Students urged to try engineering

‘Emagine!’ seen as potential first step to high-paying career

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – Hundreds of students from across the state will have a chance over the next three months to try their hand at four kinds of engineering that hold the promise of high-paying jobs and could be critical to the nation’s continued prosperity.

A Clemson University team will visit five cities through April to show students how the science and math they are learning in middle- and high school apply to engineering in the real world.

This year’s installment of “Emagine!” begins this weekend at the Clemson University Restoration Institute in North Charleston.

Students will build towers, program driverless vehicles and do other activities that show how they can use engineering.

For students who participate, it could be the first step toward a career in some of the nation’s most in-demand jobs.

Emagine is in its fourth year and is expanding its slate of activities and list of cities. It goes to Rock Hill on Feb. 7, Orangeburg on Feb. 21, Florence on March 7 and Greenville on April 18.

Clemson faculty members and students will lead participants through a series of activities designed to hook their attention.

Brad Putman, associate professor of civil engineering, said that it’s important to reach students young because they begin to set their career paths as early as middle school.

“You have a lot of students who are good at science and math but maybe just have trouble seeing the connections to the real world,” he said. “This allows them to see to the end game, to see the connection between science and math and what they could potentially do.”

Students will build air-powered cars to learn about mechanical engineering. They will program driverless vehicles in the session on electrical and computer engineering.

For civil engineering, students will try to build towers that withstand simulated earthquakes and hurricanes. They will design impact-resistant materials as part of the materials science and engineering challenge.

Engineers are critical to filling the needs of some of the nation’s largest employers. In South Carolina, those employers include Boeing, BMW, Duke Energy, Fluor, GE and Milliken.

“The work of our engineers and scientists has helped make the United States a global leader,” said Anand Gramopadhye, dean of the College of Engineering and Science.

“To ensure that the nation maintains its competitive edge, we must keep the pipeline filled with talent. Emagine’s expansion will help us reach more students and expose them to a broader range of engineering disciplines. This year will be the program’s best yet.”

Some of the highest paying jobs are going to students with degrees in engineering. Graduates with bachelors’ degrees in electrical and computer engineering ranked sixth highest with an early-career salary of $66,500 and a mid-career salary of $113,000, according a recent report by PayScale.com.

Materials science and engineering came in 11th, while mechanical engineering was 15th and civil engineering was 24th

In each city, Emagine participants will be divided into four groups of 30.  Each challenge will last 45 minutes, and then the groups will rotate to the next one.

“They will have the opportunity to learn about each engineering discipline and then actually be that type of engineer,” Putman said. “We will get them to work with their hands and work with each other to solve a problem.”

The event will also give students and parents a chance to learn more about internships, study-abroad options, campus life and the admissions process.

The first event is at 1250 Supply St. in North Charleston. More on Emagine, including locations of other events, is available at: http://www.clemson.edu/emagine/