Determining the Age for Engineering

In an effort to address declining engineering enrollments, numerous K-12 programs have been initiated. Many of these programs focus on introducing engineering content through technology curricula; primarily in the form of creative, hands-on activities. While these approaches are vital to nurturing an interest in engineering as a profession, they may produce a distorted perception of the analysis and detail oriented world of practicing engineers. Many students enroll in engineering programs with the belief that the profession is solely focused on creativity and "building stuff". Too many of those students, drop out, complete degrees in other fields of study, or pursue non-engineering, post baccalaureate career paths. Many disillusioned students indicate they were unaware of the detail-oriented aspects of the engineering profession. An effort to expose pre-college students to "common" engineering practice has been initiated at the University of Texas at Tyler, aided by funding from the National Science Foundation; an approach intended to complement existing tinkering-based strategies. Data collected during two, week-long, summer camp activities indicate that there is an "age for engineering"; a point at which pre-college students are sufficiently mature to understand and appreciate the activities that are common to engineering practice. This paper describes the initiative, activities and data that indicate a minimum age at which the engineering profession can comprehensively be introduced