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TryEngineering Summer Institute

An exciting ten day, on-campus engineering camp for high school students held at three premier universities across the United States in 2019.

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Field Trips Confirmed

Confirmed Field Trips – TryEngineering Summer Institute

What makes our program so fantastic?  What makes us different than anyone else?  Culture…. community… and our amazing field trip connections.  Our field trips are one of the reasons we are awesome.

We go on field trips that nobody but IEEE could arrange; we go beyond anything anyone can buy a ticket to enter.  We spend an enormous amount of time finding and arranging trips where our students get to go off-campus and meet, interact, and experience the life of working engineers in some of the coolest facilities on earth!

This summer our students at our Penn location will get to tour a Boeing manufacturing facility and walk the production floor and meet the engineers.  Last summer we had to turn in our phones at the front door because of National Security.  It was just very cool.  And the students love it.  Putting on a hard hat, wearing a yellow vest, watching testing in action… every single one of our field trips is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

To read more about each location, you can click on each school name here:

Confirmed tours for 2023 include:

USD – Qualcomm

Penn – Boeing

Rice – Johnson Space Center

Deeper dive:  Our Tour Of Qualcomm

Our students at USD will again be touring Qualcomm.  They loved meeting the engineers last summer.  As you can see in this picture, they had presentations on the then-latest hardware and technology, and their 5G rollout.  How research and development happens.  Everything.

Our students devour the chance to see what real engineering looks like.  They hear terms like ‘nanotech’ or ‘bio-engineering’ and they do not have a context…  these trips give the students a chance to see real world engineering in action… and meet the engineers doing their jobs.  We cannot overstate the academic value of this critically important aspect of our program!

Simply seeing jobs in action, and being able to ask the folks what they are doing, opens up an entire new world for each and every student.  They see it for real. This is why we are the best.

 

Gallery Of Field Trip Pictures From Previous Summers:

 

 

 

 

Graduate Profiles: Student Snapshot

Carl, Graduate of TESI 2018

 

Our summer engineering program provides lasting benefits.  Embedded in the process of designing and building projects is a unique methodology that has our students advance academically and lasts a lifetime.  Our academic experience provides valuable preparation for college, and for life.  We appreciate hearing from our former students, and hearing about what they are up to, and the difference TESI has made in their lives.

Here is more information about Carl!

We asked his mom these questions:

 

Hi Mom!  What is Carl up to now?
Carl is a senior at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX studying mechanical engineering. He did an internship at Urenco USA, a nuclear energy company in Hobbs, New Mexico last summer. He currently has a job offer to work for Texas Instruments in Dallas after graduation. He’s also busy restoring a 30 year old vehicle in his spare time.

Why did you choose to register him into our program initially?
The program had good reviews but most importantly I wanted our son to experience life away at a university campus with exposure to various engineering disciplines. Our hope was for him to see what he liked and disliked about going away and to reconfirm his interest in studying engineering. The overnight dorm style life with a roommate, field trips, group projects and lectures was a way for him to get a taste of college life with like-minded high school students. The program was geared to not only an academic approach to engineering but to give real world applications and solutions to everyday issues. It tested problem solving skills from understanding the problem, drafting an approach and managing the solution.

After camp, did you notice any breakthroughs Carl had as a result of attending our program, academically, socially or in any other way?
I think he realized that he could survive living away from home. His confidence grew and he matured. He realized that if he continued to work hard that could get into a great engineering program. I think it also helped him during his college visits to look for specific course programs, facilities and teaching approaches.

In the 4 years since attending our program, can you see where our program has had any impact on his life?
He’s definitely a very methodical person. Always looking for ways to solve issues. He’s a stronger person believing that he can succeed. He came home from camp with a very positive attitude and was hard working and very disciplined.

What is Carl up to these days?
He’s a senior mechanical engineer attending Texas Tech University expected to graduate August 2023.

Did attending our program alter the course of your student’s life in any way?
Carl found his path and continued following his interest in mechanical engineering. He did not give up even with the lock down and switch to on-line classes that covid brought.

 

Another fun picture of Carl!

 

Here is what Carl himself had to say:

What is your relationship to engineering now?
I’m still enjoying it… make sure you are strong in math and working in group projects. It will strengthen you.

Do you have a positive memory from camp you can share?
I built a robotic car, used some factory kits to model and had exposure to intro into coding. I was asked to consider applying to be a counselor for a future camp, and that made me feel good about myself.

What are you up to now? Where are you headed in life?
I’m focused on finishing my degree and entering the workforce.

Anything else you’d like to say to the kids or parents thinking about registering?
It’s a good program with fun activities.

From TESI student to TESI staff and an Engineering Major – Karina’s story!

Hear from a former student and current staffer about how the IEEE TryEngineering Summer Institute helped her decide on her future:

Hi! I enrolled in the IEEE Try Engineering Summer Institute at Texas A&M University in College Station back in 2018. At the time, I was 16 years old and wanted to do something out of the ordinary that summer. One of my old robotics mentors recommended that I apply to the Try Engineering Summer Institute to gain more experience in engineering while exploring a university. As I was looking into the program, I mentioned it to two of my high school friends— and we all applied. What most attracted me to this program was that I would be able to experiment with different projects and find a specific field of interest in engineering. I also like that while doing so, I could explore one of the top universities I wanted to attend.  

