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Engineering a legacy

NSME celebrates more than 10 years of its three engineering programs

By California State University, Bakersfield

October 28^th, 2024

Kern County is a region fueled by the energy, aerospace and agriculture industries, but until the early 2010s, many of its engineers had to be recruited from outside the area. With no local programs to educate and train those who already called the community their home, industry employers had to bring in people new to the Central Valley and hope they liked it enough to stay.

As companies dealt with poor retention from such recruits, a need for the community to grow its own engineers became evident. California State University, Bakersfield rose to the occasion, first adding a computer engineering major in fall 2011, followed by electrical engineering and traditional engineering majors the next year.

Since the first graduating computer engineering class in 2012 and the first graduating electrical engineering and engineering classes in 2014, more than 600 people have earned their degrees from CSUB’s engineering programs.

“For over a decade, CSU Bakersfield's engineering programs have been a beacon of opportunity and affordable education in Kern County for students who dream to become engineers,” said Dr. Jane Dong, dean of CSUB’s College of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering (NSME). “As the only four-year public university in the area, our ABET-accredited programs have produced over 600 engineers, many of whom stayed in our region, driving innovation and contributing to the vitality of our local industries. This milestone celebrates not just our programs or graduates, but the bright future they are building for Kern County.”

Building the programs from the ground up

The College of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering at CSUB was previously the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics before adding the programs that would give it its new name.

Dr. Julio R. Blanco, dean of the school from 2006 to 2013, oversaw the addition of the engineering programs. He visited other universities with engineering degrees to get ideas for his school’s new programs.

The first of the university’s three engineering programs was computer engineering, which enrolled its first students in fall 2011. The late Dr. Marc Thomas, professor of mathematics and computer science, was chair of the Computer Science Department and wrote the proposals for the program.

The electrical engineering program, also led by Dr. Thomas and his faculty, started in fall 2012. The Computer Science Department then became the Computer and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (CEE/CS) Department.

For the traditional engineering program (then called engineering sciences), Dr. Blanco worked with Dr. Jorge Talamantes, then-chair of the Physics Department, which adopted the new program when it began in fall 2012 and became the Physics and Engineering Department.

“It was a hell of a lot of work!” Dr. Talamantes said. “It took a lot of convincing that we should have an engineering program and that we could do it and that it would be good for the university.”

Dr. Andrea Medina, director of NSME’s Grants and Outreach team, worked as a program coordinator for various CSUB grants when the new programs were being developed. Though the programs were championed by then-CSUB President Dr. Horace Mitchell and then-Provost Dr. Soraya Coley, a lack of funding support from the state required the team determined to bring engineering programs to CSUB to take matters into their own hands.

Two consecutive Department of Education grants in 2010 and 2011 gave CSUB $3.8 million and $3.4 million, respectively, for a combined $7.2 million to fund the programs. In 2015, the university was awarded a third grant for $3.25 million.

“I just remember being really proud of us, because as Jorge mentioned we didn’t get really any support for the program, so we did it ourselves,” Dr. Medina said. “We got the two back-to-back grants and said, ‘Fine, we’ll make it happen for us.’ Knowing that just really made me proud of being part of NSME, that we saw the demand, the community wanted it and we wanted to provide it for our students and our community, so we did it, without help from the state.”

With funds secured to get engineering started, the team had to go about actually creating the programs and their curricula.

“Of course, none of us were engineers,” Dr. Talamantes said. “Marc Thomas was a mathematician; I was a physicist. So, there was a lot of trying to figure out how to hop into the abyss without knowing exactly what we were doing. I think in the end it turned out pretty good!”

Engineers at local companies were consulted on the curricula for the programs to ensure students would receive an education relevant to the jobs they might get in the community.

Computer Science Professor Dr. Melissa Danforth was a new faculty member when the engineering programs were being planned and in 2014 took over for Dr. Thomas as principal investigator on the 2010 grant when he went on medical leave. Though not an engineer herself, she worked closely with those faculty members involved in developing the new programs, including Dr. Wei Li.

“If you think about it, other than Wei Li, these programs were started by faculty who were tangential to the discipline but not actually in the discipline,” Dr. Danforth said. “The fact that they were so successful so quickly just shows the dedication on both departments of those early faculty involved, and also in recruiting appropriate engineers to help bring the programs forward.”

