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, including several Cal Poly alumni, and to learn about networking from the keynote speaker, Abhishek Khurana.

The next day the students visited the Southland Industries office and shop in Union City. They learned about the company and toured the piping and sheet metal shops to learn about how HVAC components are manufactured and assembled. A highlight was a panel discussion during which six recent Cal Poly mechanical engineering graduates talked about their path to working at Southland Industries and their advice for current students.

After visiting the Southland Industries office, the group headed to the Google Bay View campus for a tour led by Gregory Hamm, from Southland Industries, and Phil Williams and Asim Tahir, from Google. Throughout the tour they gave unique insight into the design process for the building and the guiding principles that resulted in the final site design. The students learned about the centrality of the unique HVAC systems, such as geothermal utilization and displacement ventilation, to the functioning of the site. They also pointed out the ways in which the HVAC systems support the site in being all-electric and water positive, as well as reducing carbon emissions by shifting electricity consumption to times when solar energy is being produced onsite.