Fed gives colleges engineering boost

The National Science Foundation recently renewed a contract of a Cal State Long Beach-led coalition of six universities which has a goal to find ways of revitalizing engineering education in Los Angeles.

Richard Williams, dean of the CSULB College of Engineering, who also is the principal investigator of the group, said that the initial contract was signed in April 1994 and is renewable yearly for five years.

The coalition, also includes UCLA, UC Irvine, USC, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Los Angeles, is known as the Southern California Coalition for Education in Manufacturing and Engineering.

"The focus is to increase the number of manufacturing professionals with the technical skills necessary for industry to be competitive in a global marketplace, redefine engineering education and provide on-site training for industries," Williams said.

Williams explained that this goal entails creating a new bachelor's-degree program in manufacturing engineering, a new multimedia-instruction module and providing training programs for industry employees.

He said the new programs also emphasize an integrated-team approach to design production and marketing .

Reviewing the first year of the program, Williams said it had been able to attract about $4 million from the federal government, $1.35 million from the state government and $2 million worth of equipment from industries.

He said that the coalition has also established the Manufacturing Learning Center, an educational complex and industrial park in Los Angeles, comprising three components: Fast Track L.A., Manufacturing Career Academy and the Center for Advanced Technologies.

The facilities provide intensive leadership and team skills to help prepare students for entry into either work or higher education, Williams said.

He added Fast Track L.A. has just received a $75,000 from the Rockwell International Corp. Information about SCCEME is also available on the Internet at http://www.engr.csulb.edu/scceme/ or students may call (310) 985-1519.