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Class is Engineered to Help High School Students: Fresno State Course Offers a Look at the Many Fields of Engineering.

Posted on: Friday, 2 June 2006, 00:00 CDT

By Margaret Slaby, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

Jun. 1--Almost 30 students are scattered throughout the auditorium in Engineering East Room 191 at California State University, Fresno. Walter Loscutoff, chairman of the school's mechanical engineering department, stands in front of the group and talks about nanotechnology, aeronautics and bioenergy.

But these aren't typical college students, and this isn't an ordinary engineering class. These are high school students, and the class, Engineering Applications, is designed to introduce them to the field's disciplines.

The semester-long class meets for about three hours Tuesday evenings. It is part of Fresno State's Step to College Program, which offers college courses to high school students.

"We're trying to inform high school students about what engineering is," says William Wright, class coordinator and assistant professor in Fresno State's Department of Civil and Geomatics Engineering and Construction.

"It's also somewhat of an outreach. We can let them see we do have a credible engineering program here, and they might think twice about going off somewhere else."

The class has been offered for almost a decade, Wright says. Students must have at least a 3.0 grade-point average. Cost is $9, and students receive college credit.

The class is divided into sections; each addresses a discipline, including mechanical, electrical, civil, geomatics, computer engineering, computer science and construction management.

Each is taught by a professor from Fresno State's engineering department. Lab projects, such as building a small-scale, truss-type bridge from wooden dowels, glue and string, are part of each segment.

Jesus Larralde, a professor of civil engineering at Fresno State, assigned this semester's class to build a miniature water tower from wooden dowels, balsa, glue, string and other materials. The towers were tested with a piston to see how much force they could withstand. Larralde says working on projects helps students with some of the skills necessary to succeed as engineers.

"It helps them develop teamwork and communication skills," he says.

Kingsburg High senior Nathan Strid, 18, says he enjoyed the water tower project. Strid enrolled in the class to learn more about the field. "I knew I was going to be an engineer of some kind, but I wanted to get a taste of each kind and decide what I like and what I don't," he says. Strid says he's leaning toward civil engineering.

Buchanan High junior Alex Atencio, 17, also has discovered his likes and dislikes while in the class. "I've realized I'm more interested in computer or electrical rather than civil," he says. "I knew I wanted to go into engineering, but it's such a broad topic, and I needed some direction of which field I wanted to go into."

Meanwhile, Bullard High senior Erin Fennacy, 17, has decided she doesn't want to become an engineer. "I took the class because I was interested in math and science, but I wasn't really sure what engineering was about other than civil engineers build bridges," she says. "It's interesting, but I don't think I want to make it my career."

Instead, she'd like to teach college physics.

The fall class starts Aug. 29 and will be held 6-8:50 p.m. Tuesdays. Applications are available through area high school counselors and will be accepted until the first class meeting.

The reporter can be reached at mslaby@fresnobee.com or at (559) 441-6758.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Fresno Bee

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