Local high school students attend Engineering State at Utah State University

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Tyler Pulli, Rachel Roberts, Neil Rowley, and Taylor Weihing from Emery High School were among the 222 students excelling in math and science who attended Utah State University’s 21st Annual Engineering State program in Logan June 11 – 14.
The intensive four day program introduces high school students throughout the region to the engineering profession and is sponsored by USU engineering alumni, school district foundations, engineering firms, and businesses. Students participate in a variety of Challenge Sessions taught during the week.
Among the 18 hands-on, competitive exercises called Challenge Sessions, students write an iPad App, competitively locate software bugs, apply algorithms and cryptography to win a scavenger hunt; engineer algae to produce bioproducts and biofuels, and isolate spider silk-making genes to produce huge quantities of spider silk and learn about synthetic spider silk research. They also learned how to manipulate DNA to change the smells of fruits, put together a small steel bridge and test its structural soundness, build personal speakers, design a computer out of only a ping-pong ball and a telephone, design their own aircraft out of balsa wood, and scale 90+ foot walls.
Engineering professors at USU donate their time to introduce students to their profession and challenge them in exercises which use math and science to solve physical problems.
The Engineering State program at USU has been instrumental in attracting top students to engineering departments at universities across the state. Since many students receive little exposure to engineering in the high school setting, attendees to Engineering State receive a hands-on introduction to engineering. Besides an outstanding orientation program for engineering, attendees experience the university environment and receive information about the financial resources available for students who seek higher education.
For more information about the Engineering State program, contact Kathy Phippen, Program Coordinator, at (435) 797-2843.