The Purdue Student Engineering Foundation (PSEF) runs Advancing Prospective Engineering Experiences (APEX), a full-day event to introduce high school students to engineering.

Amareah Bead encountered engineering for the first time in third grade. Now on her tours with prospective students at Purdue University in West Lafayette, she readily shares that her interest in civil engineering started on that introductory day and grew through her love and fascination with bridges.  

Emma Bedwell, a mechanical engineering student, shares Bead’s story. Through a well-timed introduction as a high schooler, Bedwell’s passion and creativity fueled her engineering journey. Now juniors in the College of Engineering, the two are co-directors of Advancing Prospective Engineering Experiences (APEX), an annual full-day event to introduce high school students to engineering. The event seeks to provide that introductory spark to high school students, whether they are already familiar with Purdue and engineering or are brand new to both.  

“It’s hard to have engineering exposure in high school, as big of an industry as it is,” Bedwell said. “We’re hoping to give students the opportunity to figure out if they like engineering through outreach. As soon as I was able to take my first outreach experience, I knew immediately that was where I wanted to be. I wouldn't have known it otherwise.” 

The co-directors’ stories intertwined at Purdue. Having been impacted by awareness-promoting encounters, they gravitated toward sharing Purdue engineering with prospective engineers through the Purdue Student Engineering Foundation (PSEF). Bead and Bedwell volunteered as PSEF mentors for the first APEX in 2023. By the following spring, they were interested in directing one all-day event of their own. This November, their dreams of directing the 20-year-old event will become a reality. Students, new and returning, are encouraged to sign up for the free Nov. 9 event on the PSEF website by the Oct. 25 deadline. Space is limited to 180 students.  

Bead and Bedwell spearheaded two major changes for APEX: moving the recruiting focus from field trips to individual students and shifting the recruiting event from a weekday to a Saturday.  

But APEX is more than a free one-day workshop or rudimentary introduction to engineering: It’s a hands-on competition and college experience. Run entirely by PSEF volunteers, participants get a taste of what it’s like to be a Purdue student in one of the most unique and industrious organizations of college engineers.  

David Bowker, who has been a staff advisor for PSEF since 2001, has been continually impressed by how self-sufficient the students are. He provides mentorship and support to the students, but when it comes to PSEF events, Bowker shares that the students run every detail.  

“For students to self-run, self-organize and do these big-time events, I'm not sure that there's that kind of autonomy in any other engineering school.” 

APEX offers answers to the question, “What is engineering?” with hands-on activities and one-on-one time with current engineering students. With over 50 PSEF mentors present, students get a glimpse of the college engineer’s life and challenges. They receive an organic tour of campus with an unscripted PSEF guide — one that Bead says allows students to really picture themselves as Purdue engineering students — and have ample opportunities to have their questions answered and learn something new about engineering, Purdue and their own interests. Participants who are worried about engineers being boring will be surprised by their mentors: These students are excellent collaborators and communicators who certainly enjoy the fun as much as attendees.   

The three major creative design challenges require group work, but only two of them provide blueprints. The third design event is an improvised group effort to create something truly unique and functional.  

Bedwell says that this is her favorite part of the day: the budding innovation.  

“The moment they start to try things out, figure it out and collectively come to a ‘yes,’ I love seeing that flip,” she said. “They’re so proud of what they make at the end. It shows some of the fun aspects about pursuing engineering.” 

Bead, Bedwell and Bowker summarized students who would enjoy APEX most in three words: enthusiastic, curious and competitive. Familiarity with engineering — — is not a prerequisite, nor is it a requirement.  

“Engineering doesn’t mean that you're a math or science genius,” Bead said. “APEX can show people that there's not one kind of person that goes into engineering.” 

Curiosity and enthusiasm are accounted for, but where does the competitive side come into play? Students have the opportunity to “win” their APEX weekend by gathering points through demonstrations, teamwork and the testing components throughout the design activities.  

This is Bead’s favorite part, outside of giving candid tours of the West Lafayette campus.  

“I love seeing the anticipation before the students actually test what they’ve done,” she said. “It’s exciting to see how invested they are in what they’ve created.” 

The mentors are invested in what the students create, too. Co-directors Bead and Bedwell note that the PSEF volunteers are truly there because they want to be — they are a dedicated base of volunteers who truly enjoy meeting new students and discussing engineering.  

“Everybody is striving to give (participants) the experience that we wish that they had had in high school or, if they think back fondly on those memories, they want to recreate that for them,” Bedwell said. “That’s one of the pillars that PSEF as a whole is based off of, so this event is just one way to showcase that.” 

The overarching theme of each APEX changes with its leadership. This year features biomedical engineering, its advancements and challenges for which students may be innovating in the near future. Even if students are not sure about biomedical engineering as a career path, they are invited to attend to be inspired. Mentors regularly find themselves inspired by the participants and each other.   

“This has shown me that my experience can be inspiring for other people,” Bead said. “When I hear Emma talking about what she does all day as a mechanical engineer, what sounds normal to her sounds so amazing to me. Being able to inspire the younger generation instills confidence that you’re doing awesome things as a Purdue student and can accomplish whatever you want to accomplish.” 

Bedwell, who shared admiration for all that Bead does as a civil engineering student, chimed in about the power of opportunity.  

“For us to put on an event like this, being college students, we’re not much older than some of these students and it’s insightful for them to work with us,” Bedwell said. “We can put ourselves back in those shoes and having the chance to talk to students in college right now is super beneficial for them. 

“We all come from different backgrounds and not only is it inspirational for us, we hope that translates over to the students and families we meet. There's not one right way to get here and be considered successful as a student here.” 

The variety of experiences that lead PSEF students and high school attendees to APEX prove Bedwell’s point. But every success in APEX and in Purdue engineering would not be possible without the introductions that led students’ curiosity, enthusiasm and competitive edge to engineering as a whole.