Transform the Trajectory of a Student Life with a $100 NASA Internship Fishing Rod



Transform the Trajectory of a Student Life with a $100 NASA Internship Fishing Rod



ARCS and NASA LOGOS

We Converge

WHAT IS ARCS?

California State University, Northridge’s (CSUN) Autonomy Research Center for STEAHM (ARCS) is a NASA-sponsored, chartered, Center of Excellence. Our mission is to combine transdisciplinary, university-wide knowledge and talent from faculty, students, and NASA scientists to conduct convergence research and collaboration using increasingly autonomous systems (IA).

Our vision is to be a global leader in education, research and commercialization of increasingly autonomous (IA) systems. We converge in our desire to research and advance our students’ education and together uncover new trajectories to make a societal impact and improve our world.

In our effort to educate an ever-increasing source of industry ready students and simultaneously address inequities in the workforce, ARCS’ campus-wide faculty provides research opportunities for its students, particularly underserved and underrepresented, who account for 60% of CSUN’s student body population.

ARCS engages in strategic partnerships resulting in cost-effective research opportunities resulting in novel and extraordinary outcomes

    1. We develop and advance trained, workforce-ready graduates who are the result of multidisciplinary research endeavors at ARCS.
    2. We secure financial resources including philanthropic gifts and revenue to bolster the economy, amplify industry capacity and research commercialization, resulting in positive and lasting impacts on society’s most pressing challenges and needs.

ARCS is positioned to serve as a model for higher-education institutions seeking to educate and train underserved and underrepresented students in their pursuit of ground-breaking research and fulfillment of career goals in STEAHM fields and IA systems. ARCS’ current trajectory projects that it will be a global leader in IA within the next 5 years.

 

WHAT IS THE VISION OF ARCS?

Our vision is to initiate and foster innovative convergence research collaborations for its students and faculty in STEAHM disciplines. ARCS will continually provide research opportunities for students, thereby developing their convergence leadership skills and enhancing their career endeavors.

We converge to advance our students’ education in increasingly autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, and innovation. Together we uncover new trajectories to solve society’s greatest challenges to improve our world.

(L-R) CSUN Provost Mary Beth Walker, JPL Deputy Director Lt. Gen. Larry James, CSUN President Dianne Harrison and ARCS Founding Director Nhut Ho cut the ceremonial ribbon at ARCS opening event. Photo by Lee Choo, CSUN University Advancement

WHAT IS AUTONOMY?

It refers to the full spectrum of technology with autonomous features, from basic systems (like cruise control) to complex systems that have the ability to adapt and learn using Artificial Intelligence (AI) (like drone delivery).
space shuttle launch

APPLICATIONS OF AUTONOMY

ARCS is currently focused on research in two key applications that align with NASA’s priorities: Urban Air Mobility (like flying taxis and drone package delivery) and Space Autonomy (like exploring caves on Mars). Two exciting new applications are Health Technology and Zero Waste.
(L-R) CSUN Provost Mary Beth Walker, JPL Deputy Director Lt. Gen. Larry James, CSUN President Dianne Harrison and ARCS Founding Director Nhut Ho cut the ceremonial ribbon at ARCS opening event. Photo by Lee Choo, CSUN University Advancement

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

ARCS is powered by multidisciplinary teams of faculty co-investigators and student convergence research leaders. Faculty supervises and provides support and mentorship for each research project, ensuring collaboration across disciplines. Our students come from 6 colleges and bring their diverse perspectives necessary to tackle complex problems using IA systems, resulting in solutions to society’s greatest challenges.

As future convergence research leaders, our students are committed to the ARCS mission, vision, and values, upholding our standards of excellence, ideals, and culture, and working collaboratively within the framework of ARCS.

Nhut Ho

Nhut Ho

Nhut Ho

Nhut Ho

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

ARCS is powered by multidisciplinary teams of faculty co-investigators and student convergence research leaders. Faculty supervises and provides support and mentorship for each research project, ensuring collaboration across disciplines. Our students come from 6 colleges and bring their diverse perspectives necessary to tackle complex problems using IA systems, resulting in solutions to society’s greatest challenges.

As future convergence research leaders, our students are committed to the ARCS mission, vision, and values, upholding our standards of excellence, ideals, and culture, and working collaboratively within the framework of ARCS.

Why STEAHM and convergence research?

The potential of autonomy and IA systems is vast. But the problems that IA systems seek to solve are equally large, complex, and multifaceted. They require convergence research, one of the National Science Foundation 10 Big Ideas. At ARCS, convergence research brings together thinking and processes from many disciplines – ones that traditionally have not fully interacted with each other. This is STEAHM.
S     Physical, Social & Behavioral Science

T     Technology & Engineering

E     Entrepreneurship & Business

A     Arts

H     Humanities

M     Mathematics

Multidisciplinary Labs/Centers

Headquartered at the Reseda Annex on the CSUN campus, ARCS brings together the talents of 8 affiliated labs, centers, and research institutes across the university through the collaboration of its core faculty. These are: IntersectLA (IXLA); The Testing and Validation Lab (TAV); Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Lab (UAV); Human Computing Lab (HCL); Systems Engineering Research Laboratory (SERL); CSUN Innovation Incubator (Cii); Anthropological Research Institute; and Klab: Simulation-Based Training and Behavioral Research.
California State University, Northridge
NASA
JPL