Cal Poly to Launch California Center for Construction Education with Grant from the Charles Pankow Foundation

The Charles Pankow Foundation has awarded the new California Center for Construction Education a $100,000 grant to expand undergraduate offerings in design-build education across the nation. The center is part of the Cal Poly Construction Management Department.

The grant will also support a national design-build educator conference for construction management, architecture and engineering faculty to be sponsored by Cal Poly. The conference is set for Thursday, June 1 - Saturday, June 3.

The Charles Pankow Foundation is a nonprofit corporation promoting innovation in design and construction. "Helping with the start-up of the California Center for Construction Education at Cal Poly meets our purpose to nurture innovation in the U.S. building industry," said the foundation's executive director, Robert Tener.

The new center's activities focus on educational outreach to industry practitioners, including builders, construction managers, engineers and architects, as well as property owners and consumer groups. Along with seminars and workshops, the center offers a variety of consulting services and in-house, custom corporate training and conducts project-based applied research.

"Because California is facing such urgent housing, facility and infrastructure needs, there is great demand for a 'new breed' of architecture, engineering and construction professionals to help solve the state's problems," said Cal Poly construction management Professor Barbara Jackson, who is the center's director. "The California Center for Construction Education helps fill that need."

Contact: Ray Ladd, College of Architecture and Environmental Design, (805) 756-7432, rladd@calpoly.edu