The Engineering Student Experience Podcast

In this episode, Paul continues his semester-long journey following two engineering students (Michael Frial and Michael Espinoza) throughout the Fall 2026 semester at Cal Poly Pomona. During the interview, both students share their workload and state of mind in Week 7 of the semester. Paul will check back with them in Week 9. Have comments about this episode? Send your feedback to TESEpodcast@gmai...

In this episode, Paul continues his semester-long journey following two engineering students (Michael Frial and Michael Espinoza) throughout the Fall 2026 semester at Cal Poly Pomona. During the interview, both students share their workload and state of mind in Week 5 of the semester. Paul will check back with them in Week 7. Have comments about this episode? Send your feedback to TESEpodcast@gmai...

In this episode, Paul continues his semester-long journey following two engineering students (Michael Frial and Michael Espinoza) throughout the Fall 2026 semester at Cal Poly Pomona. During the interview, both students share their workload and state of mind in Week 3 of the semester. Paul will check back with them in Week 5. Have comments about this episode? Send your feedback to TESEpodcast@gmai...

Have you ever wondered what a semester is really like for engineering students? In this episode, Paul begins a semester-long journey where he follows two engineering students (Michael Frial and Michael Espinoza) throughout the Fall 2026 semester at Cal Poly Pomona. During the interview, both students share their workload and state of mind in Week 1 of the semester. Paul will check back with them i...

Note: This episode was released about a week before it was announced that Dr. Gomez was appointed President of Cal State University San Bernadino. We wish her luck in her new role. In this episode, Paul tries to demystify the role of "Provost" of a university by interviewing the Provost & VP of Academic Affairs at Cal Poly Pomona, Dr. Terri Gomez. During the conversation, Provost Gomez describ...

In this episode, Paul explores the field of materials engineering by interviewing two faculty members in the Chemical & Materials Engineering Department at Cal Poly Pomona. Dr. Vilupanur Ravi is a Professor specializing in advanced materials, coatings, and corrosion, and Dr. Jonathan Puthoff is a Professor specializing in materials characterization and modeling. During the interview, Professor...

In this episode, Paul learns what it's like to work at an energy company with Justin Valencia and Brittany Williams, both of whom work for Chevron at their refinery in El Segundo, CA. Justin has a background in mechanical engineering, and is the Technology & Innovation Manager for Downstream, Midstream, and Chemicals. Brittany has a background in chemical engineering, and is a Short Range Proc...

In this episode, Paul explores the field of industrial engineering by interviewing two faculty members in the Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering Department at Cal Poly Pomona. Dr. Shokoufeh Mirzaei is Professor and Chair of the department, specializing in applied optimization and artificial intelligence, and Dr. Payam Parsa is an Associate Professor specializing in supply chains and logist...

In this episode, Paul explores the field of engineering technology by interviewing two faculty members in the Electromechanical Engineering Technology Department at Cal Poly Pomona. Dr. Farhana Abedin is an Associate Professor and Chair of the department, specializing in structural mechanics and materials, and Gerald Herder is a Professor specializing in industrial electronics, instrumentation, ra...

In this episode, Paul interviews Jared Changizian right when he graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. You can listen to Jared as a freshman in episode 14 , as a sophomore in episode 19 , and about 1.5 years before he graduated in episode 31 . Paul and Jared are joined by Dr. Jessica Perez, a faculty member in the Center for Excellence in Mathematics a...

In this episode, Paul tries to demystify the role of "Dean" of a college by interviewing the Dean of the College of Engineering at Cal Poly Pomona, Dr. Andrew Ketsdever. During the conversation, Andrew describes the responsibilities of a Dean, shares his experiences of being a Dean, and explains how a Dean impacts students, faculty, and staff.  Here is how Cal Poly Pomona organizes departments int...

In this episode, Paul tries to demystify the important, but often misunderstood, position of "department chair" by interviewing Dr. Berit Givens (Dept of Mathematics and Statistics) and Dr. Shokoufeh Mirzaei (Dept of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering), both of whom are department chairs at Cal Poly Pomona. During the conversation, Berit and Shokoufeh describe the role and responsibilities o...

