Centers
Autodesk Technology Engagement Center
A cutting-edge facility that will serve as a hub of innovation for educational practices and future engineering projects around the nation.
Center for Engineering and Computer Science Research and Education
The Center for Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) is dedicated to fostering collaboration and innovation within the College of Engineering and Computer Science. With a focus on promoting research, development, and services in engineering and computer science, as well as facilitating the prestigious Honors Co-Op program and industry sponsorship, the Center serves as a bridge between faculty, students, and regional industries. Through initiatives like the unique Design Clinic, where students, faculty, and external sponsors collaborate on real-world projects, and professional engineering workshops like the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) and Professional Engineer (PE) reviews, the Center actively supports excellence, collaboration, and advancement in the CECS community, ensuring a brighter future for engineering and computer science.
Approved by the Provost's Council on October 5, 2010.
In accordance with the guidelines outlined in the Organization and Administration of Centers (Policy no. 150-60), the Center for Engineering and Computer Science Research and Education shall be administered and organized as follows:
This Center shall be named the Center for Engineering and Computer Science Research and Education.
The purpose of the Center shall be to promote activities relating the engineering and computer science community to the faculty and students of the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS).
Two primary functions of the Center shall be (1) the promotion of engineering and computer science research, development and services, and (2) the promotion of the Honors Co-Op program. The Center shall introduce the research, development and services capabilities of the College to the industry of the region and shall solicit sponsorship for the Honors Co-Op program. The research and development activities of the College include a unique program: Design Clinic. A Design Clinic is a research and/or development project, funded by an external entity. It is a virtual clinic involving (1) several students, (2) at least one faculty supervisor (project director), and (3) at least one external sponsor who provides funding and a real world problem. The Honors Co-Op is a year-round internship program sponsored by the industry for highly qualified students.
In addition, the Center offers professional engineering educational workshops as needed such as the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) review and Professional Engineer (PE) review. These workshops, in combination, will be self-supporting with revenues and expenditures recorded in State Trust.
The Center shall have a Director who shall be appointed by and report to the College Dean. Supporting staff for the Center may be hired contingent on the availability of funds generated by the Center.
The Center shall be a self-supporting operation, funded by design clinics, workshop fees, cooperative agreements, and foundation donations. These funds will be handled by the University Corporation, the University Foundation or within State Trust as appropriate. Financial activities of the Center will be transacted with strict adherence to the fiscal policies and procedures of the university and its auxiliaries. All Center transactions will be reviewed by the College and approved by the College Dean.
Space: The Center will occupy one office in an office compound shared with the Development Office of the College.
Personnel: The Center has a Director reporting to the College Dean. The salary and associated expenses are supported by funds generated by the Center. Temporary staff positions may be created contingent on the availability of funds to support the Center Director's activities.
Sources of Income: All resources for the Center will be generated by its activities. Center generated Design Clinics will carry a portion of the Center's salary expenses. Funds generated from the Honors Co-Op program will support salary and other expenses of the Center.
If any surplus funds are available at the time the Center is dissolved, such funds should be placed in an account in the College that will support continued research and educational services. All surplus funds accruing from operations of the Center will be disbursed by the CECS dean. Such disbursements shall be consistent with the stated purposes of the Center.
The fiscal management of the Center is the responsibility of the Director, under supervision of the CECS dean.
The Advisory Board of the Center shall consists of (1) all department chairs of the college, (2) the faculty academic director of the Honors' Co-Op program, and (3) a faculty representative with recent Design Clinic experience elected by the College chairs. The Advisory Board shall meet at least once in an academic year to (1) review the Center's activities, (2) suggest new leads and/or directions for sponsorship opportunities, and (3) set performance goals for the future year(s). Board meetings shall be called by the College Dean.
The Center's annual report will consist of two sections, a summary of the research and educational activities associated with the Center, and a disclosure of financial activities of the Center.
Specifically the annual report will address the following:
- Description of new research and development projects initiated during the year (including funding and faculty members, staff and students involved)
- Accomplishments of continuing and completed research and development projects (including funding and faculty members, staff and students involved)
- Research and development proposals submitted but not funded and pending research proposals
- Papers published or submitted for publication and conference presentations resulting from work in the Center
- Summary of educational activities
- Plans for the following year
- Financial report
The CECS dean in consultation with the Center's Advisory Board will make a recommendation on the renewal of the Center's charter.
