Spectra Newsletter

College of Engineering and Computer Science

CECS Olympian racks up more wins

DSCN0944.jpgComputer science professor Richard Lorentz extended his winning streak at the 19th Computer Olympiad June 27 to July 3, when he took the gold in a game called Amazons and the silver in a game called Breakthrough, bringing the total number of medals he’s won over the years to 14.

But it was at the concurrent ICGA Computer and Games Conference that Lorentz had another kind of breakthrough. The conference, which like the Computer Olympiad is sponsored by the International Computer Games Association and held at Leiden University in the Netherlands, named his paper, “Using Partial Tablebases in Breakthrough,” co-written with graduate student Andrew Isaac, the best paper at the conference. [Read more…]

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CECS civil engineers receive Caltrans grant

IMG_4989.jpgIt’s no secret that the nation’s aging infrastructure is facing numerous challenges. Every four years since 1998, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has been issuing its Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, and in that time, the nation has earned persistent D averages for the condition of its roads, bridges and many other essential structures, along with a host of other related civil engineering resources.[Read more…]

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Unique drone research program gets off the ground

CSUN_Engineering_ForSPectra2.jpgDrones, once synonymous with remote military recognizance and strikes, have gained mainstream ground over recent years. Hobbyist drones are now readily available online and at big box stores, and the drones of Google’s Project Wing and Amazon’s Prime Air are being field tested to deliver packages.

Advances in technology have brought a push for better and smaller and more capable drones, explains Vibhav Durgesh, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, but in order to design these improved aircraft, it’s critical to know how they behave when they fly, in myriad conditions. [Read more…]

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Student Competitions - Human factor propels team to success

CSUN_Final.jpgCSUN’s human-powered vehicle (HPV) “The Khach” probably won’t qualify for the Tour de France anytime soon, but that’s just fine with the 21 CECS mechanical engineering seniors responsible for designing, building and racing it. The Khach claimed first place in the 2016 American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ (ASME) Human Powered Vehicle Challenge last spring, besting vehicles entered by more than 30 teams from the U.S., Egypt and Mexico.[Read more…]

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