Student organizations build community, opportunity

0
22
American Society of Civil Engineers

Nationals-Picture.jpgSteel Bridge team at the National Steel Bridge Competition in Clemson, South Carolina in May 2012. From left: Prof. Nazaret Dermendjian, Mr. David Van Volkinburg, Prof. Thang Le, Andy Hawgood, Ivan Mendez, Christine Heinrich-Josties, Lester Geronga, Joe Castagna, Sal Ramirez, Anthony Coscia, Jerry Perser, Nargiss Majrooh, Henry Andrino, Eric Sotto, Jay Pastor, Jay Youn, Kurt Van Volkinberg

Over the past six years, enrollment in civil engineering at CECS has almost doubled, from 281 undergraduate and graduate students in 2007, to 565 at the beginning of the fall 2012 semester. It’s no wonder, then, that membership in the CSUN chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has burgeoned as well. Last year, says Steve Gadomksi, professor of civil engineering and the group’s advisor, there were about 140 members, or roughly 40% of the head count in the major. And this year he expects it to be about the same.

It helps that CSUN’s ASCE chapter is very active and has earned a well-deserved reputation for excellence in regional and national competitions. Activities range from fundraising to social events, including poker nights and ski trips to Mammoth, from speakers and arranging job interviews with companies interested in hiring CSUN students to outreach to K-12 students. The student chapter is also very involved with the L.A. Metropolitan professional chapter and regularly attends technical tours, workshops and the Student Night Job Fair. Last year, CSUN ASCE members mentored Sylmar High School’s team in the annual regional Popsicle stick bridge competition, which is sponsored by the professional ASCE chapter.

“We gave them a tour of the college’s facilities and showed them the mechanical engineering, concrete and steel labs before taking them into the applied mechanics lab,” says Nargiss Majrooh, current ASCE president. “There we tested and broke their Popsicle stick bridge to see how much stress it could take and how to improve it.”

Officers-Fall-2011-1.jpgBack row, from left: Karolyn Saenz, Nargiss Majrooh, Melissa Martinez, Carolin Klooth. Middle row: Alexandro Ornelas, Andy Hawgood, Sal Ramirez, Anthony Coscia, Dane Beaudette. Bottom row: Jay Pastor, Michael Marchesan, David Bray

Without question the highlight of the year is the annual regional ASCE student conference, which includes numerous competitions, from concrete canoe and steel bridge to technical papers, technical design and environmental design. Last year, a CSUN senior, Jay Pastor, won the national 2012 National Daniel W. Mead ASCE Student Paper Contest for his paper on ethics, earning him a slot to present it at the October ASCE conference in Montreal. The CSUN team also placed third in the regional Steel Bridge competition and qualified for the national competition (see p. 14).

For the coming year, Majrooh plans to engage younger students more than in the past.

“Usually we only have juniors and seniors involved in professional events,” she says. “I want younger members to get involved too, so they can see what the profession is like before they get into their engineering classes.”

Beyond the professional aspects, however, ASCE offers members a very large group of friends to study and socialize with, as well as informal mentoring.

“We’re here to help each other out,” Majrooh says. “We try to bridge the gap between the professional and educational aspects of civil engineering. We want students to get into the field and get a taste of what they’re going to be doing for the rest of their lives.”

2012 HKN induction ceremony held on April 12

DSCN0202.jpgHKN (Eta Kappa Nu) Honor Society

 

In 1904, ten students at the University of Illinois created Eta Kappa Nu (HKN), an honor society for electrical engineering students. In 2010—now a national organization in almost every university—HKN merged with the IEEE and became known as IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu (IEEE-HKN). Members include students, alumni and other professionals who have demonstrated exceptional academic and professional accomplishments.

