Boeing
brings scholarships, research study to CSULB
By Yi-Fang Vicky Lin
On-line Forty-Niner
Engineering
students will see more scholarships and
research study opportunities after the Cal
State Long Beach College of Engineering
received a $37,000 donation grant from the
Boeing Company.
“Boeing is a very good friend to our university
and literally has given us million of dollars
in the past,” said Michael Mahoney, dean
of the college. “It’s a good investment
for them. They are good community people.
The Boeing Company likes to get involved
with a lot of community efforts to show
they are actually a community citizen as
well.”
The Boeing Company has hired more than 2,500
graduates from CSULB in the past. With high
graduate employment rates, many CSULB students
work as engineers and computer scientists,
higher fund, compared with other colleges
so higher funds are usually granted to the
College of Engineering, Mahoney said.
“Boeing is very interested in our graduates
and they want our graduates to be well-prepared,
so they help fund several colleges,” Mahoney
said.
Besides the $37,000 directly given to the
College of Engineering, Boeing gave $28,500
to the College of Business Administration.
That amount will be shared with the College
of Engineering to create business-oriented
course modules for engineering students.
Two other colleges received Boeing grants:
the College of Art and the College of Natural
Sciences and Mathematics, with a total of
$90,000 grant, Mahoney said.
Lily Gossage, director of Admissions and
Advising at the College of Engineering said
engineering students need updated equipment.
“Lab upgrades will help students directly,”
Gossage said. “ I think improved lab spaces
and equipment updates are most appreciated
by most engineering students.”
Scholarships are another way to support
engineering students, she said.
According to Mahoney, $9,000 out of the
grant will be used as scholarship funding
for students. The remaining money will help
the faculties and students in two major
research projects: the drilling study and
the military plane C-17 wing structural
components building. Part of the money will
be given to student organizations as well.
Geoffrey Coplin, the student chairman of
Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineering said he is not aware of the
recent grant from Boeing.
“Personally, I think since Boeing is very
electrical in nature, the money should go
to fund the electrical engineering department
and for computers and equipments for electrical
engineering students,” Coplin said
According to Mahoney, the chairman of mechanical
aerospace engineering department, Hamid
Hefazi, wrote most of the initial proposal
based on their initial conversation with
Boeing.
“I wish we knew more about this grant. It
is great deal of money. But we trust our
dean will put the money where it truly belongs,”
Coplin said.
According to Mahoney, Boeing possesses the
dominant control rights on the usage of
the funds.
“We cannot accept money that the donor wants
to give for one thing, and we use it for
something else,” Mahoney said. “We have
to use for what the donor wants.”
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