Summer course challenges high schoolers to design better infrastructure

Is there a solution to game day parking woes? Dozens of high school students from across the country tackled this question as part of a capstone project that concluded the weeklong summer course Developing Tomorrow’s Infrastructure: An Introduction to Civil Engineering. Working in teams, the students analyzed traffic patterns, parking availability and pedestrian routes to propose a redesigned campus infrastructure to better handle game traffic.

“We flew a drone over campus to capture images and render a 3D model of the area, which was really fun to execute,” says Kira Day, a high school senior from Austin, Texas. “We also toured the athletic facilities which helped us have a better understanding of where congestion occurs.”

Throughout the week, students participated in hands-on activities highlighting different disciplines within civil engineering. Sue Khalifah, student experience director, created and manages the program, supporting and guiding a team of doctoral student instructors. The goal is to introduce high schoolers to civil engineering at Purdue which provides teaching opportunities for graduate students who might work in academia.

“Through this experience, I learned I enjoy teaching more than I thought I did,” says Abdullah Nafakh, a graduate research assistant and civil engineering PhD candidate. “We only have one week to connect with these students and build an environment that inspires them to pursue engineering. At the end of the program, they’ve learned some useful skills, possibly skills that will lead to a future career.”

Because they are working on real-world problems, the ideas the students generate could potentially be implemented. Throughout the course, students gain a better understanding of how civil engineering shapes the future.

“Before taking this course, I thought of civil engineering as buildings and bridges,” says Day. “Now I realize it encompasses geomatics, hydrology, transportation, and more. This course gave me a better understanding of what engineering entails so going forward, I’ll be more prepared.”