Using Summer Programs To Excite Interest In Engineering

Decreased enrollment in engineering majors has been a general trend around the country and at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York. This paper discusses summer programs USMA has implemented to create interest and increase student knowledge of engineering. The students who participate gain a much broader understanding of engineering, and are much more likely to stay in the engineer major. They are also more likely to select the Corps of Engineers as their Army branch, and serve as engineers after graduation. The student summer program and its variety of appealing international and continental US locations is also being used as a promotional tool to attract more underclassmen to the engineering majors. Students travel locations for the summer of 2002 included: Japan, South Korea, Germany, Kosovo, Panama, Honolulu, Seattle, New Orleans, etc. The presented assessment data shows this program to be highly successful. Introduction The Civil Engineering Division at West Point has two summer programs for students that will be entering their junior or senior year. Both of these programs are under West Point’s Academic Individual Advanced Development (AIAD) program, which covers all summer academic programs at West Point, regardless of department or academic discipline. The first program, the Cadet District Engineer Program (CDEP), is designed to introduce Civil Engineering majors to the function of a typical US Army Corps of Engineers District within the continental US and overseas. CDEP is an internship type program that does not provide academic credit, and participation is voluntary. The program usually last between 3-5 weeks and students participate in various activities to include duties typically assigned to new engineers within the district. Some of these duties include: • Assistant Project Engineer • Quality Assurance Inspector