Spectra Newsletter

Computer Science

Richard Covington has been named the new chair of the Department of Computer Science. Covington, who earned his Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Rice University, joined the CECS faculty in 2000 as an assistant professor of computer science. He became an associate professor in 2006. He teaches advanced courses in graphical user interfaces and parallel computer architecture and currently is involved in curriculum development for the new undergraduate program in computer information technology.[Read more…]

Sadly, the College of Engineering and Computer Science lost two good friends in 2013: Professor Emeritus William Freeman, husband of Professor Emeritus Bonita Campbell, who died on April 27, 2013, and Mary Lou Downing, wife of Professor Emeritus Willis Downing, who died on March 5, 2013. We extend our deepest sympathies to our colleagues and their families.[Read more…]

Graduating senior wins top honors in CECS and university

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Shelley Thurk (’13) was working as an assistant service manager at a car dealership in Encino, but she was bored. Although she had always been drawn to cars and had earned an A.A. degree specifically because she wanted to work in the automotive industry, she realized after a year that she was more interested in design and building. Vacillating between architecture and engineering, she was looking into schools when she saw CSUN’s Formula SAE car and discovered her future.

“I wanted to be part of that,” she says.

In 2009, she enrolled in the College of Engineering and Computer Science as a mechanical engineering major and quickly plunged into her studies. She particularly appreciated how accessible the faculty was and the applied nature of the curriculum, which stressed hands-on experiences rather than concentrating exclusively on theory.

“A lot of what we learned applied to actual industry rather than straight textbook problems,” she says.

She went on to gain industry experience herself through two internships. And, of course, she joined the Formula SAE team. [Read more…]

It’s been an especially successful year for the College of Engineering and Computer Science, thanks in good measure to the support of numerous friends. Corporations, foundations and individuals alike stepped forward with generous contributions, increasing the number of scholarships available for deserving students and expanding the programs the college could present. For the first time the California Renewable Energy Storage and Technology Conference had a sponsor, for example, and the number of sponsors for the Senior Design Project Showcase grew significantly.[Read more…]