A $63 million tech hub at Cal State Northridge aims to attract future engineers

The Autodesk Technology Engagement Center is now open to students at Cal State Northridge. It's goal is to expose more students to the tech career paths and better prepare them for the workforce.

The $62.7 million center offers hands-on STEM and AI skills training, is open to all students on campus and extends to K-12 students.

“The reality is that schools like CSUN serve students who haven’t always had access to the latest technology, mentorship or high-tech, hands-on learning,” said Dara Treseder, chief marketing officer at Autodesk.

Nearly 70% of CSUN's incoming students in the fall of 2024 were the first in their families to attend college. This year's fall class is nearly 58% Latinx/Hispanic, according to the school.

The center will also host equity-focused STEM programming and be home to the Global Hispanic Serving Institution Innovation Hub, to open more pathways to tech careers.

What we know about the center

The ATEC will also house six labs where students can study augmented reality and virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and earthquake resiliency at the High Bay Structural Lab.

Peter Bishay, mechanical engineering professor at CSUN, said the space used to be a small parking lot.

“I'm really glad that we managed to use the space wisely,” Bishay told LAist. “This will support a lot of civil engineering students doing different projects.”

Students are working with Bishay on projects including prosthetic arm design and control, morphing drones that mimic birds in flight, and smart structures that can change shape.

“Of course, we’ll have a lot of possibilities with this new building,” Bishay said.

The $63 million hub is intended to expose more students to tech careers and better prepare them for the workforce.

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Courtesy CSUN and Autodesk

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Why it matters 

Treseder said students don’t feel adequately prepared for tech jobs.

Autodesk’s Career Readiness Report found that nearly half of U.S. college students don’t believe they’re learning the right AI skills to land a job, and 70% want more classes focused on solving real-world problems. Fewer than 40% feel they have access to the industry-grade tools they’ll be expected to use.

“Spaces like the ATEC are designed to change that, giving students the technology, mentorship and hands-on learning they’ve been asking for,” Treseder said.

CSUN President Erika Beck said this experience is also reaching younger students through the hub’s K-12 outreach.

“If we wait until the students get to Cal State Northridge, in many regards, it's too late for them to be thinking about these really in-demand careers,” Beck said. “We also have family programming. It's that level of exposure and that broad representation from our students and our faculty to help them really see themselves in these jobs that many of them don't know.”

Grade school students will have access to mathematics and science courses to introduce them to the STEM fields.

“We have maker space and all kinds of projects and technologies and robotics for young students to come to the university and play with them, use the 3D printers, engage in collaborative design spaces and really see their future in this industry,” Beck said.

Part of a larger AI push

The hub’s opening comes as the CSU system and California strengthen their partnerships with big tech companies to fold AI into more campuses.

Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a deal with a slew of companies that include Adobe, Google and Microsoft to make their products and AI courses more available to the state.

CSU leaders also launched a landmark initiative in February to make AI tech available to all 23 universities. The initiative is intended to work and connect students across the state with hands-on partnership opportunities with some companies.