Applying for the Engineering Investigations summer course, I never expected to learn so much about engineering in 2 weeks. My idea of the course would be that it would look into different types of engineering and that is where we would end. I was correct, but the course also looked into engineering itself. What does it mean to be an engineer? What do you do as an engineer? Do I have the toolset to be an engineer? This course gives people the opportunity to ask professionals and faculty “What is engineering?”. To those that are anticipating taking the course, let me supply some helpful tidbits about the course.
Being an engineer doesn’t have to be on your mind.
The course gave me a lot of hands-on experience with different engineering disciplines and didn’t require a lot of technical knowledge. Our daily activities ranged from emulating work in a lab to designing products that could be marketable. The experiments were all interesting and there were multiple assistants that could help if I was stuck. I was pleasantly surprised that the class consisted of people at various skill levels, and were all welcoming and accepting of each other. Even if you are an engineer, this course could help you solidify your career path, or guide you to an even better one.
Be yourself.
One of the opportunities I got while participating in this course is being able to experience part of the engineering design process. As a result, one of my takeaways is that it is really important to voice your own opinions while collaborating with others. While you don’t have to be especially extroverted (many engineers are the opposite), being able to bring your own experiences and knowledge to a discussion table is always helpful no matter what you do.
Try different things.
Whether you are someone who has experience in engineering like robotics or someone that is exploring their interests in the field, this class provides the space for you to try many different things in engineering. The program creates a wide variety of activities that you might not normally have the opportunity to try. The course also gives you a final project to further push your interests in a field, which really allows you to showcase your thinking. The Engineering Investigations course has been really mind-opening and this course does way more than allowing you to pursue your interest in engineering. Through interactions with professionals, college students, and classmates, this engineering course can be used to explore or satisfy your curiosity in this evolving profession.
