A Robotics Competition To Interest Minorities In Engineering

Each summer, minority students from across the country receive scholarships to attend a week long introduction to engineering program at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT. During the week, these talented high school seniors participate in a variety of engineering design projects including boat building, bridge building, and robot design/construction. The robotics construction project, originally designed by Dr. Joseph Johnson (of Delphi Interior Lighting in Pontiac, Michigan) has been used as a tool to motivate students to consider engineering as a career option. This paper discusses the rationale behind using engineering games as a motivation tool for students and details the experience of using the game concept for this group of minority students. In brief, the high school students responded to the challenge of the project, experienced the design process first hand, and favored the competition as an activity to introduce the engineering profession.