Pomona : Cal Poly to Expand Program

The Cal Poly Pomona College of Engineering has received an $805,000 federal contract, administered through the California Energy Commission, to develop a lighting engineering and design program focused on energy savings.

The money will come from the Department of Energy’s Petroleum Violation Escrow Account--funds accrued as a result of legal settlements from oil price fixing in the 1970s. Last year, Sen. Frank Hill (R-Whittier) recommended the project as part of the state legislative budget, a spokesman for Hill said.

According to Marvin Abrahams, coordinator of technology for the College of Engineering, about one-third of all energy consumed in the country is in the form of lighting. Although several academic programs exist outside California that focus on lighting engineering, none are as comprehensive as the one proposed by Cal Poly Pomona, he said.

In early 1991, the college launched its program with seed money from the state Energy Commission, as well as with grants from Southern California Edison and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Abrahams said.

The $805,000 contract, signed in June, will significantly expand and develop the program over a 2 1/2-year period, he said.