Engineering and Science Day caters to local youth, teaches

On Tuesday, April 17, 2007, over 150 prospective high school students from eight schools swarmed Rose-Hulman’s campus for the annual Engineering and Science Day. Coordinated by Rose-Hulman’s K-12 Educational Outreach Coordinator Dale Long, Engineering and Science Day is sponsored by Rose-Hulman in conjunction with the Francis Vigo chapter of the Indiana Society of Professional Engineers to introduce high school students to careers in engineering and science-related fields. Seventy-five percent of the students were freshmen and sophomores and the rest were juniors who were undecided on their career path. No seniors were allowed since they have already decided upon their respective college and career plans. Attending students came from a number of schools including Terre Haute South, Terre Haute North, Northview (Brazil, Indiana), South Vermillion (Clinton, Indiana), Riverton Parke (Montezuma, Indiana), Shakamak (Jasonville, Indiana), Clay City (Clay City, Indiana), and North Vermillion (Cayuga, Indiana) in addition to a group of home-schooled students.

The students arrived at 9 a.m. and were presented with a speech by Rose-Hulman President Gerald Jakubowski. He welcomed the students to campus and urged students to consider a career in science or engineering. “America needs you to follow through on your goals to become engineers and scientists,” he insisted.

Next, the students left to attend company tours and job shadow. Many companies opened their doors to the students including: Pfizer, Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Bemis Company, AET Films, Conoco Phillips, American Structurepoint and Terre Haute City Engineers Office, and Numerical Concepts. Some of the Rose-Hulman departments also gave tours. These included Rose-Hulman Ventures, the Engineering Physics and Optical Engineering Department, and the Department of Applied Biology and Biomedical Engineering.

The students returned for lunch at 11:45 a.m. After lunch, the students traveled to Hatfield Hall to learn more about the departments at Rose. There were booths set up by the American Society of Civil Engineering, the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Department of Chemical Engineering, the Admissions Office, the Homework Hotline, and Eli Lilly’s Clinton Laboratories. Patrick Ferro, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, described his experience giving information to students at the Mechanical Engineering booth. “It’s an intense thirty minutes with lots of curious high school students! Doing this is a lot of fun.”

Lastly, the students attended an activity entitled “Who Wants to be an Enginaire?” The game show-based activity finished off a day of exploration for the high school students. There were many positive comments after the activities. Terre Haute South student Loren McGowan explained, “It is a really in-depth experience that is different from career days because you get real hands-on experience.” Another Terre Haute South student, AJ Dinkel, stated, “It was really interesting seeing the different businesses and learning how engineering affects their company.”