Dean Forouzan Golshani welcomed new and returning faculty and staff at the Fall convocation on Thursday. With current enrollment at 4,649, the College of Engineering is now CSULB’s fourth-largest. Of that number, 3,492 are transfer students, 580 are freshmen, 534 graduate students and 43 post-graduate students.
Among new developments for fall:
- Creation of the Biomedical Engineering Department and the biomedical engineering major that will replace the option previously offered;
- Hiring of seven new faculty assigned to the Biomedical, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Construction Engineering Management, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical and Aerospace departments;
- Plans for a College of Engineering Veterans Center to assist veteran students;
- Progress on creation of a Marine Construction Lab;
- Completion of the History Wall on the second floor of ECS; and
- Planned doubling of the number of research proposals submitted.
Golshani said several things won’t be changing. For example, the College will continue to emphasize the importance of safety. “This is something I want us to incorporate into everything we do,” he said.
Secondly, the College will maintain its focus on industry collaboration. The Dean applauded the college’s “exceedingly strong channels of cooperation with industry.”
The College is a Core University Partner for Northrop-Grumman and was a Boeing Supplier of the Year. The automotive supplier DENSO has a nearly decade-long history of supporting the College. The Port of Long Beach is helping fund the Marine Construction Lab. Engineering firm Moffatt & Nichol is working on marine construction standards. And Southern California Gas Co. helps students with senior projects that help solve technical problems of interest to the utility.
Thirdly, the College will continue to focus on helping students improve their performance by taking advantage of services offered by the Engineering Student Success Center, such as advising, tutoring, the honors track, and the Writing Communication & Resource Center.
“That’s what it’s all about—making our students successful. We have stayed true to the character of the university, which is to serve the population of this region,” the Dean said.