New Mexico State University PREP 2010
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New Mexico State University’s Pre-Freshman Engineering Program (PREP) celebrated its 14th year in the summer of 2010, with a record 176 students completing the program. AHPCRC is a key funding agency for PREP, and through AHPCRC’s commitment to excellence and generous financial support, PREP has continued to grow.
PREP is administered through the New Mexico Alliance for Minority Participation for the NMSU College of Engineering. This program recruits achieving pre-college students from the three school districts in Doña Ana County for a six-week, academically intense summer program with the goal of preparing these students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Students take courses in logic, algebraic structures, technical writing, engineering, computer science, and physics. The goals are to stimulate participants’ interest in higher mathematics and science and to provide problem-solving sessions to equip them with the necessary tools and the desire to pursue a career in STEM.
Friday field trips and Career Awareness Seminars provide students with opportunities to meet and interact with professionals who instill the vision and passion to become the scientific leaders of tomorrow. The participants may begin the program as early as sixth grade and attend for four years prior to high school graduation. Although PREP is open to everyone, the program focus is on female and minority populations traditionally underrepresented in the STEM fields.
PREP 4, which offers college-credit courses to students in their fourth year of PREP, completed its second year. PREP 4 students toured the White Sands Test Facility’s new state-of-the-art Range Launch Complex control room and control tower. They also learned about robotics and programming while assembling and programming Boe-Bots.
PREP 3 students built solar cars and ran experiments to learn about the advantages of solar power. PREP 2 students toured and received briefings at Holloman Air Force Base (Alamogordo, NM). While there, the students worked with the Explosive Ordinance Devices Division, the High Speed Track, the T-38 Aircraft Training Facility, and Heritage Park. They spoke with two female pilots about what it’s like to be a pilot in the Air Force. PREP 1 and 2 students designed, built and launched multiple single and double-stage rockets. PREP 1, 2 and 3 students interacted with guest lecturers Dr. Stephen Kanim (Physics Professor); Dr. David Voelz (Electrical Engineering Professor); and Dr. Ricardo Jacquez (a civil engineer and Dean of the College of Engineering) during the Career Awareness component for PREP.
PREP 1, 2, 3, and 4 students visited the International Space Museum, which educates visitors from around the world on the history, science, and technology of space. During their visit, they observed NASA technology and multiple rocket launches and took part in a “physics magic show.” In addition, they worked with computers to learn about basic hardware and software components, development of algorithms through flowcharts, BASIC programming, Visual C++, Web Design, Microsoft Office, and MatLab.
On the campus of NMSU, students viewed the large wind-tunnel that is used for research by the Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering Departments. A guest speaker from the Mechanical Engineering Department spoke to all the PREP students about the Unmanned Aerial Systems Technical Analysis and Applications Center designed to promote safe integration of the unmanned systems in the National Airspace System.