So when Kelsey Forrester told Hackson about the most challenging part of her job at UC Santa Barbara, Hackson took action.

Hackson and Forrester have been close friends since their days as teammates on the Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team from 2018-22. Forrester, now an assistant coach and director of basketball operation for the UCSB women, told Hackson how the hardest part of her job is coordinating meals for players when the team is on road trips.

“Honestly, everything is perfect besides the meal part – and the meal part isn’t hard, it’s just the organizational part,” Forrester said. “And so Akayla is like, ‘OK, well let me fix this.’ ”

It turned out to be a life-changing solution for Hackson. In coming up with an alternative for Forrester, Hackson launched MealOps, a business that aims to modernize team meal logistics by helping athletic programs efficiently coordinate, organize and execute large group orders.

“I like to help and I like to build things,” Hackson said. “I told Kelsey I'd help her out and maybe build a product for her to keep it more organized and just help the workflow in general. Then I had a couple more friends come to me about similar issues. So I took a step back and I realized this could be something bigger.”

Hackson, who graduated from CSUSM in 2022 with a bachelor's degree in computer science, comes from a family of engineers. She has been interested in the discipline for as long as she can remember, and she always aspired to start her own company. After graduating from CSUSM, Hackson earned a master’s in machine learning and artificial intelligence from Stanford. She worked as a software engineer at G2 Software Systems, a U.S. Department of Defense contracting company, for three years before deciding last fall to focus completely on MealOps.

“It was scary,” she said. “It's hard when you have that cushion and job security, the constant income coming in to pretty much no income for a bit. I was just trying to believe in myself and believe in the product that I was building.”

MealOps is a one-stop shop to help teams with the logistics of feeding their athletes. It recently evolved into two connected products:

• CoachImHungry is a platform built for athletic programs to manage team meal logistics and ordering workflows.
• Phantom is an AI agent that connects with restaurant point-of-sale (POS) systems like Toast or Square and enables restaurants to accept orders securely from AI agents.

Hackson said CoachImHungry now operates on top of Phantom’s restaurant ordering infrastructure.

Hackson’s college basketball experience and athletics connections have been big assets as she gets the business off the ground.

“College athletics is super interconnected,” Hackson said. “I've been able to go to friends and to show them prototypes and ask, ‘How does this look? How does the workflow look?’ ”

So far, MealOps is exploring deals with UC San Diego, the University of San Diego and UCSB, which is coached by Renee Jimenez, Hackson’s coach at CSUSM.

“It has the potential to be really special,” Forrester said. “When I talk to people who take care of the operational stuff, this is one of the hardest parts for all teams.

“When Akayla puts her mind to something, she's ready to go and she's fully in. And you can see how much progress she's made on this already in such a short a period of time.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Though part of different colleges – Feairheller a kinesiology professor in the College of Education, Health and Human Services and Morris a computer engineering professor in the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics – they reconnected as members of the second cohort of Faculty Innovation Fellows in CSUSM’s Innovation Hub. The program fosters innovation and entrepreneurial opportunities for students, faculty, and community and industry partners.

While Feairheller and Morris were working on separate projects during the fellowship, their connection led to a new collaboration that has earned federal funding to advance their research.

The project, “AI-Driven Models for Disease Detection in Cardiovascular Health,”  was awarded a grant through the National Institutes of Health’s AIM-AHEAD Program for Artificial Intelligence Readiness (PAIR), which supports multidisciplinary teams focused on building capacity for AI/ML health equity research. Joining Feairheller and Morris on the project are computer science professors Ali Ahmadinia and Sreedevi Gutta.

“By getting the award from AIM-AHEAD, we now have data available to us that we previously didn't have,” Morris said. “That can be another resource for us to improve our models and better understand what additional data we’ll need when we do go to collect new information with Deb.”

Feairheller credited the innovation fellowship for providing the space to initiate those early discussions, which grew into a broader collaboration.

“I'm really excited that we have access to this extra data,” Feairheller said. “Through this grant program, they're going to help us in creating a project proposal that will build on the idea that they have and also help enable future research in cardiovascular health and women.”

Before joining CSUSM, Feairheller was at the University of New Hampshire where she focused on understudied populations affected by cardiovascular disease. Coming to CSUSM, she recognized the need for specific research in women. She is eager to use the AI modeling that Morris and his team will be doing to improve screening tools that could be used in her clinic to potentially enable more patients to be engaged in learning about their cardiovascular health.

Feairheller noted the importance of recognizing the difference in the hearts of men and women. She said there is limited published research on how a female heart responds to stressors, exercise and other activity.

“The clinical guidelines and the paradigms that physicians use to treat patients are following protocols that were derived on studies that were done primarily in men, so I really love that we're going to create these AI models,” she said. “And I really do hope that we can do something that is specific for females as well as for males because it might create ways that we can do screening that's very sex specific and could potentially save lives.”

The “AI-Driven Models for Disease Detection in Cardiovascular Health” project got jumpstarted with initial data that had already been collected by Feairheller in her previous research working with women, which Morris said allowed them to improve their grant proposal by creating models based on that data.

Both Feairheller and Morris emphasized the role the Faculty Innovation Fellows program played in bringing their collaboration to fruition, and they encourage other faculty to give the program a try.

“The fellowship really helped us learn about each other's research,” Morris said, “and it facilitated impactful conversations.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Both Cal State San Marcos students took considerable steps toward their career ambitions this spring by participating in semester-long internships in Washington, D.C.

Llorens and Wali were CSUSM’s representatives in Cal State DC Scholars, a program offered through Cal State Fullerton that gives students opportunities to earn academic credit while interning in the nation’s capital.

Llorens, a second-year student who’s majoring in criminology and justice studies, worked for the U.S. Department of Labor. Wali, a third-year who’s a double major in political science and computer science, interned for the Washington International Trade Association, or WITA.

“What I like best about my internship is gaining more research experience,” Llorens said. “Having the skills that come with doing thorough research will make it easier for me to be successful in my future career.”

Said Wali: “The most valuable aspect of this internship is the network it provides. Each month, we’ve had the opportunity to attend lunches with board members representing diverse backgrounds in trade. Additionally, we can research event attendees and speakers to identify professionals whose careers align with our interests, allowing us to reach out and arrange coffee meetings for deeper insights.”

Llorens chose to intern for the Department of Labor because she wanted to gain insight into working for the federal government. She worked with the head of the Employee Ownership Initiative, a new program that encourages business ownership by America’s workers. She also assisted with inquiries regarding the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established retirement and health plans.

Outside of her internship and schoolwork (classes were Mondays and Wednesdays), Llorens lived in an apartment provided by an organization called Washington Intern Student Housing (WISH) and enjoyed exploring the city with other interns, including Wali.

Because of her interest in international relations, Wali gravitated toward WITA, a nonprofit dedicated to providing a neutral forum for discussion of international trade policy and related issues. Her daily duties included communicating with WITA members and trade professionals, designing graphics, promoting events, conducting research, and expanding knowledge of international trade and trade policy.

One of the particular benefits of Wali’s time in Washington was the chance, as a Pashtun Muslim, to connect with the robust Muslim and Afghan communities in the surrounding states of Maryland and Virginia. She too lived in WISH housing.

“Living in a building filled with student interns has been an incredible experience,” Wali said. “Most of us share similar goals, and since we come from all over the world, there’s so much to learn and enjoy from each other.”

An added bonus of both students’ Washington experience: the opportunity to meet with CSUSM President Ellen Neufeldt, who was in the capital last month as part of the CSU system’s annual Hill Week.  

“Meeting President Neufeldt really put it into perspective that I am doing something great for my community at CSUSM by being a representative for our university within the DC Scholars program,” Llorens said. “During my time on the Hill, I aim to showcase the strengths and greatness that are taught at CSUSM.” 

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

But before putting the finishing touches on your list of New Year’s resolutions, let’s take a look back at some of the most-talked-about stories of 2024.

CSUSM Receives Two Gifts Totaling $20 Million, Largest in 35-Year History

In a historic moment, Cal State San Marcos received two philanthropic donations totaling $20 million – the largest gifts in its 35-year history. $10 million from Price Philanthropies Foundation will create a first-of-its-kind, three-year accelerated bachelor's degree and workforce pipeline for behavioral and mental health. The other $10 million came from Daniel J. Epstein – a director of the CSUSM Foundation Board – and his wife, Phyllis. Their contribution will serve as a unique dollar-for-dollar matching gift opportunity for all CSUSM donors to double their impact across campus.

Balancing Act: Master's Grad Perseveres Through Challenges

A master’s of biological sciences student, Jocelyne Dates was selected last spring as the recipient of the 2024 President's Outstanding Graduate Award, the highest honor a graduating student can receive. She also received the Dean’s Award for Graduate Studies, which recognizes the accomplishments of one master’s student. Jocelyne is continuing her education by pursuing her Ph.D. at Vanderbilt.

'I Just Want to Make Him Proud and My Life to Count'

Last spring, at 76 years old, Kathryn Cook walked across the graduation stage as the oldest graduate of Cal State San Marcos' class of 2024. Her path to this accomplishment was not one of a traditional four-year-and-done experience. In fact, it was 50 years in the making, with monumental life transitions and rocky hardships in between. The passing of Cook’s husband in 2019 led her to continue her education at CSUSM and graduate with a sociology degree.

From the Baseball Diamond to 'The Bachelorette'

Austin Ott had never watched an episode of “The Bachelorette” when he received a DM on Instagram from the show encouraging him to apply. While nervous, his communication and media studies degree from Cal State San Marcos gave him a foundation to build on. Ott’s first speech in COMM 100 gave him an idea of what being in the public eye might look like. “My time at Cal State San Marcos was probably the best years of my life,” said Ott, who graduated in 2019. “There’s nothing better than playing the game you love and being around your best friends.”

American Indian Student Follows Passion for Animals, Environment

Aiden Valverde, an American Indian Studies major from the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel, has made significant contributions through his engagement with the California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center. As an intern for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Valverde was able to connect more with his culture, and his passion for animals and the environment. “Aiden exemplifies everything we strive to achieve in American Indian Studies and at the California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center,” said Joely Proudfit, the department chair of American Indian Studies.

Computers a Lifelong Passion for Trustees' Award Winner

In 2009, Minh Tran’s family moved to Escondido from Vietnam, the only home that he, his parents and his two older siblings had ever known. Now, the fourth-year student who’s on track to graduate in May, was honored as CSUSM’s recipient of the 2024 CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement, the California State University’s highest recognition of student accomplishment. Students are selected based on academic achievements, financial need, excellence in community service and personal hardship. Awardees have all demonstrated inspirational resolve along the path to college success, and many are the first in their families to attend college.

Graduate Crafting Career on Helping Children

A child and adolescent development major at Cal State San Marcos, Tania Arceo spent the last year and a half working with Voices for Children, a nonprofit organization where volunteers are trained to become court-appointed special advocates. Volunteers like Arceo represent juvenile dependency cases in San Diego County. Since graduating last spring with her bachelor’s, Arceo has started her Master of Social Work program at CSUSM this fall. 

Alumnus Seeks Better Mental Health Through Better Cuts

John Edwards was only 12 years old when he taught himself how to cut his own hair. By the time Edwards enrolled at Cal State San Marcos as a transfer student returning to higher education in 2021, he was close to completing barber school. Now a licensed barber and a recent CSUSM graduate, he operates a small studio in San Diego, rotating about 25 clients through his single chair. Edwards studied psychology at CSUSM, and it was at the university that he dreamed up the idea of melding his longtime practice of barbering with his fledgling research on mental health treatment. 
 

CSUSM Earns Prestigious Seal for Serving Latinx Students

Cal State San Marcos has earned the prestigious Seal of Excelencia, a national certification for institutions that strive to go beyond enrollment and more intentionally serve Latinx students. CSUSM is one of only 17 colleges and universities to earn the Seal of Excelencia in 2024. In 2018, Excelencia introduced the seal to certify colleges and universities for their efforts to become learning environments where Latinx, and all, students thrive. This year marks the organization’s 20th year of service to accelerate Latinx student success in higher education.

