The Cullen College of Engineering recently participated in a new recruiting initiative in conjunction with the Duke Talent Identification Program (TIP), the University of Houston Honors College and the University of Houston-Downtown. Duke TIP is a leading organization which identifies academically talented students and provides programs to support their development.
The program hosts Scholar Weekends at universities around the country, which consists of short courses that allow students to explore an area of interest that may not be available through their local school. The recently-held program represents UH’s first partnership with the Duke TIP program, a new avenue for recruiting high ability students.
"The partnership with the Duke TIP program offers us the opportunity to showcase the Honors College and the University of Houston campus to high-caliber students in the Houston area,” said Jodie Koszegi, assistant dean of the Honors College. “A positive experience for these students now can reap dividends for the University of Houston in the future."
Fifteen prospective students participated in the “Extreme Engineering—A Design Challenge” weekend course developed and instructed by Dr. Julie Trenor, director of undergraduate student recruitment and retention at the Cullen College. The weekend also featured tours of the UH campus and information about the undergraduate engineering program and merit scholarship packages. In total, about 75 students attended one of five Scholars Weekend courses held at the university, including “Is There a Doctor in the House? Medicine in the 21st Century”, “Game Theory: Strategic Decision Making”, and “Interpretations of War”.
The “Extreme Engineering” course was based on the popular ENGI 1100: Introduction to Engineering course. The intensive, two-day course challenged the students to develop teamwork, design and open-ended thinking skills by completing a “MacGyver” design project. The projects, a staple in the ENGI 1100 curriculum, garner their name from the 1980’s television show and require students to use a limited set of everyday materials to solve a design challenge.
Two former ENGI 1100 students, Michael Fernandez (ME) and Daniel Unate (IE), assisted Trenor in teaching the course, which featured the research of Peter Strasser, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and Gangbing Song, associate professor of mechanical engineering. Presentations were given by doctoral candidate Shirlaine Koh (ChBE) and Fernandez.
Trenor is an alumna of the Duke TIP program, and participated in the TIP summer studies program on the Duke University campus as a middle and high school student. She credits her pursuit of a Ph.D. to the self-efficacy she developed as part of the program. Trenor was presented with the Duke TIP Distinguished Alumni Career Award during a ceremony recognizing students from this year’s Seventh Grade Talent Search at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium on May 21.
“The TIP program has been a huge influence in my life, and teaching the UH Scholar Weekend course is a full-circle moment for me,” Trenor said. “Plans are underway to offer the UH Scholar Weekend engineering course again this fall.”