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Two MAE Student Groups Win Prestigious Awards

Tail-less Tail

SAE West Aero Design & Flight Competition – First Place Win

A team of MAE students led by graduate student Dan Dougherty and faculty advisor Eric Kendal, competed in the SAE West Aero Design & Flight Competition on Sunday. CSULB’s flying wing design, the “Tail-less Tail”, entered the open class and became the outright first place winner ($1,000 prize) with a superb payload-carrying flight at Apollo Field in Van Nuys, California.

About thirty US university teams as well as nine entries from as far away as Montreal, Canada, and Canberra, Australia were entered in this International competition. The large twin-engined model in its CSULB colors of bright yellow and black (Please see attached pictures) drew much attention on its arrival at the field and won considerable praise after its flawless flight during the closing minutes of the competition. This great performance emphasizes the excellent Aerodynamics and Airplane Design education at the CSULB Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department and brings worldwide recognition to our University.

This project was partially funded by a donation from DENSO North America. Thank-you, DENSO!

Aero Design & Flight Competition
justbeforetakeoff

WESTEC 2007 Manufacturing Challenge – Innovative variable flex shaft for an existing golf club

The SME student chapter S053 of CSULB led by Manufacturing Engineering Technology (MET) student Mike Romance and faculty advisor, MAE Professor Parviz Yavari entered into the WESTEC 2007 Manufacturing Challenge. The team represented the school with an innovative idea applied to the ever popular sport of Golf. The students created a variable flex shaft for an existing golf club . Currently, golf clubs are available in about 5 different (fixed) shaft stiffnesses. The variable flex golf club allows golfers and teachers to change the flex “on-the-fly” for a changing game play and or instructional use. CSULB won 2nd place, among twelve entries, for this novel idea.

golf club
westec2
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MAE Grad Student Wins Top Research Award

Rahul Shinde

MAE graduate student, Rahul Shinde, won the first place award in the engineering and applied mathematics category of CSULB’s annual student research competition held on Friday, March 2, 2007. His paper, which is based on his MS thesis, was entitled “An Automated Multi-Disciplinary Design Optimization Method for Multi-Hull Vessels.” His thesis advisor is Dr. Hamid Hefazi.  Rahul will represent CSULB at the Twenty-First Annual CSU Statewide Student Research Competition, which will be hosted by California State University, Dominguez Hills May 4-5, 2007.

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MAE Students Present at Boeing

MAE Student Presentations at Boeing

Eight MAE students working on Boeing-sponsored projects at the Center for Advanced Technology Support for Aerospace Industry (CATSAI) during 2005 presented their work in a meeting attended by Boeing engineers and management and MAE Chair Hamid Hefazi on Monday, Dec. 15, 2005. The presentations addressed the projects they have worked on, their accomplishments, as well as what the experience has meant to them. The students received a certificate of appreciation from Mr. Tim Miller, Director of C-17 production.

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Grant from Northrop Grumman for ENGR 375I course

Dean Mahoney by Leitha Purcell of Northrop-Grumman

Dr. Tom Robinson, MAE Professor, and Dr. Mike Mahoney, Dean of the College of Engineering, accept a $10,000 grant from Ms. Leitha A. Purcell on behalf of Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems. This grant is in support of Dr. Robinson’s work on Quality Curriculum Enhancement and will be used to update and revise the course ENGR 375I-Total Quality and Continuous Improvement.

Thanks to the ongoing support of forward thinking corporations like Northrop Grumman, the College of Engineering at CSULB is able to continue offering quality engineering education and research opportunities to our exceptional students and faculty. We are grateful for their recognition of the importance of our activities.

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MAE Grad Student Wins Mentor Protégé Award

The final Mentor Protégé program, a joint project between the MAE Department and Northrop Grumman Space Technology and KW Microwave, was held on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2005. MAE Graduate Student, Gabriela Acosta and Tran Phuong received awards from NGST for their exemplary performance on the project.

The following individuals were in attendance:

KW Microwave

Shukdev Tantod, President & CEO
Dhiru Tantod, VP Engineering
Shashi Patel, VP Operations
Dan Czagany, Director, Sales & Marketing
John Johnson, Program Manager
Dave Henry, Program Manager
Olivia Rodriguez, Sales & Marketing
Bob Osborne, IT

NGST

Ronald DePace, Mentor/ProtégéProject Manager
Ken Rotunno, Materials and Processes

Gabi Acosta, Graduate Student

CSULB

Final Mentor Protégé Program

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Northrop Grumman-CSULB Team Wins Nunn-Perry Awards

ORLANDO — The MAE Department of CSULB was part of the Northrop Grumman team that captured one of the eight Nunn-Perry awards presented at the annual Department of Defense mentor-protégé conference here yesterday.

The awards recognize efforts by DoD prime contractors (mentors) and their protégé small, disadvantaged businesses for teaming to advance the protégé company as a competitive partner in the defense contracting business.

“This achievement is a great reflection on both the small businesses, which are the engines driving the American economy, and the larger prime contractors, who make an investment to grow the small business community,” said Joseph G. Diamond, Director of the Air Force Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Office. “It’s a winning situation for the Air Force and the nation: it strengthens our defense industrial base and helps develop the small businesses that contribute so much to the sustainment of Air Force warfighting capabilities.”

The mentor-protégé program seeks to encourage prime contractors (mentors) to develop the technical and business capabilities of small disadvantaged businesses. Awards are determined by the successes of the mentor-protégé team in achieving cost efficiencies, enhancing the protégé’s technical capabilities, and increasing new business opportunities for prime contracts and subcontracts.

The award, which is named in recognition of former Senator Sam Nunn and former Secretary of Defense William Perry, was first awarded in 1995.