leone believes that the shop is the foundational support for student success in the workforce and the future of energy-efficient designs. “These students are a very innovative group of people,” Leone states. “Engineering is the practice of developing efficiency and is both a rising science and a creative skill set to make things more efficient. The students are a fearless team of engineers and will try things that others won’t.” The advisor is thoroughly enjoying his career working with innovative students that are taught and prepared for the workforce by Cal Poly’s “Learn by Doing” theory.
Grover Beach Mechanic Shop Electric Vehicle
The City of Grover Beach Mechanic Shop was donated a zero-emission, electric vehicle from the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) in April 2011. The mechanic shop, which is responsible for repairing all city vehicles and mechanical tools, applied for a grant to repair the engine of an older Grover Beach vehicle, but APCD instead gifted the electric vehicle when they were informed of the need. (Please show this first paragraph, but hide rest of article and make it optional to put drop-down option to view rest of article).
The San Luis Obispo APCD purchased the electric vehicle with the purpose of promoting the Central Coast Clean Cities Coalition (C5) mission of clean air and utilization of alternative fuels, but encountered restrictions with the 35mph maximum speed battery and determ
ining where to store the vehicle. Jerry Ross, one of two mechanics at the Grover Beach Mechanic Shop, was delighted and surprised at the news of t
he donated vehicle. “The APCD gave it to us to use as they knew we needed a new vehicle,” Ross states.
The electric vehicle, a Miles truck, runs just like a typical vehicle does and is beneficial to the city of Grover Beach and its 35mph speed limit. By plugging the electric vehicle into an outlet, the truck recharges overnight and has the vehicle amenities of air conditioning and heating, a stereo system and silence when driving. In the two months of owning the truck, the mechanical shop has driven 300 miles and has saved on numerous tanks of gas. Employee responses to the truck have been nothing but positive and inquisitive. “Everyone at the shop loves the truck,” Ross states. “O
nlookers are very inquisitive and we use the vehicle for volunteer work days to show how positive it is for the environment.” Initially, Grover Beach decision-makers were hesitant to switch to alternative fuels, a compressed natural gas (CNG) engine or an electric vehicle for the shop to use. “Being given this truck has opened the city’s eyes to see that alternative fuel vehicles will work for the city’s benefit. It has given them more ideas of what can be used to save on gas when commuting,” Ross states.
With the introduction and implementation of the donated electric vehicle, the Grover Beach Mechanic Shop is paving the way for cleaner city air and reduced greenhouse gas emissions to preserve the beautiful central coast.
SLO Car Free
In September 2009, the Air Pollution Control District (APCD) of San Luis Obispo County launched the successful San Luis Obispo (SLO) Car Free coalition. With goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting clean air along the central coast, the partnership between APCD and SLO Car Free invites both locals and visitors alike to consciously promote clean air quality when traveling. (Please show this first paragraph, but hide rest of article and make it optional to put drop-down option to view rest of article).
SLO Car Free is a partnership with the APCD whose mission is “to preserve clean air, promote community and individual responsibility for air quality, and to promote economic and community well-being through encouraging car-free, care-free transportation to and around the San Luis Obispo area.” The SLO Car Free coalition provides visitors with the means to travel in the San Luis Obispo area without the use of their personal vehicle and partners with local restaurants and hotels to offer incentives for participants. Visitors that pledge to travel car-free in the San Luis Obispo area are offered and provided discounts and enticements by local restaurants and hotels that believe in the mission of preserving and promoting clean air. Meghan Field, Air Quality Specialist for the San Luis Obispo APCD, believes that the SLO Car Free coalition is a great success along the central coast in involving both visitors and locals and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “The program reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps both the wallets of visitors to San Luis Obispo as well as the local air quality. This program is a way for the APCD to reach out to the local business community and encourage businesses in SLO County to partner with our mission,” Field states. Since launching in 2009, more than 800 registered pledges have been made by visitors that support the clean air mission.
SLO Car Free modeled their partnership with the APCD, Amtrak, SLO Bicycle Coalition and numerous car-free partners after the Santa Barbara Car Free coalition. The success of Santa Barbara Car Free’s 1998 launch inspired the San Luis Obispo APCD to provide visitors with the tools to travel car-free by Amtrak to the central coast and feasibly vacation and explore. Spreading the word of the coalition to visitors through press releases and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s “Mustang Daily Open House Edition” has increased the number of involved visiting parents, grandparents and retired travelers. SLO Car Free hopes to gain an increase in pledges from visiting tourists while promoting their mission of clean air and individual responsibility.