LAS POSITAS COLLEGE
Engineering/Engineering Technology
Advisory Committee
APPROVED Minutes
Tuesday, March 19, 2002
3:00 p.m., LPC Room 1602
Present:
 Vernon Barr, Supervisor, Sandia National Labs
 Gill Cruz, Engineering Instructor, Las Positas College
 Mo Deghani, Lawrence Livermore National Lab
 Dr. Neal Ely, Dean, Academic Services, Division III, Las Positas College
 Richard Finn, Sandia National Labs/LPC Adjunct Faculty
 Ken Petersen, LPZA
 Saeid Motavalli, Chair, Cal State Hayward Engineering Department
 Norman Thomas, Optical Engineer, Lawrence Livermore National Lab
 Alec Willis, Consultant, Sandia National Labs
Introductions:
1. Dr. Ely welcomed the group to the meeting and expressed his gratitude to everyone for
attending. He said the college feels that people who participate really help our community,
and the college would like to offer the following “gifts of thanks” to any Advisory Board
members who did not receive them at the last meeting:

Application Card for a Permanent Parking Permit – Please complete the card (be
sure to include your license plate number) and return it to:
Earl D. Weaver
Administrative Assistant
Academic Services—Division III
Las Positas College
3033 Collier Canyon Road
Livermore, CA 94550
Earl will process your card, and your permanent parking permit will be mailed to you.

Application for an LPC Learning Resource Center Card

Voucher to receive 2 free tickets to each of our LPC Performing Arts events during
the 2001-2002 academic year. A revised Performing Arts schedule for Spring, 2002
was distributed.
Engineering/Engineering Tech Advisory Committee
March 19, 2002 Minutes
2. Dr. Ely congratulated Ken Petersen on the coverage his company received in the local
press. Ken said his company is hiring. That was the reason for the article.
Approval of Fall, 2001 Minutes:
Ken Petersen’s name was inadvertently left off the minutes. That will be corrected. Alec Willis
moved to approve the amended minutes from the October 16, 2001 meeting. There was a second
by Richard Finn. The vote was unanimous to approve the minutes.
College Update of Programs:
1. Spring, 2002 Enrollments:
Spring, 2002 enrollments were provided. Class sizes range from 12 to 20. Dr. Ely said this
shows a very nice increase in enrollments. It reflects the effort Gill Cruz has made to get
out to local schools and promote our program.
Gill said he is not losing many students. He’s only had about a 10% loss this semester, and
he is seeing a commitment by his students to succeed.
Alec Willis asked is there is a typical grade point average for students transferring from Las
Positas. Gill said it’s been staying at 3.0 and up of those graduating from LPC.
Alec asked if any of our students have been rejected by transfer schools? Gill said one
student who attended Ohlone College but didn’t succeed, so he came to LPC to get better
training. The student applied at UC Davis and is going through the appeal process.
Dr. Ely said that three years ago when we talked about reinvigorating the transfer program,
we weren’t perceived as serious. Now that’s changed, and we have serious students and a
serious program.
Gill said he’s been getting positive feedback and a warm reception at the local schools.
Mo Deghani said he just hired a Cal Poly student who started at LPC. Mo was glad to see
we have students transferring to Cal Poly. Gill said we have four students who have been
accepted to transfer programs for next Fall, and three of them are attending Cal Poly.
2. Fall, 2002 Schedule:
There will be a second section of Engineering 10 being offered next Fall. Last semester, we
had 43 in a class that was set to have a maximum of 30. The new section will be a Tuesday
evening class to try and get high school students to do concurrent enrollment so we can
introduce them to the campus and our Engineering program. Hopefully, this will lead to
larger enrollments in our other courses.
Dr. Ely said it is a really good sign that we have arrived at this point where we can add
sections to classes. The ability to put in new sections shows the college’s support, even
when our campus growth cap is at its maximum and budget cuts are on the horizon in
Sacramento.
Alec asked if what we are covering in the Engineering 10 course the same as other
campuses? Gill said we are pretty close in line, except for San Jose State University, who
has gone a different direction.
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March 19, 2002 Minutes
Ken Petersen said he remembers when he took classes at Ohlone College by engineers
and how it really instilled an interest in the field in him.
Dr. Ely said he is very excited about being able to do this, because it will attract bright
students and will spill over into other classes such as physics, math, and our other science
courses.
Mo asked, “When do you start counting Engineering students?” Dr. Ely said when they start
taking Engineering classes, but many students who declare themselves as Engineering
majors take other courses in math and science to meet minimum requirements for the
Engineering classes.
Mo said he thinks there is a trend now to look at enrollment figures after four years to
establish a metric by which to evaluate a program. Alec suggest we look at where students
go after two years here to use as a metric to figure growth in the program. Mo said that if
you can’t measure, then you can’t improve. It’s a good thing to have a metric, no matter
what you set as the standard.
Mo suggested we look at how many LPC students transfer and graduate from 4-year
schools. He is on the ABET Accreditation Team, so he reviews schools every year. The
team looks for metrics to assess the program. We should look at the criteria available on
the ABET website.
3. Optics course update:
We are not offering the Optics course this semester. Enrollments have climbed steadily,
and it will be offered again next Fall.
4. Engineering transfer update:
Gill reported that, to date, 17 students have gone on to transfer.
He said we need to update the Transfer Guide.
Dr. Ely reported that the Math Department is integrating MatLab into higher level courses
because transfer schools are wanting students to have it. The assumption from universities
is that our students have experience in MatLab. This will happen in Fall, 2002.
Dr. Ely said that our Mathematics faculty have rewritten curriculum to include MatLab, but
Chabot has decided not to do it.
Reports to the Committee:
1. Status of Program Building Activities:
Gill is seeing schools and talking to companies. He has internships in place and is still
looking for more opportunities for our students.
Dr. Ely said that Gill was given two years of release time to develop the Engineering
Program when he was hired. The Administration has agreed to add another year to help
build the program further.
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March 19, 2002 Minutes
Gill offered thanks to Bechtel for a $1,000 equipment grant. It is making a huge difference
in the labs.
Gill has developed a new flyer and brochure with the assistance of the District office. It is
now available, and he has been getting good response to it at recruiting events.
Gill was interviewed on Cable Channel 30. The showed the interview in two parts. One part
included interviews with students, and Gill has gotten good feedback from those
broadcasts.
Gill offered thanks to everyone who has been a guest speaker in his classes.
2. Accreditation 2002-2003:
Dr. Ely reported that we are in the “self-study” phase and it is rapidly coming to closure.
3. LPC Presidential Search:
Dr. Ely reported we didn’t hire a new President last Fall, and we have reopened the position.
There is an active search in progress, and Dr. Ely is a member of the new committee. The
search closes April 11, and it is hoped to have a new President in place by the end of May.
Discussion Items
1. Equipment Donations:
Richard Finn said he has a drafting board, and he’d like to donate it to LPC, if we can use it.
Gill said we’d love to have it, if we can find space for it.
Ken said it would be really beneficial if a list could be put together listing what equipment is
needed so the Advisory Board members could use their resources. Gill said he would put
together a “wish list” and send it to Earl. (See list at the end of these minutes)
Dr. Ely said the environment of the Governor’s proposed budget cuts is looking pretty bad.
Block grant money is going to be very small this year, so we won’t have money available for
equipment purchases. We’ll have to look internally to see if we have any sources of
financing or seek donations.
2. Help from Industry to provide summer internships:
Gill said he has three students doing internships at Lawrence Livermore National Lab and
one student at Sandia National Lab.
3. Industry Guest Speakers:
Gill reported he is continuing to utilize industry guest speakers in his class, and it is proving
to be very beneficial. He’s also using site visits to companies.
4. Suggestions for New Courses:
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March 19, 2002 Minutes
Gill said that some schools are adding a design course to their curriculum. This a basic
fundamentals course the explores processes and is more project-oriented. Gill is exploring
the possibility of LPC offering such a course.
Mo said there is a great textbook that could be utilized for such a class called “The Process
of Engineering Design.”
Dr. Ely said we need to explore if such a course would transfer or not.
Saeid Moltavalli suggested a “Fundamentals of Manufacturing Processes” course. It would
transfer, because they offer it at CSU Hayward. He will send Gill a course description to
review.
Norm Thomas said he is developing a course on “The Theory of Optical Thin Films” for
Yuba College, and he thinks it would be a good course for us to offer.
Recommendations from Advisory Committee Members:


