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Is Southern California Ready for El Nino?

DLS-jackson.Speakers at the CSULB College of Engineering Distinguished Lecture Series Thursday agreed that a strong El Nino is brewing, and Southern California should be braced for higher-than-average rainfall this winter and spring. Although engineers and planners have learned much from past El Nino events, large-scale infrastructure improvements are still needed to prevent severe damage from future storms.

El Nino events are classified as weak, moderate, or strong, and usually peak in February. This year’s is strong, said Mark Jackson, meteorologist in charge of the Oxnard National Weather Service office, although it remains to be seen how many inches of rain it will deliver. “I’m not going to give my exact forecast for how many inches of rain we’re going to get. There are too many microphones and cameras here,” he said. Continue reading “Is Southern California Ready for El Nino?”

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Step 1 to Startup Success: Build a Winning Team

icmeetupThe Innovation Challenge is intended to give students real-world experience in starting a business. And just like in the real world, assembling a diverse team can be a barrier to entry.

Contest rules recommend teams with 3-7 members, since business ideas have a stronger chance of success if teams include people with finance, marketing, design, and technical skills.

“You can’t run a business by yourself,” said Barbara Barcon, an Innovation Challenge organizer and retired vice president and CFO with Pacific Gas and Electric. “You may like your idea, but will others like it? You’ll also need some market research.” Continue reading “Step 1 to Startup Success: Build a Winning Team”

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Hands-on Engineering Experience for High School Girls at SWE Event

Nearly 200 girls from a half-dozen local high schools launched rockets, made batteries from lemons, concocted goo from cornstarch, and learned how to create DC motors from paperclips during the 10th annual Women Engineers @ the Beach Friday.

Sponsored by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the event was intended to spark girls’ interest in engineering with presentations and eight workshops offering a little theory and a lot of opportunities for creativity and problem-solving. Nationally, only 14 percent of engineers are women. Continue reading “Hands-on Engineering Experience for High School Girls at SWE Event”

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CECS Delegates Heading to Grace Hopper Celebration

gracehopperThere will be hundreds of women in computing at the annual Grace Hopper Celebration this month in Houston. And two will be from the CSULB College of Engineering’s Computer Engineering and Computer Science Department.

Assistant Professor Birgit Penzenstadler is delivering a lightning talk on “Designing Future Software for Sustainability: The Karlskrona Manifesto.” Her Thelma Estrin Award from the Anita Borg Institute is funding her conference participation. Penzenstadler, the only faculty to receive a full scholarship for interdisciplinary research, will be accompanied by computer science senior Elena Caceres, whose participation is being sponsored by Palantir Technologies. Continue reading “CECS Delegates Heading to Grace Hopper Celebration”

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Beavers Endowed Chair in Heavy Civil Construction Established

Hoover Dam, Boulder City, Nevada
Hoover Dam, Boulder City, Nevada

The CSULB College of Engineering will commemorate the creation of the Beavers Endowed Chair in Heavy Civil Construction on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 4 p.m. in the courtyard west of the Vivian Engineering Center (VEC) Building. Funded by the Beavers Charitable Trust and other major supporters, the Beavers Chair will promote interest in civil and construction engineering at CSULB, as well as strengthen the pipeline of highly skilled heavy construction practitioners.

The heavy civil engineering and construction industry employs nearly 1 million people across the country, and according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics is one of the fastest-growing engineering sectors. Heavy civil engineering refers to the design and construction of highways, bridges, rail corridors, dams, and other infrastructure. Continue reading “Beavers Endowed Chair in Heavy Civil Construction Established”

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Are You Ready to Dream Big?

If the enthusiastic crowd at the Innovation Challenge’s second information meeting is any indication, a lot of Cal State University Long Beach students have startup dreams.

startup dreamsThe annual entrepreneurial Challenge, where student teams compete to win $50,000 in funding and services for the best business idea, was started six years ago by the colleges of Engineering, Business, and the Arts. Students at Thursday’s meeting appeared equally divided between the three colleges. Continue reading “Are You Ready to Dream Big?”

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2015 Distinguished Lecture Explores El Nino Engineering Challenges

El Nino Engineering ChallengesAs perhaps the strongest El Niño on record forms in the eastern Pacific Ocean, public officials in California are preparing for a winter in which disastrous floods might interrupt the state’s drought emergency. For the CSULB Fall 2015 Engineering Distinguished Lecture, a panel of experts will be discussing the engineering challenges associated with the potentially record weather event.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) has recently stated there is a greater than 90 percent chance that El Niño will continue through Northern Hemisphere winter 2015-16, and around an 85 percent chance it will last into early spring 2016. Continue reading “2015 Distinguished Lecture Explores El Nino Engineering Challenges”

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2015 Innovation Challenge Kicks Off

2015 Innovation Challenge
About 75 students turned out for the Sept. 21 kickoff of the 2015 Innovation Challenge.

ABC has “Shark Tank.” Google has Angelpad. And Cal State Long Beach has the Innovation Challenge.

The annual entrepreneurial event, where student teams compete to win $50,000 in funding and services for the best business idea, was started six years ago by the colleges of Engineering, Business, and the Arts.

The challenge’s goal is to produce one new business for the university each year. And judging from the 75 students who attended the Sept. 21 kickoff meeting, interest is on the rise. Continue reading “2015 Innovation Challenge Kicks Off”

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Looking for a Few Good Candidates

Stem Job Fair Good CandidatesFor engineering students trying to land their first career opportunity, the Sept. 17  STEM Job Fair was the place to be. The annual fair attracted hundreds of job-seeking students, as well as nearly 100 hiring companies ranging from large corporations to government agencies to up-and-coming startups and in between.

Students waited patiently in long lines to turn in resumes to recruiters at Boeing, which maintains a strong presence in the region, and Facebook, which was making its first appearance at a Cal State University Long Beach job fair. Continue reading “Looking for a Few Good Candidates”

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Boeing Speaker Draws Standing-Room Only Audience

Boeing logoAs the world’s largest aerospace company, Boeing is almost always in hiring mode—especially when it comes to engineers. And not only does the company offer well-paid internships but also entry-level engineering positions with extensive mentoring and opportunities for further education.

“Engineers are the backbone of our business,” said Boeing Intern Coordinator A. J. Dale at Tuesday’s Speaker Series talk sponsored by the College of Engineering’s Office of Professional Development and Internships. “We want you to learn as much as you can.” Continue reading “Boeing Speaker Draws Standing-Room Only Audience”