Unleashing learning
Engineering outreach helps high school students try careers on for size
12:45 p.m., Aug. 25, 2011--Deciding what major to pursue in college can seem overwhelming when you are a junior or senior in high school. That’s what makes the University of Delaware College of Engineering’s outreach programs so inviting – the opportunity to try a career on for size.
In a unique hands-on program Aug. 6, young women dabbled for a day in the exciting worlds of bioengineering and orthopedics at Conrad Schools of the Science. They performed mock orthopedic surgeries and biomechanics experiments with UD graduate students, undergraduate students and faculty.
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“What surprised me most about this program was how interesting these job options were,” confided one teenage girl. Another expressed intrigue about “how closely biomedical engineers work with doctors in developing more successful strategies” to treat disease.
“We believe that early outreach and mentoring are critical to inspiring women to become leaders in engineering and other STEM-related fields,” said Jenni Buckley, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and co-founder of The Perry Outreach program, which coordinated the outreach. The program aims to encourage young women to pursue careers in science, particularly mechanical engineering and orthopedic surgery, two fields in which women are traditionally underrepresented.
Hosted by UD and Red Clay Consolidated School District, the program attracted more than 30 students from nine area high schools in Delaware and Pennsylvania.
Participating UD faculty members included:
- Lynn Synder-Mackler, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Physical Therapy;
- Jill Higginson, associate professor of mechanical engineering; and
- Jenni Buckley, assistant professor of mechanical engineering; as well as
- Martha Murray, a UD mechanical engineering alumna and orthopedic surgeon.
Buckley said she plans to expand the Perry Outreach program’s infrastructure and curriculum over the next year with a recently acquired grant for $100,000 from Chevron Energy Solutions. This year's event at Conrad was sponsored in part by Stryker Corporation.
Building a research resume
In a separate initiative by the College of Engineering’s Pre-College and Special Programs, 23 area high school students got a head start in building their research resume, working side-by-side with UD undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral researchers in a summer research internship program.
Not your average beaker-washing bonanza, students gained real experience as team members on a wide range of research projects including adaptive technologies for infant mobility, water quality and contaminants, thermoplastic composites processing, and other projects in chemistry, chemical engineering, physics and computer science.
Sponsored in part by JPMorgan Chase, the program ran from June 20-Aug. 12. In addition to the research experience, it included weekly seminars on topics such as professionalism, email/web etiquette, resume writing, research report and poster design and presentation, networking skills and overviews of UD’s Admissions and Study Abroad.
Students presented their research to family, teachers, industry representatives and UD faculty and students who attended the program’s finale and poster session Aug. 12.
“Our collaboration with University of Delaware is about technology innovations in the classroom, on the job and in the community,” said Courtney Smith-Goodrich, JPMorgan Chase managing director and UD alumna. “We were pleased to have the opportunity to partner with UD on this important high school research internship program to help develop future technology leaders.”
Other sponsors included the American Chemical Society’s ProjectSEED program, the College of Engineering, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Center for Composite Materials. Grant funding from the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency also supported the projects.
Article by Karen B. Roberts