{"id":15142,"date":"2025-10-21T01:34:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T01:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/15142\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T01:34:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T01:34:13","slug":"csulbs-college-of-engineering-awarded-2-27m-federal-grant-to-help-improve-its-facilities-press-telegram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/15142\/","title":{"rendered":"CSULB\u2019s College of Engineering awarded $2.27M federal grant to help improve its facilities \u2013 Press Telegram"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cal State Long Beach\u2019s College of Engineering announced on Monday, Oct. 20, that it has received a federal grant and strengthened its partnerships with the city and local aerospace companies to help prepare its students for their future careers through project-based learning.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Economic Development Administration, a bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce, awarded the college a $2.27 million grant to help make renovations to its facilities and purchase equipment for labs that support satellites, rocketry, advanced manufacturing and more, university officials said.<\/p>\n

Students, staff, faculty, alumni, community members, university and city officials converged in front of CSULB\u2019s engineering building on Monday to celebrate the funding and partnerships.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an exciting, exciting moment for our campus and for our city,\u201d said CSULB interim President Andrew Jones<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This grant will help fund a portion of the $15 million renovation plan for the engineering program, which has been dubbed \u201cBeach Launch Pad,\u201d university officials said. Not only will it improve project-based learning for students, but also give more opportunities for faculty to complete their research programs by providing cutting-edge equipment and project spaces.<\/p>\n

\"(L-R)<\/p>\n

(L-R) Mayor Rex Richardson, Dean of the College of Eningeering Jinny Rhee, Chief People Officer at VAST Karin Kou, and CEO and co-founder of Orbital Operations Ben Schleuniger during the panel discussion on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"CSULB<\/p>\n

CSULB Intrim President Andrew Jones announces the College of Engineering recieving at $2.27 million federal grant for facility and equipment improvements part of the university\u2019s project called \u201cBeach Launch Pad,\u201d on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Mayor<\/p>\n

Mayor Rex Richardson at the announcement of CSULB\u2019s College of Engineering recieving at $2.27 million federal grant for facility and equipment improvements part of the university\u2019s project called \u201cBeach Launch Pad,\u201d on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"CSULB<\/p>\n

CSULB Dean of Engineering Jinny Rhee announces the College of Engineering recieving at $2.27 million federal grant for facility and equipment improvements part of the university\u2019s project called \u201cBeach Launch Pad,\u201d on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"(L-R)<\/p>\n

(L-R) CSULB Interim President Andrew Jones, Mayor Rex Richardson, Dean of the College of Eningeering Jinny Rhee, CEO and co-founder of Orbital Operations Ben Schleuniger, and Chief People Officer at VAST Karin Kou at the announcement of the College of Engineering being awarded a $2.27 million federal grant on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"(L-R)<\/p>\n

(L-R) Dean of the College of Eningeering Jinny Rhee, Chief People Officer at VAST Karin Kou, and CEO and co-founder of Orbital Operations Ben Schleuniger during the panel discussion on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Labs<\/p>\n

Labs in CSULB\u2019s College of Engineering will be getting facility and equipment improvements as the university works on its project, called \u201cBeach Launch Pad,\u201d to improve project-based learning for students and faculty research. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Labs<\/p>\n

Labs in CSULB\u2019s College of Engineering will be getting facility and equipment improvements as the university works on its project, called \u201cBeach Launch Pad,\u201d to improve project-based learning for students and faculty research. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Labs<\/p>\n

Labs in CSULB\u2019s College of Engineering will be getting facility and equipment improvements as the university works on its project, called \u201cBeach Launch Pad,\u201d to improve project-based learning for students and faculty research. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 9<\/p>\n

(L-R) Mayor Rex Richardson, Dean of the College of Eningeering Jinny Rhee, Chief People Officer at VAST Karin Kou, and CEO and co-founder of Orbital Operations Ben Schleuniger during the panel discussion on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to helping the university\u2019s college of engineering keep pace with the growing needs of the aerospace industry and increasing demand for aerospace engineering professionals,\u201d Jones said, \u201cthis EDA grant will also build our capacity for project-based learning and, more broadly, it will help ensure that we have the resources and the agility to educate the thoughtful and deliberative thinkers, leaders and innovators who are critically important to the well-being of our world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cBeach Launch Pad\u201d will house updated equipment in the machine shop, a new rocket lab, a dorne cage and an additive manufacturing lab to keep up with the growing needs of the aerospace industry, officials said.<\/p>\n

The university partnered with Mayor Rex Richardson\u2019s office and local aerospace companies to be able to apply for the grant, Jones said. Some of those companies include Northrop Grumman, VAST, Rocket Lab and Nikon, among others \u2013 and many are part of \u201cSpace Beach<\/a>,\u201d the city\u2019s moniker for the growing number of aerospace and space companies in Long Beach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city\u2019s promotion and investment into Space Beach, right here in Long Beach, is aligned with what we\u2019re all trying to do and with what all of these companies are trying to do,\u201d said Jinny Rhee, dean of the CSULB College of Engineering. \u201cI think that good things are going to happen if we\u2019re all going in the same direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richardson shared a similar sentiment, adding that the grant\u2019s investment will continue to strengthen the pipeline of CSULB students to Space Beach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be a part of it, because we know the future of Space Beach depends on the partnerships we build today,\u201d the mayor said, \u201cpartnerships that connect our campus to our growing aerospace and space manufacturing industries.\u201d<\/p>\n

The announcement was followed by a panel made up of the college\u2019s dean, Chief People Officer at VAST Karin Kou, and CEO and co-founder of Orbital Operations Ben Schleuniger. The panel discussed how they anticipate the grant will impact the university and what companies like VAST and Orbiral Operations<\/a> are looking for in inters and recent graduates.<\/p>\n

\u201cTalent is the big driver of what we do,\u201d Kou said. \u201cYes, we\u2019re in the business of trying to replace the International Space Station, but we need the people to do it. I\u2019m proud to say that Cal State Long Beach has 37 alumni at our company right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students knowing how to solve problems is something that\u2019s important in the industry, Schleuniger added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe opportunity to get into these types of project is really hard at some universities,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I think it\u2019s getting easier for Long Beach to train up real skill set, particularly with this type of development.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting your hands dirty, running into problems on trying to make a combustion device work or turbo machinery, or just organizing a team,\u201d Schleuniger added, \u201cthat\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re interviewing for.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cal State Long Beach\u2019s College of Engineering announced on Monday, Oct. 20, that it has received a federal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,23,131,133,132,137],"class_list":{"0":"post-15142","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-long-beach","11":"tag-long-beach-headlines","12":"tag-long-beach-news","13":"tag-los-angeles-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}