Technology Summit to Bring Together Business Leaders, Educators
Educators and
industry leaders to address issues on the
future of technology education and workforce development in
Orange County.
January 17, 2006 :: No. 111
Cal State Fullerton is partnering with Assemblywoman Lynn
Daucher (R-Brea) Friday, Jan. 20 , for a
Cal State Fullerton Technology Summit, where educators and
industry leaders will help engineer the future of technology
education and workforce development in Orange County.
The Thales-Raytheon Systems Conference
Room in the university's Engineering Building is the setting
for the 1:30-3:30 p.m. summit.
The
participants are intent on bolstering Orange County's and
California's competitiveness in technology. Among the questions
to be addressed: What are the key recruitment challenges
in engineering and technology for local industry? What are
the skill sets that engineering graduates need to be equipped
with in the future?
“California
has been the world's leader of technology for more than a
generation, and to keep our competitive edge, our students
need the math and science skills required to compete effectively,” said
Daucher. “The Cal State Fullerton Technology Summit is an
excellent opportunity for industry leaders, educators and
legislators to find ways to keep California and the U.S.
on top.”
Joining
Daucher; Raman Unnikrishnan, dean of the CSUF College
of Engineering and Computer Science; and Associate Dean Dorota
Huizinga at the summit will be presidents, CEOs and other
Southland business leaders, including Cal State Fullerton
graduates (noted below). Scheduled to attend are:
• John
Britigan, senior program manager/site director
for General Dynamics-Advanced Information
Systems in Anaheim Hills (B.S. physics '76)
• Kevin
M. Carnino, president and CEO of KOR Electronics
in Cypress
• Amir
Dabirian , chief information technology officer
at Cal State Fullerton (B.S. engineering-electrical
'85, M.S. engineering-electrical '88)
• Patrick
Fuscoe , president of Fuscoe Engineering in Irvine
• Darrell
F. Jodoin , director of design and engineering
for the Disneyland Resort (B.S. engineering-mechanical
'85)
• Raymond Hemann ,
president of Advanced Systems Research Inc. of Pasadena (M.S.
engineering-systems engineering '70, M.A. economics '72)
• Kim Kerry , CEO, Thales-Raytheon Systems
in Fullerton
• Sean Peasley , principal,
Enterprise Risk Services, Deloitte & Touche LLP (B.S. computer
science and business administration-accounting '88)
• Joyce Robinson ,
director of technology development and integration for Boeing
Integrated Defense Systems in Anaheim
• Albert Wong ,
co-founder of AST Research and founder of AMKLY Systems,
is president of
EMI Asia Limited (B.S. engineering-electrical '75).
“Innovation
is the key to competitiveness,” noted Unnikrishnan. “As one
of the inventors of Smalltalk, a programming language that
greatly influenced the development of Apple Macintosh and
Microsoft Windows, once said, 'The best way to predict the
future is to invent it.' To do that we need to address two
fundamental issues: pipeline – increasing the number of scientists,
engineers and mathematicians entering the workforce, and
infrastructure – those things that contribute to the quality
of education in math, science and engineering, at all levels.”
The
California State University system awards more than half
of the state's baccalaureate degrees in engineering and produces
41 percent of the state's information technology graduates.
Still, some 14,000 California jobs requiring
bachelor's degrees in science or engineering go unfilled
each year, noted Unnikrishnan. “More needs to be done to stock the innovation
pool, especially in Orange County,” he said.
At
Cal State Fullerton, a variety of programs serve to attract
junior and senior high school students to and enrich their
experiences in math, science and engineering. Among them
are:
• MESA (Mathematics,
Engineering, Science Achievement ) , which
serves educationally disadvantaged students in grades 7-12
at eight junior high schools and five high schools in Orange
County. The program provides academic development assistance
to help students excel in math and science and prepare them
for success in college. [ view
MESA's website ]
• Project
MISS (Mathematics Intensive Summer Session),
provides summer programs in algebra and precalculus for
10th- and 11th-grade girls. Since the program's launch
in 1990, 98 percent of its participants have completed
high school and entered college – 20 percent of them
majoring in science, technology, engineering or math.
• The Mathematics
Diagnostic Testing Project assists local middle
and high school teachers in testing students for their
math abilities in prealgebra through precalculus by diagnosing
areas of strength and weakness. [ view
Mathematics Diagnostiv Testing Project website ]
• GEAR
UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness
for Undergraduate Program) provides Saturday math workshops,
a summer math academy, parent workshops, counselor training
and professional development for math teachers in its partnerships
with middle and high schools in low-income communities
to help raise expectations and ensure college entry for
students. [ view
GEAR UP website ]
• Teachers
Assisting Students to Excel in Learning Mathematics uses
collaborative professional development to improve students'
achievement in math at four high schools, seven middle
schools and three continuation high schools.
The
College of Engineering and Computer Science is seeking to
become one of three sites in California to pilot a Johns
Hopkins University-created introductory summer course, “What
Is Engineering?,” for MESA high school students. In the 56-hour
course that would be taught by CSUF faculty members, students
would explore the different fields of engineering through
a series of lectures, laboratories and hands-on projects.
The
Cal State Fullerton Technology Summit comes at a time when
statistics compiled by the state's Department of Education
indicate that the percentage of Orange County high school
students enrolled in upper-level math and science courses
is less than 16 percent. Still, OC enrollments exceed statewide
averages that range from five percent in first-year physics
to 12 percent in advanced math.
The
Orange County Business Council in its 2005 Orange County
Workforce State of County Report tied education to the county's
economic health: “Having a great percentage of high school
students taking upper-level math, science and computer courses
is essential for continuing economic success for Orange County
businesses hoping to hire local workers. If Orange County
high school students do not enroll in upper-level sciences
and math courses, they will not be prepared to obtain college
degrees in the sciences or technology, which form the foundation
of high-tech industries.”
Media Contacts: |
Raman Unnikrishnan, dean, CSUF
College of Engineering and Computer Science,
657-278-3362 or runnikrishnan@fullerton.edu
Paula
Selleck, CSUF Public Affairs, 657-278-2414 or pselleck@fullerton.edu |
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