May 2020 Issue
Cal State Long Beach students didn’t let alternative learning hamper their ability to produce award-winning work this semester in many of the colleges.
Beach Forensics wins four prestigious awards
Cal State Long Beach’s Beach Forensics team in the College of Liberal Arts was honored recently with four coveted awards by the Cross-Examination Debate Association, including two students being named 2020 All-Americans.
Team president senior Jaysyn Green and freshman Georgie Suico were recognized by CEDA as being among the nation’s best debaters. According to the organization, All-America status goes to 30 students nationally who “demonstrate competitive success, academic success, good conduct and strong contributions to their squad.”
Deven Cooper, director of debate, was named 2020 CEDA Brownlee Coach of the Year, which is given annually to a forensic educator who demonstrates outstanding achievement in scholarship, education and service to CEDA.
Lastly, Beach Forensics took home the 2020 CEDA Public Debate Award, awarded to the intercollegiate debate program that has best advanced the values of debate in the public sphere.
The 2020 Cross-Examination Debate Association National Championship tournament was cancelled because of COVID-19, but the organization decided to proceed with a virtual annual awards program.
Design students earn high marks for baggage claim solutions
Six design projects from the College of the Arts shined on the international stage with their forward-thinking ideas at the Toyota Logistic Design Competition.
The CSULB students were among 10 finalists in the annual challenge that featured more than 2,300 design projects from around the globe.
Students were asked to redesign airport baggage claim areas, either the whole system or improve on an aspect of baggage handling.
Faye Nguyen came up with The Baggage Capsules, which redesigns the claim area, Henry Nguyen designed Luggi, a fun and convenient baggage-claim area, and Mark Tellez created Guidelix, a safe and simple airport experience.
Kevin Kieva designed Alt, an autonomous luggage tram; the team of Rebecca Leventhal and Sofia Flores created TagTeam, baggage handling source finder, and Keven Wong made Airtro, an autonomous baggage trolley.
The winners were expected to be announced in April during the Milano Design Week and Hannover Fair Exhibition, but the event was postponed because of the pandemic.
Students take first in international business competition
Three teams from the College of Business won first-place awards in the International Collegiate Business Strategy competition that asked students to create companies with a leadership team of a CEO, CFO, COO and vice president of marketing.
The teams then had to prepare a strategic business plan, followed by an annual report and present it to a panel of judges. The virtual competition was held at Cal State Long Beach.
CSULB’s three winning teams were Tune-Head, a stylish audio headwear company; PIE, an investment tool, and Teeth Tribe, which offers an array of dental hygiene products.
Big year for Civil Engineering department
The CSULB chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers saw several students place high in prestigious competitions.
For the second consecutive year, the chapter received a Certificate of Commendation, a distinction reserved for the top 5% of ASCE student chapters globally.
CSULB also placed sixth overall at the Annual Pacific Southwest Conference, and third in the Transportation Competition. Engineering students were fourth in the GeoWall Competition and fifth in the Timber Strong Design-Build Competition.
At the ASCE Orange County Branch Awards Dinner, Dr. Lisa Star was named Outstanding Faculty Advisor, alumni Chirath "Chuck" Karunathilake earned Outstanding Younger Civil Engineer, and 2018-19 ASCE CSULB co-President Marionne Lapitan was awarded Outstanding Practitioner Advisor.
In other engineering news
Congratulations to civil engineering and construction engineering management assistant professor Vahid Balali, who was awarded CSULB 2020 Early Academic Career Excellence Award, and assistant professor Shailesh Chandra, who received the CSULB 2020 Impact Accomplishment of the Year in Research, Scholarly and Creative Activity.
Have an item for Making Waves? Email them to janis.carr@csulb.edu
