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Engineering Honors Track Celebrates Arrival of New Students

Each year, the CSULB Engineering Honors Track gets a little larger. The 6-year-old program offers students a fast-track plan toward earning an undergraduate degree completion, complete with a thesis and special events.

This fall, the program includes 124 students, including 38 freshmen. Denil Poudel, one of those freshmen, said he’s excited to be participating in the program. A graduate of the California Academy of Math and Science, and the grandson of an industrial engineer, Poudel said he’s always been drawn to engineering. He built things with Legos when he was young, then moved on to autonomous robots. Continue reading “Engineering Honors Track Celebrates Arrival of New Students”

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CSULB Computer Engineering & Computer Science Department Joins Diversity Initiative

BRAIDCSULB Computer Engineering and Computer Science Chair Burkhard Englert will participate this summer in an initiative to increase the percentage of women and students of color majoring in computer science.

The Building, Recruiting and Inclusion for Diversity (BRAID) initiative was launched three years ago. It is led by the Anita Borg Institute and Harvey Mudd College, in partnership with more than a dozen universities across the nation and the National Center for Women & Information Technology. BRAID is funded by Facebook, Google, Intel, Microsoft, the Computing Research Association, and the National Science Foundation. Continue reading “CSULB Computer Engineering & Computer Science Department Joins Diversity Initiative”

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Creating More Inclusive Classrooms

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At Claremont’s STEM-focused Harvey Mudd College, nearly half of the 800 students are women. The percentage holds for computer science. But it wasn’t always that way. Back in 2004, only about one-tenth of computer science students were women.

Harvey Mudd Assistant Professor Colleen Lewis was at CSULB Monday to share tips on how to create inclusive classrooms where students with a broad array of characteristics feel comfortable. “As an educator, I want to understand and optimize learning,” she said.

The No. 1 tip Lewis shared: Highlight the breadth of the field so students will come across something that interests them and see a place for themselves. For example, in intro computer science classes, faculty might use a Fractal Fruit Tree or Smiley Face Recognition System to increase student engagement.   Continue reading “Creating More Inclusive Classrooms”

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Virgin Galactic Director Mandy Vaughn Speaks at CSULB SWE Event

Mandy Vaughn, Senior Director of Business Development and Mission Management at Virgin Galactic, told the girls at Friday’s Women Engineers @ the Beach event that it’s important to ask questions.

“Don’t be afraid to ask a question if you’re the only girl in the class,” said Vaughn, the keynote speaker. “If you’re the only girl in the class, they’re going to remember you whether you like it or not.” Continue reading “Virgin Galactic Director Mandy Vaughn Speaks at CSULB SWE Event”

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WOMEN IN STEM SHARE CAREER ADVICE

Women in StemThe Women in STEM Career Panel Tuesday drew dozens of female CSULB students to hear successful professionals share their experiences and advice. The panel, organized by STEM x: Sisters in Motion and the CSULB President’s Commission on the Status of Women, is the first in a hoped-for series.

“Women are underrepresented (in STEM) most of the time and it creates some difficulties and challenges,” said Melissa Norrbom, CSULB Student Life and Development Coordinator, adding that the series’ goal is “creating a network of women on campus to make women feel comfortable and figure out how to support them.” Continue reading “WOMEN IN STEM SHARE CAREER ADVICE”

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Panel to Explore Women in STEM

Five CSULB alumni will share their experiences about being women working in STEM fields at Tuesday’s Women in STEM Career Panel.

The alumni include:

  • Sandra Labib (Civil Engineering), a project manager at The Walt Disney Co.
  • Jessica Avila (Civil Engineering) a design engineer at Hunsaker & Associates
  • Nancy Imbery (Chemical Engineering) Tesoro
  • Geraldine Aron (Geology), CEO at Paleo Solutions
  • Suzzane Pluskat (Biology), a veterinarian with her own private practice.

Continue reading “Panel to Explore Women in STEM”

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CSULB College of Engineering Makes Strides in Student Diversity

ASEE_Logo_Stacked_RGBThe CSULB College of Engineering has made gains in awarding degrees to underrepresented minorities in the latest rankings from the American Society for Engineering Education.

CSULB ranked 10th among U.S. and Canadian universities for the number of engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded to Hispanic students in 2015, up from 11th in the previous year. CSULB also ranked 19th for the number of engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded to Asian-American students in 2015, an increase over 2014’s 20th–place ranking. Continue reading “CSULB College of Engineering Makes Strides in Student Diversity”

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SWE Introduces Girls to Engineering

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Alumni Jennifer Didlo, president of AES Southland, talks to girls about engineering.

Nearly 150 girls from neighborhood elementary and middle schools heard about engineering as a career and participated in workshops during Engineering Girls @ the Beach Friday.

The event, sponsored by the CSULB chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, in addition to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Southern California Edison, is intended to introduce girls early on to the advantages of studying engineering.

“We need women in engineering,” said College of Engineering Associate Dean Tracy Maples. “Women can bring a different perspective. A lot of things women are doing in engineering is fantastic.” Continue reading “SWE Introduces Girls to Engineering”

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College Holds Workshop on Meeting Goals of Diverse Groups

The CSULB College of Engineering on Monday held its first workshop on how to meet the needs of diverse types of students considering engineering. Organized by computer science professor Alvaro Monge through a grant from the National Center for Women and Information Technology, the workshop featured CSULB social psychology postdoctoral researchers Matt Jackson and Mia Steinberg.

Steinberg drew on her own experience working as a software developer in the Silicon Valley for a decade. “For the vast majority of the years, I was the only woman in the group,” she said, adding that there were no discriminatory practices, just a lack of women in the pipeline.

Ironically, Steinberg’s high school counselor suggested she become a composer or computer scientist. “I said ‘No, I hate computers.’ But I went into it anyway and it’s become my life’s work.” Continue reading “College Holds Workshop on Meeting Goals of Diverse Groups”

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Encouraging More Girls to Study Engineering

Encouraging Girls to Study Engineering
Computer science professor Alvaro Monge introduces Future Girls @ the Beach to programming on Shadow Day.

When Future Girls @ the Beach launched two years ago, only a handful of girls would raise their hands when asked if they wanted to pursue engineering. But now that the CSULB high school outreach program is in its second year, the number of future engineers is growing.

“A lot more girls raise their hands now,” says Saba Yohannes-Reda, CSULB College of Engineering Director of K-12 Outreach and Recruitment. “It seems that we are winning.”

Girls participating in the program visit CSULB once a month for a scheduled activity. On Monday, several dozen took advantage of the President’s Day holiday to shadow their mentors, tour CSULB engineering labs and facilities, and hear a presentation on cognitive radio from electrical engineering Assistant Professor Shabnam Sodagari, who recently joined the program. Continue reading “Encouraging More Girls to Study Engineering”