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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”

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Cybersecurity Applications Minor Intended to Help Close Skills Gap

Cybersecurity skills are in high demand. According to Cyber Seek, there are currently more than 10,000 openings in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area for cybersecurity workers. Nationwide, there are more than 300,000.

To help close the skills gap, the CSULB College of Engineering this Fall is introducing a Cybersecurity Applications Minor. The 18-unit program is designed to provide students with skills to help in job seeking and career building. The minor is open to any student with at least a 2.0 GPA. Continue reading “Cybersecurity Applications Minor Intended to Help Close Skills Gap”

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Electrical Engineering Department Sends Its Grads Out Into the World

Dr. Tracy Maples and Nicole Forrest-Boggs with the Dunbars.

When Chris Dunbar attended CSULB, Electrical Engineering Chair Henry Yeh was a new professor and the ECS Building didn’t yet exist. “It doesn’t seem very long ago, but it was 37 years,” said Dunbar, Associate Principal Director of the Aerospace Corp.

The recipient of the department’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, Dunbar told graduates they’re living in a time of immense change for engineering. “”You guys are living in the most challenging and revolutionary time in engineering. Thirty-seven years goes by in the blink of an eye,” said Dunbar. “If you’re going to do something for 37 years, you better be doing something you enjoy.”

Dunbar said when he graduated with his BSEE in 1981, he didn’t know what to do. After working for three other companies, he joined the Aerospace Corp. and became a subject-matter expert in control systems. He now supervises 130 engineers. Continue reading “Electrical Engineering Department Sends Its Grads Out Into the World”

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Turbine and Suspension Systems Take Top Awards at Engineering Expo

A locomotive suspension system for harsh environments was chosen as the most innovative and practical design and a turbine in-pipe system as the best design for sustainable and clean energy harvesting at the Engineering Innovation Expo Monday.

The showcase in the University Student Union included 22 Senior Design Projects from the CSULB Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department.

The pico hydroelectric turbine-in-pipe system uses excess pressure within residential-scale pipe systems to harvest electricity off-the-grid. The system consists of a reaction turbine, generator, and auxiliary electrical equipment. The electrical equipment is dependent upon the application which can include powering outdoor lights or charging small electronics. Additionally, the design of the system will keep the flow rate and pressure of the water entering the household in compliance with standards for potable water systems.

Team members include Cristina Azuara, Hope Daley, Elyssa Lawrence, and Daisy Zaragoza. Continue reading “Turbine and Suspension Systems Take Top Awards at Engineering Expo”

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Multi-disciplinary SoCalGas Teams Conduct Real-world Research

Southern California Gas Co. teams

Some engineers work for years before one of their designs makes it out into the world. But thanks to a collaborative program between the CSULB College of Engineering and Southern California Gas Co., some students have that opportunity as an undergraduate.

Each year, SoCalGas assigns technical problems to teams of mechanical engineering and chemical engineering students who work to resolve them as part of their Senior Design Projects. The problems are challenging and thought-provoking. Rather than draw on results from other researchers, the students must come up with solutions of their own. Continue reading “Multi-disciplinary SoCalGas Teams Conduct Real-world Research”

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Meet the Four Finalist Teams for the 2018 Innovation Challenge Awards

Innovation Challenge Awards Gravity Ball

Startups that have developed a versatile exercise ball, launched an augmented reality app, started a household battery recycling program, and are working on a prosthetic prototype for amputees have been named finalists in the 2018 CSULB Innovation Challenge.

Gravity Ball, the Battery Effect, StickUp, and Artemus Labs will present their business plans to judges at the April 12 Innovation Challenge Awards Ceremony. The top team will receive up to $50,000 in cash and business services.  Continue reading “Meet the Four Finalist Teams for the 2018 Innovation Challenge Awards”

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Electrical Engineering Graduate Describes SCE Job as ‘So Much Fun’

When Chandni Mehta left India for New York three years ago, she didn’t speak a word of English. Not only did she have to quickly learn a foreign language but also find a place to live and a way to get to New York University—all on a budget.

She’d been told that NYU fees would be $4,500 per semester, but once she arrived found they’d be more than twice that. Mehta found housing, but the $30 cab ride to NYU was beyond her means.

“In India for that, you could travel to two or three cities and have a nice lunch,” she said. “But I couldn’t go back because my parents sent me here to live my dreams.” Continue reading “Electrical Engineering Graduate Describes SCE Job as ‘So Much Fun’”

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CSULB Students Attend Grace Hopper Celebration of Female Technologists

Women are a distinct minority in computer science classes at many universities, including CSULB. That wasn’t the case at the recent Grace Hopper Celebration, where more than 6,000 female technologists gathered for keynotes, workshops, networking, and job interviews.

“There were girls everywhere,” said Victoria Hong, a computer science major and president of the ACM chapter, one of four CSULB students who received scholarships to attend GHC. “When people ask me if it was as good as I thought, I say ‘No, it was way better.’”

Computer science major Alejandra Gonzalez had that same sense of amazement at being surrounded by so many successful women in technology, such as Dr. Fei-Fei Li, Professor and Director of Stanford University’s AI Lab and Chief Scientist at Google Cloud AI/ML, and Melinda Gates, a former Microsoft product developer who is now co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “I couldn’t believe there are that many women interested in technology,” she said. Continue reading “CSULB Students Attend Grace Hopper Celebration of Female Technologists”

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Paid Internships Available through Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship

If you’re pursuing a career in commercial space exploration, you might want to consider the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship program.

The highly selective Fellowship will place students at top companies for paid summer internships for 10-12 weeks in 2018 and provide them an executive mentor to help throughout the year.

The program includes a premier lists of companies and mentors committed to the fellowship, including the Aerospace Corp., Accion Systems, Astrans, Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin Ventures, LTA, Millennium Space Systems, Nanoracks, OneWeb Satellites, Planet, Planetary Resources, SpaceX, Stratolaunch Systems, Virgin Orbit, and the XPrize. Continue reading “Paid Internships Available through Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship”

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CECS Introducing Colloquium Series

The Long Beach State Department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science this semester will be launching a Colloquium Series to provide a forum for industry best practices and to make research more tangible for students.

Each semester, there will be 4-5 talks by invited speakers from academia and industry, said CECS Assistant Professor Birgit Penzenstadler.

The first talk will be on Thursday, Sept 28 from 12:30-2 p.m. in VEC-110. It will feature Ph.D. candidate Jayden Khakurel, who will discuss Human-centered Design and Wearables. Continue reading “CECS Introducing Colloquium Series”