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Forty-four Lehigh Valley high school students will have an opportunity to earn college credit and enhance their education through Lafayette engineering faculty and facilities this school year in the Academy for Applied Engineering.
Established by Lafayette and Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School in fall 2001, the program introduces high school students to several engineering disciplines over two semesters, essentially covering the same topics in the College’s one-semester Introduction to Engineering course. After instructing 45 students in the past two years – 36 of whom earned college credit – the Academy of Applied Engineering has expanded to include students from school districts encompassing the Liberty, Freedom, Northampton, Saucon Valley, Bethlehem Catholic, Notre Dame, and Easton high schools.
Faculty from each of Lafayette’s five engineering divisions will visit Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School to provide supplementary instruction: Polly Piergiovanni, associate professor of chemical engineering; William Hornfeck, professor of electrical and computer engineering; Ed Saliklis, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering; and A.B. engineering chair David Veshosky, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.
The professors also will lead students in hands-on activities and give lectures during the College’s open house at Acopian Engineering Center on Friday, Oct. 17, as well as during the fall semester break and/or after Lafayette’s spring semester ends. In addition, faculty will judge students’ semester-long projects during the school year.
Student feedback to the Lafayette components of the program has been very positive in past years, says Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School instructor Thomas Remely, coordinator and primary instructor of the Academy for Applied Engineering.
“This gives high school students exposure to engineering before they jump into it,” he says. “It’s also a great opportunity for kids to get involved with college before they’re freshmen. Part of this program is the interaction with faculty; this is a great advantage that high school kids don’t normally get.”
The course’s major project likely will be a choice between creating surveillance robots, which last year’s students took on, and process control of a simulated chemical plant. Students also will participate in several smaller projects in different engineering areas
One benefit of the Academy for Applied Engineering is that it exposes a diverse range of young students to the engineering field, says James P. Schaffer, Lafayette’s director of engineering. Very few high school students have much understanding of the profession, which they likely won’t pursue unless a family member is in the field or they are urged to consider it by a guidance counselor after doing well on a standardized math test.
“Anything to introduce a wider range of students to the profession earlier is important,” he explains. “Many students rule out a career in engineering before they start the college search process. They probably won’t get excited about the field if all they know is that it’s something you might do if you’ve performed well in math. Through this program, students get a view of what engineering is about so they can make a decision about whether it’s a realistic career option based on experience, rather than what parents or guidance counselors say.”
Besides learning about the different engineering branches and skills like computer-aided drafting, the high school students learn how project complexity requires most engineering work to be done in teams, adds Schaffer.
Program funding is split between Lafayette, a Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School scholarship fund, and a $50 fee paid by each student.