Surfer Makes School History With National Title

Tanner Vodraska, a Cal State San Marcos business student, became the first surfer in university history to win an individual national title. The junior competed in the college men’s division of the 2024 National Scholastic Surfing Association interscholastic national championships at Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point. Vodraska dominated the field. He posted a two-wave score of 17.5 points in the final, far outdistancing his closest competitor. “I feel really proud of myself because I set a goal to win the national title before I graduate, and I accomplished it,” Vodraska said.

Incredible Mulk: Class Project Becomes Thriving Business

Melissa Finestone remembers the assignment in her business marketing class that started it all. Each student was required to develop a business plan based on a product they conceived. Finestone decided to curate a product that combined her passion for cooking with a childhood love of chocolate milk. But Finestone wanted to develop a healthy alternative to other chocolate milks on the market. When Finestone couldn’t find a product on the market that met her requirements, she chose to make her own. Using her Vitamix blender to grind almonds in her kitchen at home, Finestone crafted samples of chocolate- and strawberry-flavored, plant-based almond milk. She served it to each student in the class while presenting her product. The overwhelming support from her peers inspired Finestone to launch The Mulk Co. in June 2018, only one year after she graduated from Cal State San Marcos with a bachelor’s degree in global business management. 

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

The scholarship is awarded to college sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering. Founded by Congress in 1986, the scholarship has been awarded to thousands of undergraduates, helping to ensure the U.S. is producing the number of highly qualified professionals needed in these critical fields.

Navarrete is the third student from CSUSM to ever receive this scholarship. A junior, Navarrete is also a part of U-RISE, a CSUSM program where motivated, undergraduate, underrepresented students majoring in the sciences are prepared to enter and succeed in doctoral studies. 

Navarrete wants to do just that. They are working toward establishing a research career that integrates data science, ecology and biology. They will also pursue a Ph.D. in data science where they then hope to become a university professor at a Hispanic-serving institution to pursue their interests and train the next generation of researchers.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim assistant director of editorial and external affairs
ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

A typical day quickly turned into one that would change the trajectory of her life. 

Her mother had been incarcerated, and Cleveland and her siblings were going to be living with their grandmother indefinitely. As the youngest of three children, Cleveland has mentally blocked out a good portion of this time, but her family’s trip to the courthouse remains etched in her memory. 

“I was the one who asked the office, 'If my grandmother adopts us, will there be a chance for my mom to get us back?’ The answer was no,” Cleveland said. “So she didn’t adopt us, but she became our legal guardian.”

Cleveland’s new normal was cemented. 

She threw herself into activities during secondary school. From building in robotics to playing numerous instruments such as the cello, harp, saxophone and doing the drumline in marching band, Cleveland explored her different interests. When it came time to think about college, she would leave class to navigate the application process. 

It was while considering Cal State San Marcos that Cleveland discovered ACE Scholars Services, a program dedicated to supporting former foster youth as they pursue higher education. ACE counselor Laurie Orr advised Cleveland as she was applying for college, and with Orr’s help, Cleveland kickstarted her CSUSM journey as an ACE scholar. 

Through her connections at ACE, Cleveland found herself faced with a plethora of opportunities, and she eagerly used them to her advantage. 

Cleveland got her first job working at the front desk of the ACE office, where she developed close relationships with counselors Orr and Leigh Quijada, referencing them as her mentors. It was Orr and Quijada who introduced Cleveland to CalFresh, a program that provided her with funds for groceries and promotes nutritional food. 

A computer science and information systems major, Cleveland was awarded a scholarship and received help preparing for interviews, building her résumé and gaining experience with certifications. Through her hard work and her mentors’ and program’s guidance, she landed a competitive internship with Sony last year.  

“Leigh and Laurie being there practically every day the past four years was a major comfort to me, as they know and understand my personal struggle,” Cleveland said. “It’s nice having a physical space and someone on campus you can turn to for help, especially since it can be so difficult to find role models.” 

Cleveland did not just find mentors through ACE. She also found one of her best friends. 

They met freshman year during her time in Summer Bridge, a part of Educational Opportunity Program that permits students to get a head start on graduation requirements and connects them to the campus community through activities, field trips and workshops. Four years later, their close-knit friendship is standing strong. 

“We’re both graduating, and I’m so excited. We’ve been through the trenches together, and it’s been nice to make a really solid friend in college,” Cleveland said. 

As the semester comes to an end, Cleveland is gearing up for fall graduation and preparing to say goodbye to her ACE family. 

“They’re the biggest support system I’ve had in college,” she said said. “If I didn’t have a group like this or someone to consistently check in with me the way they have, I probably wouldn’t still be in college.” 

The long-standing connections that Cleveland made in ACE help define her university experience. Thanks to the guidance of her mentors, friends and valuable programs offered to her at CSUSM, she persevered through hardship and a vigorous course load, and she is just getting started. 

“It has been such a pleasure to work with Kia and witness her amazing growth,” Quijada said. “I have admired her self-motivation, perseverance, openness and, through it all, her humor. We will definitely miss her presence, but I’m excited for Kia and what’s next in her journey. I know she will continue to break down barriers and do great things.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

She brings this goal into each of her classes with the expectation that students enter class at the beginning of the semester feeling welcomed and they exit class at the end of the semester feeling supported, motivated and valued.

This is accomplished through her love for cutting-edge technologies and innovative pedagogical methods of teaching. She constantly breaks molds to uncover the most effective computer science methods to share with students.

“Each time I teach a topic, I understand it better, and each time my students ask a question, I get an opportunity to discover a new aspect of the topic,” Majd said. “To me, the opportunity to learn is the great joy of teaching.”

Majd also brings data science, network security and blockchain technology techniques into the classroom. These tools allow for the creation of machine learning systems which protect computer networks by utilizing trustworthy systems that take advantage of blockchain.

In light of her Outstanding Faculty Award recognition, Majd’s current goal is a collaborative one: to introduce data science to students in all disciplines at CSUSM through the CS 320 course. Here, students will gain essential practical knowledge and skills that help them become data scientists within their field. This inclusive course will be offered for the first time in fall 2023 and will make CSUSM graduates even more marketable.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist
ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Honorees were nominated by faculty or staff and endorsed by their college’s dean. Here is a closer look at each award recipient:

Kodie Gerritsen, visual and performing arts and physics

President's Outstanding Graduate

Dean’s Award, College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences

Gerritsen is a double major who was lauded for their avid curiosity and adventurous scholarship.

Nominating professor Lucy HG Solomon noted that Gerritsen is not only an outstanding student, but a talented artist and a curious scientist who is engaged with the community. Since 2017, Solomon has worked closely with Gerritsen on digital art projects that tie into the environment and social justice and on interdisciplinary endeavors that combine art and science.

Among Gerritsen’s accomplishments are the work they did with Solomon on an interactive art piece called “Degenerative Cultures” that uses living organisms and artificial intelligence to comment on social networks. Gerritsen also worked on the Jaguar Umbrella Project, which included kits for schoolchildren to explain the importance of jaguars as umbrella species in the Amazon rainforest.

Gerritsen was a STEAM ambassador who designed and delivered curriculum on art and science to K-12 students, bringing craft, sculpture, color theory and the science of rainbows together in an engaging hands-on activity.

Learn more about Gerritsen’s achievements here.

Christine Briggs, literature and writing studies

Dean’s Award, Office of Graduate Studies and Research

Briggs stood out for her outstanding record of achievement in the literature and writing studies master’s program, which included presenting award-winning original research, serving as an exemplary teaching associate and addressing timely issues in the original research for her master’s thesis.

Rebecca Lush, who served as research director of Briggs’ thesis and taught her in two advanced-level courses, noted that Briggs has shown the makings of a promising research career during her time in the master’s program, and the work she produced is suitable for consideration for peer-review publication.

Briggs presented her original literary research at major national conferences and was awarded the “Best Essay” prize by the Margaret Atwood Society in 2018 for her research on the novel “Cat’s Eye,” a project that started her graduate-level work in feminist literary studies and paved the way for the methodological concerns and practices that she used in what eventually became her culminating thesis.

Sofia Davis, Master of Public Health

Dean’s Award, College of Education, Health and Human Services

Davis had a stellar academic career while also supporting friends, family and community members during the pandemic.

After earning her bachelor’s in global health from UC San Diego, Davis maintained a 4.0 grade-point average while being consistently lauded by her instructors at CSUSM.

Davis has worked as a volunteer contact tracer for the CSUSM COVID Management Team, which helps infected individuals understand the virus and care options. Her efforts help keep the campus community safe while minimizing the risk of virus transmission.

Davis also works with different agencies to help provide services and coordinate care. She has been an intern at Palomar Medical Center for seven years, including nearly four years as part of the internship’s leadership team. She has also served as a medical scribe at a family medicine clinic in Escondido, ensuring that patient needs are documented accurately as they go through care and treatment.

Davis plans to attend medical school to become a primary care pediatrician.

Zsuzsanna Dianovics, computer science and information systems

Dean’s Award, College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

Dianovics was honored for her exceptional academic record, undergraduate research experience, impressive leadership achievements and significant participation in community outreach.

Dianovics excelled in two computer science courses taught by professor Nahid Majd, which led Majd to encourage Dianovics to apply to the 2020 Summer Scholars research program. Dianovics was accepted into the program and worked on a research project on blockchain technology, an emerging technology in cybersecurity. She presented her research at both the Summer Scholar showcase last August and the CSUSM undergraduate research showcase in December.

Dianovics also prepared a scholarly manuscript based on the research she did in the summer program and submitted it to the 2021 Computer Science Conference for CSU Undergraduates hosted by CSU Monterey Bay. The paper was accepted, and she presented her research at the conference in March.

Dianovics plans to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science.

Christian Galvis, global supply chain management

Dean’s Award, College of Business Administration

Galvis excelled both academically and through his numerous service accomplishments.

A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Galvis credits his military experience for helping to hone his values of commitment, perseverance, self-worth and volunteering.

Those values were at the forefront of his time at CSUSM. In his first semester, Galvis helped revive the Student Veterans Organization after a two-year absence. Galvis also served as president of the Global Supply Chain Management Society for the past year, keeping members engaged virtually throughout the pandemic. He also helped spearhead CoBA’s first virtual career fair and a second successful event this spring.

Galvis collaborated with other student organizations to develop best practices on retaining members during the virtual environment, and he served as a resource for other student society presidents who are new to their positions.

Galvis has accepted a position at global communications company Viasat as a procurements specialist upon graduation.

Gladys Guzman Guizar, sociology and criminology and justice studies

Dean’s Award, Dean of Students

Guzman Guizar excelled academically while also making lasting contributions to student life at CSUSM.

Guzman Guizar has been dedicated to social justice initiatives, including the DREAMer Resource Office and the creation of the HUMAN Club. She is also an active member of University Without Borders, playing a key role in providing support to students from diverse backgrounds and ensuring that CSUSM provides a diverse, equitable and inclusive space where all students can be comfortable and successful. Her contributions to diversity and inclusiveness were recognized last fall as a 2020 recipient of the President’s Student Champion Award for Inclusive Excellence and Diversity.

Guzman Guizar has worked to help students develop a sense of belonging on campus through her roles as a peer adviser for the Office of Academic Advising and a student assistant at the DREAMer Resource Office.

Guzman Guizar plans to attend law school to pursue immigration law so she can help the undocumented community.

Read more about Guzman Guizar here.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Coming from Vietnam, she had to navigate a different culture and a new language. She had a passion for computers, but little background in computer science. And, perhaps the biggest challenge of all, she was pursuing her dream with little support from family or friends back home. In fact, her parents actively lobbied against her desire to study computer science.

“They just kept telling me I should study something more useful for coming back to Vietnam,” Snyder said.

But Snyder was undeterred, and this month she achieved her longtime goal by graduating from Cal State San Marcos with a bachelor’s in computer science and information systems.

