In a perfect world, all first-year students would come to campus equally equipped for a rigorous collegiate experience. The reality is that, often, even the brightest students may not have acquired all the tools essential for success in their academic pursuits.
But some of these students, who have been admitted to the University of Mississippi’s School of Engineering this fall, got a much-needed boost thanks to a “boot camp” they attended second summer session.
“The event was created due to the need of incoming engineering students,” said Derek Englert, postdoctoral research associate in chemical engineering and coordinator of the program. “There are a large number of students that lack the needed math skills to be an engineer. This does not mean that they are not smart, but in most cases, they have not been given a proper opportunity to learn the math skills they will need.”
Englert said he supported the boot camp because he believes these students can be great engineers.
“They just need some extra help to get there. So if they are motivated and determined, I want to help them succeed,” he said.
Twenty students attended the initial boot camp. Most were from Mississippi, but a few came from other states. Camp organizers targeted students who scored less than a 24 on the mathematics portion of the ACT.
“If they had a lower GPA, they had a higher priority,” Englert said.
Boot camp consisted of Math 125 and Engineering 100 classes in the morning, followed by two-and-a-half hours of project time after lunch. The students then had a two-hour study hall before dinner and free time.
Participants worked on projects that included a water clock, wherein they had to build clocks that kept time using water; an egg drop, for which they had to build devices to catch a raw egg after it was dropped from a height of more than 100 feet; and a Mars Rover, wherein attendees had to design and build rovers for going to Mars using K’NEX construction toy systems.
“This project teaches about the cost of research and design,” Englert said. “It incorporates prototyping costs, production times and sales presentations.”
As part of boot camp, the students also went on plant tours, where they got valuable insight into engineering and manufacturing as well as valuable life lessons and helpful engineering advice. Sites visited included BorgWarner, Sardis Dam, Caterpillar, Red Hills Mine and Power Plant, B&B Concrete and Philips Day-Brite.
Steve and Charles “Chuck” Smith, sons of late UM electrical engineering chair and professor Charles E. Smith, donated $10,000 toward financing the camp and are pleased with its success.
“When we first heard of the engineering boot camp, our first thought was how our late father would have enthusiastically supported, as well as funded, this worthwhile program,” said Steve Smith, vice president of Guardian Manufacturing Co. “As leaders in an engineering-based company and [through] our association with Ole Miss Engineering, we also recognize the need for such programs, not only aiding freshmen in a ‘motivational jump-start’ to their first semester but by giving them an early experience with their newly chosen career path.”
