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Roger Schwecke Leads CSULB Gas Co. Research Program

California State University Long Beach’s research partnership with the Southern California Gas Co. is the proverbial win-win. The utility suggests topics and provides financial support, CSULB engineering students conduct research, and at the end of the year, Southern California Gas Co. receives answers to pressing questions. Students, meanwhile, gain valuable experience and a shot at a job with the  nation’s largest natural gas distribution utility.Gas Co. Research Program

The 3-year-old CSULB program is led by Rodger R. Schwecke, the Gas Co.’s Vice President of Customer Solutions. Schwecke, a 1983 B.S. in chemical engineering graduate, oversees major customer-related activities for SoCalGas, including account executives, customer communications and eservices. He is also responsible for customer programs promoting energy efficiency, sustainability, low-income assistance and the development of new emerging technologies, including clean transportation, distributed energy, in-home services and biofuels. Continue reading “Roger Schwecke Leads CSULB Gas Co. Research Program”

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Code Documentary Opens Gender Dialogue

code documentary logo

Nearly 200 students and faculty turned out this week for a special screening of “Code: Debugging the Gender Gap,” a documentary that examines the reasons more women aren’t pursuing careers in computing.

The screening–sponsored by the Computer Engineering and Computer Science Department—was followed by a panel discussion with Wonder Women Tech Founder Lisa Mae Brunson and Director of Global Partnerships Simmone Park; WE Labs and Innovatory Managing Partner Lincoln Bauer; and three female CSULB computer science alumni; Bonnie Hoang, Eileen McCremens, and Siori Hojo. Continue reading “Code Documentary Opens Gender Dialogue”

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Antelope Valley Engineering Program Director Lauded

Ken Santarelli headshotKenneth Santarelli, director of the CSULB College of Engineering Antelope Valley degree-completion program, has been recognized for his work in producing mechanical and electrical engineering graduates who are ready to join the workforce.

Santarelli was presented with awards from Congressman Steve Knight, State Senator Sharon Runner, Assemblyman Tom Lackey, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris and Agents of Change for recruiting and graduating students in the program.

Offered in partnership with CSULB’s College of Continuing and Professional Education, the Bachelor of Science in Engineering Degree Completion Program is designed for students who are interested in completing their B.S. degree in electrical or mechanical engineering and have completed their first two years of coursework at a community college or other university.

Continue reading “Antelope Valley Engineering Program Director Lauded”

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Fellowship Opportunity at U.S. Department of Energy

Not only does the U.S. Department of Energy support 17 research labs, but also many internship and fellowship programs for students. U.S. DOE representative Sandra Cortez was at CSULB Wednesday to find candidates for the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship and other programs.

The Mickey Leland fellowship, named after the late Texas congressman and anti-poverty activist, was created in 1995 to improve opportunities for underrepresented STEM students. It provides college students with a chance to develop research skills with the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy.

For 10 weeks during the summer, participants train under program officials and scientists, then present their research findings at a technical forum. The deadline to apply is December 21.

“Fossil energy isn’t the most popular area among students, but it still needs a lot of attention,” said Cortez.

The DOE’s Fossil Energy work includes research and development into clean coal, maintaining the nation’s emergency petroleum reserves, ensuring environmentally sustainable domestic and global supplies of oil and natural gas, and regulating natural gas imports and exports.

The 50 students selected for the fellowship each receive a weekly stipend, housing subsidy, and round-trip airfare from home to the national lab where they are assigned. The fellowship runs from June 6-August 12 and begins with a trip to the DOE’s Washington, DC-area office.

Besides the Mickey Leland fellowship, the DOE offers a number of other programs, including the Science Undergraduate Lab Internship (SULI), the Office of Science Graduate Fellowship, the Minority Educational Institution Student Partnership Program (MEISPP), and the DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship. The department also offers year-round research opportunities for scholars and faculty.

For more information, visit http://www.energy.gov.

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Entrepreneurs Get Lesson on Business Plans

busplan
Writing a business plan is critical to understanding all facets of the business, says Bruce Sparks, a senior business advisor for the Long Beach Small Business Development Center.

Innovation Challenge Advisory Committee member Larry Pate compared starting a business without a business plan to taking a cross-country trip without knowing how you’ll reach your destination. “The odds of success of just getting in the car and driving are slim. You might have a fun time, but it will take you a long time to get there.”

Students interested in entering the 2015 Innovation Challenge got a lesson Tuesday in a key part of the competition: creating the business plan. The contest offers $50,000 in seed funding and business services to the winning business idea.

“It’s one thing to have an idea—it’s another to say how you’re going to make money,” said Pate, chief learning officer at Decision Systems International. Continue reading “Entrepreneurs Get Lesson on Business Plans”

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Getting Software Engineers and Game Designers to Work Together

game developers
Adam Moore, Sebastian Gutierrez, and Elliot Gertner preview Gutierrez’s new game, ‘Duke n Doug’s Trampoline Rush.’

 

It takes more than a compelling storyline to produce a successful videogame. Besides a storyteller, a game development team needs visual and sound artists, marketers, and software engineers to build the game and launch it on different platforms.

That’s why it’s so important that artists and software engineers learn how to communicate.

A former project manager, computer science lecturer Elliot Gertner has been interested in getting different types of people to work together for years. And on the other side of the campus in Fine Arts, so has film and electronic arts lecturer Adam Moore. Continue reading “Getting Software Engineers and Game Designers to Work Together”

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Students Incorporate Tutoring into Study Routines

tutoring centerThere are alternatives to noisy study groups or struggling through tough engineering assignments alone. At the Engineering Tutoring Center, there’s help in the form of tutors who’ve already successfully made it through the same courses probably giving you angst.

The center employs more than two dozen tutors, with a focus on undergraduate engineering courses with low completion rates. The tutors need to have earned a B or better in the courses they’re tutoring in, preferably here at CSULB. “That way they can tutor based on experience,” said Academic Success Program Coordinator Katarina Spralja. Continue reading “Students Incorporate Tutoring into Study Routines”

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Modern Power Grid Needs Advanced Controls

Modern Power Grid

In the 1990s, the U.S. built out the broadband networks that laid the foundation for today’s high-speed Internet and resulting technologies. And now, the nation needs to put that same kind of attention into upgrading its power grid.

Keyue Smedley, an IEEE Fellow and professor of electrical engineering and computer science at University of California Irvine, said the current grid was designed for predictable loads and centralized control. That means when there’s system instability or a blackout, it cascades to other parts of the power grid. And new types of uses—such as electric-vehicle charging stations—are intermittent and difficult to prepare for, as are renewable sources of energy, such as solar or wind. Continue reading “Modern Power Grid Needs Advanced Controls”

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Record Attendance for IGESC 2015

ieee green 001
CSULB electrical engineering professor Henry Yeh,conference chair since 2009, opens IGESC to record attendance Monday.

The IEEE Green Energy and Systems Conference (IGESC) returned to California State University Long Beach for the sixth year on Monday, celebrating record attendance as interest in sustainability increases. This year’s theme was renewable technology for green buildings and energy efficiency.

“I believe there are still a lot of challenges to overcome and many opportunities for research and development projects,” said electrical engineering professor Henry Yeh, who founded the IEEE Systems Council Chapter in 2009 and has served as the conference chair since 2010. Continue reading “Record Attendance for IGESC 2015”