For most engineering students, math and science is fairly painless. But writing and oral presentations? Not so much. Luckily, there are new resources to help.
On Jan. 28, the College of Engineering celebrated the official opening of the Writing and Communication Resource Center (WCRC) in VEC-128B, and the Dudley Engineering Library in EN2-109—resources designed to help students meet their writing requirements to obtain a degree. Having a library housed in the College of Engineering will make it easier for faculty conducting research too.
The WCRC—designed primarily to aid undergraduates working on senior-level capstone classes and graduate student working on theses—is open Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; and Friday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. while classes are in session. Appointments are recommended, but walk-ins are available. Visit the WCRC website to book an appointment with a graduate assistant.
Computer science sophomore Robby Chi is in his element when he’s trying to design new products or apps. But writing has never come naturally. While a student at El Camino College, he visited the writing center regularly. “It was hard to find a writing center for computer science majors when I transferred over,” he said. “I’m looking forward to getting some help with my writing skills now.”
Nasser Alzoubi, a construction engineering management major, has had a hard time with classes that involve reading and writing, especially because English isn’t his native language. “I’m good at math, physics, and science classes,” he said. “But not with history and reading.”
At the WCRC, graduate assistants are available to help engineering students with writing assignments, oral presentations, and theses. The center will also offer workshops to help students improve their writing process and oral presentation capabilities, and hone their thesis writing and formatting skills. Tutoring and individual thesis sessions are also available.
At the John H. Dudley Memorial Library, a joint project of University Library and the College of Engineering, Engineering Librarian Hema Ramachandran will be available Mondays from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; Wednesdays from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and Thursdays from 12- 6 p.m. She will also be available by appointment by emailing her at hema.ramachandran@csulb.edu.
Even though a large percentage of the University Library’s resources are available online from any location, consulting a librarian can be helpful for guidance for in-depth research, particularly for senior design projects, research papers, theses, and projects.
Two of the College’s newest mechanical engineering faculty, Emel Demircan and Ehsan Barjasteh, were pleased that the library will be available for students—and also to help faculty with their research papers. “It’s a very good idea,” said Barjasteh.
The library is named after the late Brig. Gen. John Henderson Dudley, who joined CSULB in 1960 as a civil engineering professor after an illustrious military career. A 1930 graduate of West Point, who went on to earn a master’s degree in engineering from MIT, Dudley used his engineering skills to help build airfields and facilitate site selection for Los Alamos National Laboratory during World War II.
Upon retiring from CSULB in 1970, he left a collection of geotechnical books to be housed in the John H. Dudley Library in the College of Engineering. In addition, a generous donation from Dudley, his wife Margery, and the Dudley Charitable Remainder Trust endows the John H. Dudley Scholarship.