To establish a metric for LPC to count the number of majors in the program.
To review the ABET 2000 program guidelines to assist in establishing a metric.
Other Business:


Ken Petersen offered congratulations to Gill on work well done. Ken said he has been
extremely impressed with Gill’s work building the program. Ken attended one of Gill’s
classes, and he said Gill is wonderful in the classroom and with his students.
Dr. Ely said the Engineering Technology courses will no longer be listed in the college
catalog, because they are being integrated into new curriculum in Design Tech, written
by Carolyn Baranouskas.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:35 p.m.
Tentative Date for next meeting:
Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 3:00 p.m. in Room 1602
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Engineering/Engineering Tech Advisory Committee
March 19, 2002 Minutes
Equipment “Wish List” for Engineering Program:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Metallographic microscopes (3) – Pace Technologies, Jenco Metallographic Microscopes
ISOMET slow speed saw (Buehler) -- $2,500 each
SIMPLIMET 2 mounting press (Buehler) -- $3,000 each
Digital oscilloscopes, Tektronics TDS210 (6) -- $1,200 each
Electro Industried model DIGI-35A, CP33654-00 power supplies (6) -- $211 each
Digital multimeters, EXTECH 380771, WLS-30730-05A (6) -- $65 each
Dey Penetrant inspection materials (dye, developer, cleaner) -- $300
Submitted by Earl D. Weaver, Administrative Assistant, Academic Services, Division III
cc:
Karen Halliday
Birgitte Ryslinge
Dee Roshong
Lettie Camp
Alene Hamilton
Barbara Morrissey
Art Tenbrink
Gillberto Victoria
Don Milanese
Bob Kratochvil
Neal Ely
Pam Luster
Steven Bundy
Brian Owyoung
Susan Hiraki
President, Chabot
Bev Bailey (2)
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