Engineering design is a blast for incoming students

University of Arizona engineering students spend four years solving problems with design thinking. But some are too excited to wait for their first semester. For them, Engineering Blast Off With New Start is a chance to get a six-week head start on degree fundamentals during the summer before they become first-year students.

“It’s been very amazing,” said Ilana Valenzuela, a Catalina Foothills High School graduate who plans to major in aerospace or mechanical engineering. “I took a lot of inspiration from the design project. It started as academic and developed into more of a passion project.”

It's ideal for students to learn design language and processes from the start, said Larry Head, director of the Craig M. Berge Engineering Design Program. The hands-on project Valenzuela began at Engineering Blast Off, an electrical fire prevention device, was her first step in an educational journey that will finish with a year-long Interdisciplinary Capstone senior project.

“We don’t want the first time they learn about design language to be in capstone when they’re seniors. We want them to be thinking this way all four years,” Head said.

A helpful transition

Now in its second year, Engineering Blast Off is a partnership between the College of Engineering and the university’s New Start program. New Start is meant to smooth the transition from high school to college.

The program is offered as part of ENGAGED, the college’s suite of services for students who have been underrepresented in engineering. Like other ENGAGED programs, Engineering Blast Off doesn’t cost students anything to participate, and it provides unique benefits.

“This experience gives students a jump start on their degree, as it meets the same requirements as the introductory design course,” said April Horne, ENGAGED associate director.

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As well as earning course credit, students in the summer program learn from faculty and industry mentors about how their classroom and hands-on learning is crucial to future engineering applications. Students also tour research labs, including the San Xavier Underground Mining Laboratory, and get a glimpse of potential career paths from alumni.

Goals for ENGAGED programs include helping students establish networks of peers and mentors and ensuring they feel welcome.

“From what we can tell, the program is quite effective at establishing a sense of belonging for incoming engineering students,” said Horne.

This was the case for Jose Martinez, a first-generation college student who is feeling more confident in making his way around campus after attending Engineering Blast Off.

“I think I can do it,” he said. “I came here, took some courses, learned about engineering – yeah, I can do it, it’s possible,” said the Calvary Chapel Christian School graduate.

Years of EDC exploration ahead

Valenzuela and Martinez were impressed with the resources available in the college’s Engineering Design Center, where they took design-related courses and completed group projects. All engineering students have 24-hour access to the makerspace and its equipment, which includes 3D printers and tools for woodworking, metalworking, sewing, and electronics and software projects.

Martinez started tracking a list of objects he wants to 3D print, which he calls his idea machine. One item is a customized backpack hook that will securely hold his skateboard when not in use.

Valenzuela will continue visiting the EDC to work on her passion project. A judge who assessed Valenzuela’s group project encouraged her team to speak to a STEM adviser at Tech Launch Arizona, the university’s commercialization arm. After doing so, she is eager to develop the invention and eventually explore forming a startup.

“If I was able to take the project I started at Blast Off and continue it throughout my engineering career and apply everything I’m going to learn to that project, that would be amazing,” she said.