UCLA Engineering: UCLA Engineer Spring 2003

Center for Engineering Excellence and Diversity
Opening Doors, Providing New Opportunities

Last fall, the Center for Excellence in Engineering and Diversity (CEED) held its annual banquet to honor the scholastic achievements of more than 100 undergraduate, graduate, and pre-college students who are involved in the Center and engineering student organizations.

Students pursuing studies in engineering and science were awarded more than $235,000 in scholarships funded by corporations, the National Science Foundation, and the School's Directors Fund.

"Our programs impact a wide range of people - teachers, elementary and high school students, and engineering students at UCLA," notes Rick Ainsworth, CEED director. "We work through UC system efforts like Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) to reach more than 1,300 pre-college students in the community."

On average, 40 CEED students graduate with BS degrees in engineering each year, and three CEED alumni are currently engineering faculty members at the University of Pennsylvania, Oregon State University, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Last year, CEED and other units on campus hosted a teacher-training program for 22 Los Angeles-area teachers examining ways of connecting mathematics with real life phenomena. The seminars focused on graphing calculator methods designed to help students make a connection between mathematical formulas and their everyday lives.

As part of its outreach efforts, the Center also offers K-12 pathway programs at 26 middle and high schools in the Los Angeles and Inglewood school districts. The schools have on-site academic courses and contests sponsored by CEED designed to raise student interest in science and engineering. In April, the CEED Advisory Board and alumni hope to bring many of these students to UCLA to participate in Engineers Week activities.

"Early outreach is critical to our success. We're constantly looking for new opportunities that will allow us to identify students who might have an interest in science or engineering, and to nurture that interest," explains Ainsworth. "We plan to form partnerships with the new research centers at UCLA (CENS, CMISE, CNSI) to involve faculty in our undergraduate and pre-college programs, and provide breadth and depth to the CEED K-18 effort."

CEED also provides opportunities for high school students to visit UCLA through the SMARTS program. Each year they bring approximately 50 students to campus for a month, giving them a chance to experience life as an engineering or science student. The students take rigorous math and science courses and conduct research alongside graduate students and faculty in the labs. SMARTS is a collaboration between CEED and Life Sciences, funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Supported by a grant from Hewlett Packard, CEED also is working with electrical engineering professor William Kaiser to provide innovative, wireless methods for interaction with students enrolled in EE10, a circuit design course.