Our Crowdfunding Groups
Every physics and astronomy student should be able to learn industry-relevant science from the people who make it happen!
Who are we?
The Department of Physics and Astronomy is proud of its excellence in undergraduate education, whether in the classroom or the research lab. Project-based learning is the cornerstone of our success, evidenced by the many students who go on to great jobs and great graduate schools. We have developed an excellent relationship with our Industry Advisory Board (IAB), which advises students on how to prepare for careers and faculty on how to hone and emphasize the relevance of our curriculum.
IAB members meeting with students
What is our next step?
We are working to bring in industry professionals into the classroom, so that students complement academic foundations and basic research projects with cutting-edge applications. To this end we are establishing a Visiting Lectureship in Industrial Science, for highly-experienced professionals who will teach project-based courses in their areas of expertise, spanning all the many ways in which physics is applied to problems in our modern world. Visiting Lecturers will teach full courses, not just occasional sessions, focusing on core skills needed for students to enter their fields.
What will your donation enable?
Cutting-edge science requires equipment, supplies, and software. Every prospective Visiting Lecturer has expressed strong interest in experiments and simulations with tools that we do not yet have but seek to acquire. We plan to acquire cutting-edge equipment that we can use for future courses, not just one-offs. An investment in this project is an investment in ongoing improvements to our labs and project-based learning!
Visiting Lecturers in Industrial Science may also receive stipends for extra activities beyond instruction, such as lending expertise to lab upgrades, mentoring students, and other activities in support of our department's work with students.
You share our vision for bringing more industrial expertise to the curriculum at Cal Poly Pomona. $25 can help purchase basic supplies for a small project group.
You are making a project happen. $150 can enable a small project group to purchase select hardware components.
You are providing an essential project element for students. $300 can buy a basic camera used for a semester's worth of experiments in a hands-on optics class.
You are making a semester of experiments happen for students. $600 can purchase a basic camera and key supplies for a semester of work in a hands-on optics class.