“Thu exemplifies successes of undergraduate research in our college,” said computer science professor Rika Yoshii, one of Snyder’s mentors. “Thu is of good character, diligent, hardworking and keen on learning.”

Those traits helped Snyder persist along a difficult path to obtaining her degree.

Snyder’s parents agreed to send her to the United States to study business with the expectation that she would return to Vietnam and likely work for the agricultural department in their home district. Snyder began her studies in New Hampshire, but was miserable studying a subject in which she had no interest.

Struggling with depression, she was encouraged by an adviser to examine other majors. As Snyder considered going against her parents’ wishes and pursuing her love of computer science, she heard from a friend from Vietnam who was in Southern California as part of a cultural exchange program. The friend suggested that Snyder relocate to Southern California, even offering to help her find a school to study computer science.

Snyder spent two years at Grossmont College and transferred to CSUSM on the recommendation of another friend who told her that the university’s supportive environment would make it the perfect place to continue her education.

Snyder said CSUSM’s Office of Global Education helped her continue to improve her English while also providing a community of peers who helped one another deal with common challenges. When Snyder was struggling to grasp the different tenses in English, she met a Japanese student who lent a hand. In turn, she was able to help him with pronunciation issues.

“By talking to students and learning more about different cultures with the help of the global office, I learned my problem is actually really small and can be improved over time,” Snyder said. “So I feel much better since I joined CSUSM.”

Snyder also found her place in the classroom thanks to mentors like Yoshii and fellow computer science professor Nahid Majd. While Snyder’s parents and friends from Vietnam told her that computer science isn’t for women, Yoshii and Majd showed her that it’s a field for anyone. Majd even encouraged her to apply for CSUSM’s Summer Scholars program, a 10-week experience that actively engages undergraduates in STEM research.

“That was the most amazing summer that I've ever had,” Snyder said. “I got to know so many people in the program and I got to learn a lot about the industry.”

Summer Scholars culminates each year in a poster showcase, allowing students to share the methods, results and interpretation of the work they completed. Snyder had heard about Yoshii from other students, but never had luck enrolling in any of her classes. But when Snyder saw Yoshii at the showcase, she introduced herself and told Yoshii about her interest in how people learn languages, a discussion that continued in the ensuing weeks.

“We spent hours discussing how cultures and languages are closely related,” Yoshii said. “I found her keen analysis of languages to be in-depth and intriguing.”

The discussions led Snyder to enroll in an independent research class with Yoshii as her supervisor. Snyder designed and developed a web-based tutoring system for teaching tenses to students trying to learn English.

“Dr. Yoshii and Dr. Majd were constantly helping me and reminding me how important it is to keep going, to believe in my passion and believe that you can do it,” Snyder said. “They showed me as a female that there's no limit in the computer science field. That's what I want to tell any other female students in the computer science major. It's a major for everybody as long as you have passion for it.”

Snyder is staying in the United States after graduation – she got married in 2018 – and is considering enrolling in a master’s program after gaining some work experience. Although her parents still have trouble understanding her decision to study computer science, the relationship has slowly improved after the difficulties Snyder endured when they first learned of her decision.

“A lot of people will tell you to do this or do that,” she said. “But you should never give up your dream. It’s tough, but it's worth it.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

For David Falconer, it quite simply changed his life.

“It means everything,” said Falconer, a Cal State San Marcos junior. “When I got the money, what it was used for, it didn’t just go to me. It went to my entire family. That scholarship helped us move out of a bad neighborhood and get us into a good neighborhood so I can concentrate on school and my son can concentrate on kindergarten. It meant everything.”

Falconer was one of four recipients from CSUSM to earn a 2019 Veteran Student of the Year Academic Scholarship awarded by the San Diego Military Advisory Council (SDMAC) Foundation. The scholarship for veterans of military service is intended to bridge the tuition gap between the time when GI Bill benefits expire and the amount of time it takes to complete an undergraduate degree in the science, technology, math and engineering (STEM) fields.

Falconer served five years in the Marine Corps and three more in the Marine Corps Reserves as an Aviation Logistics Information Management System and Support Specialist. He is majoring in computer science and information systems and expects to graduate in spring 2021.

Three other CSUSM students were also honored with the scholarship, all of whom are veterans of the Marines. Jeff Foertsch and Michael Tobin are both majoring in computer science and information systems, and Jason Burley is pursuing a bachelor’s in biochemistry with a minor in Spanish.

Falconer grew up in New York and spent the first 19 years of his life there before enlisting. While he knew college was always going to be in his future, he decided to delay that plan for an unselfish reason.

“I joined the Marine Corps because I love my parents so much,” Falconer said. “I didn’t want to burden them with having to pay for me to go to college. I felt like the military, especially the Marine Corps, was a way to take care of myself and be able to make money while I was doing that. As soon as I left home, they didn’t have to pay a cent for me.”

In his eight years of active and reserves duty, the 27-year-old Falconer was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and saw duty in places such as Japan, Hawaii, South Korea, and Guam, where he met his wife Kelyann, who is currently serving in the Army. They have two children: a son, 5, and a daughter, 1½.

While on terminal leave from active duty in December 2015, he got a position at Viasat as a network security representative, where he helps maintain closed-area government programs. By February 2016, he was working full time at Viasat while also joining the reserves.

Falconer eventually added full-time student to his résumé when he enrolled at CSUSM in spring 2018. Going to school full time while also working in the STEM field full time and serving in the reserves has been quite the challenge.

“This past year and a half has probably been the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, including going to boot camp,” Falconer said. “Every single day when I wake up, I have to be 100 percent on my ‘A’ game for every aspect of the day. Wake up on time, make sure I produce at work, and then get to school and make sure I’m ready to soak up information and then apply that information. Then come home and make sure I’m loving and open and receptive to my family after a long day.

“It’s a 12-hour day at minimum, and that’s not including homework. Hands down it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

Falconer makes it clear there’s only one reason he survived that first semester and has thrived since: support. He felt it the moment he stepped on campus.

“As soon as I got there, they had a transitioning class for veterans, which helped me get settled right in,” Falconer said. “I’m 100 percent sure I’d be lost without the veteran programs. I still go to those organizations and ask for guidance today. They’re crucial to everything Cal State San Marcos is.”

Three members of the CSUSM community in particular stood out when Falconer has needed help: recently retired Director of Veterans Services Patricia Reily, who nominated him for the scholarship last year, Veterans Retention Counselor and alumnus Moses Maddox (’12) and Chrystal Hady, a senior academic adviser.

“While we have only had the chance to sit down a couple of times, Moses has been an example of someone that I would like to emulate,” Falconer said. “He’s a Marine as well and has had straight conversations with me. (Hady) is an amazing adviser. She has helped plan my journey every step of the way at CSUSM. She has helped me balance out classes with my busy work schedule. When I first came to CSUSM I was in line to get four transfer credits for my time in the service. She helped me track down leaders of each department to plead my case and have my time in the military equate to 14 credits.”

While he plans to grow at Viasat, Falconer’s long-term goal is to return to CSUSM to get a degree in business and open his own company in web design marketing.

His story is one of not only reaching out for help and accepting it from various sources, but also paying it back by sharing wisdom with students who are about to embark on the same journey he began years ago.

“Reach out to people,” Falconer said of the advice he would give. “Talk to people. Learn people. If people see that you’re motivated and want to succeed, they’ll reach out a helping hand and take care of you. That’s what my journey has been. I’ve had countless people take care of me and show me the way, show me the path. That’s the only reason I’m here and able to take care of my family. Keep those around you that you know are good and cherish them.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

“It was like, ‘What do you mean if?’ ” Mendoza said.

For someone like Mendoza, with thoughts of a career as a software developer or working with autonomous machines and high-altitude long endurance aircraft, it was a no-brainer.

Now, as a freshman computer science student at Cal State San Marcos, Mendoza is looking forward to eventually returning to Northrop Grumman as a college intern once he completes additional engineering, physics and computer science classes.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company that has been a strong advocate of CSUSM and its engineering program. Not only has the company partnered with CSUSM’s College of Science and Mathematics on projects, but David A. Allen, Northrop Grumman’s director of systems engineering, sits on the CSM Dean’s Advisory Council.

CSUSM frequently sends students to local companies like Northrop Grumman to gain industry experience as interns, but Mendoza was in the enviable position of getting an internship opportunity before even starting college.

“Kevin represents the qualities we look for in students we want to mentor,” said Alfredo Ramirez, Northrop Grumman’s vice president of engineering. “To have a successful career in the aerospace and defense industries, one has to be driven, always learning, be collaborative and willing to go above and beyond to find solutions for challenging assignments.”

Mendoza grew up with a fascination for seeing how different things work and operate from watching his father, who is an auto mechanic. He liked to help his dad out and eventually was entrusted with working on his family’s cars, changing the oil and providing basic maintenance.

“I kind of wanted to follow his footsteps a bit,” Mendoza said. “I thought, ‘Well, how can I get involved in working with things?’ And there was robotics at Oceanside, so I thought I’d see where that goes. I was in it for four years, and it gave me pretty good opportunities.”

Mendoza is making the most of those opportunities at CSUSM. He participated in Google’s Computer Science Summer Institute Extension program, a three‐week summer experience for incoming CSUSM freshmen studying computer science or engineering. The program is funded by a Hispanic-Serving Institutions STEM grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Mendoza has also joined a slew of organizations, including the Association for Computing Machinery, CSUSM Border Angels and MEChA, among others.

Mendoza is even enrolled in his first computer science course – though it took quite a bit of initiative on his part. Needing to fulfill a prerequisite to enroll in Computer Science 111, he came to campus to study every day in the weeks leading up to the fall semester. The night before the start of the semester, he logged on and took a placement assessment at 1 a.m. He passed and then showed up at 8 a.m. to change his schedule so he could take CS111.

While Mendoza is enjoying his first semester of college, he is also looking forward to continuing his relationship with Northrop Grumman. He still savors the experience he gained from shadowing engineers in the spring at Northrop Grumman’s Autonomous Design Center of Excellence in Rancho Bernardo.

“One of the best things I remember is walking into this big room with all the engineers on one side, and they’re doing their thing on their computers,” Mendoza said. “Then there’s a test bench. It’s just like a regular table with all these parts to test them. It was cool to see where they design and develop high-altitude long endurance autonomous vehicles.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

The challenge was this: Come to our laboratory over the summer and try to devise a solution to a problem related to the topic of transactive energy. Ochoa was a physics student who loves to try to decipher complex puzzles, so this invitation was like a siren song to him.  

As he embarked on a project that might end up changing his life, he had just one question: What exactly is transactive energy? 

It wouldn’t be the first time that Ochoa and the other students essentially were thrown in at the deep end and asked to swim. In the course of the unpaid internship, they were exposed to other relatively foreign concepts like microgrids, blockchains and internet of things.  

By the end of the summer, most of the students returned to school, satisfied that they had expanded their knowledge base. But for Ochoa and three others who came to be friends and partners, the experience was merely a jumping-off point.  

Almost a year later, Ochoa is the CEO of a startup company called simpl (in the style of modern tech firms, the “S” is lower case and the “E” is omitted intentionally) that builds off work done during the transactive energy project. The 2018 CSUSM graduate founded the business with fellow alumni Dragan Lukic (computer science, 2019) and Daniel Sanchez (physics, 2019) as well as Palomar College product Nate Wise, who will begin studying engineering at UCLA this fall.  

“We knew nothing about the topic beforehand,” Ochoa said. “But in eight months, we were able to accumulate a vast amount of knowledge and put something together.” 

Transactive energy represents a new approach to dealing with the reality of the old and outdated energy grid in the United States, and the additional strain put on it by the increasing popularity of renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. It’s based on the idea of microgrid technology, which involves breaking up the existing grid that spans large regions into smaller chunks that can be powered by renewables. 

