Engaging High School and Engineering Students: A Multifaceted Outreach Program Based on a Mechatronics Platform

If we aim to enhance the interest of students in engineering and therefore produce the best engineers, it is essential to strengthen the pipeline to high school education. This paper discusses several outreach activities undertaken by the Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa (UO), Ottawa, ON, Canada, to help the transition between high school and engineering education and to make students aware of the engineering profession. At the heart of these activities is mechatronics education, which demands an interdisciplinary approach, connects to fundamental math and science concepts, and promotes collaborative project-based learning (PBL). Connected to this focus, a multifaceted program of outreach activities has been initiated. The program includes creation of design-simulate-and-build projects by engineering and high school students, as well as an interactive presentation program whereby engineering students connect with high school students through the sharing of projects that they create in their engineering courses. The survey results indicate that for the high school students, these programs promote students' awareness of engineering and how the mathematics and science they take in school connects to engineering concepts. For the engineering students, they are provided with a meaningful context within which to share their projects and explain their own understanding of engineering principles.      

Engaging Robots: Innovative Outreach for Attracting Cybernetics Students

Cybernetics is a broad subject, encompassing many aspects of electrical, electronic, and computer engineering, which suffers from a lack of understanding on the part of potential applicants and teachers when recruiting students. However, once the engineering values, fascinating science, and pathways to rewarding, diverse careers are communicated, appropriate students can be very interested in enrolling. At the University of Reading, Reading, U.K., a key route for outreach to prospective students has been achieved through the use of robots in interactive talks at schools, competitions (often funded by Public Understanding of Science projects), a collectable fortnightly magazine, exhibitions in museums, open days at the University, and appearances in the media. This paper identifies the interactive engagement, anthropomorphic acceptability, and inspirational nature of robots as being key to their successful use in outreach activities. The statistical results presented show that the continued popularity of degrees at Reading in cybernetics, electronic engineering, and robotics over the last 20 years is in part due to the outreach activities to schools and the general public.      

The Implementation and Evaluation of a University-Based Outreach Laboratory Program in Electrical Engineering

In the current climate of shortages of high-quality engineering graduates, exacerbated by reduced high school enrollments in physics and mathematics, engineering faculties are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of K-12 outreach programs. Such programs can result in students being better prepared for and better informed about engineering careers, with a consequent increase in the number of engineering undergraduates. Almost all outreach programs described in the literature are school-based; by contrast, this paper describes a university-based program. The program was born out of a desire for a university department and a neighboring high school to forge closer links and a need for the high school to provide its students with certain laboratory experiences that would best be realized with the use of specialist equipment. The outreach program provides both formal laboratory experiences and informal presentations by graduate students of their research interests. Follow-up surveys showed that the high school students found the experiences both instructive and motivating, and their knowledge of and interest in electrical engineering increased significantly as a result. All final-year physics students from the high school took part in the 2007 outreach program, and 42% of these students subsequently enrolled in the Bachelor of Engineering degree at the university in 2008.      

Hands-On Summer Camp to Attract K–12 Students to Engineering Fields

This paper explains the organization and execution of a summer engineering outreach camp designed to attract and motivate high school students as well as increase their awareness of various engineering fields. The camp curriculum included hands-on, competitive design-oriented engineering projects from several disciplines: the electrical, environmental, mechanical, civil, and chemical engineering fields. The camp also provided additional information on financial aid, the academic programs in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) offered at Texas A&M University–Kingsville (TAMUK), as well as various career options for prospective engineers. The implementation of the camp activities and the well-designed hands-on projects not only increased the students' satisfaction, but also improved their self-confidence and their interest toward engineering disciplines. The engineering outreach camp survey results clearly indicated the success of the camp and the effectiveness of the hands-on, competitive engineering design experiences to attract students to engineering professions. Thus, it demonstrated an effective, feasible, and sustainable engineering recruitment approach.      

