A team of Cal Poly ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ food science and technology students has won the Pacific Southwest College Bowl for the fourth consecutive year.
Jason Soldo (team captain), Enrique Govea, Siane Kung, Alexander Gomez, Nicole Lam, Jakob Bathon, and Janet Dao beat out teams from Chapman University and San Diego State University.
The College Bowl challenges students on their knowledge of food science and technology, the history of foods and food processing, food law, and general food-related trivia.
The different teams went head to head in rounds in a double-elimination format. If a team lost a round twice, they were eliminated from the competition.
The Cal Poly ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ team lost a second-round match against Chapman, but rallied to defeat the San Diego State team in the subsequent round.
In a rematch, the Cal Poly ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ team beat Chapman in the fourth and fifth rounds to win the College Bowl.
By winning the regional competition, the Cal Poly ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ students have earned the right to compete in the National College Bowl in July at the Institute of Food Technologists annual conference in Chicago.
The Cal Poly ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ team was the only one composed solely of undergraduates. Lecturer Karoline Harrison is the team’s advisor.
Huntley College Dean Ethan Orr, Department of Nutrition and Food Science Professor and Chair David Edens, Professors Olive Li and Gabriel Davidov-Pardo, and Assistant Professors Belal Hasan, and Mohammad Zarei were on hand to support the team.
The College Bowl was sponsored by the Institute of Food Technologists Student Association (IFTSA). It was held on March 14 at Chapman University in Orange.