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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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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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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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STEM Day Speaker: ‘No Limit to What You Can Accomplish’

CSULBCOE5 Nearly 200 middle and high school students on Friday got to make slime monsters, Styrofoam gliders, spaghetti marshmallow bridges and balloon rocket cars—as well as hear advice from successful engineers. Dean Forouzan Golshani welcomed students to the College of Engineering’s third annual Engineering@theBeach STEM Day, saying becoming an engineer will let them “contribute in many ways to improving the quality of life.”

Speaking at STEM Day, Robin Thorne, a chemical engineer and CEO of Long Beach-based CTI Environmental Inc., told students that things can seem difficult, but bad situations can be overcome. “I want to share some of the things I’ve learned along the way,” said Thorne, adding that “My path to engineering wasn’t always a bed of roses.” Among the tips Thorne shared: Always encourage someone else and celebrate your success. Continue reading “STEM Day Speaker: ‘No Limit to What You Can Accomplish’”

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CSULB Engineering Team Competing in Rover Contest Again

rover-over2A multidisciplinary team from CSULB’s College of Engineering will be back competing in RASC-AL Robo Ops again this year. The CSULB team was among eight finalists selected to design and build a rover and travel to NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston to test its performance on Mars-like terrain.

Sponsored by NASA and managed by the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), RASC-AL—short for Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts-Academic Linkage—challenges multidisciplinary graduate and undergraduate teams to design and build a planetary rover and demonstrate its ability to perform tasks in the Rock Yard, an environment that simulates the rough terrain of the moon and Mars. Continue reading “CSULB Engineering Team Competing in Rover Contest Again”

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Software Development Can Be Sustainable Too

For Sustainability Month, CSULB has been hosting events on ridesharing, responsible energy use, aquaculture, and more. In the College of Engineering, Birgit Penzenstadler, a member of the university Sustainability Committee, has been helping spread the word about sustainable software development this month.

Penzenstadler, an assistant professor in Computer Engineering and Computer Science, presented a lightning talk on designing future software for sustainability at the Grace Hopper Celebration Oct. 14-16 in Houston. She was co-author of an article on sustainable software development in ACM’s flagship magazine, Communications of the ACM. Penzenstadler also gave a presentation on software engineering sustainability at an Oct. 22 CSULB open house for Los Angeles Innovation Week. Continue reading “Software Development Can Be Sustainable Too”

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When It Comes to Cybersecurity: Be Worried

Cyber security logoIt’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and there’s plenty to worry about. Hackers are busy finding ways to exploit mobile, Big Data, the Internet of Things, and the cloud. And as vulnerabilities are patched, cybercriminals are shifting from quick attacks to stealthier long-term information gathering. Some 110 million people–half of American adults—have had their data exposed in the past year, according to Mcafee’s annual threats report. And an increasing number of cybercriminals are affiliated with governments and organized crime.

“Everyone should be worried—the general populace, innovators and engineers, CIOs and CTOs, the governments,” said CSULB computer science professor Mehrdad Aliasgari, an expert on computer security. “The number of attacks and threats that have been exploited have increased in a substantial manner. There’s more and more news of compromises on a daily basis than there used to be.” Continue reading “When It Comes to Cybersecurity: Be Worried”