Cal Poly Pomona President J. Michael Ortiz with Congresswoman Grace Napolitano at Kellogg House Pomona

Congresswoman Grace F. Napolitano (D-38th District, California) experienced ?hands-on learning? at Cal Poly Pomona during her visit to campus on Wednesday, August 20. Currently serving her third term in the U.S. House of Representatives, Napolitano serves the Cal Poly Pomona campus and the entire City of Pomona in the recently created district that extends west and south through Hacienda Heights, La Puente, Montebello, Norwalk, Pico Rivera and Santa Fe Springs.

During her visit with President J. Michael Ortiz, the congresswoman toured the Center for Training, Technology & Incubation (CTTI), which houses the NASA Commercialization Center. She met with the founders/CEOs of two of the start-up businesses housed at CTTI, who presented their companies and their plans for creating employment opportunities in the Pomona area. Claver Bundac (Biomedix) and Walton Williamson (SySense) are both using sophisticated NASA technologies to create and market products for food testing and aircraft navigation.

?Congresswoman Napolitano and her staff are enthusiastic supporters of Cal Poly Pomona,? said Doug Glaeser, director of Governmental Relations. ?We are fortunate to be part of their district.?

Tours of AGRIscapes and the Farm Store at Kellogg Ranch demonstrated the agricultural heritage of the university and its efforts to educate local students about agriculture, food and nutrition. A visit to the Rain Bird Rain Forest and Ethnobotany Centers (both part of the BioTrek project in the College of Science) provided additional exposure to resources available to the community and to schools in the area. Lunch at Kellogg House Pomona concluded the visit.