College of Engineering and Computer Science News

ENGR 1A What Engr and Comp Sci is all about

Posted On: July 1, 2008

Explore the disciplines of engineering and computer science. Find out what you like best and get the support of an upper-division ECS peer coach. Look for this course in the Fall 2008 schedule of classes.

More Info: http://www.ecs.csus.edu/eee/PeerCoaching/Engr1AAdvertisement.pdf

Engineering: One Border at a Time

Posted On: June 24, 2008

Sacramento State engineering students are working in Panama this summer to develop a sustainable irrigation system for a group of six rural villages in the Anton region.

Sac State's Engineers Without Borders chapter began the project in November 2006 and the student group first visited the Anton region of Panama to begin gathering data for the project over spring break of 2007.

This summer, the group will spend two weeks from May 27 to June 7 gathering more data and mapping the region using portable global positioning system devices, said Javier Soria, senior civil engineering major and president of the Sac State Engineers Without Borders chapter.

The Anton district of Panama is a relatively dry, rural agricultural region that can support a variety of crops if water can be obtained.

The focus of the project is to determine how to transport water to fields during the dry season, which runs from May to December, and implement an irrigation system that will be sustainable by the local population, Soria said.

"The locals can't grow crops during the dry season when they don't get a drop of rain," Soria said. "We want to help them be able to expand their crop growth, diversify their diets and create a crop surplus the locals can sell to gain capital."

The work on the project is done entirely by students who receive support and technical advice from the non-governmental organization Sustainable Harvest International, which proposed the project to Engineers Without Borders - USA and the group's faculty advisers, Soria said.

Eugene Dammel, professor of civil engineering and faculty adviser to the Sac State Engineers Without Borders chapter, said his role is to stay in the background and give advice when necessary. On this summer's trip, Dammel plans to help students make sure they completely map the area and include all necessary terrain features, such as ridge lines and stream courses.

"This is an area where students don't have a lot of experience yet," Dammel said. "We try to do as much on the job training as we can."

The project is funded entirely through donations and grants. The group received a $4,000 grant from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund in February and has received donations from the Kleinfelder engineering firm and Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

The group expects to finish the project with two or three trips to Panama.

Soria said he would like to see the Sac State chapter grow and take on more projects in Central America, Africa and New Orleans, which is still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Both Soria and Dammel would like to see non-engineering students join the group.

Students in the social science fields can help the group work through cultural barriers and assess the impact of projects on local communities after the projects are completed, Dammel said.

Soria said he joined the Sac State Engineers Without Borders chapter because he has always wanted to do humanitarian work related to engineering.

Engineering is a service profession, said Emir Jose Macari, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences. People do not go into engineering for the money, although the salary is good, but to help society and make things better and more efficient, he said.

"Our Engineers Without Borders students are dedicated to helping less fortunate people in other countries and in so doing, they are learning a great lesson in life: 'The Power of Giving,'" Macari said. "They are applying their engineering knowledge to help different communities here and abroad."

"Engineers Without Borders - USA is a non-profit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life. This partnership involves the implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while involving and training internationally responsible engineers and engineering students," according to the Engineers Without Borders - USA website.

More Info: http://media.www.statehornet.com/media/storage/paper1146/news/2008/06/25/News/Engineering.One.Border.At.A.Time-3384507.shtml

Guardian Scholars Program

Posted On: June 24, 2008

The Guardian Scholars Program provides support services to Sacramento State students who were formerly in foster care. The program is currently seeking members of the campus community who wish to volunteer their time by serving as mentors to Sac State students who are former foster youth.

More Info: http://athena.ecs.csus.edu/docs/GS Mentor Recruitment Flier.pdf

British Solar Car hits the road

Posted On: June 19, 2008

York man builds UK’s first road-legal solar car! WELCOME to the future of transport - the UK's first road-legal solar car.

More Info: http://www.ecs.csus.edu/eee/PeerCoaching/YorkSolarCar.pdf

Honda to launch hydrogen powered vehicle

Posted On: June 16, 2008

On the front page of its Marketplace section, the Wall Street Journal (6/16, B1, Murphy)

Honda Motor Co. Chief Executive Takeo Fukui hates to lose. But that's just what the former racing-team manager has had to accept as Toyota Motor Corp.'s popular Prius hybrid has outsold Honda's hybrid vehicles nearly four to one this decade, establishing Toyota as the industry leader in eco-friendly vehicles.

Now 63-year-old Mr. Fukui, who has led the company for five years, is charting Honda Motor's efforts to be the greenest of the world's auto makers.

As soaring gasoline prices boost demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles, the global auto giants are battling to define the next generation of automobiles with a blitz of eco-friendly vehicle launches, new technologies and campaigns to show off their green credentials.

Monday at a ceremony in Japan, Mr. Fukui is scheduled to roll out a new hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicle, the FCX Clarity, one of the world's most-advanced green vehicles, which Honda hopes will bring fuel-cell technology into the mainstream.

The vehicle, powered with electricity produced by combining hydrogen and oxygen in batterylike fuel cells, will be available for lease in California this summer. By 2010, Honda aims to deliver about 200 of these vehicles, making it the largest effort to market fuel-cell vehicles to date.

In his bid to unseat the Prius as the top-selling hybrid vehicle, Mr. Fukui also plans to launch a new gas-electric hybrid car in the U.S., Japan and Europe early next year, one of four hybrid models Honda will unveil by 2015. The company hasn't announced the price of the new car, except to say it will be "affordable," so it isn't clear how it will stack up against Toyota's hybrid.

