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. Continue reading “New Resources for Engineering Students and Faculty”
Many college students can’t wait for their favorite bands to go on tour. But in the CSULB College of Engineering, just as exciting—although maybe in a different kind of way—is when one of your favorite tech companies goes on tour.
On Wednesday, Feb. 3, a huge semi-truck will pull up on Beach Circle (near the College of Business Administration Building). But it won’t be full of roadies, amps, and robotic lighting. Instead it will contain Atmel microcontrollers and technical training staff.
Maryam Qudrat, director of the College of Engineering Writing and Communication Research Center.
If you’re an undergraduate student working on your senior-level capstone classes or a graduate student working on your thesis, be sure to stop by the new Writing and Communication Resource Center in VEC-128B.
The center 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. Continue reading “New Writing Center Opens in VEC-128B”
EE major Alia Bonetti, center, with EE Chair Anastasios Chassiakos, left, and Tesoro lead electrical engineer Kyle Weeks, right.
Electrical engineering senior Alia Bonetti has gotten a lot out of her internships with Tesoro. Since connecting with the company at a CSULB job fair, she’s worked for two summers, learned about the type of engineering she’d like to pursue–and won the campuswide Internship Essay Contest.
And late last year, she received something even more exciting: a job offer to work as a Tesoro electrical engineer after graduation this spring.
Calling her summer internships “a fantastic learning experience,” Bonetti said she worked on upgrades for protection systems and conducted electrical safety systems studies. “I got to do real engineering work, not busy work. I learned a lot about the type of engineering I want to do and the type of engineer I want to be.”
Nearly 200 students and faculty turned out this week for a special screening of “Code: Debugging the Gender Gap,” a documentary that examines the reasons more women aren’t pursuing careers in computing.
The screening–sponsored by the Computer Engineering and Computer Science Department—was followed by a panel discussion with Wonder Women Tech Founder Lisa Mae Brunson and Director of Global Partnerships Simmone Park; WE Labs and Innovatory Managing Partner Lincoln Bauer; and three female CSULB computer science alumni; Bonnie Hoang, Eileen McCremens, and Siori Hojo. Continue reading “Code Documentary Opens Gender Dialogue”
Not only does the U.S. Department of Energy support 17 research labs, but also many internship and fellowship programs for students. U.S. DOE representative Sandra Cortez was at CSULB Wednesday to find candidates for the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship and other programs.
The Mickey Leland fellowship, named after the late Texas congressman and anti-poverty activist, was created in 1995 to improve opportunities for underrepresented STEM students. It provides college students with a chance to develop research skills with the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy.
For 10 weeks during the summer, participants train under program officials and scientists, then present their research findings at a technical forum. The deadline to apply is December 21.
“Fossil energy isn’t the most popular area among students, but it still needs a lot of attention,” said Cortez.
The DOE’s Fossil Energy work includes research and development into clean coal, maintaining the nation’s emergency petroleum reserves, ensuring environmentally sustainable domestic and global supplies of oil and natural gas, and regulating natural gas imports and exports.
The 50 students selected for the fellowship each receive a weekly stipend, housing subsidy, and round-trip airfare from home to the national lab where they are assigned. The fellowship runs from June 6-August 12 and begins with a trip to the DOE’s Washington, DC-area office.
Besides the Mickey Leland fellowship, the DOE offers a number of other programs, including the Science Undergraduate Lab Internship (SULI), the Office of Science Graduate Fellowship, the Minority Educational Institution Student Partnership Program (MEISPP), and the DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship. The department also offers year-round research opportunities for scholars and faculty.
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”
There 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”
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”
CSULB electrical engineering professor Henry Yeh,conference chair since 2009, opens IGESC to record attendance Monday.
The IEEE Green Energy and Systems Conference (IGESC) returned to California State University Long Beach for the sixth year on Monday, celebrating record attendance as interest in sustainability increases. This year’s theme was renewable technology for green buildings and energy efficiency.
“I believe there are still a lot of challenges to overcome and many opportunities for research and development projects,” said electrical engineering professor Henry Yeh, who founded the IEEE Systems Council Chapter in 2009 and has served as the conference chair since 2010. Continue reading “Record Attendance for IGESC 2015”
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.
