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From NAHB Student Chapter President to Speaker at an International Tradeshow

Participating in student competitions can land you a first-place prize. But for Construction Engineering Management senior Chantal Contreras, it landed her in China.

Contreras took over as president of the CSULB chapter of National Association of Home Builders in the spring of 2017, and set to work trying to boost membership and raise funds for events and travel to competitions. “It was really hard to get things started up,” she said.

The chapter managed to send Contreras and five other students to Orlando to attend the International Builders Show, the largest light construction building industry tradeshow in the United States. Continue reading “From NAHB Student Chapter President to Speaker at an International Tradeshow”

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Engineering Distinguished Lecture Panel on the New Face of Engineering in 2030

Will artificial intelligence put people out of jobs? Is the idea of working for one company your entire career obsolete? Will the engineering field include previously underrepresented groups? And how important are so-called soft skills?

These are some of the questions tackled by the industry panel at Thursday’s Engineering Distinguished Lecture, which was timed to coincide with CSULB’s Imagine BEACH 2030 crowdsourcing campaign to examine the future. Continue reading “Engineering Distinguished Lecture Panel on the New Face of Engineering in 2030”

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SCE VP Jill Anderson Urges Girls to Study Engineering, Help Solve World Problems

Jill Anderson, vice president of Customer Programs and Services at Southern California Edison (SCE), remembers the moment she decided to pursue engineering. She’d enrolled in a summer math and science camp in high school with the thought of raising her SAT scores. “At 16 years old, I didn’t have any idea what I wanted to do,” she recalled.

They were given a box of rubber bands, some pencils, wheels, and a mousetrap, and asked to build a racecar. After understanding that the spring in the mousetrap could be used to power the car, it was all over for Anderson.  “I was hooked,” she told the 170 high school girls at Friday’s Women Engineers at the Beach event. “I decided I’m going to be an engineer.” Continue reading “SCE VP Jill Anderson Urges Girls to Study Engineering, Help Solve World Problems”

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Griffith Co. Offers Opportunities for Civil Engineering and Construction Grads

griffith employeesBuilding a good reputation is important, says Griffith Co. Chairman and CEO Tom Foss. And Foss should know. He started at Griffith as a laborer four decades ago, and rose through the ranks, transitioning to foreman, estimator, chief coordinator, then Orange County vice president and district manager.

Established in 1902, Griffith is a midsized heavy civil construction company that employs about 1,000. “We try to do things that give us a family feel,” said Foss, a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council and a fundraiser for the Beaver’s Endowed Chair in Heavy Civil Engineering. “We want to make employees feel like part of the team.” Continue reading “Griffith Co. Offers Opportunities for Civil Engineering and Construction Grads”

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Career Development Center Offers Last-minute Prep for Fall Engineering Job Fair

Attending a job fair requires strategy and preparation. That’s why Jina Flores was on hand Tuesday to help steer engineering students through the process one day ahead of the Fall Engineering & Technology Career Fair in the University Student Union.

“There are huge crowds and lots of employers,” said Flores, lead career counselor at the CSULB Career Development Center. “Practice your pitch. There’s only a very small percentage of students who can wing it.” Continue reading “Career Development Center Offers Last-minute Prep for Fall Engineering Job Fair”

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Northrop Grumman Holds Resume Workshop for Post-Military Students

Five veterans attend a resume workshopIf you’ve served in the military, you probably have a long list of accomplishments to include on your resume. But those acronym-rich descriptions can require some translating to make sense to civilian hiring managers.

On Monday, recruiters from Northrop-Grumman were at the CSULB College of Engineering to help veterans present their military experience in a way that  stands out for hiring managers going through stacks of resumes.

“The resume workshop for veterans offered tips on how to translate a military background to a civilian-friendly resume,” said Eddie Jimenez, a Northrop Grumman university relations specialist. “The idea is to help them create better resumes.” Continue reading “Northrop Grumman Holds Resume Workshop for Post-Military Students”

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Biomed Alumni to Speak About Medical Technology Entrepreneurship

leo petrossianCSULB electrical engineering alumni Leo Petrossian will speak to biomedical engineering students on Monday, Sept. 24 about Entrepreneurship in Medical Technology. Petrossian is co-founder and CEO of Neural Analytics Inc., a medical robotics company developing and commercializing technologies to measure and track brain health.

Petrossian ’04 has raised over $42 million in venture financing and led development of two medical devices in five years, both of which have obtained CE mark and FDA clearance. Continue reading “Biomed Alumni to Speak About Medical Technology Entrepreneurship”

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Innovation Challenge Begins Ninth Year

If you have an idea to start a business, consider entering the CSULB Innovation Challenge. The contest provides support and mentoring as interdisciplinary teams go through the process of creating a business plan, with an eye on winning up to $50,000 in cash and services to turn that idea into a reality.

The Innovation Challenge was introduced by the College of Engineering nine years ago, and now incorporates the College of the Arts, College of Business Administration and Center for the Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Continue reading “Innovation Challenge Begins Ninth Year”

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CECS’s Alvaro Monge Completes Google Faculty in Residence Summer Program

Graduating computer science students are all too familiar with the technical interview, where they’re asked to solve a problem on a whiteboard to demonstrate why they might be a useful addition to the team. However, that approach is in sharp contrast to the usual college lectures, where students sit quietly as professors click through their slide decks.

That will now change—at least in some of Professor Alvaro Monge’s computer science classes—thanks to his newfound experience with project-based learning.

Monge was one of 21 faculty from 20 U.S. institutions serving underrepresented students who participated in Google’s Faculty in Residence program this summer. The four-week program in Mountain View, Calif., offered an immersive learning experience to explore hands-on, project-based learning workshops. Continue reading “CECS’s Alvaro Monge Completes Google Faculty in Residence Summer Program”

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College Welcomes Incoming Freshmen

student rocket clubFor incoming freshmen, there’s a long list of things to fret about: getting used to a new campus, adapting to living on their own, navigating a confusing system, or passing prerequisites.

To help alleviate some of those normal pre-semester worries, about 250 pre-engineering students living in on-campus housing had a chance Monday to hear from a successful alumnus, get familiar with support services, and tour engineering labs.

Tracy Maples, associate dean of academic programs, said about one-quarter of incoming freshmen want to be engineers. Although popular, the major is also demanding.

Continue reading “College Welcomes Incoming Freshmen”