“It’s probably the best way I could have spent my summer,” mentioned a scholar who participated on this yr’s IEEE AttemptEngineering Summer Institute. The 10-day camp for college kids ages 13 to 17 offers an immersive and enjoyable method to studying about engineering. The youngsters have interaction in hands-on actions, converse with working engineers, and make area journeys to native engineering organizations.
In its inaugural yr in 2018, 80 college students participated; this yr 330 attended.
This yr’s group of scholars explored trending engineering applied sciences equivalent to synthetic intelligence and microcontrollers. The teenagers took a deep dive into the moral points that face engineers, in addition to what to anticipate when pursuing larger training and a STEM profession.
For their ultimate group problem, the scholars participated in an exercise known as Real World, Real Solutions. Working in small groups, they solved an issue and created a prototype utilizing the engineering design course of.
“Before I attended the summer camp, I was not sure if I was cut out to be an engineer,” one scholarship recipient mentioned. “But after my wonderful experience at the IEEE TryEngineering Summer Institute, I am sure that this will be the right career path for me.”
Reminiscent of the TV present “Shark Tank,” on which enterprise leaders usually advise entrepreneurs, the scholars offered their initiatives to IEEE Pre-University Education Coordinating Committee volunteers, who offered suggestions and steerage. The committee scored the groups’ initiatives based mostly on the perceived demand for the ultimate services or products, the scholars’ ardour for his or her mission, the engineering and technical design used, and the fashion and effectiveness of every presentation.
Three areas, one widespread objective
This yr, the AttemptEngineering Summer Institute was held on the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia; Rice University, in Houston; and the University of San Diego. There have been two periods on every of the three campuses.
University of Pennsylvania
Located within the University City part of Philadelphia, the Penn campus offered college students with historic and cultural experiences. Some college students visited the Boeing facility in close by Ridley Park for a behind-the-scenes have a look at the aerospace manufacturing course of. Others toured Philadelphia International Airport and hung out with an engineer liable for preserving one of many nation’s busiest transportation hubs working easily.
The AttemptEngineering Summer Institute is “a great place to learn about the various engineering careers,” one Penn camper mentioned. “I personally enjoyed the microcontroller lessons the most because I was able to combine my computer programming skills with my friend’s electrical skills to create something I wouldn’t have been able to make on my own. This program is an opportunity for exploring the different branches of engineering.”
As a part of the Real World, Real Solutions problem, college students on the AttemptEngineering Summer Institute at Rice University, in Houston, created prototypes out of on a regular basis supplies equivalent to cardboard containers, paper, and electrical elements.IEEE
Rice University
The college students at Rice spent most of their lab time within the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen, an area for undergraduate college students to design, prototype, and deploy real-world engineering initiatives. The teenagers met with school members and devised options to engineering challenges equivalent to constructing a hydraulic robotic arm and creating a lightweight sculpture. A spotlight for the campers in Houston was a daylong go to to NASA’s Johnson Space Center. In addition to having fun with a guided, behind-the-scenes tour, they met with former astronauts, who defined the engineering design of their rockets and gave profession recommendation.
The “TryEngineering [Summer Institute] was a summer game changer for my son,” one dad or mum mentioned. It “ignited his passion and expanded his horizons.”
University of San Diego
Students who attended the camp on the USD campus constructed gliders and examined their designs from the balcony of the constructing the place they slept. They additionally labored in groups to deal with the Toxic Popcorn Design Challenge. The groups got here up with a product and a course of to save lots of a metropolis by safely eradicating “toxic” popcorn. They additionally toured the San Diego headquarters of Qualcomm, a wireless-technology firm.
“TryEngineering is a fantastic place to learn about all facets of engineering,” one participant mentioned, including that it’s “an invaluable resource, especially for students who don’t have access to engineering classes or a robotics team at their school.”
Scholarships from IEEE teams
An necessary element of the AttemptEngineering Summer Institute is the monetary help college students obtain from IEEE teams. Thirty-one college students have been awarded help because of the IEEE Educational Activities Scholarship Fund of the IEEE Foundation.
“Before I attended the summer camp, I was not sure if I was cut out to be an engineer,” mentioned one scholarship recipient who attended the camp in San Diego. “But after my wonderful experience at the IEEE TryEngineering Summer Institute, I am sure that this will be the right career path for me. Now that I have experienced all the disciplines of engineering, I am better educated in the field as a whole, and I have all of the information I need to choose a specific field of engineering to have a career in.
“To the people who funded my scholarship, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. The only reason that I was able to experience a great city in California and become more independent while staying in college dorms is because of you.”
A particular thanks goes to those IEEE organizational models, which offered funding for the scholarships: the Broadcast Technology, Communications, Computational Intelligence, Electronics Packaging, Industry Applications, Microwave Theory and Technology, Photonics, Power & Energy, Power Electronics, Robotics and Automation, Signal Processing, and Solid-State Circuits societies, in addition to the Council on Superconductivity
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