Engineering Tomorrow's Careers

June 15-20th, 2008

Sample Schedule :: Application Form :: Teacher's Letter :: Student's Letter

Purpose

Engineering Tomorrow's Careers (ETC) Camp is a week long event that works to stimulate interest in engineering and the sciences. The camp brings high school girls, who have just completed their junior year, on to the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. While at ETC, in addition to their exposure to engineering, the girls have the opportunity to experience dorm life/college life and Madison. The week is structured to include a multitude of activities, many of which include lectures, labs, and social activities. The wide variety of activities is aimed at peaking the interest of all of the girls regardless of what their interests may be. To do this we try to provide the opportunity to investigate or see an application of engineering that they might not have thought of before, but become intrigued by.

Lectures

Unlike the typical lectures that one would get in school, these lectures are structured to offer information about the individual engineering majors and course work related to them, etc. All of the engineering disciplines offered at Madison are discussed that include: >Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer and Electrical Engineering, Engineering Mechanics, Engineering Physics, Geological Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Nuclear Engineering.

Typically, professors, who are specifically chosen from each department to speak, conduct the lectures. The objective of the lectures is to inform students about the major itself and possible careers and opportunities within in, while offering a brief overview of typical course curriculum.

Labs

Just as we try to include every discipline for lectures, we do the same for labs. Labs that we have done in the past include a tour of a nuclear reactor (right here on our campus), a materials science lab, as well as our traditional hands-on truss lab. For these and the many other labs we visit or use special facilities that are located here at UW-Madison, and are not common at other universities. Each lab offers a chance to discover what you can do within a certain engineering field and it often the possibilities come as a great surprise to everyone.

We always incorporate what has become a tradition of the camp---the truss lab. The lab is broken into three stages: design, building, and testing. The girls are typically broken up into groups of four and they work as a team to try to build a bridge with the highest strength to weight ratio. This hands-on activity illustrates the teamwork that occurs in all engineering work and gives the girls an opportunity to try their hand at design work.

Housing

All 60 campers are housed in one of the dorms on the UW-Madison campus. Right near Lake Mendota, many find it peaceful and secluded, while still being located in the heart of Madison. The close quarters allow the girls to experience the typical dorm living situation, while offering a great opportunity for them to get to know each other better. In the past the girls have learned a lot from each other and from the counselors in the laid back atmosphere of the dorms.

Social Activities

All throughout the week the evenings are filled with various social events. While the first evening is pretty laid backnwith a campus tour and getting settled being the main objectives the rest of the week offers great opportunities for the girls to get to know one another and take a break from learning in the traditional sense. Many of our activities try to include the idea of teamwork such as ALPs and a self-defense workshop. Other fun activities that we typically incorporate into the week may include a trip to see Comedy Sportz and to State Street for dinner and shopping.

Contact

If you have any questions about ETC 2008, please contact:
Julie Feld or Laurel Moses