Japan's No. 2 auto maker, after Toyota, has set a goal of selling 500,000 hybrid vehicles a year. Toyota, however, aims to sell one million hybrid vehicles early in the next decade. It is also at work making improvements to its own fuel-cell vehicle.

The Honda CEO, who still gets thrills riding motorcycles on Honda's test tracks, says he isn't deterred by Toyota's success.

Excerpts from an interview with Mr. Fukui:

WSJ: Why is Honda introducing fuel-cell vehicles when there is no infrastructure yet to support them?

Mr. Fukui: About 100 years ago, when Ford's Model T came out, that kicked off the development of the auto industry. If you ask, 'Were there any gas stations back then?' there weren't. In the car industry, cars should come first and then infrastructure will follow.

WSJ: So how many years away are we from having hydrogen refueling stations for fuel-cell vehicles?

Mr. Fukui: That's not going to happen really quickly. It's happening in California, and may eventually happen in several other states, and also Japan and Europe. We are working on the technology where we can charge hydrogen into fuel-cell vehicles at homes. So probably in the next 10 years we will get some level of infrastructure in place.

WSJ: Hydrogen requires less of a spark to ignite than gas. How is Honda addressing the safety concerns surrounding a hydrogen-powered vehicle?

Mr. Fukui: We can resolve the safety issue. It's not necessarily that hydrogen is more dangerous than gasoline. So it comes down to expertise in handling hydrogen. So we can address this.

WSJ: Honda promotes itself as an eco-friendly auto maker but it appears that Toyota has beaten Honda in the green-image war. What is Honda doing to reclaim its green image?

Mr. Fukui: Honda's image was better but has evened out with [Toyota] because of the strong image of one single model, the Prius, which Honda feels is a problem. Next year, we will come up with a dedicated hybrid vehicle. We feel this model will have to overwhelm and overtake Prius. That is key for us. The thing is, we'll take on the challenge and compete against Toyota with our products and our technology backed by our racing spirit.

WSJ: Honda was the first auto maker to offer a hybrid car, the Insight, in the U.S., and Toyota came along with the Prius and was a best-seller. What went wrong with the Insight?

Mr. Fukui: Well, I don't think anything was wrong. Our intention was not to try to make Insight a mass seller. The significance of the Insight was that at the time, we wanted to establish the best record for fuel efficiency, and we did.

WSJ: Other auto makers, including Nissan Motor Co. and General Motors Corp., are planning to launch electric vehicles, but Honda isn't offering this alternative. Why not?

Mr. Fukui: We feel the practical feasibility of the electric vehicle is very limited. The biggest issue is driving distance. The other issue is the recharging time. The FCX Clarity can be recharged in one minute. With the electric vehicle, it can take several hours. However, this is not to deny the possibility of battery electric vehicles. It's very useful for vehicles with restricted applications, like golf carts.

WSJ: What management lessons did you learn as a longtime chief engineer and head of Honda's racing teams?

Mr. Fukui: When I was fully engaged in the motorcycle-racing team, the pressure was very high, and it was taken for granted that we would win. If you didn't get good results, you got bashed by managers and media. The results were disappointing. We kept on losing....The series of difficulties and challenges is something that I feel everyone should experience because, in a way, I acquired wisdom and creativity to get through that.

WSJ: Do you have any unique management practices?

Mr. Fukui: There are a few things I always keep in mind. Take time to keep up good communication with associates at work. And test our own products with my own hands.

WSJ: In May, Honda beat out Chrysler LLC as the fourth-largest seller of cars in the U.S. [behind GM, Toyota and Ford]. Do you expect Honda to continue to gain in the U.S. market?

Mr. Fukui: If the demand gets stronger, we will increase supply. It doesn't really matter if you come in fourth or fifth or first. What's important for us is that our production is going at full capacity and production is balanced with sales. That's what's important for us. Our system is flexible, so production can be adjusted if needed, depending on vehicle demand. If there is a decline in demand for larger cars, we can shift production to smaller cars.

WSJ: How is Honda's environmental strategy different from its rivals'?

Mr. Fukui: If you compare us with Toyota and GM, we are smaller, so we can't try to cover everything. We have to make strategic choices. The hybrid will be the core product, and after that comes fuel cell and clean diesel. Those are the core products that we are going to be using to address fuel efficiency and CO2 issues.

WSJ: Is 2008 a critical year for the global auto industry?

Mr. Fukui: It's very possible that this will be a turning point. It has become clear that you have to have technology to deal with carbon dioxide and fuel-efficiency issues. We now know that big companies aren't necessarily advantageous. We also know that smaller vehicles are more attractive than larger vehicles [because of rising gas prices]. There's even a possibility that we may go from automobiles back to motorcycles.

WSJ: What kind of car do you drive?

Mr. Fukui: A Honda CR-V.

WSJ: After more than a decade working with Honda's racing teams, do you still try to stay involved in the racing?

Mr. Fukui: I don't race. I do enjoy driving -- just for fun, not for racing -- under the speed limit and just going up and down in the mountains. When it comes to motorcycles, once or twice a year I enjoy riding on Honda's own test track, where there is no speed limit.

Write to John Murphy at john.murphy@wsj.com

More Info: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121356401528375665.html

Freshmen Peer Coaching for Fall 2008

Posted On: April 21, 2008

Peer Coaching for freshmen ECS students will be entering its third semester. Read the new announcement for information about this important recruitment and retention program. ENGR 96A (first semester of Peer Coaching) and 96B (second semester of Peer Coaching) courses are listed in the Fall Schedule of Classes. Look under the Office of the Dean tab on this web page for additional information about the Peer Coaching Program.

More Info: http://www.ecs.csus.edu/eee/PeerCoaching/PeerCoachingAnnounceF08.pdf