Perception and Intention in Relation to Engineering: A Gendered Study Based on a One-Day Outreach Activity

This paper explores both how male and female high school pupils (15–16 years old) perceive the engineering profession and their willingness to pursue a career in this area. A study was performed around a one-day outreach activity, Girls' Day, organized for the first time in Spain. During Girls' Day, students were exposed to specific activities developed for them in engineering research labs and companies, carried out by young female researchers and professionals. The study, based on two questionnaires answered before and after the activity, focuses on the differences between groups of female and male students having differing degrees of interest in studying engineering. The educational level of mothers, the presence of engineers in families, and perceived family support emerged as important factors influencing the probability of a young person's considering pursuing engineering studies. Nevertheless, the need to expose children to outreach activities at a younger age and to involve the students' families and teachers has become clear. If planned properly and thoughtfully, even a single day's experience can contribute to changing the perception of what an engineer is.      

Charles F. Scott: a pioneer in electrical power engineering

Charles F. Scott was President of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) from 1902-3. Already well known to the power engineering community for his invention of the Scott transformer connection and his investigation of high voltage transmission, he undertook a number of significant initiatives during his tenure as AIEE president. These were intended to enhance the status of electrical engineers and to increase the outreach of the AIEE. His career pattern was somewhat unusual in that he devoted the second half of his professional career to electrical engineering education. A brief history of Scott's electrical power engineering career is given.     

Robotics-Centered Outreach Activities: An Integrated Approach

Nowadays, universities are making extensive efforts to attract prospective students to the fields of electrical, electronic, and computer engineering. Thus, outreach is becoming increasingly important, and activities with schoolchildren are being extensively carried out as part of this effort. In this context, robotics is a very attractive and effective tool for fostering interest in science and technology among children and young people and for attracting them toward engineering. In this article, experience with different robotics-centered outreach activities in the Universidad de Chile (UCH), Santiago, Chile, will be shared. These activities include robotics courses for children, social robots as keynote speakers, mechatronics design courses, and participation in international robotics competitions, which contribute synergistically to the goal of attracting students to UCH's Electrical Engineering (EE) Department. Owing to its novelty, the use of social robots as keynote speakers for schoolchildren will be described in detail. Experimental results that demonstrate how sophisticated social robots can be used to foster the interest of young people in technology will be shown. Altogether, more than 3000 schoolchildren have participated directly in these outreach activities here in Chile, creating a sizeable impact in this country.      

Engineering Outreach: A Successful Initiative With Gifted Students in Science and Technology in Hong Kong

The primary goal of engineering outreach is to attract prospective students to engineering education and the engineering profession. Gifted students, especially those identified as possessing unusually high abilities in science and technology, are especially promising students to attract to careers in engineering. It is critical to cultivate these students' interests and develop their potential for engineering while encouraging them to pursue engineering studies beyond K-12 education. This article presents examples of the successful learning outcomes of an ongoing University-based Electronics Technology Project Study (UETPS) program, a joint endeavor between the IEEE Hong Kong Section, the Education Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government, and the Hong Kong Academy of Gifted Education (HKAGE). The UETPS program promotes electrical, electronic, and computer engineering education in Hong Kong and is aimed particularly at gifted students as well as their parents, teachers, and schools. Project applicants underwent formal identification procedures by the Gifted Education Section of the HKSAR Education Bureau and were identified as being gifted in the area of science and technology. Selected participants then participated in one-year research projects in electronics and computer engineering under the guidance of university professors in their respective engineering departments. This program addresses an urgent need of the engineering education sector by reaching out to highly talented K-12 students and their surrounding communities. According to the evaluation results, the UETPS program has significantly enhanced the participating students' interest in engineering as a career choice and encouraged them to pursue undergraduate studies in engineering. This article also discusses lessons learned and proposes strategies for future potential implementers.      

