Twenty-eight students from throughout Arizona gathered in a room on the University of Arizona campus to build desktop computers from the ground up as part of the week-long Native American Science and Engineering Program. 

The students arrived on Sunday and will leave campus on Saturday having gained insight on living in a dorm, UA admission requirements, financial aid and tutoring resources as well as insights into careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.

The UA's Office of Early Academic Outreach coordinates the science and engineer summer workshop and subsequent year-long program created to provide Native American junior and senior high school students with the resources to enroll in a university and pursue a career in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics fields, known as STEM fields.

The program is known as NASEP and is a result of a partnership with the University of Alaska Anchorage and the National Science Foundation Partnership for Innovation Proposal titled Indigenous Alliance: Pre-College Component Expanding on Success.

NASEP partners with various organizations to offer unique opportunities and mentorship for NASEP students including, but not limited to, the UA College of Optical Science, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Raytheon, Sandia National Laboratories, IBM, the UA Department of Mathematics, the UA College of Engineering and the UA President's Office.