CoE Software Engineering Ranked in Top 10 Nationwide in CodeSignal’s 2025 Report

San José State University has climbed to No. 9 in CodeSignal’s 2025 national ranking of coding talent, surpassing both Stanford and UC Berkeley. Check out the NBC Bay Area news segment about this amazing milestone!

The ranking, based on a coding assessment widely used by leading tech employers, highlights SJSU’s growing impact in the field. SJSU Engineering Dean Sheryl Ehrman attributes the rise in ranking to driven students, dedicated faculty, and instructors with real-world industry experience. In the Mercury News, Santa Clara County representative Ro Khanna echoed the significance of SJSU’s role in Silicon Valley, calling it a more accessible, equally impactful alternative to elite institutions.

CodeSignal’s rankings focus on demonstrated coding ability, reflecting a shift among employers to prioritize skill over pedigree. More companies are looking beyond résumés to find top talent, regardless of where they studied.

ME Awards Celebration

On Friday, May 9, the SJSU Mechanical Engineering Department hosted its annual Alumni Recognition & Scholarship Awards Night. This special event brought together students, alumni, faculty, and supporters to celebrate the achievements and growth of the department. The evening highlighted the dedication of this year’s scholarship recipients and honored the ongoing impact of our alumni.

A key moment of the night was the presentation of the Alumna of the Year Award to Dr. Monica A. Kapil, Ph.D., recognizing her outstanding professional accomplishments and her continued involvement with the department. Her achievements have been a true inspiration to current and future students. In her remarks, Dr. Kapil offered powerful advice to the next generation of engineers:

• Stay curious, never stop learning
• Lead with purpose, impact, empathy, and don’t forget to lift up others on your way up and give back to your community
• Perseverance: success is built through challenge, not in spite of it

The evening also recognized the impressive accomplishments of our senior design teams. The Senior Project of the Year was awarded to the team behind “FDM-based 3D Printing for Soft Robotics,” who earned first place at the 2025 Senior Design Showcase. Congratulations to Miguel Iniguez Franco, Abhishek Khatri, Eric Jimenez, Jonathan Velasco Figueroa, and Anthony Bolinger for their exceptional work and innovation.

In addition to the award-winning teams, congratulations to the senior design teams for their hard work, creativity, and dedication. Each team’s project demonstrated the talent and commitment that continues to drive the success of the SJSU Mechanical Engineering Department.

May 20th Engineering Events

1932: Amelia Earhart Flies Solo Across the Atlantic

In 1932, Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland and became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Her courageous flight was not only a huge moment in aviation history, but it also showed what was possible for women at the time when many weren’t even able to work outside the home.

1978: Pioneer Venus 1 was Launched by NASA

NASA launched Pioneer Venus 1 in 1978 to study the planet Venus. The spacecraft orbited Venus and sent back data about its thick atmosphere and weather, helping engineers and scientists learn more about space travel and other planets.

1990: Hubble Space Telescope Sends First Images

The Hubble Space Telescope sent back its first images from space. Engineers designed it to take clear pictures of stars and galaxies, and it changed how we understand the universe. This major achievement was made in 1990.

2010: Opportunity Rover Breaks Mars Surface Operation Record

NASA’s Opportunity rover set a new record for the longest continuous operation on the surface of Mars, surpassing the Viking 1 Lander with 6 years and 116 days of activity. This achievement came after the Opportunity Rover had traveled over 12 miles on Mars, far exceeding its original mission expectations and outlasting its twin rover, the Spirit.

Why AI fails – featuring Prof Ahmed Banafa

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can now process facial recognition to make medical diagnoses, yet it often fails in ways that are predictable and sometimes catastrophic. Professor Banafa explores the multifaceted reasons behind AI failures, including biased data, overfitting, lack of contextual understanding, distributional shifts, adversarial examples, ethical oversights, and more. ​ Through real-world examples like self-driving cars struggling in snow, biased hiring tools, and rogue chatbots, this article highlights the technical, societal, and human factors that contribute to these shortcomings. Better datasets, transparent models, robust systems, and ethical governance can pave the way for trustworthy and effective AI. Read now!