Engineers’ Council Award Recipients
As part of its mission to advance the art and science of engineering for the general welfare of humankind, the San Fernando Valley Engineers’ Council recognizes engineers and scientists from industry and academia for their contributions. On February 26, at its annual awards banquet, the organization honored five CECS faculty members.
Distinguished Engineering Educator Awards
Michael Kabo(left) Steven Stepanek(right)
Outstanding Merit Achievement Awards
Susan Beatty(left) Aram Khachatourians(center) Jeffrey Wiegley(right)
Welcome to our New Staff Member
Nagwa Bekir (ECE) assumed the role of
associate dean of the College
of Engineering and Computer Science
in January 2011. Shoeleh Di Julio,
who served as associate dean from
2009–11, returned to teaching in
the Mechanical Engineering
department.
We Will Always Miss you…
Josephine “Jo” Guarrera, 1920-2011
Our dear friend Jo Guarrera passed away on January 4. Jo was the wife of the college’s friend and colleague, the late John Guarrera. Jo and John were great supporters of the college, and upon John’s retirement, they created the John and Jo Guarrera Endowment for Engineering, which every year provides scholarships for many students in the college. Jo was known for her loving spirit, generosity and vivacious love of life. She will be greatly missed by all.
Brenda Timmerman, 1939-2010
Emeritus professor Brenda Timmerman passed away on December 5, 2010. Brenda first joined CSUN in 1987 and retired from teaching in 2009. During her time with the Computer Science Department, she held positions as a lecturer and later as a tenuretrack professor. Her area of specialization was computer security. Brenda was a very caring and dedicated person who will be greatly missed by all her colleagues and the staff in the College.
David Paul Rankin, 1979-2010
The faculty and staff of the College were saddened by the news that CSUN alumnus David Rankin (BSME, 2007) passed away in September 2010 after a long battle with brain cancer. Most of David’s professors and fellow students were aware of his courageous attitude toward his medical situation. He had to withdraw from the university during the fall 2005 semester to receive treatment but returned in spring 2006 and graduated in May 2007. He was a valued member of the 2007 human-powered vehicle design team, under the supervision of Robert Ryan. Dr. Ryan recalls that “David was very forthright about his disease and was determined to beat it. He was a pleasure to have as a student, and it was great to see him achieve his goal of attaining an engineering degree. I saw him a couple of years ago at a local ASME Student Section tour at the Anheuser-Busch plant, and he looked great, so it was definitely a shock to hear of his passing.”