“What transactive energy is and what our project focused on is, instead of power being generated miles and miles away and then being transported over these large grid systems, how can we get a system powered by renewable energy – in our case, it was solar – integrated with the grid to be functionable with pre-existing technology and infrastructure?” Wise said. 

The quartet of students first experimented with a hardware solution. At Open Source Maker Labs, the Vista makerspace that offered the U.S. Navy-sponsored project, they built and tested a small microgrid using solar panels and batteries.  

At the time, they were still just a group of enthusiastic engineers-in-training who were having fun putting their brains together to solve a problem. It was Dan Hendricks, a former Navy captain who established OSML in 2014, who urged the four non-business students to strongly consider forming a business. 

“What triggered me to make the suggestion was not just the technology they were working on, but seeing how they worked together,” Hendricks said. “They didn’t know each other before but very quickly formed a cohesive and focused team. That’s a key ingredient for a startup, so that’s what prompted me to say, ‘Hey, have you ever thought about going into business?’ ”

They hadn’t. But as they began to mull over how they might monetize their initial work, they quickly realized that the cost to produce thousand-dollar microgrids in mass quantities would be prohibitive.

Several iterations of a possible company later, they came up with an idea that they believe lives up to its name. Simpl is a software platform – a website and a mobile app – that facilitates a connection between your thermostat and the droves of solar energy firms that may want you as a customer. The target audience is residential clients and small to medium businesses.

“Your thermostat is the highest energy-consuming thing in most homes,” Ochoa said. “What we show you is how much it costs to be comfortable, how much it costs to be at a given temperature. Then, taking that information, we show you your utility bill and how much that’s costing you, and then we show you, with the current cost of renewables, how much that would cost you and here’s the breakdown.

“Right now, it takes a bunch of work to get that information. You have to do months of research, you have to get quote after quote. With simpl, it’s, ‘Here’s your utility bill, here’s the return on investment you could be making,’ and then we pair you with the right company that can address that need.”

Ochoa said he and his partners researched the market and found potential competitors – from solar companies to smart home companies to utilities themselves – that were addressing some of the needs that simpl aims to fulfill, but none that was tackling the issue as a whole. Because the platform has such low overhead, the foursome are funding the venture on their own so far.

They plan to initiate a three-week pilot program of about 30 users on July 13, followed by an alpha program featuring more than 100. If everything progresses smoothly, the business could be launched formally by the end of the year.

Asked what has surprised him most about the process, Lukic said: “That we made it this far. When we first discussed starting this company, I never imagined that we would be so close to doing a pilot program to actually get our product going.”

It seemed fitting that the simpl team was speaking during San Diego Startup Week, May 28 to June 3, and from the OSML offices at the heart of the Highway 78 corridor. OSML is part of Innovate 78, a collaboration of the five cities along the freeway – Carlsbad, Escondido, Oceanside, San Marcos and Vista – to boost economic prosperity in the region.

A few businesses have germinated from OSML already. Team simpl hopes that they are next.

“With so many technological challenges that we’re all facing, how can we get the workforce to accelerate in their learning beyond traditional methods?” Hendricks said. “The current method is you have to stay in school four years before you can be productive. Our hypothesis is, ‘No, people are capable of learning a lot faster than we give them credit for.’ I think these guys proved that in spades.”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Clark-Ibáñez was a coach for the program designed to introduce e-learning to faculty members. Ouyang, eager to try something new, was the only science professor in a cohort filled with colleagues from the sociology department. 

Despite their vastly different academic fields – Ouyang in computer science, Clark-Ibáñez in sociology – the two hit it off immediately. It was the start of a close friendship, and a wonderful professional partnership that stands to benefit CSUSM students for years to come. 

In 2017, Ouyang and Clark-Ibáñez teamed up to secure a five-year, $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to fund scholarships, workshops, mentors and networking opportunities for computer science majors from low-income families. 

Now, with that program thriving, the two professors are back for more, this time targeting computer science students as they first enter the university.  

Ouyang and Clark-Ibáñez were the faculty behind a proposal that resulted in CSUSM last month being named one of only six project teams in the state to receive full funding in the first set of awards from the California Education Learning Lab, a new program that seeks to close equity and achievement gaps in STEM and other disciplines.  

CSUSM was selected to receive a Learning Lab award of more than $1 million over three years. Ouyang and Clark-Ibáñez submitted the proposal along with Nery Chapetón-Lamas, a computer science professor from MiraCosta College, and the team was one of just six in California granted a full award out of 42 turned in across the state. 

“To me, this grant means opportunity for my students,” said Ouyang, chair of the computer science and information systems department. “That’s what drives a lot of my proposals.” 

One of Ouyang’s grants, nicknamed “CodeQueens,” focuses on helping high school girls learn more about STEM career paths. Another, the 2017 one procured with Clark-Ibáñez, is dubbed “Fab Fridays” and involves upper-class computer science students being mentored by industry partners and working on real-world projects at an on-campus makerspace.  

The most recent grant will service a different population – of the age between prospective CSUSM students and the upper classes – but with a similar hands-on approach. Assisted by Clark-Ibáñez, Ouyang will overhaul the university’s two introductory computer science classes (CS 111 and CS 211) to make them more student-driven and less lecture-based – with the objective of keeping students from giving up on the subject before they ever have a chance to get hooked. Because CSUSM and MiraCosta are minority-serving institutions, they also include elements to the pedagogy and content that are culturally relevant. 

In writing the proposal, Ouyang compared a typical computer science lesson plan at the high school level with that of an introductory college course. She found the difference to be stark. The former was exciting and engaging, the latter dry and off-putting. 

“As a non-computer science person, I could understand the high school problem. I could understand the bigger picture of what it was trying to get at,” said Clark-Ibáñez, chair of the sociology department. “The college version of what she pulled out to do a side-by-side comparison was so involved with solving proofs and the critical thinking went away. It was just computation. 

“Youwen will be working to transform these intro classes that can really turn off students. They told us they were so excited to be in the major and then they get to their first class and they’re like, ‘Oh God, this is so horrible.’ ” 

Ouyang said she hasn’t taught a course for a few years, but she plans to return to the classroom this fall after having redesigned CS 111 during a faculty in residence program at Google headquarters in June. She will come back to teaching with a different perspective born of her experience with Fab Fridays and other projects. 

“When I was in the classroom, my students were pretty quiet and I didn’t see much wrong with it,” Ouyang said. “I was thinking the teacher’s role is to explain things to students. Now I’m seeing things very differently.” 

The CSUSM professors plan to incorporate the Open Learning Initiative offered by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, a collection of evidence-based tools and approaches to learning that are proven to boost student success, and enable instructors to be more effective. While Ouyang teaches the course, Clark-Ibáñez will utilize her expertise in sociology to ensure that the material and the research accounts for the racial, cultural and gender diversity of CSUSM’s students.  

“It’s going to be a very innovative approach,” Clark-Ibáñez said. “The goal is to have students coming in to be hooked right away, to feel like they are honored as a whole person.” 

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Today, Ashley and Marissa work as mentors to high school students participating in the program, but it wasn’t long ago that both were CodeQueens participants themselves.

“It’s really exciting because most of the girls haven’t been exposed to computers or computer science early,” said Ashley, a second-year computer science student at CSUSM. “It’s a new thing for them, and they might not have been exposed to the field otherwise.”

“CodeQueens has a great impact, the greatest one being exposure to the field,” added Marissa, a first-year software engineering student.

Ashley and Marissa will both be at nearby Mission Hills High School on Saturday for the CodeQueens Showcase, an annual event where participants share the online games they created during the semester. The assignment for this semester’s showcase was to create a game to combat distracted driving.

Eight North County high schools are participating in the showcase from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Mission Hills library. The event is free and open to the public, and prizes will be awarded to participants.

Ashley and Marissa each developed their interest in computer science and software engineering through their time as high school participants in the CodeQueens Club.

While many participants know little about the topic when they join, Ashley wanted to get involved while she was a student at Mission Hills because she had an interest and knew it was something she wanted to pursue in college.

However, she knows that is the exception.

“I think the main reason that girls aren’t going into the field is a lack of exposure to computers,” Ashley said.

Neither computer science nor software engineering were on Marissa’s radar until she joined CodeQueens, and she credits her high school teacher, her CSUSM CodeQueens mentor and CSUSM professor Dr. Youwen Ouyang for providing inspiration to pursue it in college.

Ashley and Marissa are part of a group of student mentors from CSUSM who lead weekly club meetings at North County high schools and teach participants the fundamentals of computer programming while engaging them in activities that build their self-efficacy and identity as programmers and problem-solvers. Ashley spent the semester working with students at Mission Hills and Escondido High while Marissa worked with students at San Marcos High.

“It’s a fun after-school activity,” Marissa said. “And then some of them say, ‘I found out I like computer science and I’m really interested in pursuing it after high school.’ ”

The CodeQueens Club grew out of a National Science Foundation-funded project to help diversify the North County tech workforce. It is a collaboration among CSUSM’s Ouyang (Computer Science Department), Dr. Moses Ochanji (Department of Education) and Dr. Anna Woodcock (Psychology Department).

This is the final year of the three-year grant, which is titled “Inspiring Commitment for STEM Career Paths through Extended Women’s Hackathons.” But Ouyang said they anticipate receiving a one-year extension from NSF and are looking for ways to partner with local organizations to extend the program beyond the NSF funding.

“I’m always amazed by the support from the community,” Ouyang said. “We couldn’t do the showcase without the support of the professionals who come out to help.”

Ouyang has lined up more than a dozen professionals to help at Saturday’s event, including multiple members of CSUSM’s Instructional and Information Technology Services team.

The program has been a tremendous success, not only introducing girls to coding and computer science, but also helping them make connections at CSUSM and continuing efforts to build a more diverse computer science workforce for North County.

“Even the girls who aren’t necessarily looking to get into computer science, even if they’ve decided to pursue something else, it’s a really good experience for them to work in a team and learn to cooperate with other people,” Ashley said. “It’s not about learning all the specific details of computer science, it’s about being able to work together.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

It didn’t take long for her to realize she had nothing to worry about.

“As long as you have the motivation, you can do it,” said Marissa, one of 30 incoming Cal State San Marcos freshmen who participated in the three-week program last month.

CSUSM was one of four California universities to host a CSSI-Extension this summer. The program introduces incoming college freshmen to computer science through interactive, hands-on activities culminating in a presentation of group projects.

“We’re excited about this program and the opportunity to build confidence and community among students who have historically been underrepresented in STEM career fields,” said Ray Sawyer, a Student Development Specialist at Google.

More than 100 incoming freshmen applied to the program at CSUSM.

Youwen Ouyang, chair of the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, led the program. The students learned basic programming fundamentals and worked in small teams with one of six teaching assistants to design and develop their own applications. Jeffrey Morales, the Engineering Pathways Advisor, also worked with participants on developing their soft skills.

The program was funded by a Hispanic-Serving Institutions STEM grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

“The CSSI program is the beginning of our efforts to have students traditionally underrepresented in STEM participate in grant-related activities and increase their graduation rates,” said Ricardo Fierro, associate dean of the College of Science and Mathematics and project director of the grant.

Students lauded the program both for the computer science knowledge they gained and the opportunity to collaborate with faculty, staff and other students.

“Not only did we get to learn how to code in all these languages, but we made connections with faculty, the TAs and with each other,” said Anahi Badillo, a program participant.

“This program really encouraged me to get more involved,” added Thao Phung. “In high school, I wasn’t in any clubs. When I saw the email about this program, I wasn’t sure. But I took a risk, and it paid off. I made a lot of friends, and it was really fun.”

On the final day of the program, the teams presented their apps to the entire group and other invited guests. One of the apps was geared toward tourists visiting San Diego; another would enable CSUSM students to determine when and where pick-up games for a variety of sports are being played; and a third aimed at informing users about the latest trends in books, games, movies and music.

It wasn’t just the participants who found the program valuable.

Samuel Mueller, one of the teaching assistants and a veteran, enjoyed tutoring the incoming freshmen in the summer program.

