Vignesh Subbian, principal investigator for the College of Engineering’s eCAMINOS program, spoke to radio host Ed Ackerly on the Oct. 28 edition of Jump In Tucson.

The National Science Foundation funded eCAMINOS with a grant of nearly $2.5 million. Through the program, which began in fall 2024, Subbian and his collaborators expect to serve 28 students from the University of Arizona’s Yuma campus and 22 from the main campus in Tucson.

Over a period of five to six years, participating students will receive scholarships up to $15,000 annually. The grant also funds research into a model that systematically combines strengths-based mentoring with development of portfolios that showcase students’ skills, projects and achievements. The researchers aim to inspire significant change in engineering education to shift focus toward students’ strengths and away from knowledge deficits.

“What types of experiences and knowledge do students have as they come into engineering programs?” Ackerly asked Subbian, associate professor of biomedical engineering and systems and industrial engineering and member of the university's BIO5 Institute.

“A world of experience,” said Subbian. “They do everything around their households. They design and fix everything, and that’s engineering. Some come from schools and family environments that can be quite challenging. That gives them the resilience to overcome obstacles.”

Listen to the interview