Among the engineers recruited to join the two departments as faculty was Dr. Saeed Jafarzadeh for CEE/CS and Dr. Dayanand Saini for Physics and Engineering, both of whom are still with CSUB today.

Science III on the day it was officially opened in 2008.

Then-president of CSUB Horace Mitchell cuts a ribbon to celebrate the opening of Science III in 2008. Also in attendance are then-dean of NSME Dr. Julio Blanco and other members of the CSUB community.

Ivan Martinez Hernandez, seen here in an early Fab Lab photo, worked as an intern in the Fab Lab while earning his engineering degree. He is now the interim Fab Lab specialist.

CSUB celebrated Chevron's continued support of NSME with a groundbreaking for a planned outdoor maker space.

A Toast to the Future was held in October 2022 to celebrate the planned Energy Innovation Building, which will be built just south of Science III.

Growth and milestones

Early response to the new programs was positive. Dr. Talamantes said the community and area employers were hugely supportive of CSUB’s efforts to bring engineering degrees to Bakersfield. Dr. Blanco even received a Beautiful Bakersfield Award in its Education category in 2011 for his efforts in launching the engineering programs.

Students responded to the new programs as well.

“When we started the program, it was like we hit a jugular; we cut a vein and all hell broke loose, because we got tons of students, and we were just going crazy trying to open enough sections for all the students,” Dr. Talamantes said. “The program went from zero to like 250 majors in a span of a few years.”

Ahead of the engineering programs’ official start, CSUB built Science III to accommodate the additional classrooms and lab spaces the new faculty and influx of students would need. The building opened in September 2008.

That growth continued with the opening of the Engineering Complex in 2013. The modular complex houses additional lab space and the NSME Student Advising and Success Center. It is also home to the Chevron Fab Lab, where students and the public alike can use fabrication machines to make all kinds of items. For engineering students especially, it is a valuable resource for turning their ideas into reality.

“Chevron has always been a huge supporter of NSME and to be selected as their first of 10 initial Fab Labs was a huge honor,” said Dr. Medina, who oversees the Fab Lab team. “Having that belief in us only solidified our resolve that we were doing what was right for our community. The Chevron Fab Lab is truly a campus gem and has provided dozens of internships that have led to impressive careers for our engineering students.”

Another big milestone in CSUB’s engineering history came in 2018, when all three programs received accreditation from the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). This year, the programs were reaccredited, proving a continued commitment to offering students the very best academic experience.

“Earning a degree from an ABET-accredited program is a powerful credential that opens doors for our students, since ABET accreditation is recognized worldwide through international agreements and lays the groundwork for pursuing professional licensure, such as the Professional Engineering license,” Dr. Dong said. “To maintain ABET accreditation, programs must continually improve to meet the changing demands of the engineering profession. Our programs’ initial accreditation and successful reaccreditation reflect our faculty's dedication to providing quality education and their commitment to growing and enhancing our programs.”

Engineering at CSUB continues to grow even now. A groundbreaking for a new outdoor maker space was held in the summer of 2023, and a celebration for the planned Energy Innovation Building was held in the fall of 2022.

‘Success is almost baked into the degree’

Class of 2019 graduate Raul Caballero always knew he wanted to study computer engineering. Born in Los Angeles, Caballero and his family later moved to Mexico before returning to California when he was 7 years old, this time in Bakersfield. When he heard that CSUB was working on getting its engineering programs ABET accredited, he knew his local university was where he wanted to enroll.

“The experience was definitely one I enjoyed, coupled with a little bit of thrill from being the first ABET-accredited class,” Caballero said.

Despite some initial reservations about the new program, he said “I felt that the education I received was definitely what I was looking for.”

Caballero’s time at CSUB included research with professors like Dr. Jafarzadeh, who the alum said is one of a team of hardworking faculty members dedicated to giving their students a quality education and formative research experiences.

As an alum, Caballero stays involved as a member of Industrial Advisory Board for engineering programs. Thinking about the 10-plus years of CSUB engineering makes him feel a little old, Caballero admitted, but it also has him feeling “responsible for the torch that was given to me to be prepared to be given to the next generation.”

