August 14, 2003 :: No. 19

Engineering Majors Engaged in Summer Research

Loureen Gomez of Riverside, a senior civil engineering major, and Santa Fe Springs resident Christopher Tuason, a junior electrical engineering major, are spending the summer as Cal State Fullerton interns at the Gas Technology Institute (GTI) in Des Plains, Ill. They two undergraduates are part of a program to increase minority participation in natural gas-related research and development programs at GTI.

Cal State Fullerton is the only university west of the Mississippi chosen to participate in the program’s inaugural year. The other six institutions in the program are located in the South.

Gomez has been working on a research project involving the use of lasers, rather than drills, for digging, as well as a project involving liquefied natural gas. Tuason is working on capacitive tomography used to locate plastic piping underground.

GTI is a leading research, development and training organization serving energy markets. Its research and deployment division offers expertise in gas supply, gas pipeline integrity, gas distribution and construction operations, plus gas-use efficiency and environmental issues.