“I’m passionate about getting computer science out there,” said Samuel, a second-year computer science major at CSUSM. “A lot of people don’t know what they’ll be good at until they try it. It’s important that they get the opportunity to explore different elements of it and build their confidence.”

Samuel noted that the program introduced him to industry professionals through field trips to San Marcos-based Hunter Industries and Google in Venice Beach.

“The students arrived wondering if they belonged in computer science,” Fierro said. “The program provided them with the opportunity to meet other majors and learn and enjoy basics of coding and teamwork. The field trips added an extra dimension to the program. Soon they realized they do belong here. They’re identifying now as computer scientists.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Until now. Thanks to a three-year, Cal State San Marcos-led effort funded through a National Science Foundation grant, Mitra and nearly 60 other North County high school girls are learning the ins and outs of computer coding as part of a larger effort to increase the number of women motivated to pursue careers in the field of information communication technology. The grant’s second year culminates with an April 28 showcase at Rancho Bueno Vista High School, where participants – who belong to what they affectionately refer to as the CodeQueens Club – will talk about their projects, detail the technology involved, and answer questions from judges.

“We’ve learned so much over the past year, it’s going to be exciting to show how far we’ve come,” said Mitra, who was part of a team that created an educational game app addressing environmental issues. “We’ve worked so hard as a team and have been so determined to develop this app. We’re really looking forward to it.”

Presentations at the April 28 showcase are scheduled to begin 1:30 p.m. at the Rancho Buena Vista High School Performing Art Center, 1601 Longhorn Drive in Vista, 92081. Awards will be announced at 3:15 p.m. CodeQueens from Rancho Buena Vista High, Mission Hills High, San Marcos High, San Pasqual High, and Oceanside High schools will be there with family and friends.

“Most of these girls had no coding experience and knew next to nothing about computer science before they became involved with this program,” said Dr. Anna Woodcock, research faculty at the CSUSM Psychology Department who is a co-principal investigator for the grant officially known as “Inspiring Commitment for STEM Career Paths through Extended Women’s Hackathons.” Dr. Youwen Ouyang, who chairs CSUSM's Computer Science and Information Systems Department, is the principal investigator on the project and Dr. Moses Ochanji, an associate professor in the College of Education, Health and Human Services' School of Education, is a co-principal investigator on the grant.

Unlike traditional, all-day hackathons, the extended “hackathon” stretches over 16 weeks and involves teaching girls from five North County high schools how to design a computer game, how to code, how to work in teams, and how to manage a project.

“There is a persistent underrepresentation of women in coding and computer science, especially among women of color, and among Latinas in particular,” Woodcock said. “The showcase is an opportunity for these students to say, ‘Hey, I’m here, and look what I can do!’ ”

Suzanne Newman, a Mission Hills High School journalism instructor who encouraged Mitra to take part in the CodeQueens Club, said the impact of the grant-funded effort is beyond profound.

“I have students who come from poverty-stricken backgrounds who feel empowered by the coding skills they have learned in CodeQueens,” she said. “I have students who don't even have their own computer at home, who have learned about a whole new world and new career choices because of the guidance they are receiving from CodeQueens tutors at Cal State San Marcos. “I also have students who had no idea that coding skills could be used in such a variety of career choices from nursing to business.”

Added Woodcock: “This showcase illustrates to others that just because someone may not have access to a computer or WiFi at home, or have an AP class in computer science at their high school, or may not have a parent or family friend who is a programmer, that does not mean that they can’t learn how to code and won’t have a seat at the tech table. These girls are incredibly creative and bright and have many skills and a lot of promise. It’s up to us to help them realize that promise.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Despite her encouragement and his desire to pursue higher education, there was still the matter of preparing for the rigors of college as a first-generation student.

As Damien began applying to schools, he received an email that would change his path. It was from ACE Scholars Services, which supports former foster youth at Cal State San Marcos.

“ACE helped me ease into the college transition,” Damien said. “Back in Moreno Valley, my foster mom always told me I needed to go to college. But no one in the family went to college so no one knew how to prepare me. I knew what I needed to do grade-wise, but from that point it was ACE guiding me on the next steps.”

Damien completed those next steps, graduating from CSUSM in December with a bachelor’s in computer science.

“Damien is an inspiration,” said Jim Mickelson, the founder and director of ACE Scholars Services. “He had to face some incredible barriers to reach his goal, but he never wavered from his dream. His story is the story of CSUSM.”

Now Damien is preparing for a new adventure – a move to Tokyo where he will work as a front-end developer for Togo Securities.

Taking a beginning course in Japanese at CSUSM led Damien to spend a year studying abroad in Japan.

Damien immersed himself in Japanese culture while studying abroad, even choosing not to live in a dorm with other English speakers so he could better learn the nuances of the language.

The time he spent in Japan fueled a desire to return, and Damien continued to study Japanese when he returned to CSUSM, always with the plan to pursue his dream of moving there after graduation. But those dreams nearly were derailed two years ago after the death of his foster mother.

“I had no motivation to study and do schoolwork,” he said. “Even though I was seeing the counselor, grade-wise everything was dropping. Combined with what had happened, I thought I was going to have to drop out of school.”

Damien said Mickelson got him the help he needed so that he could continue working toward his degree.

“He knew something was wrong,” Damien said. “At the time, I didn’t want to talk to anyone, but I’m thankful for it now.

“I had no idea how much support I would get from ACE when I came to CSUSM. I thought I’d be able to come in and talk to them, but it went way deeper than that.”

Said Mickelson: “It has been a joy working with Damien. He is a special young man who will go far.”

Damien also credits computer science professor Rika Yoshii not only for helping in his studies, but also for providing valuable advice on landing a job in Japan. Damien, who worked in CSUSM’s Instructional & Information Technology Services department for most of his time at the University, said Yoshii recommended that he visit Boston for a job forum that includes numerous Japanese companies.

By the time he returned from the forum, Damien was receiving emails from Japanese recruiting companies attracted by his skill set.

As he prepares to embark on a new chapter in his life, Damien is grateful for his time at CSUSM.

“There was a time when I thought I wouldn’t make it,” he said. “I’m thankful I was able to get to this point.”

Cal State San Marcos, determined to boost academic success and job readiness of computer science majors from low-income families, has secured a five-year, $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to fund scholarships, workshops, mentors and an abundance of networking opportunities to help students land valuable internships and reach their career goals.

“For a lot of these students, the lack of academic and professional networking makes it difficult for them to find a job in their field upon graduation,” said Dr. Youwen Ouyang, the grant’s principal investigator and chair of CSUSM’s Computer Science Department. “We’re hoping this program will help them build social capital, confidence in their technical skills and a strong portfolio to be employable.”

Low-income students are the focus because research shows students lacking financial security don’t have the same level of support as other socioeconomic groups, as they are more likely to live at home with family and thus be less incorporated into campus life. Exacerbating the handicap is that 70 percent of all computer science majors surveyed by CSUSM are working to support themselves through jobs not related to their field of study.

This National Science Foundation grant addresses those economic challenges by providing selected students annual $5,000 scholarships for two years. Other strategies include a Fab Friday program, which will create an on-campus makerspace where teams of students can fabricate computing solutions for real-world projects and challenges presented by community and industry partners.

Connecting with resources from the community and industry, Ouyang said, will increase students’ chances of landing an internship while still at CSUSM and finding a job once they graduate.

“It’s a matter of giving students coming from low-income families the resources that create opportunities to succeed,” said Dr. Marisol Clark-Ibáñez, sociology professor and faculty director of the National Latino Research Center, who is serving as a co-principal investigator on the grant, along with Dr. Geoffrey Gilmore, associate vice president of Student Academic Support Services.

Sixty computer science majors will take part in the program during their sophomore and junior years, a period in which research shows challenges students to stay engaged and persist in their field of study, Gilmore said. The first cohort of eight students will be selected this fall, followed by cohorts of 16, 16 and 20 students the following years.

Returns on the investment could be profound. Computer and information research scientists are earning an average wage of more than $116,000 in San Diego County, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Computer systems analysts are earning more than $95,000 annually, and computer programmers are earning in excess of $82,000.

-- Dr. Ali Ahmadinia
 

He’s only been teaching at Cal State San Marcos for a little more than a year, but Dr. Ali Ahmadinia, a professor in the Department of Computer Science, already is having a huge impact.

Just months after he arrived, Ahmadinia launched a grant-funded research project with three of his students to develop a cellphone-size, embedded device to measure air quality and monitor indoor pollutants. While wrapping up that project, Ahmadinia is working with others in revising Department of Computer Science curriculum to include a stronger focus on engineering as CSUSM develops its degree programs in software and electrical engineering.

Ahmadinia earned his Ph.D. from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, and worked as research assistant in Fraunhofer Institute of Integrated circuits before moving to the United Kingdom to serve as a research fellow at the School of Engineering and Electronics at the University of Edinburgh. He came to CSUSM in February 2016 from Glasgow Caledonian University, where he was a senior lecturer in embedded systems. His research has been published in more than 100 international journal and conference publications, and his private industry background includes designing sensor devices for deep sea oil and gas pipeline monitoring systems, along with energy management systems for buildings.

Ahmadinia says the best part about CSUSM is the students.

“The students are much more motivated at Cal State San Marcos than what I’ve seen in other places,” Ahmadinia said. “And it shows. I enjoy hearing from former students telling me that they are working at a top tech company and are using the same principles they learned in my class.”

“They’re so dedicated,” said Ouyang, CSUSM’s computer science department chair. “They really work well as a team. They engage the students, and that’s what we want.”

Ouyang is the principal investigator on the $1.2 million, three-year grant from the National Science Foundation titled, “Inspiring Commitment for STEM Career Paths through Extended Women’s Hackathons.” Ouyang is supported by Moses Ochanji, an associate professor in the School of Education, and Anna Woodcock, a research faculty member in the psychology department, who are co-principal investigators on the grant.

The project, dubbed the “Code Queens Club,” is building on the enthusiasm generated by CSUSM’s biannual one-day Women’s Hackathon by offering weekly after-school activities in partner school districts in North County, including San Marcos, Vista and Oceanside.

“Our goal is to empower every participant and help them pursue future careers in computer science,” said Donnie Baltazar, who is the lead CSUSM student mentor and a regular volunteer at the Women’s Hackathon.

Baltazar is joined by five other CSUSM student mentors: Mae Ling Yip, Adan Martinez, Rodrigo Martinez, Emily Sorger and Anh Truong.

The mentors are computer science undergraduate students who facilitate the after-school activities at the participating high schools throughout the 10-week program.

“So far we have seen encouraging numbers of girls sign up for the after-school program and they are actively participating in the ‘Code Queens Clubs,’ ” Ochanji said. “I am excited about the opportunity to get girls engaged with coding during the early years in high school and look forward to seeing how participation in the program impacts their future career choices.”

Woodcock also has two research assistants helping on the project: Alondra Calva and Rudy Rodriguez. The research portion of the project will be ongoing throughout the grant.

Woodcock said they gathered data before the high school girls started the program and they will do so again in the middle and at the end of the project. They will be mapping the change in the interest in computer science among the participants. Additionally, they’ll look at students’ perception of their coding skills, how much they identify with being a computer scientist and feel like they belong in that field, and how much they feel that computer science aligns with their goals and values.

Woodcock said the CSUSM student mentors have played an integral role in getting the project off to a strong start.

“We have to sustain that interest over 10 weeks, but I feel like there is not a better team of people to do it than Donnie and our mentors,” Woodcock said. “They are just phenomenal.”

Ouyang said the computer science background of the participating high school students varies widely. While some are taking Advanced Placement computer science courses, others are freshman who have had little exposure to the field.

“I’m very excited about the wide range of students from different backgrounds that we have,” Ouyang said. “That’s what the grant is really targeting. We’re not just recruiting students who already think they’re on a computer science path. We want this to be a way to open up an opportunity for everybody, especially those who never thought about computer science.”