Like many CSUB grads, Caballero has gone on to work locally. As a technology services supervisor for the Kern County Department of Public Health, he is responsible for all the department’s technology, including computer deployment, networking, servers and applications.

“What I learned from CSUB was more than topics on a whiteboard but instead a way to involve myself in technology while understanding the inner workings of what makes it so,” he said. “I was always very happy to fix something, but understanding why and how I could make it better always led to better solutions.”

Class of 2018 electrical engineering grad Sandra Peters is another alum who stays involved with CSUB to encourage students to pursue their interests in engineering. She’s participated in NSME’s annual Engineering Day for the past two years, telling visiting high schoolers about her time at the university and her job as an electronics engineer at Edwards Air Force Base.

“My journey to engineering wasn’t necessarily traditional,” Peters told the students at this year’s event. “I didn’t necessarily know everything that encompassed engineering, but I knew I was good at math and I knew I liked art and being creative. Engineering married both those topics.”

After applying to CSUB as an art student and then switching to nursing, Peters ultimately found her calling in electrical engineering. That CSUB is an ABET-accredited university right at home is “top-notch,” she told the students.

Many of Peters’ coworkers are also CSUB engineering grads, including Grace Roman and Alfredo Arevalo, who both graduated with degrees in electrical engineering in 2020 and were offered jobs at Edwards before they even graduated. The two worked on campus at the Fab Lab, which they agree helped to prepare them for their jobs.

While plenty of CSUB engineering grads leave school with jobs waiting for them, others have chosen to continue their education into graduate and doctoral programs.

Omar Samara earned his degree in engineering sciences from CSUB in 2017 and is now a Ph.D. candidate in biological systems engineering at University of California, Davis. Samara was born in Bakersfield but lived all throughout the state growing up. Of all the places he called home over the years, when it was time for college, he decided on CSUB.

“I felt there was a lot of opportunity,” Samara said of CSUB. “The engineering program was new at the time, and I wasn't sure if it was going to be a good idea to risk it, but I got to take some engineering classes while I was in high school … and I ended up meeting some of the engineering professors and saw both that there were a lot of resources being invested to build CSUB's engineering program and that there were good people who cared a lot.”

Samara said his time at CSUB was “easily one of the best experiences of my life.”

It was at CSUB that Samara learned all about the different career paths he could pursue with a degree in engineering. Through early research experience studying agriculture, Samara found his way to agricultural engineering.

At UC Davis, he has been studying agrivoltaics, a new form of agricultural production where crops are grown under photovoltaic solar panels. With some conflict between solar panel farms and agriculture farms, this practice “is a win-win type scenario where you can potentially deploy solar panels, improve crop production and reduce water use while improving land productivity,” Samara explained.

It's complicated work, but Samara believes his time at CSUB prepared him for it well. He credits three aspects of his time at CSUB to his current success: the academic skills it gave him, the ability to work closely with faculty members and get hands-on research experience, and the caring nature of the people the university hires, from professors to counselors to support staff.

“I would not have been able to succeed and be where I am now without them and their passion,” Samara said of CSUB faculty and staff. “I never felt abandoned or lost at CSUB. There are so many people who are working overtime to make sure you succeed and are supported.”

Now as a working scientist himself, Samara meets all kinds of engineers coming from different schools around the world. When he talks to his colleagues, what stands out about his time at CSUB is the opportunities and resources available to students. Though Samara admitted he and some classmates were worried the newness of the CSUB programs could mean their degrees would be taken less seriously, he said that has not been the case at all.

“So many of us are successful working for all sorts of big fancy engineering companies and research agencies, or owning our own businesses, and living lives as engineers,” he said. “Success is almost baked into the degree.”

Omar Samara, Alfredo Arevalo and Sandra Peters were three panelists speaking to approximately 1,000 high school students who came to the CSUB campus for Engineering Day in March 2024.

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Footnotes

Story by Kelly Ardis, communications specialist, School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering (NSME); Photos by Abel Núñez-Guerrero, Outreach & Community College Coordinator for NSME, from CSUB archives or courtesy of Caballero and Samara.