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Departments Hosting Individual Graduations

Departments Hosting GraduationsOf the 10,000-plus bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees CSULB will be conferring this graduation season, more than 1,000 will be awarded to engineering students. The College of Engineering’s 2016 Commencement ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 17 in the Central Quad.

But in addition to the university-wide celebration, this year, for the first time, individual engineering departments will be holding their own celebrations. “Students come here and work hard and faculty work hard,” said College of Engineering Dean Forouzan Golshani. “Their relationship is faculty to student. But once they graduate, they are two professionals in the same field. We want these graduation celebrations to mark that.”

The department graduation celebrations will give engineering students a chance to mingle with fellow students, speak with favorite faculty, and enjoy refreshments. The department graduations will be held on Monday, May 16 in ECS-105 at the appointed times:

  • Computer Engineering and Computer Science, 9-10:45 a.m.
  • Chemical Engineering: 11 a.m.-12:45 p.m.
  • Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering: 1-2:45 p.m.
  • Electrical Engineering: 3-4:45 p.m.
  • Civil Engineering and Construction Engineering Management, 5-6:45 p.m.

Continue reading “Departments Hosting Individual Graduations”

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Summer Interns Needed at Ledcor Construction

ledcor logoIt’s always interesting when an engineering company visits campus to share their story with students—even more so when that company is hiring. Executives from Ledcor Construction were at CSULB this week to announce summer internship openings that could possibly lead to future full-time work.

“This is one of those opportunities where if you snooze, you lose,” said Emmitt Clark, Director of Professional Development and Internships for the College of Engineering, who arranged the visit. Continue reading “Summer Interns Needed at Ledcor Construction”

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Student Capstone Project Wins National Manufacturing Contest

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The PlaneKool prototype Heinrich Gerhardt designed is half the weight of competitors.

Senior capstone projects are supposed to measure students’ experience and knowledge—and in the case of Heinrich Gerhardt, there’s a lot to measure.

A Northrop Grumman engineering designer for more than a decade, Gerhardt headed back to school part-time in order to get a promotion at work. He’s been attending Cal State Long Beach for five years now, and is enrolled in Manufacturing Engineering Technology, a major that’s no longer offered.

“The joke in my household is, ‘Will I graduate first or retire first?’” said Gerhardt, who designs mechanical systems and wind tunnel test models in Northrop Grumman’s Test and Evaluation Engineering department. Continue reading “Student Capstone Project Wins National Manufacturing Contest”

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Two Teams Receive Startup Funding

The CSULB Innovation Challenge’s top team for 2016 took repeated punches and jabs from senior citizens to test out its winning business idea, while the runner-up watched hours upon hours of video games.

The Boxing Movement team, made up of business majors Anthony Gonzalez, Eric Lara and Gina Gionta, won the top prize of $10,000 in seed funding and $40,000 in services for a mobile boxing ring that could be trucked to recreation centers and other facilities to help seniors have fun and maintain strength.

The Boxing Movement team was made up of (l-r) Anthony Gonzalez, Gina Gionta and Eric Lara.

“It’s something that can benefit the entire senior population,” said Gonzalez, a personal trainer at CSULB’s Student Recreation and Wellness Center. He added that spending on wellness-based services is expected to increase from its current level of $200 million to $1 trillion by 2025. Continue reading “Two Teams Receive Startup Funding”

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SWE Introduces Girls to Engineering

Engineering Girls @ the Beach 009
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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Alumni Stresses Importance of Good Job Matches

bryan-kwom-snapBryan Kwon, a 2004 CSULB computer science graduate, was back on campus this week to share his experience in the job world with College of Engineering students. Kwan, now senior director of customer engagement at Santa Monica-based Akana, told attendees at the Professional Development Workshop that it’s important that your first job after college matches your interests.

When he graduated, Kwon went to work in information technology, but after three years became bored with backing up tape drives and taking care of routine technical issues. “I was really bored,” he said. “I really wanted a challenge.” Continue reading “Alumni Stresses Importance of Good Job Matches”

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Mechanical Engineering Students and Faculty Win OCEC Awards

OCEC Awards
MAE Assistant Professor Praveen Shankar, left, guiding last year’s Mars Rover team on building a vehicle that can handle rough terrain.

Students and faculty from the CSULB Department of Mechanical Engineering received recognition at the 2016 Orange County Engineering Council Awards banquet last weekend.

Four CSULB students received Outstanding Engineering Student awards: Eric Barba and Farah Itani, both mechanical engineering seniors; Soorena Moogooie, a mechanical engineering junior and president of the CSULB Society for Petroleum Engineers chapter; and PhD candidate Darin Koblick.

Two students—Armando Fuentes and Koblick—also received the Outstanding Young Engineer Award. Continue reading “Mechanical Engineering Students and Faculty Win OCEC Awards”

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New Languages for CECS Students

python logoBeginning this semester, CSULB Computer Engineering and Computer Science students will have a chance to learn new programming languages. Python will replace Java in “Introduction to Programming and Problem Solving” (CECS 174) and C++ will replace Java in the new CECS 275 class for Computer Engineering majors. Computer Science majors will continue to learn Java, however, in their “Object-Oriented Programming and Data Structures” (CECS 274) class.

Python is replacing Java in the intro class because it’s easier to learn, said CECS Chair Burkhard Englert. According to an article in Communications of the ACM, Python is now the most popular language to use for teaching introductory programming, favored by nearly 70 percent of top U.S. universities. A general-purpose language with a simple code base, Python allows extensions to be added as necessary. Continue reading “New Languages for CECS Students”

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Mentors Are Key in Helping Student Entrepreneurs Succeed

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Lux Nova won the 2015 Innovation Challenge with its idea for a 3D bone printer.

Student teams don’t make it to the CSULB Innovation Challenge finals alone. To get through the contest, they’re matched with mentors who help them think through ideas and submit their all-important business plans.

A joint project of the colleges of Engineering, Business Administration, and the Arts, the Innovation Challenge rewards winning teams with $10,000 in cash and $40,000 in financial, marketing, legal, and other services. The Innovation Challenge is designed to inspire entrepreneurship and produce one commercialization success each year.

Students who participate receive instruction on developing a business plan and help in finding fellow team members. But it’s the advice from mentors that’s most valuable. Continue reading “Mentors Are Key in Helping Student Entrepreneurs Succeed”