In this episode, Paul interviews Davy McDowell, who is the Chief Operating Officer of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). During the conversation, Davy provides an overview of the process engineers go through to become professionally licensed. He also discusses the types of engineering jobs that typically require professional licensure, what the professional li...

In this episode, Paul interviews Dr. Victor Okhuysen who is a Professor in the Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering Department at Cal Poly Pomona. During the conversation, Dr. Okhuysen provides an overview of the field of manufacturing engineering. He compares manufacturing engineering with other engineering disciplines, discusses career paths available in manufacturing engineering, and give...

In this episode, Paul interviews two Cal Poly Pomona engineering students, Elizabeth Sanchez (industrial engineering) and Esteban Alderete (aerospace engineering), who also are US Marine Corps veterans. During the interview, Elizabeth and Esteban share their experiences of active-duty service, transitioning back to civilian life, and being engineering students. They also provide advice for people...

In this episode, Paul interviews two Cal Poly Pomona engineering students, Jared Changizian (mechanical engineering) and Michael Youssef (electrical engineering), who discuss a very common experience for engineering students -- having to repeat a course due to receiving a low grade. During the interview, Jared and Michael describe the emotions and thoughts they experienced when they found out they...

In this episode, Paul provides an overview of ABET, which is the agency responsible for accrediting engineering programs. He discusses why accreditation is important for students and what an engineering program must do to receive accreditation. During the episode, Paul mentions that all of his department's program educational objectives are listed on his department's website. You can view the prog...

In this episode, Paul explores the field of air pollution control (or air pollution abatement) with Anoosheh Oskouian and John Von Bargen from Ship & Shore Environmental, a company based in Signal Hill, CA that specializes in designing and constructing air pollution abatement systems. Anoosheh is President and CEO of the company, and John is the Vice President and Director of Engineering. During t...

In this episode, Paul talks with Isabel Gutierrez to learn what it's like to create and grow a company. Isabel is the CEO and founder of Vistendo, and earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cal Poly Pomona in 2019. Vistendo is a company dedicated to ending the suffering related to untreated brain dysfunctions including brain injuries and mental health disorders. The technology developed by V...

In this episode, Paul interviews two Cal Poly Pomona engineering students, Eric Belcastro (civil engineering) and John Hartman (electrical engineering), who started pursuing an engineering degrees later in life. Eric and John talk about their transition back to school, and describe their day-to-day experiences inside and outside the classroom as students who are significantly older than most of th...

In this episode, Paul explores the food retailing industry by interviewing Diego Wood and Michael Gillett, who work for the Hussmann Corporation. Hussmann designs, builds, and maintains display cases in many supermarkets, convenience stores, and other places that sell temperature-controlled food products. Diego is a Specialty Engineering Leader and Michael is a Principal Engineer at Hussmann’s fac...

In this episode, Paul explores what it's like to be an engineer at an air quality agency by interviewing Dr. Simin Mehrabani, who works at the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD). The South Coast AQMD is a government agency responsible for improving the air quality for over 15 million people in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. Simin received a Ph. D. in c...

In this episode, Paul explores what it's like to be an engineer at an electric utility agency by interviewing Everett Aragon and Moein Lak, both of whom work at the Southern California Edison. SoCal Edison is a large electric utility transmitting and distributing power throughout much of Southern and Eastern California. Everett Aragon is a Senior Engineering Manager in the Technology Integration G...

In this episode, Paul interviews Andrew Diamond and Jonny Yi, both of whom are aerospace engineering students (and amateur podcasters) at Cal Poly Pomona. Andrew and Jonny transferred to Cal Poly Pomona from a community college back in Fall 2019. In the interview, Andrew and Jonny discuss why they went to community college, how they prepared to transfer to a university and what the transition was...

In this episode, Paul explores what it's like to be an engineer at a water utility agency by interviewing Steve Johnson and Gerardo Maldonado, both of whom work at the Desert Water Agency (DWA). The DWA is responsible for importing water and managing groundwater in the Palm Spring and Cathedral City area (desert communities a couple hours east of Los Angeles). Steve is the Assistant Manager with a...