|
news
Engineers
elate over money
By Alisha Gomez
On-line Forty-Niner
The College of Engineering received a $34,000 grant from
the DENSO North America Foundation, a large supplier of automotive
technology, systems and components to carmakers, right at
the start of the fall semester.
The grant has been distributed among mechanical engineering
and engineering technology departments.
"From the grant, $25,000 will go toward the purchase
of a coordinate measuring machine and $9,000 will support
the senior design projects," said Michael Mahoney, dean
of the College of Engineering.
The machine is "essential for use in reverse engineering
applications and as a calibration instrument to measure gages,"
according to the proposal.
DENSO approached the college before anyone else, said director
of development for the College of Engineering, Terri McDermot.
"DENSO wanted to establish a relationship with the College
of Engineering because a large portion of our students go
to work for DENSO as engineers," McDermot said.
The DENSO North America Foundation is the first foundation
for the Denso Corporation, McDermot said, and CSULB's College
of Engineering is the first to receive a grant from them.
"The fact that DENSO has our students working for them,
and likes them shows the value of education here," Mahoney
said. "For DENSO to give back to us through the grant
proves we are putting out high quality students."
The amount was decided by the foundation by taking into consideration
what the College of Engineering asked for. The college received
all they had asked for.
"There was need to purchase specific equipment related
to the primary manufacturing laboratory used by students in
the mechanical engineering and engineering technology departments,"
the proposal said. "This is one of two critical needs
that directly affect the quality of education our students
receive."
The actual measuring machine has not been purchased yet.
The second need for the funding that the proposal was "to
support senior design projects for as many as 30 students
each semester." The proposal explained how, in their
final year, all mechanical engineering students must take
a key capstone course that requires students to start with
a conceptual design, followed by a literature review and analysis
and ends with a final design that includes drawings, manufacturing
and assembly of the final product.
"Department funds that support this activity are extremely
limited," according to the proposal. "Students have
often come up with brilliant concepts and/or designs but the
mechanical engineering departments didn't have the funds to
support them in carrying out their projects. When this occurs
students must return to the beginning and design another project."
Students currently working on their senior design projects
will not only be able to design their project, but also build
it because of the grant, Mahoney said.
"In years past we didn't have the funds for the students'
senior design projects," McDermot said. "Students
would come up with an idea and then sometimes would have to
go back and choose another. This grant allows students to
do the senior design project they choose."
Mahoney said the how enrollment for the College of Engineering
has been slowly rising and that it went up 6 percent the second
week of classes. Previously, the college had experienced a
fluctuation in growth.
"The real problem [was] that you have to be good in math,"
Mahoney said.
Not many people are good in math, he said, a basic requirement
for engineering majors. That, he said, comes from the inadequate
teaching in K-12 classes.
"The improvement is happening, but if you are not good
in math, you are not going to be an engineer," Mahoney
said.
Despite this, engineers are always in demand, Mahoney said.
"There is no problem with our graduates getting jobs.
Most of our students work [in technical jobs] while in school,"
he said.
"In California we have so much technical business space,"
Mahoney said.
|
|
Cara Garcia/On-line Forty-Niner
Michael Mahoney
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Search our site
DEPARTMENT
OF
JOURNALISM
ONLINE 49ER
DEPARTMENTS
ADVERTISING
ADMINISTRATION
DAILY
49ER ALUMNI
SUBSCRIPTION
SERVICE
GIVE
FEEDBACK
|