And the high school students have picked things up very quickly. Baltazar said the high school students have brought a high level of originality to their work while displaying a mastery of concepts in a short period of time.

“This project is a step in the right direction for helping the underrepresented demographics in computer science get exposure to the field,” he said.

STEM disciplines vary when it comes to inclusion of women and minorities. While biological sciences almost have parity in gender distribution, women and minorities are still chronically underrepresented in fields such as computer science, chemistry and engineering. However, almost 50 percent of high school girls participating in the project are Latina, based on initial data.

“The more we reach out and educate, the further we will all go along the path to new technologies and achievements,” Baltazar said.

Here's a closer look at those faculty members for the grant, which is titled “Si Se Puede!” to Close the Equity Gap in Engineering Degree Completion:

Meet Dr. Gerardo Dominguez

Dr. Gerardo Dominguez is trying to unlock the secrets of the universe.

An associate professor of physics at Cal State San Marcos, Dominguez has been recognized by Great Minds in STEM within the Hispanic science and engineering community for outstanding achievement in technology, NASA, and Diverse: Issues in Higher Education as a top researcher in planetary astrophysics and atmospheric chemistry.

“I’ve always enjoyed figuring out the ‘why’ of the world,” said Dominguez, who has been at CSUSM since 2011. “It brings me peace and satisfaction, and it drives me to stay up at night thinking about the mysteries of our age, including the origins of life, water and the terrestrial planets.”

Dominguez is the project director on the Hispanic-Serving Institutions STEM Program grant that is providing foundational funding for the University’s inaugural software and electrical engineering programs.

“Providing that opportunity for students coming to San Marcos to have a bachelors in electrical engineering or software engineering will be tremendous for our region,” he said.

Meet Dr. Youwen Ouyang

Dr. Youwen Ouyang has always been impressed by the young women who participate in the biannual Women’s Hackathon at Cal State San Marcos.

The event generates excitement among female high school and college students who work collaboratively using computer science to address a selected real-world challenge.

Ouyang, the chair of CSUSM’s computer science program and a faculty member since 1997, is working to build on the one-day Women’s Hackathon thanks to a recently awarded three-year grant for $1.2 million from the National Science Foundation.

Ouyang is also a co-principal investigator on the HSI STEM grant. The College of Science and Mathematics is launching a national search this spring to hire the founding faculty in software engineering.

As the lead software engineering designer for CSUSM’s engineering program, Ouyang will be responsible for ensuring that the software engineering program is interdisciplinary and builds on the strengths of CSUSM’s closely related computer science program.

Meet Dr. Ed Price

Dr. Ed Price recalls sitting in most of his classes while somebody lectured to him when he was a student.

“We have a lot of evidence now that that’s not a very effective way for people to learn science, and physics in particular,” said Price, a professor of physics at Cal State San Marcos.

Price is part of a project that aims to better prepare tomorrow’s teachers to effectively teach science thanks to a grant from the National Science Foundation. Price, who is a nationally recognized leader in physics education research, is the principal investigator on an award totaling $2,877,300, the largest NSF grant ever awarded to a CSUSM faculty member.

Price is also a co-principal investigator on the engineering grant.

As CSUSM’s lead electrical engineering designer, Price’s role is ensuring that the planned electrical engineering program builds on the strengths of the University’s physics program.

That good fortune continued as he earned a government-funded research assistantship while pursuing his master’s in computer science at Carnegie Mellon.

Now Schlesinger is giving back -- not only financially but also with his time and talents as he helps students as a volunteer tutor in Cal State San Marcos’ Math Lab.

“I felt like I had a lot of debts to pay back because I received a free education,” said Schlesinger, whose bachelor’s is in mathematics. “In addition to whatever I may contribute financially to the University, I thought that it’s a much more personal involvement going in there helping students do what I know something about.”

Schlesinger, who also serves on the College of Science and Mathematics Advisory Council, has made arrangements for a planned gift to CSUSM. He was inspired to become a planned giving donor in honor of his late wife, Mary Clare, who battled medical issues throughout her life.

Though he grew up in New York and attended college in the Northeast, Schlesinger wanted to make a contribution to the community he has called home for more than 40 years.

Mary Clare contracted polio when she was a toddler and suffered from post-polio syndrome, which can affect survivors years after recovery. Mary Clare was an advocate for helping others with the affliction, which can cause progressive muscle weakness and atrophy, fatigue and pain from joint degeneration.

Schlesinger’s planned gift to CSUSM will be directed toward programs that would be of special interest to Mary Clare such as nursing and palliative care.

It was his wife’s health concerns that led the Schlesingers to relocate to San Diego in the early 1970s. They were looking to escape the cold weather in the Northeast that exacerbated Mary Clare’s health issues.

Schlesinger worked as a computer scientist and software engineer and spent a portion of his career as an analyst examining proposed designs of computer systems.

He still casually follows the computer industry in retirement and is enthusiastic about CSUSM’s progress in developing an engineering program.

The University was awarded a $6 million grant in September under the Hispanic-Serving Institutions STEM Program that is providing foundational funding for an engineering program, beginning with software engineering. Initial preparation of the program structures, curriculum, course descriptions and student learning outcomes are approaching completion, and documentation will move forward in the spring as part of the institutional process.

“Starting an engineering program at CSUSM will be a great opportunity for students and industry in our area,” Schlesinger said. “Students will be able to pursue a career path that is much needed in our area and in much demand. Companies will be able to hire engineering grads who have a strong tendency to stay in the area.”

More than 80 percent of CSUSM alumni remain in the region after graduating, something Schlesinger can relate to after spending most of his adult life here.

Among the activities keeping him busy in retirement is a passion for photography that has taken him around the world, including a trip to Cuba a couple of years ago. He has even donated prints of his photos to CSUSM’s annual gala.

Schlesinger also stays busy at CSUSM’s Math Lab where he tries to volunteer a couple of times each week.

“We are very grateful for the hours that Steve spends volunteering in the Math Lab; his contributions extend much further than the math support he provides,” said Jennifer Brich, director of CSUSM’s Math Lab. “In addition to being a great tutor he is also a mentor and role model to my staff.”

His strategy includes diving straight into his computer science major during his first two years at Cal State San Marcos and not simply leaving it to his final four semesters.

Nam, who came to CSUSM from Vietnam, wants to remain in the U.S. after graduation to take advantage of greater job opportunities in the computer science industry. However, his visa requires him to find employment within nine months of graduating.

But that shouldn’t be a problem based on his success in a recent coding contest.

Nam finished eighth out of nearly 900 entrants in an online coding competition sponsored by Codility, which helps companies test coders and improve programming skills.

Only U.S. students were eligible for prizes, but the competition drew participants from around the world. And Nam found himself in impressive company – the winner was from Carnegie Mellon and four of the top eight were from MIT. Nam finished ahead of competitors from the likes of Cal Tech, Princeton and Yale.

“I’m proud that I was the only one from California in the top 10,” Nam said.

Nam had never been to the United States before traveling here in the summer of 2015 to attend CSUSM. He wanted to study abroad to make use of better facilities for learning computer science as well as more career opportunities.

He knew his parents couldn’t afford to send him to the U.S. for college so he set out to earn a scholarship. He read about one offered by the Vietnamese government for students interested in computer science that would cover tuition and living expenses -- and set his sights on earning it.

Nam spent his sophomore year of high school focused on honing his coding skills, work that paid off in his junior year as he earned the scholarship by finishing third in a national coding competition. Nam learned about CSUSM at a college fair and spent his senior year studying English in preparation for his move.

Nam took a number of required general courses in his first semester at CSUSM, but has delved deeper into computer science classes since then. He’s hoping to land an internship sooner by getting a jump on those courses, something that can help him get a head start on landing a job after graduation.

Nam’s strong showing in the recent coding competition is certainly helping. While he thought of the contest solely as a competition, CSUSM computer science professor Sahar Mosleh explained the importance of the accomplishment for his resume.

“Nam is going to have a very bright future,” Mosleh said. “Having watched students succeed, I conclude that success depends on three qualities: perseverance, tenacity and cogency. Nam has them all.”

Nam exhibited those qualities on his path from Vietnam to the U.S. With his college finances secure through the scholarship, he figured out things like housing and transportation on his own. He even managed to navigate the DMV to obtain his driver’s license.

The transition to American life has been a smooth one, though he acknowledges that he is still adjusting to the food.

“There are a lot of things that surprise me about the lifestyle here,” he said. “It’s so good. It’s so civilized and people are so nice.”

Or there will be soon, thanks to a grant-funded research project led by Dr. Ali Ahmadinia, a professor in the Department of Computer Science at Cal State San Marcos, and three of his students, Jorge Chavez, Michael Le and Greg Farinelli.

What does the project entail?

“We are in the process of developing a prototype that would provide localized, real-time information about indoor air quality on a cellphone app,” Ahmadinia said. “There is a lot of work to be done, but we have built an initial working prototype so far.”

Success may be a matter of life and death.

The World Health Organization estimates that one in eight deaths worldwide are linked to air pollution – both indoor and outdoor, and recent data shows a strong link between air pollution and cardiovascular diseases and cancer, not to mention respiratory ailments. Strokes account for 34 percent of indoor air pollution-caused deaths, and 26 percent of coronary artery disease, according to the 2014 WHO report. As people spend more than 80 percent of their time indoors, their total exposure to most air pollutants largely depends on their indoor exposure. Indoor pollutants include gases such as nitrogen dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Besides the potential deadly effects, poor indoor air quality can reduce productivity and impair student learning.

Launched in April 2016 through a $20,000 grant, the goal of CleanAir: Mobile Crowd Sensing for Indoor Air Quality Monitoring is to create a crowd-sensing system using a set of sensors to measure air quality and monitor the concentration of pollutants, resulting in AMBER alert-style warnings to people in the area when carbon dioxide levels are too high. In addition, CleanAir will store data collected by individual devices on a central server, enabling schools and property management companies to track the level of exposure and take actions to reduce exposure when necessary.

Jorge, Michael and Greg jumped at the opportunity to work with Ahmadinia when they learned of the research project.

“I saw this as a great opportunity to enhance my skills in embedded systems, working with sensors and writing code,” said Greg, a senior majoring in computer science who has been putting in about 40 hours each month on the project. “A good learning experience that is enabling me to build my skills in working with sensors of all types and calibrating them to make sure we’re getting reliable readings. We’re expanding our knowledge quite a bit.”

Ahmadinia, who earned his Ph.D. in 2006 from University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, has worked as a research associate with the Electronic Imaging Group of Fraunhofer Institute - Integrated Circuits in Erlangen, Germany. He also served as a research fellow in the School of Engineering and Electronics at the University of Edinburgh, and he came to CSUSM from

Glasgow Caledonian University, where he was a senior lecturer in embedded systems. He has worked with several companies on design and development of low power sensor devices for deep sea oil and gas pipeline monitoring systems and smart building energy management systems.

The project is in partnership with Venuetize LLC, a mobile-first venue platform as a service company specializing in Internet-of-Things and contextual awareness. Dr. Nimish Shrivastava, an adjunct faculty in CSUSM’s Department of Computer Science, is supporting the project as the Chief Technology Officer at Venuetize.

“It’s been an amazing experience,” said Michael, who added the insights he’s learning about embedded systems, Bluetooth technology and the intricacies of sensors has been invaluable.

“I’m glad I had the opportunity to work on this project,” Greg added. “Dr. Ahmadinia is really a great mentor and an incredible teacher.”

The event generates excitement among female high school and college students who work collaboratively using computer science to address a selected real-world challenge.

Now Ouyang is working to build on the one-day event thanks to a recently awarded three-year grant for $1,199,971 from the National Science Foundation.

As the principal investigator on the grant titled “Inspiring Commitment for STEM Career Paths through Extended Women’s Hackathons,” Ouyang will be supported by Moses Ochanji, an associate professor in the School of Education, and Anna Woodcock, a research faculty member in the psychology department, who are co-principal investigators on the project.

