Jan 19 Arizona high school students being introduced to college-level engineering - KVOA Tucson News

TUCSON - High school students around the state, and here in Southern Arizona, are being introduced to college-level engineering.

The University of Arizona Program offers Engineering 102, an introductory class, gives math- and science-savvy
students hands-on training experience before they commit to a university engineering program.

"We have lots of students who either think they want to be engineers, or, on the opposite side, have no idea what engineering is about," said Sarah Streb, who teaches the course at Tucson's Salpointe Catholic High School. "A lot of students find out they want to be engineers through this course, and a lot of students find out they don't want to be engineers."

Students who might never consider investing the time and money to explore engineering as college freshmen can sample the subject in a low-risk environment, while those who want to be engineers can take a real engineering class as a final test of their career decision.

The course, which costs $450 and includes admission to the UA as a non-degree-seeking student, shows students what it's like to work as an engineer and exposes some stereotypes associated with the profession.

"The stereotypes are not so much wrong as way too narrow," said Jim Baygents, the UA College of Engineering associate dean for academic affairs.

"Do engineers use calculators? Yes. Do engineers build rockets? Yes. But they do many, many other things."

This includes designing processes and hardware used in medicine, food production, communications, agriculture, construction and many other industries.

High School 102 is a two-semester program, while the version offered on the UA campus is one semester. High school students often take the class from a teacher they know and mostly work on projects under close supervision in class, whereas the professor is new to most of the college freshmen and they build projects with teammates outside of class.

Solar ovens are one of the core projects for 102 that all the high school students build, and they're invited to participate in an on-campus competition that's part of the university-level 102 classes.

The high school 102 students are eligible for a CAT card, which gives them access to the library and many student discounts. And the program makes enrolling at the UA easier, too.

While there are many benefits to the program, the ultimate goal is that "we're trying to get information into the hands of students as soon as possible so they can make informed career decisions," Baygents said. "And we're obviously trying to highlight the benefits and rewards of what engineers do: the good works they do to improve the quality of the human condition, to make life better for people."

Participating high schools in the Tucson area include:
Benson High School
Canyon del Oro High School
Catalina Foothills High School
Flowing Wells High School
Ironwood Ridge High School
Mountain View High School
Sabino High School
Sahuaro High School
Salpointe Catholic High School
Sunnyside High School
University High School