California Sigma Eta

In the fall term of 1965, leading mechanical engineering students in California State College at Long Beach presented to the National Council of Pi Tau Sigma a petition for the establishment of a local chapter. The students were assisted in their endeavor by Professor R. W. Leutwiler, Jr. and Professor H. Unt, then Chairman of the Mechanical Engineering Department.

Formal installation of the California Sigma Eta Chapter took place on May 13, 1966, with National President E. K. Springer, National Secretary- Treasurer J. W. Bayne, and Regional Vice-President D. R. Haworth officiating.

Particular aims of the California Sigma Eta Chapter are to promote close student-faculty relationships and to improve scholarship in mechanical engineering.The chapter also cooperates with the A.S.M.E. Student Section. The current projects of the chapter are to embed a three-foot replica of the Pi Tau Sigma key into. the monument in front of the School of Engineering, and to conduct a survey among the mechanical engineering alumni.

ANNUAL SUMMARY REPORTS

2022-2023, Taylor Uyama, President

The revival of Pi Tau Sigma at California State University, Long Beach. Spring 2023 was the first time when students were initiated into PTS since 2020 where 3 students were initiated. Due to the difficulty of receiving the list of eligible students from the enrollment office and the
covid-19 pandemic, PTS as well as every other student organization have struggled to stay active. The challenges of restarting PTS were getting the eligibility list and registering the organization with the school. To register the organization with the school, it was required to have 4 officers and 1 member. With enough interested people in joining PTS in Spring 2023, PTS was able to be registered and was able to continue with the initiation process. For our initiates to join PTS, they had several requirements. They had to polish their personal bent, polish the big bent, do community service, pay their membership fee of $50, and attend 2 events hosted by PTS or any other engineering student organization. PTS had a guest speaker from P2S inc to talk about the HVAC industry. PTS initiates and members were invited to a couple of Tau Beta Pi events such as bonfire and a night out at the Hangar in Long Beach. PTS, TBP, and AIAA co-hosted a bowling night event on April 28, 2023 from 6pm-9pm. Members from all 3 organizations attended and talked to one another. Initiation was held on April 29, 2023 at 9pm on the third floor of the University Student Union (USU) building on campus. A PTS alumni was able to help with the initiation process since the president was the only  member operating PTS. 8 students were initiated in PTS. To ensure the continuation of PTS for the coming years, the president will continue to look over and advise future officers of PTS.

2020-2021 Taylor Uyama, President

The 2020-2021 academic year is a start of a new chapter at California State University, Long Beach. For the past two years, the chapter was inactive and no new members were initiated. All the active members have graduated and the organization was non-existent. I, Taylor Uyama, have returned to CSULB for the graduate program. Already a member, I was able to make Pi Tau Sigma active on campus for current students as well as for future engineers. My main objective was to give opportunities for students to become permanent members and provide networking among members as well as alumni and people within the industry. For Fall 2020, the only requirement for initiation was to pay the $50 dues. Due to Covid-19, campus was closed. To promote social distancing, big bent polish, community service, and social events were not a requirement like previous years. The initiates did not receive their personal bent at the time of collection of the dues since campus was closed and did not have access to the organization office. Initiation was held on December 5, 2020 through Zoom. 3 people initiated out of over 80 invitations were sent to eligible students. Bill and Natalie joined us in the initiation. They were the original founders of Pi Tau Sigma at CSULB over a decade ago. Bill guided me through the process of the application of the organization on campus as well as setting up the organization website. In Spring 2021, the 3 members received their certificate, their membership card, and their personal bent since one was not provided in the Fall. No members were initiated in Spring 2021. I have reached the department chair of engineering for the eligible students but I did not receive the list at all. I hosted a seminar through Zoom about Python. I briefly went over how to program Python with the knowledge that the members fully understand Matlab. Python and Matlab have similar structure but the formatting is slightly different. I sent emails to members regarding regalia and jewelry but none were interested. Members were encouraged to attend the conference through Zoom. I have attended the conference, representing the chapter at CSULB. Hopefully the campus reopens for the 2021-2022 academic year. Pi Tau Sigma can provide tutoring to all students as well as fund projects for Pi Tau Sigma projects.