The grant project will build on the enthusiasm from the one-day Women’s Hackathon to offer weekly after-school activities in four partner school districts -- Escondido, San Marcos, Vista and Oceanside. The activities will be facilitated by CSUSM computer science undergrad students, who will visit a school site in each district to work with female students from the high school.

It is anticipated that the project will reach 180 high school girls over the three years. While open to all female high school students in the partner districts, the extended hackathon is targeting Latina students for participation.

Ouyang said the project’s research component that is spearheaded by Woodcock was crucial in securing the grant.

Woodcock said the project’s research goal is two-fold:

• Examine the extent to which the extended hackathon project fosters and sustains participants’ sense of self-efficacy and identity in computer science; and
• Examine how self-efficacy and identity build on the interest and skills to increase participants’ commitment to a potential computer science career path.

“Our past research clearly shows that self-efficacy -- or sense of ‘I can do it’ -- and identity with a field such as computer science are critical for sustaining interest,” Woodcock said. “Our research plan will measure the impact of the extended hackathon on these processes. We want to get this research out there to the academic community, but also in the computer science community.”

Woodcock’s research interests include examining the negative effects of stereotyping on women and minorities in STEM fields. She notes that STEM disciplines vary when it comes to inclusion of women and minorities. While biological sciences almost have parity in gender distribution, Woodcock said women and minorities are still chronically underrepresented in fields such as computer science, chemistry and engineering.

“The abilities of women and girls are negatively stereotyped in these fields which creates a barrier to participation,” she said.

Ochanji will play an important role through his expertise in designing curriculum as well as helping to prepare the undergraduate CSUSM computer science students in how to best communicate and engage with the high school participants. The college students will not only train the high school girls in the program, but will be positive role models as young women who are thriving in computer science studies.

As work on the grant gets underway, CSUSM will host its sixth Women’s Hackathon on Oct. 15. The challenges for the hackathon include:

• “Connecting Girls to Success” to aid Girl Force USA’s goal of helping girls in leadership development. The challenge is to create a platform in which members of Girl Force USA can continue training on their own and connect their goals to resources in the Girl Force USA community.
• “Creative Repurposing to Reduce Waste” to help The Green Horizon in its promotion of green culture among youth by encouraging civic participation in environmental protection. The challenge is to provide an interactive platform to engage resourceful older generations to help youth learn creative and artistic ways of repurposing and upcycling.

As Ouyang focuses on the grant project, she has turned to computer science professor Sahar Mosleh to take care of logistics for the one-day hackathon. Among the goals is recruiting more college students for the Oct. 15 event to pair up with high school participants.

The one-day hackathon has already made an impact in showing girls that computer science is about more than writing codes.

“They start to see computer science as problem-solving,” Ouyang said. “They get to see the bigger picture. Through technology, you become creative problem-solvers. You’re providing ways to solve problems that was not possible before.”

Visit http://sandiegohackathon.org/us for more information on the hackathon.

With cyberattacks seemingly in the headlines on a daily basis, it’s no surprise that cybersecurity workers are in demand.

From 2005 through Aug. 25 of this year, the Identity Theft Resource Center reports that there were nearly 6,500 breaches impacting almost 900 million records. The total number of U.S. breaches in 2015 was 781, the second highest total on record since the ITRC began tracking the numbers in 2005.

Identity theft breaches are just one type of cybercrime; others include financial fraud, intellectual property theft, denial of service and hacking.

Cal State San Marcos is helping to fill a critical need by training the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.

Now in its second year, CSUSM’s Professional Science Master’s Degree in Cybersecurity is one of four in the nation accredited through the National Professional Science Master’s Association. A differentiating factor with PSM degrees is the focus on both the technical and management side of cybersecurity initiatives. As such, both CSUSM’s College of Science and Mathematics and College of Business Administration provide selected courses for students.

“We believe our program better equips our students to take on leadership roles in cybersecurity within their organizations,” said Teresa Macklin, interim director of CSUSM’s cybersecurity program and the University’s chief information security officer and associate dean for technology infrastructure.

“It is becoming increasingly important for IT professionals to be able to advise, counsel and communicate effectively with their organization on cyber issues, threats and vulnerabilities. We designed this program to provide them with the information and resources to lead their organizations’ effort to secure their technologies and operations.”

October provides a good reminder of the importance of cybersecurity as it is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, an annual campaign through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to raise awareness about cybersecurity.

Here are five tips from CSUSM’s cybersecurity program to cyber-protect yourself or your business:

1. Back up your data – and do so regularly.
2. Understand the value of what you need to protect. Is it the plans for the new rocket motor? Your family photo collection? Your client/customer personal information? This helps you determine the measures you should – and those you must – take to protect those assets.
3. Practice safe browsing. Don’t accept “certificate errors.” These are not normal. Each time you enter a password, check to be sure you are using an encrypted session (https://site or the lock symbol, etc.).
4. Don’t reuse passwords. If one site is breached, the hackers will try your email or username and password on other sites. You are at risk if you are using the same password in multiple places. Get a password manager program if necessary (examples include LastPass and OnePass).
5. Make sure your computer is protected with current operating system and application updates along with an anti-malware application.

CSUSM’s cybersecurity program is geared toward working professionals by offering evening classes and can be completed in less than two years. Curriculum focuses on cyber-threat prevention and IT security management, rather than threat detection. Although students don't need to have a cybersecurity background, they do need a computer science or technology-related degree (or experience) in order to qualify.

The goal of the program is to educate and train an expertly skilled workforce to fill the needs of a rapidly growing industry. Job outlook growth for information security analysts is expected to increase by 18 percent from 2014-2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That rate growth is expected to create 14,800 new jobs by 2024. By comparison, the growth for all occupations is projected at 7 percent for that same time frame.

And, according to the BLS, the median pay for information security analysts was $90,120 per year in 2015, nearly triple the median annual wage for all workers.

In conjunction with the San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation and a cyber industry advisory council, CSUSM has identified key areas of focus in its curriculum. The 13 courses that are part of the program will prepare students to:

• adapt to changes and analyze and solve problems;
• conduct risk analyses for implementing information security solutions;
• assess and put security decisions into operation;
• analyze and choose technology and/or operational solutions in relation to security;
• understand security software development models;
• evaluate and select encryption algorithms;
• perform offensive security;
• perform vulnerability assessments of networks, systems and software; and
• perform intrusion detection and incident response activities

One of the unique aspects of CSUSM’s master’s in cybersecurity is its Semester-In-Residence (SIR) program, which provides students an opportunity to apply their training and knowledge to address a real-world issue or project. The SIR program also allows companies that might not have the necessary expertise for a project to tap into the knowledge of CSUSM’s cybersecurity students and professors.

The SIR program is structured similar to an internship and is done in lieu of a master’s thesis. It requires about 300 hours of project work over 15 weeks. There are dozens of examples of potential cybersecurity SIR projects, everything from evaluating and identifying gaps in an organization’s overall information security program to creating a risk-assessment model.

Visit CSUSM’s Professional Science Master’s Degree in Cybersecurity program website for more information.

Not Emily Sorger.

Has she watched the recording of a February 2015 accident that left her with a concussion, not to mention back and leg injuries?

“Oh, all the time,” said Emily, 19, who has been snowboarding competitively since she was about 12.

Emily, who will be a Cal State San Marcos sophomore this fall, has tackled her recovery from that snowboarding mishap with the same determination that she uses in showing girls and young women the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Just a couple of months after the accident, Emily not only participated in CSUSM’s Women’s Hackathon, she was part of a five-person team that took a grand prize. The biannual event is for female high school and college students who work in teams to design a website, game or mobile app that addresses a selected real-world challenge. Emily's team created a game called Calcium Crush to help increase awareness of bone health among adolescents.

Emily has long had a passion for computer programming, and the Women’s Hackathon experience put her on a path to help other young women learn about STEM opportunities.

“I did my best to inspire those around me and say, ‘Hey, you know what? Girls can do this, too. It’s not as hard as you would think it is,’ ” said Emily, who is majoring in computer science with a minor in German.

Emily met Youwen Ouyang, CSUSM’s department chair of computer science and information systems, through the Women’s Hackathon. Since winning in April 2015, Emily has assisted Ouyang in the planning of the event and also serves as a mentor to competitors.

Ouyang said she tried to stay close to Emily during the teenager’s first experience as a mentor in case Emily needed assistance. Ouyang quickly learned it wasn’t necessary.

“She’s really young, but the way she encourages and engages other girls is really impressive,” Ouyang said.

Emily also has given presentations to younger students as part of her effort to encourage more women to get into the technology field. She hopes that hearing about it from someone who isn’t much older than them will provide inspiration.

“It’s definitely getting better for women, I think,” Emily said. “Slowly but surely.”

Computer programming runs in Emily’s family. Her father is a senior engineer for Zynga and her twin brother, Michael, is studying video game programming at the University of Utah. Her mother was also in the business on the music side and encouraged Emily to learn a variety of instruments (Emily plays the clarinet, guitar and piano).

The possibility of combining two of her passions – computer programming and snowboarding – hasn’t escaped Emily. And the snowboarding injuries didn’t dampen her enthusiasm for the sport.

The accident occurred during Emily’s senior year of high school while in Arizona to visit colleges. She was attempting to jump over a tractor-tire feature at a terrain park. Emily said she was tired at the end of a long day and didn’t check her snowboard bindings.

Emily’s foot came off the board because of a loose binding as she bounced off the tire into the air, eventually landing on her head and back.

Emily’s brother was filming at the time, which is how she has been able to have repeated viewings.

Her parents, however, have not.

“Their view is, ‘I saw it one time in person and that’s all I want to see it,’ ” Emily said.

Emily said she can be stubborn when it comes to admitting that she’s hurt. After being checked out by the ski patrol, she insisted on skipping the hospital and getting back home so she wouldn’t miss school.

“So I sat on an eight-hour car drive back to California with this injury,” she said. “And the next morning I couldn’t move my leg and I had the worst headache. That’s when I went to the doctor. But it actually wasn’t until three weeks after my accident that they said, ‘Wow, you got a really bad concussion, too.’ ”

Emily persevered despite suffering through bouts of dizziness, light-headedness and nausea, among other symptoms.

The accident occurred about three months before she was to graduate from high school, but support from family, friends and teachers helped her get through those final months.

“It was definitely really hard,” Emily said, “but I didn’t want to give up because I wanted to say, ‘Hey, look, I had this really bad thing happen to me, but I’m still going to graduate.’ Because that’s the kind of person I am. I’m a hard worker. I don’t let anything stand in my way.”

Emily was able to participate in just one snowboarding competition last winter, but expects to be ready for a full schedule this season with aspirations of eventually competing in the Olympics.

While she loves Cal State San Marcos, it lacks one thing she needs to achieve that Olympic dream – snow. Emily is still mulling her options for getting back to Utah, where she spent most winters growing up, and one possibility is to attend graduate school at the University of Utah.

In the meantime, her family is planning to build a foam pit in their backyard for training.

“That way I can practice tricks into the foam pit without my parents being worried that I’m going to hit my head on hard snow,” she said. “That’ll be cool.”

The Robot Expo showcases original robots constructed by teams of physics and computer science students who are tasked with designing and programming a micro-system. Each robot requires hours upon hours of thought, research and advanced code, effectively engaging the students’ knowledge and ability to create a fully functioning robot from scratch. The expo gives students a chance to showcase their robots in action as well as communicate the technical processes the robot undergoes to perform those tasks.

The community is encouraged to join in the fun and watch robots in action. Physics demonstrations, including a showcase of the use of 3D printing to build prosthetics, and interactive activity stations led by STEM ambassadors and the Society of Physics students will also be offered at the event, allowing attendees to engage in a hands-on experience.

What: Robot Expo hosted by the CSUSM Physics Department

When: Friday, Dec. 18, 2015 – noon to 3 p.m.