Generation NXT: Building Young Engineers With LEGOs

This paper describes key success factors for the implementation and development of a LEGO robotics engineering outreach program for elementary school students in West Texas. The outreach program not only aims at getting young students excited about engineering but at the same time aims at improving retention rates among electrical and computer engineering freshman-level college students by involving them as paid mentors. It particularly takes into consideration the rural character of West Texas, which provides hardly any electrical and computer engineering job opportunities, and the fact that a university with a college of engineering serves as academic hub for the area.      

Fire-fighting mobile robotics and interdisciplinary design-comparative perspectives

The objective of this paper is to illustrate the benefits of an autonomous fire-fighting robot design competition as an effective tool for undergraduate education. It presents experiences at the United States Air Force Academy, USAF Academy, CO; Pennsylvania State University-Abington; and Trinity College, Hartford, CT, together with the results of the contest surveys conducted in collaboration with The Technion*Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa. The primary goal of the design project is to create an autonomous mobile robot that navigates through a maze searching for a fire (simulated by a burning candle), detects the candle's flame, extinguishes the flame, and returns to a designated starting location in the maze. The fire-fighting design contest promotes interdisciplinary design and teamwork. To accomplish the stated goal, students must integrate knowledge gained from such classes as engineering design, circuits, controls, signals and systems, computer programming, mathematics, and engineering mechanics. Within the three institutions, the contest has been successfully utilized as a foundation for a wide range of educational goals. These activities include freshman design, robotics courses, K-12 outreach, senior design projects, and undergraduate research.     

Turning students into science stars (science and engineering education)

To meet the demands for greater numbers of biomedical engineers, it is necessary to expand the biomedical engineering and related educational programs in the United States to provide students with a focused exposure to basic science, engineering, and technology development principles central to advances in this industry. Over the past 30 years, however, the United States has seen a precipitous decline in the number of American students studying science and engineering. It is this downward spiral the Biomimetic Microelectronic Systems Engineering Research Center (BMES ERC) Education Outreach Program seeks to address. This program affects the science literacy of more than 2,000 minority and economically disadvantaged Los Angeles Unified School District students and their teachers each year. In addition, the BMES ERC has augmented the course curricula of undergraduate and graduate students. All facets of the program are facilitated by experience-dependent mentoring throughout the entire curriculum, using BMES ERC testbeds and thrusts research as focal points of learning and motivation. Through its outreach program, BMES ERC scientists and engineers transfer the excitement, knowledge, and skills generated by their research to students from grade school to graduate school.     

Motivating mechanical engineers to minor in electrical engineering

The objective of this paper is to describe an innovative teaching technique consisting of pedagogy and motivation as instruments to gradually enhance the interest of mechanical engineering students for minoring in electrical engineering. A study was conducted comparing the performance of 87 students in four classes majoring in mechanical engineering at Temple University, USA. Confidentially conducted student surveys were statistically analyzed. In conclusion, the number of students opting to take up a minor in electrical engineering gradually increased from 0 to 36% reflecting the gradual increase in electrical engineering content, through an emphasis on pedagogical strategy and the motivation provided     

CUTTING THE COST OF COMPUTING - Hardware and softwaremakers are eager to help emerging economies join the information revolution

Widespread efforts are underway to bring computing to the developing world in an effort to make access to information more widely available, and so help developing countries help themselves. This paper describes a number of initiatives in both hardware and software engineering that are aimed at bringing down the cost of computing, and so make the communications and access to information that the developed world takes for granted much more widely available     

OPEE: An Outreach Project for Engineering Education

During the last few years, the number of university students choosing to follow engineering degrees has decreased dramatically in Spain. For that reason, several university departments, in collaboration with some high schools, have developed a range of activities in order to promote a higher enrollment rate, to improve the level of mathematics and physics that students have when entering university, to explode the myth of engineering degrees being difficult studies not within everyone's reach, and to rationalize the curricula of engineering degrees, coordinating all their courses and directing them toward the global objectives of the degree. In this paper, the results of an Outreach Project for Engineering Education (OPEE) comprising four successful activities developed over the last decade at the Higher Technical School of the University of Cordoba, Spain, are reported. Most important is that in the face of the significant decrease of the amount of engineering first-year students observed in Spain in general, and Cordoba in particular, enrollment in the Higher Technical School of the University of Cordoba has remained constant.      