Being accepted into the program was thrilling, and no words can describe such an experience. I recall walking into the Neely Hall Dorms with my two friends from high school, where we were welcomed by the resident assistants, Tahj and Lauren. They asked for our names and escorted us to our dorms. From there, we unpacked and met everyone in the lounge room where we all introduced ourselves, including where we were from. I recall meeting several people from other states and other countries. After meeting everyone, we had many “ice breakers” (activities that allowed us to get to know the other students that were in the program). After the first day of activities/games, the academic part of the program began. We met our two professors of the institution, and they gave us an introduction to what we would be doing. I recall sitting in the class having no clue as to how to solder a resistor to a circuit board at first. Nonetheless, I created my very own circuit board. The professors gave us detailed instructions. Plus, I even got help learning how to use a soldering iron from some other students . While doing so, we were able to bond with one another as we shared a few laughs. That was one of the many activities that I consider both a learning and memorable experience.

stem-summer-camp-field-of-engineering

Before the program, I always had an interest in robotics and participated in robotics competitions along with other STEM related extracurricular activities. As a high schooler, I was on a journey to search for a field in engineering that I would like to pursue. I had been a member of the robotics club since the 8th grade (middle school) to gain a generalization of robotics engineering. Little did I know, I had a strong fascination with the mechanics of robots. I would constantly stay in robotics practice until late at night to work on different mechanisms to attach to the robots, so that the team could accomplish more tasks to win competitions. At that point, I still was not sure if other engineering fields would be appealing to me. It wasn’t until I enrolled in the Try Engineering Summer Institute, that I knew what field of engineering I wanted to study

Currently, I am in the General Engineering Program at Texas A&M University at Higher Education Center in McAllen where I’m taking the basic engineering courses needed to apply to my desired engineering major. Next semester, I will be transitioning to College Station to pursue a degree in the mechanical engineering program at College Station. Once I do so, I also plan on working towards a minor in electrical engineering in addition to my bachelors degree in mechanical engineering.

My friend from high school, who also attended the Summer Institute in 2018, mentioned how she applied to the program to become a resident assistant. She recommended that I should apply and I did not give it a second thought. I applied the following day because I knew how the resident assistants made it more memorable when I attended the summer institute and I want to do the same for the incoming students. 

I would like to tell the incoming students “ The whole purpose of the camp is to learn, meet new people, and make some long lasting memories.”

See you this summer!

Sincerely, 

Karina (former student and now a new resident assistant and staff member for Summer 2022!)

Upverter Education: Free Online Engineering Resources

TheUpverter Education Engineering Essentials course combines interactive curriculum with a powerful, easy to use, web-based tool for editing schematic diagrams and PCB layouts with remote team collaboration.

The collaborative and remote learning features of the Upverter tool and Engineering Essential courses fits perfectly with educator’s goals to introduce and guide students through electronics design and their exploration of technology and engineering. 

The Upverter Education Program is a free resource and features:

Global STEM Programs Shape Future STEM Leaders

Thanks to a number of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) competitions and programs happening all over the world, kids everywhere are sharpening their technical skills. Here are just a few programs that are developing future generations of scientists and engineers:

  • A group of high schoolers from Bangladesh won this year’s FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition. “Team Bangladesh” beat teams from 174 countries in three separate challenges. For the “quarantine” challenge, the team built a wifi-controlled robot dubbed “Covitron-1,” which can deliver medicine, food, and other necessities to people under quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the “social media” challenge, they created a video and computer program that spread awareness about STEM. For the “technical challenge,” they designed several devices, including a paper plane launcher, a device that can rescue children from drowning, and a robot that can clean. 
  • Through the STEM for Africa Project (S4A), 1,000 children in the town of Hwidiem in Ghana will get “science set” toolkits that can be used for more than 30 experiments. The kits include circuit systems, mini-robots, solar panel models, security alarm systems, and more. The project, which will run for two years, consists of 52,000 hours of STEM education in 10 schools. It will also include 15 STEM clubs. Additionally, 50 girls will be chosen for special mentorship from the STEM Champions in partnership with Synergies Institute – Sankofa Mentorship Hub. Stem for Africa was launched in October by 1 Billion Africa, an African non-profit that encourages kids to become future leaders through innovation and problem solving. 
  • In India, 10,000 girls in 100 government schools in the region of Jammu will benefit from the Mastercard Girls4Tech program. The award-winning program’s goal is to put girls on a path to future STEM careers. The program will include online training sessions for girls and teaching resources for teachers and schools. 

View a collection of resources for teachers to encourage students to explore STEM on IEEE TryEngineering’s teacher resources page. If you are looking to get your child hands on experience with STEM you can check out our summer engineering camps where you can learn more about different fields of engineering and


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