Engineering an Educational Summer for Arkansas Students

Photo Submitted

Explore Engineering students build Theremins, electronic musical instruments.

For the third year in a row, the College of Engineering hosted students from grades six through 12 in three different week-long summer programs. In these camps, students learned about science, engineering, technology and math from University of Arkansas professors, faculty, and students.

High school students got hands-on experience with an engineering discipline of their choice in the Engineering Summer Academy during the week of July 8-14. Middle and junior high school students got exposure to different STEM topics in Explore Engineering I and II, which took place June 23-27. During the first week of August, female students from Northwest Arkansas took part in Engineering Girl Camp.

Participants in the Engineering Summer Academy chose one field of engineering to focus on, and they spent a week living on campus and working on engineering projects. Students in the computer science and computer engineering camp focused on writing programs and designing hardware. They learned about the circuits that run digital devices and the software that makes it “smart.”

Students who chose to study chemical engineering used reverse osmosis to make salt water drinkable, learned how to make biofuels from algae and investigated methods for clearing clogged arteries and time-releasing drugs in the body.

In the Razorback Solar Boat Program, students interested in electrical and mechanical engineering designed and built remote controlled solar-powered boats. This program mirrors the Solar Splash, the international intercollegiate solar boat competition. At the end of the week, the students raced their boats in the HPER building on campus.

The purpose of Explore Engineering I is to spark interest in science, technology, engineering and math. In this program, rising 6th and 7th graders programmed robots using the Lego Mindstorm system, developed water purification systems, learned about logistics, used lemons and potatoes as batteries and built an electronic instrument called a Theremin.

Explore Engineering II is designed to give rising 8th and 9th graders a more in-depth experience with engineering topics. In this camp, students did many of the same projects, but they also took part in more complex activities, such as computer application development.

At Engineering Girl Camp, 40 junior high students learned more about engineering through field trips and hands-on activities led by College of Engineering graduate student Christina Smith. The girls visited the McKee Foods plant, designed small windmills, made liquid nitrogen ice cream, and built speakers out of styrofoam cups.

Eric Specking, associate director of recruitment for the College of Engineering, explained that the camps are a great way to engage students who are interested in engineering. This year, 182 students were selected to attend the summer programs, from  more than 300 applicants.  Specking pointed out that 89 percent of the high school seniors who attended the Engineering Summer Academy in 2010 applied to the University of Arkansas, and he has seen evidence that many students decide to attend the university based on their experience in these summer camps.

Scholarships for Explore Engineering I and II are provided by the College of Engineering. Scholarships for Engineering Summer Academy were provided by the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority, the Arkansas Department of Career Education, the Arkansas Academy of Chemical Engineers, and the Ray C. Adam Endowed Chair in Chemical Engineering. The Arkansas Department of Career Education provided scholarships for Girl Camp, which is also supported by Project Lead the Way.

Specking explained that the summer camps are a joint effort among the recruitment office and all the departments at the College of Engineering. “We’re very appreciative of all the departments,” he said, “It’s important to have a range of topics to capture students’ interest, and the students had great things to say about all the different activities.”