It attracts just a tiny fraction of the attention its famous namesake commands, and most people have never heard of the games it features. But for some of the world’s most elite—and dedicated—artificial intelligence game programmers, the annual International Computer Olympiad, held this past fall in Kanazawa, Japan, is a big deal, attracting contestants from around the world. And for the last six years, one of the most dedicated—and successful—contestants has been CECS’s own Richard Lorentz, a professor of computer science.[Read more…]
CECS Professor Brings Home the Gold—and Silver—at the International Computer Olympiad
Construction Management Technology program is accredited — with flying colors
Five years ago, after many months of planning, the college launched a brand-new degree program within the Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics. The program, in construction management technology (CMT), was specifically designed to meet the needs of the construction industry, which had provided considerable input during the formative stages. On campus and within industry, it was considered a strong program, but until the first class had graduated, it couldn’t be accredited.[Read more…]
Passing the test(s)
The college’s review workshops for the national Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) certification and Professional Engineer (PE) licensing exams may be one of the worst-kept secrets in Southern California. The workshops are not advertised, and CECS relies solely on word-of-mouth to promote them. But their reputation is so outstanding that year after year, students and industry engineers flock to the campus for the sessions, which are offered twice annually, prior to the April and October exams.
Before someone can take the exam to become licensed as a professional engineer (PE), he or she must pass the exam to earn FE certification (formerly called Engineer-in-Training, or EIT). The college first began offering the FE/EIT review workshop in 1995 and usually attracts anywhere from 15 to 32 students, in all disciplines. The civil PE review debuted in 2007 and encompasses three separate workshops—one for the national eighthour exam, one for the California Special Surveying exam and one for the California Special Seismic exam. All workshops are taught by professors specializing in that discipline.[Read more…]
Industry Advisory Board builds up CMT program
When Rory DeJohn came to Los Angeles five years ago to assume a new executive position with Turner Construction Company, he not only inherited a job; he inherited a spot on the Industry Advisory Board for CSUN’s new Construction Management Technology program.
It was a commitment he immediately embraced. “There are not a lot of construction management schools in the country,” he says, “and the fact that the program was going to have to go through the approval process to get accredited meant we could design the program to make sure kids had the courses they really needed.”
A year after joining the board, DeJohn became its chair, and like his predecessor, David Honda, he has been a staunch advocate for the program and the construction industry.
“The industry’s been very good to me, and other board members could say the same thing,” he says. “We want to give back and let young people know it is a good industry, even in this bad economy, and make sure they get the best courses for an industry that is changing every day.”[Read more…]