On Friday, February 11, Chapman University President, Daniele Struppa addressed a virtual audience for the annual State of the University. In his address, he introduced an innovative new engineering internship program designed to boost industry engagement, improve corporate partnerships and provide paid internships for Fowler School of Engineering students.

Developed in partnership with the Cook family, who generously provided a $500k gift to launch the initiative, the Chapman Engineering Student Accelerator (CESA) program offers full-year paid internships to engineering students by partnering them with local businesses to help solve complex problems. This innovative approach to student internships will establish Chapman University as the top destination for future engineers, a key partner to local and global industry leaders, and a driving force for economic growth in southern California. 

This new program is just one way that the Fowler School of Engineering has benefitted from community support. Indeed, the generosity of the Swenson family paved the way for the Swenson Family Hall of Engineering, which opened in July of 2021. Located inside the Keck Center for Swenson family and dedication
Science and Engineering, Swenson Hall provides a space for modern teaching, research, and hands-on learning. This innovative space allows students to access technology that will shape the future and encompasses the principle of Design, Create, Innovate that is encouraged in every classroom. The DCI labs and accompanying facilities have proven
to be a great combination in recruiting new engineering students to Chapman. With an increase in enrollment of 62% since fall of 2019, Fowler Engineering continues to grow at a remarkable rate, as the next generation of makers and innovators join the Chapman family to learn from engineering’s dedicated faculty.

Under the leadership of Dean Andrew Lyon, the Fowler School of Engineering continues to thrive and grow. The rapid expansion of the student body has been coupled to a similarly impressive spot the robot dog exiting lab
growth of the faculty who are recognized domestically and internationally for their excellence in research; teaching; and industry experience and impact. Cutting edge tools and infrastructure are also infused into the curriculum, such as the two Boston Dynamics “Spot” robots, and the world-class NVIDIA DGX A100 Artificial Intelligence GPU computing server. Dean Lyon’s contributions to Chapman University were also recently recognized outside of the institution by the Greater Irvine Chamber, who honored him with the inaugural Distinguished Educator Award.

Learn More about CESA