The history of CSUN’s chapter, while more recent, is no less impressive. In 2006, CSUN’s IEEE student chapter was named the IEEE Region 6 Outstanding Student Branch. The same year, a group of exceptional CSUN electrical and computer engineering students approached the college about initiating an HKN chapter. The college’s administration agreed, and CSUN’s HKN chapter, the Lambda Beta chapter, was established in November 2007, with the aim of instilling in students ethical behavior, responsibility and teamwork. Since then the college has inducted 15 to 20 outstanding graduate and undergraduate students annually at a yearly ceremony; currently, there are about 100 members, including alumni, industry professionals and CECS dean S. K. Ramesh, who was inducted as a member in May 2008.

“HKN is about intelligence, education, professionalism, attitude, respect and camaraderie,” says Bruno Osorno, professor of electrical engineering and the organization’s faculty advisor. “Members must be in good standing and be willing to take an active role in the organization. Juniors in the top quarter of their class and Seniors in the top third of their class are invited to join. Typically most of these students have GPA’s higher than 3.0. We’re particular about that so we don’t just get students who want membership for their resumes.”

Prospective members are invited to join, much as they would be in a Greek organization. IEEE-HKN officers interview the candidates, then make recommendations to Osorno, who approves them for membership. Once they join, members can take part in an array of activities, including developing and offering workshops in software such as Matlab and Pspice, carried out in partnership with the IEEE student chapter; and supporting college activities, such as Tech Fest and the college’s open house; tutoring and mentoring.

“The most important activity for me is when they go to high schools,” says Osorno. “They go to science classes and help put together a robot and demonstrate it, act as big brothers, share their experiences and talk about the importance of college. It’s good PR for CSUN.”

Burnishing CSUN’s image on the national stage is Ramesh’s election to a three-year term on the IEEE-HKN national Board of Governors last year. Ramesh, who represents the Western region, also serves as treasurer for the organization.

“This is great for the CSUN chapter,” says Osorno. “It gives us a high profile and added respect from the nationwide IEEE-HKN organization.
DSCN0204.jpg

2012 HKN induction ceremony held on April 12

2012 SWE graduation banquet

swepic.jpgSociety of Women Engineers

It’s no secret that engineering and computer science attract a disproportionate number of men. According to the American Society of Engineering Education, in 2009, the percentage of undergraduate degrees from engineering schools women earned was just 17.8%, a 15-year low.

But if the CSUN chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) has anything to do about it, that trend may start to reverse itself. “The largest reason women drop out of the field is the sense of being alone in classes,” says SWE advisor Tanya Seno, a CECS alumna, UNIX/Linux administrator in the college’s Information Systems Group and part-time faculty member in manufacturing systems engineering. “The more likely they are to have friends in the major, the more likely they are to stay in the field.”

The organization, which last year boasted about 50 members, offers support and camaraderie for female students. SWE is fortunate to have its own, dedicated room on campus, and often, Seno says, female students will use it as a base of operation, keeping their books and computers there, hanging out and bonding.

A casualty of the 1994 Northridge quake, which temporarily destroyed the group’s meeting space, CSUN’s SWE chapter remained dormant afterward until 1997, when Seno, then a student, and five other female students rallied to bring it back to life. Since then it has built itself back up, sponsoring fundraisers, competitions, workshops, study sessions, social events and evenings with industry, among other activities. Members also volunteer whenever the college or a department needs help—when K-12 students come to campus, for example, to learn about engineering. For the annual Young Engineers Day each spring, SWE sponsors an extremely popular activity called “Protect Your Water Balloon Brain Drop,” which requires the younger students to create a protective casing and drop a water balloon from a building.

“I joined primarily because several professors implored me to get involved with SWE,” recalls Sevana Avanessian, immediate past president and currently a graduate student in CECS. “Because of the lack of women engineers, there’s not a lot of community.”

She began lingering in the SWE room particularly because a lot of her female friends were starting to hang around there too. As she started attending more events, she grew increasingly interested and eventually became the chapter’s historian and then president for the 2011-12 year. “It definitely helped develop my character as a student, professional, engineer and person,” she says. “I don’t think would have been person is today without it. The earlier you get your foot in the door and try to get into professionalism, the better the opportunities are when you graduate. I would love for next generation to continue on. My biggest hope is to see them continue to grow.” •

Leave a reply