Congressman Tony Cardenas Visits CSUN for CREST Conference

  • Congressman Tony Cardenas speaks to the crowd at the CREST Conference.

  • CSUN dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science S.K. Ramesh speaks to the crowd at the CREST Conference.

  • Dean of the CSUN's College of Engineering and Computer Science S.K. Ramesh and Tony Cárdenas, the United States Representative for California’s 29th congressional district.

On Feb. 21, the energy was flowing in the University Student Union, Grand Salon at California State University, Northridge. That’s because engineers and researchers descended upon CSUN for the California Renewable Energy and Storage Technology (CREST) Conference. This third edition of the conference at CSUN got those who care about the planet together to “exchange innovative ideas and visions of the future of a “greener” California,” according to its flyer.

The one day conference was sponsored by local chapters of the National Science Foundation and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. CREST was designed to bring together universities, industries, R&D laboratories and Government agencies to propel Renewable Energy and Advanced Energy Storage Technology into the future.

This year’s guest of honor was Tony Cárdenas the United States Representative for California’s 29th congressional district, and himself a former engineer who voted for a resolution in the House of Representatives in support of an Engineer Week. He has also been chosen to represent Los Angeles on the prestigious House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the oldest of the “authorizing” committees in the House in the 114th Congress. S.K. Ramesh, the dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, opened the event, speaking to the roughly 100 attendees, then introduced Cardenas to the crowd.

“I had the pleasure of first meeting Congressman Cardenas last summer to discuss our efforts to broaden participation and enhance degree completion for underrepresented minority students in engineering and computer science,” Ramesh said.”Subsequently we were deeply humbled when he personally attended and spoke about our work honoring our AIMS2 program during the Excelencia in Education celebration in Washington DC in September 2014.

“Armed with an Electrical engineering degree from UCSB, and a business background, he is an experienced elected official who continues to find to find practical and realistic solutions to address the difficult challenges that confront us.”