Ernie Schaeffer Center for Engineering, Science and Innovation (ESCESI)
I recalled feeling goose bumps when I would drive across the country with my family and look up at the night sky and know that somewhere up there was a satellite containing equipment I designed for a classified defense project. That feeling is intoxicating--better than any high I can imagine--to know that something I did could touch the lives of so many people. I want the students who are involved with the programs to know that feeling. It doesn’t have to be something they engineered; it could just be an idea. But to know that they thought of something and followed through on it and it made a difference in the lives of people or the company they work for, that feeling is indescribable, and I want the students at CSUN to have an opportunity to experience it! - Ernie Schaeffer
As the Ernie Schaeffer Center for Engineering, Science and Innovation (ESCESI), our goal is to cultivate success among students and faculty in the fields of Computer Science, Technology, and Engineering. The center's role is to assist underrepresented students and faculty, providing them with a wide range of opportunities to thrive with the College of Engineering and Computer Science, along with promoting and fostering advanced interdisciplinary education & applied research. We serve as a valuable alliance with professional communities to facilitate innovation, collaboration, leadership, adaptability, and lifelong learning.
The mission of the Ernie Schaeffer Center for Engineering, Science and Innovation is to promote and foster activities in advanced, interdisciplinary, and experiential education and applied research, and in alliance with professional communities that facilitate success of students and faculty in Computer Science, Technology, and Engineering.
We help students and faculty (underrepresented student and faculty in particular) cultivate innovation, leadership, collaboration, adaptability, and life-long learning through a sustainable revenue stream and opportunities provided by the Center.
The Ernie Schaeffer Center for Engineering, Science and Innovation was established in 2008 and is housed in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). The center’s primary goal is to provide CSUN students and faculty with opportunities in advanced, interdisciplinary, and experiential education and applied research and establish alliances with professional communities for success of student and faculty, specially, the underrepresented students and faculty.
I am honored to have taken over as the new director of the Ernie Schaeffer Center for Engineering, Science and Innovation and under my leadership some of visions for the Center include developing distinguished guest speaker series and applied research opportunities as well as further strengthening existing relationships with local businesses and organizations in the San Fernando Valley area.
Furthermore, the Ernie Schaefer Center is also working on developing collaborations with other centers and colleges to jointly work on external grants, curriculum development and collaborations for student projects and innovative research.
Director
Dr. Houssam Toutanji, Ph.D.
Associate Director
Dr. Ricardo Medina
Assistants
Coming Soon
Advisory Board
Coming Soon
Faculty
Coming Soon
| Office | JD4504 |
| Office Hours | By Appointment |
| houssam.toutanji@csun.edu | |
| Office Phone | (818) 677-4501 |
| Office Fax | 818 677-2140 |
| Mailing Address | College of Engineering and Computer Science, California State University Northridge 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330-8295 |
Tax deductible donations are what fuel our Center's continuing development of cutting edge research and programs. Please contact the College of Engineering and Computer Science for more information about providing general support for our center's activities or structuring an endowment.
Dr. Ricardo Medina is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and Construction Management at California State University Northridge, where he joined since Fall 2020. Prior to joining CSUN, Dr. Medina was a postdoctoral researcher at the Orange County Water District in Southern California. Dr. Medina obtained his Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of California, Irvine (UCI), he obtained his M.S in civil engineering from California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), and his B.S. in civil engineering from the University of California, Davis (UCD).
Dr. Medina’s research interests are in the field of hydrology, hydrogeology, groundwater flow and modeling, and physico-chemical processes in subsurface environments. Dr. Medina’s research interests are primarily in groundwater and fracture flow, a multidisciplinary field with strong links to soil science, hydrology, contaminant transport, geology, geochemistry, suspension flow and rheology, geologic fracture mechanics, petroleum engineering, energy and water resources.
Dr. Medina’s work uses a combination lab experiments, field experiments/application and computer modeling. Dr. Medina’s previous work was aimed at improving the understanding the behavior suspended solids flowing through and settling inside fractured media (i.e. rock fractures). Through the use of innovative imaging methods and experimental procedures I investigated the settling behavior of multi-phase multi-component suspensions inside fractures subjected to normal stresses, contributing to the understanding of fundamental mechanisms controlling coupled flow processes in the subsurface at various scales, e.g., pore-scale, bench-scale, and field-scale. My other research work is focused on managed aquifer recharge (MAR), which is the practice of intentionally putting water into the subsurface (aquifer) for later beneficial use. This project involved using fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing technology to measure the infiltration rate at a small recharge basin. Using fiber-optic DTS technology we were able to show that the infiltration process is highly heterogenous and dynamic even in a very small basin. Furthermore, with the use of high-resolution DTS data we proposed an improved methodology to keep basins operating more efficiently and thus allowing higher volumes of water to infiltrate into the aquifers.