Students with the University of Houston’s Honors Engineering Program recently got an in-person look at the world of professional engineering. On November 12, more than a dozen HEP students visited one of the Houston locations of Cameron, a maker of flow equipment for the oil, gas and processing industries.
At Cameron they saw demonstrations of scale model flow products along with full-size units undergoing testing and debugging.
“It’s a great experience for students to see the actual equipment and tools that practicing engineers work with,” said Dave Shattuck, HEP director and the Cullen College’s associate dean for undergraduate programs. “It’s one thing to hear about them and talk about them and to see pictures, but to actually see the equipment up close is valuable. It’s also great motivation. It’s fun for students to see these things operate and to realize that they have the knowledge and education to make something this complicated work.”
This was the first outing for the HEP program. Founded this fall in partnership with The Honors College at UH, HEP is designed to provide academically gifted engineering students with a more comprehensive and rigorous engineering education. The program includes honors-level courses, mentorship opportunities and excursions to sporting events, museums and industry partners.