Where: The McMahan House at CSUSM, 333 S. Twin Oak Valley Road, San Marcos

Directions and Parking: For more information or directions to the campus, visit http://www.csusm.edu/guide. Parking is available in campus lots with fees ranging from $4 to $9 depending upon length of stay.

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that by 2020 there will be more than 1.4 million computing-related job openings. Yet, at current rates, only 29 percent of those positions will be filled by women. The CSUSM Women’s Hackathon seeks to inspire female students to pursue computer and information science degrees and careers.

“A hackathon exclusively for young women provides a safe environment for them to share their creativity, collaborate with each other and build friendships,” said Professor of Computer Science Youwen Ouyang, the event organizer. “We know that the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce is crucial to America’s innovative capacity and global competitiveness, yet women are vastly underrepresented in these fields. We simply must do more to expose young women to the opportunities in computer science and STEM.”

Students, who are coming from as far as Sweetwater Union High School District in Chula Vista to Occidental College in Pasadena, are not required to have previous computer programming experience. However, prior to the event teams can plan, storyboard and determine what they want to do. About 20 mentors will be on hand to offer support to them during the hackathon, as they seek to solve one of the two event challenges.

The first challenge, sponsored by the ACE Scholars Services program at CSUSM, asks hackers to better inform and prepare foster youth for college. The second challenge, sponsored by the Consumer Advocates for RCFE Reform, challenges them to make compliance data for California’s 8,000 assisted living facilities more easily available, understandable and comparable for families within their selected geographic area. Winning teams will receive prizes and have a chance to have their application and pitch video published on the Microsoft Research website.

CSUSM thanks Platinum-level sponsors Pivot 3, The Gormally Family and CompTIA. Gold-level sponsors include Cylance and Panasonic. Sony is hosting a post-event career dinner for all participants.

Who: Over 100 female high school and college students from San Diego, Riverside and Los Angeles Counties, and approximately 20 mentors and volunteers.

What: The fourth semi-annual CSUSM Women’s Hackathon

When: Saturday, Oct. 24 from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Where: California State University San Marcos, 333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Rd., San Marcos

Why: To expose female students to academic and career opportunities in computer and information science and the STEM fields.

The title of the project may sound complex—Quality Understanding and Engagement for Students and Teachers on Computational Thinking—but the theory behind the effort is simple: start building the problem-solving and critical-thinking skills of students while they’re young so that they can tackle increasingly complex subjects as they progress through school.

“We want to look at refining the pedagogy and the curriculum to incorporate more computational thinking in the classroom so that students can become creators of technology and not just consumers of technology,” said Youwen Ouyang, a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems who is the principal investigator and director of the project.

Ouyang is working with School of Education Professor Emeritus Katherine Hayden and School of Education Assistant Professor Sinem Siyahhan. They are now refining their research plan and developing a curriculum for fifth- and sixth-grade teachers at the Escondido Union School District, the Santee School District, the Encinitas Union School District and the Cardiff School District. Teachers taking part in the research study will go through an orientation program in May.

The project also includes an after-school component which Siyahhan says will play a pivotal role. Siyahhan is on the cutting edge of utilizing video games to support STEM teaching and learning, and she is the founding director of Play2Connect, a service oriented research initiative that aims to support family learning, communication and connection through gaming. Afterschool components in the project include a summer camp, afterschool clubs and family events designed to support student interest and attitudes.

According to the National Science Foundation, the project will contribute to the understanding of what it takes to empower fifth- and sixth-grade teachers as designers of computational learning opportunities for students from underrepresented groups and how a combination of both formal and informal learning experiences support the needs of underrepresented populations in STEM and computing.

With a conservative estimate of 28 students per teacher per year, the project is expected to directly impact more than 1,000 students as 18 project teachers implement computational teaching-integrated science lessons into classroom activities over two years.

Computational thinking and learning is often associated with the development of computer applications, but it can also be used to support problem solving across all disciplines, including math and science. Students adept in computational thinking across the curriculum can begin to see a relationship between various subjects.

“We want students to take the computational thinking skills that are used in computer programming and transfer them to other areas to make them better problem solvers,” said Hayden. “We’re asking teachers to step back and ask students what’s important to know in a particular problem, what data do I need to look at, why is that data important, and why am I analyzing it this way.”

Hayden and Ouyang have collaborated on projects funded by the National Science Foundation in the past. The two were awarded a three-year $1.49 million grant in 2009 to help middle school teachers expand their expertise in science and technology to better educate, engage and inspire their students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1543258. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Working in student teams, hackers had just eight hours to build their prototypes before presenting their projects to a panel of five judges from prominent tech companies in the region. Student projects focused on issues of water conservation and bone health.

A departure from the stereotype of a lone programmer, the Hackathon emphasizes a learn-collaborate-create approach to computer programming that stresses the importance of collective problem solving and teamwork. Skill levels run the gamut from computer science undergraduates to novice programmers learning code for the first time.

“Students learn from each other and from their mentors as they work together to identify project scopes and create solutions for real-world problems,” said Dr. Youwen Ouyang, professor of Computer Science and Information Systems, who organizes the semiannual competition on campus. “Several of our students have programmed alone in the past, but at the Hackathon, this is their first time collaborating on a programming project.”

Team Code Ninjas, comprised of six students from MiraCosta College, designed an android app called Calcium Catcher, where skeleton gamers devour calcium-rich foods and avoid calcium-depleting foods to earn points and advance to the next level. High schoolers from Martin Luther King created MyAgua, a computer game that challenges players to balance five household tasks like flushing a toilet or watering the garden before running out of daily water allowances.

Inspired by Microsoft Research, the Hackathon "provides a fun and safe environment in which to explore computing, and encourage and support university women around the world to become producers of future innovations in technology and help solve challenges in the world today.”

Ouyang brought the first Hackathon to CSUSM in April 2014 as part of Microsoft Research's International Women’s Hackathon, a network of concurrent competitions that take place annually at university campuses across the globe. Since then, and with the support of the top technology companies in the region, the Women's Hackathon at CSUSM has empowered nearly 200 young women to design and develop software applications that address real issues from climate change to emergency responses during a natural disaster.

Exposing More Women to STEM

Open to young women 16 and older and provided at no cost to the registrants, the Hackathon is designed to introduce more women to the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics – known as the STEM discipline. Of the 1.4 million computing jobs expected by 2018, it is estimated that only 29 percent of those positions will be filled by women. Hackathon organizers and supporters hope to change that statistic.

“Few high schools in California offer computer science in its curriculum – and when they do, few girls take such classes,” explained Ouyang. “As a result, many young women do not know what computer science entails or how it offers exciting interdisciplinary opportunities. Studies have shown that women are attracted to careers that have human impact yet computing had long been depicted as isolated work. Through the Hackathon challenges, students were able to see how knowledge and solutions in STEM have a direct impact on our lives.”

CompTIA couldn’t agree more – which is why the nonprofit global trade association generously donated $5,000 for the Hackathon. As a provider of professional certifications for the IT industry, CompTIA is committed to seeing more underrepresented populations pursue STEM careers.

"Information technology remains one of our fastest growing industries, but we're struggling to fill the demand for workers," said Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO of CompTIA. "In the first quarter of 2015 employers posted more than 850,000 IT job openings. Expanding and diversifying the IT workforce is a high priority for CompTIA and our member companies. That's why we're pleased to support the Women’s Hackathon at CSUSM. It's programs like this that are building awareness about technology as a career option and preparing the next generation of tech entrepreneurs."

With three competitions now under their belts, Ouyang and her team hope to expand the Hackathon and enable students to further develop their prototypes into formal applications with sponsorship support.

For more information on the next Hackathon at CSUSM or to view the winning student projects, visit sandiegohackathon.org.

So when friend and fellow freshman Zena Nuhaily asked Tala to take part with her in the International Women’s Hackathon—an October 11 computer programming competition aimed at encouraging young women to pursue computer science careers—Talia wasn’t sure what to think.

“I had never done anything like that before,” she said of the all-day event at the Cal State San Marcos campus. “I was just there to have fun. But we ended up winning the competition and now it’s inspired me to maybe do some programming or software engineering. It’s made me more confident in working with computers, that’s for sure.”

Being crowned Hackathon champions gave Tala, Zena and the third member of their team, Raffdazzel John, two months to refine their project—a video game dubbed “Ice Hoppers,” aimed at educating young players about the challenges of climate change—before submitting it to Microsoft Research to be showcased with winners from other Hackathon events.

Their win illustrates exactly what Hackathon organizers are on a mission to prove: computer science isn’t just for nerds, and girls can do anything at least as well as their male counterparts.

“These are three girls, two of them art majors, who took top honors,” said Dr. Youwen Ouyang, a professor in the CSUSM Computer Science and Information Systems Department who helped organize the competition on campus. “That carries a powerful message that excelling in computer sciences for girls is something that is attainable, and you don’t have to be geeky to do it.”

Zena, the only member of the team they dubbed the `PC Gang’ who is studying computer science at CSUSM, agreed: “I think the Hackathon will have a large impact for women not necessarily just to enter computer science, but more so it will encourage women to incorporate programming and high-level problem-solving skills in any other field of study they may choose. As for me, the Hackathon was very encouraging since I came in with little experience and no idea what to expect, but now I am inspired to further my studies in computer science.”

In fact, the event has inspired several students to help launch an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Women in Engineering chapter at CSUSM.

Empowering Young Women to Code

The International Women’s Hackathon is a network of concurrent events designed to empower young women leaders in computer science, says Microsoft Research, which developed the idea. “By providing a fun and safe environment in which to explore computing, the Hackathon encourages and supports university women around the world to become producers of future innovations in technology and help solve challenges in the world today.”

Ouyang brought the first Hackathon to CSUSM in April of 2014. The recent October competition brought together 58 students from 20 high schools and colleges to work in teams to create—within eight hours—a website, app or video game tackling the issue of climate change or disaster response. Some 20 mentors, most of whom are computer science professionals, were on hand to help guide the contestants, who also had access to computer-programming tutorials such as Scratch.

Ten students from CSUSM participated. Michelle Salem and Remington Rimple worked with two high school students who won the Originality & Impact Award for the Climate Change Challenge. Elani Labo, Sara Adra, Brittany Dibble, Eik Hallgrimsdottir and Quincy Sharp worked with a team that won the User Experience & Functionality and Originality & Impact awards for the Natural Disaster Challenge.

PC Gang took the overall award in the Climate Change Challenge. Members of the team said their lack of computer programming experience actually provided an advantage.

“We had a wide range of backgrounds and a lot of artistic background, and I think that helped us come at the competition from another perspective,” Zena said.

“The International Hackathon isn’t only for women interested in the field of computer science,” said Talia. “It allows for a wide variety of women with different interests. There's a lot of freedom to include what you love. I thought you had to be really knowledgeable about this specific field in order to be successful, but the Hackathon made me realize that being creative also plays a big role.”

The International Women’s Hackathon is sponsored by Microsoft Research and seeks to encourage young women to pursue their interest and careers in computer science, even if they haven’t had prior programming experience. The event is open to female students over the age of 16. Participants will be broken into teams of four to six to design a website, game, cloud based service, application, or mobile app to address one of these two world challenges: Disaster Response or Climate Data. Winning teams will receive prizes and have a chance to have their application and pitch video published on the Microsoft Research website.

“A Hackathon exclusively for young women provides a safe environment for them to share their creativity, collaborate with each other, and build friendships,” said Dr. Youwen Ouyang, professor of Computer Science at CSUSM. “There are now 40 students registered, representing 14 colleges and high schools. The support from the community for the event has truly humbled me. We are so grateful to our volunteers, judges and mentors who are ready to work with participants for a fun day of tackling real world problems.”

CSUSM has received financial support for the Hackathon from the John Gormally Family and TakeLessons.com. The San Diego community can support CSUSM’s participation in the International Women’s Hackathon by being a mentor or by sponsoring the event.

Young women and parents of young women interested in participating have until October 7 to register. More information can be found at http://sandiegohackathon.org/