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Bridge to Success: Experience of Middle School Student in an Engineering Research Program

The CMU Pre-college Summer Scholars (PSS) program is an 11-week program for secondary school students in the summer where participants engage in an intensive engineering research experience under the mentorship of an graduate engineering student and engineering faculty member. Participants learned Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and Engineering in this program. Some of the many aspects students learned include fundamentals of microprocessors, embedded systems, sensors, actuators, their respective functionality and operation. Further, students learned how to utilize them, how to connect a microcontroller with external discrete circuit elements. They also learned how to use various computer software like Arduino IDE and Fritzing etc. In this engineering program, participants did many different engineering projects including, autonomous (acting independently or having the freedom to do so) cars going through mazes, relaying real-time sensor information to the cloud, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, etc. Further, students learned how sensors worked together to create an alarm system, how to implement wireless communication between the Raspberry Pi and various objects for a portable design while accounting for aesthetics.

During the school year, the students support their respective teachers with various tasks such as serving as team leader in robotics club, prepare examples of the robotics club projects, make tutorials of how to create/make/do the robotics club projects etc. Overall, this program has educated them in engineering concepts, and how to present their learnings in a professional manner. This program has greatly benefited them as they prepare for a future career in engineering disciplines.