Pedagogy and Processes for a Computer Programming Outreach Workshop—The Bridge to College Model

This paper describes a model for computer programming outreach workshops aimed at second-level students (ages 15–16). Participants engage in a series of programming activities based on the Scratch visual programming language, and a very strong group-based pedagogy is followed. Participants are not required to have any prior programming experience. An empirical evaluation was undertaken to evaluate to what extent the model was successful in: 1) giving the participants a deeper understanding of what studying a computing degree and working in the computing profession entails; and 2) increasing their interest in pursuing a third-level qualification in a computer-related area.      

Chips for Everyone: A Multifaceted Approach in Electrical Engineering Outreach

This paper reports on a multifaceted approach in electrical engineering outreach focused on the area of semiconductor technology. The activities developed can be used in combination for a very wide range of audiences in both age and stage of education, as has been demonstrated with great success. Moreover, the project has developed cross-disciplinary activities designed to engage nonscientific audiences and has used entirely nonscientific venues, such as art galleries. The suite of activities, given the umbrella title Chips for Everyone, includes: Chips for Everyone: drop-in activities for fairs, shows, shopping centers;      

IEEE student branch profile - Hands-on approach keeps UC-Berkeley student branch active and growing

The "hands-on practical electronics" classes (HOPE), which are offered weekly to both UC-Berkeley and high school students by student branch members, are what Torous called "our most successful achievement". The success of that activity involves the effect that the program has had in terms of outreach to the overall UC-Berkeley electronics engineering community as well as students majoring in other subjects, membership growth, and cross pollination with other IEEE student branches     

RCA Minorities in Engineering Program

A nationwide effort, guided by NACME (National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering), is underway to increase the number of minorities in the engineering profession. The RCA-MEP (Minorities in Engineering Program) seeks to identify talented minority high school students and provide them with an in-depth orientation on the engineering profession. The program is presently in its eighth year, and so far, over 1600 students have participated at 14 plant locations nationwide. The program is described in this paper, as are the results of a survey of over 500 students in 1980. Indications are that a substantial number of students have decided to choose an engineering career path and are presently enrolled at many of the nationwide engineering schools.     

Helping to shape the future of education

For more than a decade, the National Science Foundation's Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) has continued to extend and broaden its efforts in the revitalization of undergraduate education. This process began with innovative single projects, then expanded to disciplinary initiatives in engineering, calculus, and chemistry that sought to disseminate best practices across all institutions. The current emphasis of DUE programs is on continued systemic reform through faculty and teacher development as well as curricular reform and laboratory improvement. The effect of these activities is the presentation of material in an engaging manner, employing effective pedagogy and instructional technology to attract and retain students in engineering, mathematics, and the sciences. They additionally prepare all graduates-majors as well as nonmajors-for entry into the workforce, rewarding careers, and a desire to continue learning throughout their lives. In considering the recommendations arising from the review of undergraduate education and the opinions of the community at large, DUE will continue to provide coordination and assistance in the comprehensive reform of higher education     

How the VESIT Student Branch grew

VESIT, the IEEE Vivekanand Education Society's Institute of Technology creates a path for engineering students to travel on their way to become technically sound professionals. This paper describes the growth of the VESIT Student Branch, which can be attributed to the dedication of the unit's officers and active members who hold frequent meetings to plan events, review previous activities, and discuss new ideas for initiatives. Thus numerous accomplishments of the VESIT Student Branch continue and their aim is to provide their members with the best possible facilities with the limited funding available