K-12 Workforce Development

Family Engineering Night (FEN) is an informal engineering education program designed for children ages 7 to 12 and their parents or other adult caregivers. MSU, UAB, FIU, and UF are participating in this STRIDE project, and their efforts are summarized below:

On March 30, 2013, UAB held a Family Engineering-type event in collaboration with the Society of Women Engineers with 34 children from the 4th and 5th grades from the surrounding school districts learning about engineering disciplines and took part in experiments related to engineering through fun hands-on activities. UAB students and faculty also talked about careers in general engineering and transportation engineering, in particular to interested parents. The program was well received and a similar program is planned for 2014.

UF ITE, ASCE, and WTS student chapters hosted an evening event in February for 76 Lawton Chiles Elementary school students. The student chapters teamed up again to host a booth at the PK Yonge Research School’s yearly carnival in October where 85 children participated in the hands-on activities.

FIU provided hands-on activities during their Engineering Gala in February’s Engineer Week celebration so that attendees could learn about engineering fields in fun and interactive ways.

During the fall semester, Mississippi State University students conducted a Service Learning Project to develop exciting new transportation activities to add to the existing FEN events. MSU also implemented the Family Engineering Program at eight schools in the southern part of the state reaching 689 students and their parents. In followup surveys, parents responded that they were so happy to have learned more about their child’s interests and potential. The parents also shared that they learned a great deal about the fields of engineering and planning with their child for the future.