Last month, the Pigman College of Engineering welcomed 280 students from 20 Kentucky high schools for the annual Transition to Engineering (T2E) Project Kick-off event.
The T2E Project Kick-off is a speed project mentoring event. Students were able to share project ideas and connect with engineering faculty, alumni and other students across the state participating in the program.
Now in its third year, the T2E program takes the college’s wildly successful First-Year Engineering (FYE) program required of all incoming engineering students and applies it at the high school level. Doug Klein, FYE lecturer and well-known educator within the Kentucky public school system not only directs the program but also trains the teachers who facilitate T2E in their classrooms.
“It is our plan with this program to have students coming to the college of engineering knowing what to expect from our faculty,” said Klein. “Engineering is a rigorous and hands-on major and allowing students to get started on engaging engineering content and build confidence is a major benefit.”
UK faculty train high school teachers in the EGR 101 and 102 curricula, which is part of the First-Year Engineering program at UK. These high school teachers then instruct their students in this content. At the conclusion of the high school course, students complete an assessment on the content provided by the University and a project that integrates coding and product development. Students that are successful, may receive credit for EGR 101 (1 credit) and EGR 102 (2 credits) at UK. Receiving these credits is contingent upon students registering for the final course in the First-Year Engineering sequence, EGR 103 (2 credits) the semester after graduation.
For more information about T2E or how a high school in your area can particiapte contact Doug Klein.
