Updates for Caltech neighbors

As vaccination rates rise and COVID-19 cases decline, Caltech is gradually resuming on-campus activities.

A scaled-down version of our customary summer research programs for students will begin on June 14. Caltech will provide on-campus housing for up to 385 fully vaccinated undergraduates to support their research, training, and learning experiences. The Pasadena Public Health Department (PPHD) has approved these summer plans.

PPHD also indicated that Caltech can fully reopen student housing and classrooms this fall to vaccinated students. Caltech celebrates the planned return of its students and arrival of one of its most diverse cohorts of new graduate and undergraduate scholars.

Additionally, 87 percent of staff members have self-reported that they are vaccinated. While many members of our community continue to work remotely, the Institute will be supporting a transition to on-site work throughout the summer. All individuals coming to campus will continue to follow protocols that support the health and well-being of the broader community and help prevent contagion.

As a reminder, if you are experiencing symptoms or have been exposed to COVID-19, you may not enter campus. Please continue to wear face coverings when indoors on campus. Thank you for helping us protect the campus community.

See more Caltech news and research related to COVID-19.

As building and renovation projects progress on campus, Caltech aims to minimize disruption. Crews are required to follow city construction guidelines and COVID-19 safety protocols.

Amazon Web Services Center for Quantum Computing

Construction of this new facility on South Holliston Avenue adjacent to the Pasadena Fire Department station is expected to be complete in August. Researchers from Caltech, other universities, and Amazon Web Services will collaborate in the new building to shape future technology, extending Caltech's long leadership in quantum information.

Reflecting pool

Renovation of the landscape and reflecting pool opposite the turtle pond has improved water management and walkways.

Cooling infrastructure

The replacement of Caltech's aging cooling tower on Wilson Avenue south of California Boulevard will begin this fall. The upgrade will bring sustainability benefits, including increased efficiency, and will improve the facility's appearance and seismic safety.

Resnick Sustainability Institute Resource Center

This center, now in the design phase, will serve as Caltech's hub for energy and sustainability research, and also house state-of-the-art teaching laboratories. You may see signs of preparation this fall as an older teaching laboratory is removed from the building site, which is east of Wilson Avenue between Del Mar Boulevard and San Pasqual Street.

Commencement

You are invited to watch Caltech's virtual commencement on Friday, June 11, at 10 a.m. at commencement.caltech.edu and follow the highlights on social media via the #Caltech2021 hashtag. Listen for the traditional firing of the Fleming House cannon on campus. Caltech plans to host an in-person gathering on its athletic field for up to 400 fully vaccinated graduating students to watch the virtual commencement together.

Connect with the forefront of science

Did you know that videos of Caltech's three signature public lecture series are available for free? In the first five events of the new Science Journeys series, graduate students explore the wonder of science and nature, drawing on their own research. Also online are dozens of events in the venerable Earnest C. Watson Lecture series, which provides the public with the opportunity to hear from and engage with Caltech faculty members, and the Theodore von Kármán Lectures, which offer insights into space missions and technologies designed at JPL, a NASA laboratory managed by Caltech.