ECST and Boeing Partner for the 16th Annual ECST Open House/MESA STEM Day
ECST, Boeing Global Engagement, and the Employees Community Fund of Boeing presented the 16th Annual ECST Open House and MESA STEM Day on Saturday, October 17. While the format may have changed (the event was held virtually), enthusiasm remained high! Over 40 ECST, faculty, staff, and student volunteers, 60 Boeing volunteers, and more than 325 students, teachers, and parents from over 30 middle and high schools and local community colleges participated.
Cal State LA President William Covino, ECST Dean Emily Allen, and Michelle Parker, Boeing Vice President and Chief Engineer for Space and Launch Engineering welcomed participants. Other Boeing participants included Moses Escobar, Acting Cal State LA ECST Boeing Focal; Philip June, Director of Engineering for the Boeing Commercial Airplanes Engineering Design Center in Southern California; and Julio Navarro, Senior Technical Fellow in Boeing Research and Technology.
“This plane is for commercial use, for about 70 people including two pilots.
I think it’ll work if built correctly with better supplies but if I tried it right now it might not fly.”
Lena Hernandez, Huntington Park High School
Throughout the day, students attended grade-appropriate workshops. ECST faculty presented overviews on electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, computer science, and technology. Boeing professionals presented on such topics as “A Day in the Life of a Latinx Space Engineer,” “The Future of Flight,” and “We Can Do It – Women in STEM.” In a “Meeting of the Minds” sessions, students were asked to design, build, and name a prototype airplane using items from around the house. “What is so wonderful about the event is that students get to see STEM professionals who look like them,” said Thelma Federico, ECST Outreach Director for pre-college programs. “This inspires them to go to college and become engineers. It’s a powerful, powerful day. I feel blessed to be part of it.”
Thanks to Boeing Global Engagement and the Employees Community Fund of Boeing for their support of this important day. A special thank you to ECST alums Maida Lopez and Ernesto Covarrubias for all their hard work organizing this year’s event.
The Sikand SITI-Center and ECST Host Second Annual Symposium
The Sikand Center for Sustainable and Intelligent Infrastructure (Sikand SITI-Center) hosted the 2020 Urban Sustainability Symposium with Cal State LA’s College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology on November 19th. Over 550 registered for the virtual event to hear regional and national leaders discuss some of the region’s most pressing sustainability issues.
“The speakers and discussions brought a wealth of information related to different aspects of urban sustainability, not only in Southern California but also across the country at the state and federal scale,” said Dr. Mehran Mazari, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the SITI-Center, who organized the event.
After ECST Dean Emily Allen welcomed the group, keynote speakers included Nancy Sutley, Chief Sustainability Officer, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; Ben Stapleton, Executive Director, U.S. Green Building Council Los Angeles Chapter; Eric Hoek, Faculty Director, UCLA Sustainable LA Grand Challenge; Stephen Jordan, Chief Executive Officer, Institute for Sustainable Development; and Cris Liban, Chief Sustainability Officer, LA Metro.
The Symposium’s featured speaker was Jennifer O’Connor, President of Athena Sustainability Materials, who spoke about life cycle assessments for buildings and roadways. The Symposium moderator was Dave Karlsgodt, Director, Energy Advisory Services at Brailsford & Dunlavey, Inc. and the creator and host of the “Campus Energy and Sustainability Podcast.” Technical panels focused on sustainable and resilient urban Infrastructure, wildfires, environment, electrification, and campus sustainability plans. Several students and faculty also presented their research posters at a virtual poster session during the symposium.
We are pleased to recognize our 2020 Symposium Partners: Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; ASCE Metropolitan Los Angeles Branch; Athena Sustainable Materials Institute; UCLA Institute of the Environment & Sustainability; and the U.S. Green Building Council, Los Angeles.
