Students don’t always know what to expect from their first year in the College of Engineering. For those who want a head start, there's Engineering Blast Off With New Start. 

The students who spent the summer navigating campus, meeting peers and mentors, and earning course credit said Engineering Blast Off can offer some surprises as well.

“If you had asked me going into the summer what I would be doing, I definitely would not have said, ‘making a group of engineering friends or coming up with a device that could turn into a startup company’ – I never could have imagined that,” said Ilana Valenzuela, a Catalina Foothills High School graduate who plans to major in aerospace or mechanical engineering, adding that her choice to invest six weeks in preparation for the school year was "definitely worth the risk."

Now in its second year, Engineering Blast Off is a partnership between the College of Engineering and the University of Arizona’s New Start program. New Start is meant to smooth the transition from high school to college. The program is offered as part of ENGAGED, the college’s suite of services for students who have been underrepresented in engineering. Like other ENGAGED programs, Engineering Blast Off is free of charge and provides unique benefits. 

“This experience gives students a jump start on their degree, as it meets the same requirements as the introductory design course,” said April Horne, ENGAGED associate director.

The Engineering Blast Off program includes a collaborative project that ends with a presentation for a group of judges at the New Start Academic Conference. Many of the judges are New Start alumni.

Valenzuela’s group impressed a judge who encouraged the team to connect with a STEM adviser at Tech Launch Arizona, the university’s commercialization arm. After doing so, she is eager to develop the invention and eventually explore forming a startup.

Valenzuela and all incoming students will continue applying design skills in hands-on projects during their degree programs as part of the Craig M. Berge Engineering Design Program. They will also have access to the college’s Engineering Design Center to work on assigned and personal projects.

“If I was able to take the project I started at Blast Off and continue it throughout my engineering career and apply everything I’m going to learn to that project, that would be amazing,” she said.

New content, confidence and community

Sage Newcomb was surprised by the experiential nature of all the classes. He was especially interested in learning to prevent and mitigate attacks in an artificial intelligence and cybersecurity course.

“We got to essentially hack our own computers instead of just being told what goes on, which I think is really cool,” said the Catalina Foothills graduate.

As well as earning course credit, students in the summer program hear from faculty and industry mentors about how their classroom and hands-on learning is crucial to future engineering applications. Students tour research labs, including the San Xavier Underground Mining Laboratory, and get a glimpse of potential career paths from alumni.

Goals for ENGAGED programs include helping students establish networks of friends and mentors and ensuring they feel welcome.

“From what we can tell, the program is quite effective at establishing a sense of belonging for incoming engineering students,” said Horne.

This was the case for Newcomb and for Jose Martinez, a first-generation college student who is feeling more confident in making his way around campus after attending Engineering Blast Off.

“I think I can do it,” Martinez said. “I came here, took some courses, learned about engineering – yeah, I can do it, it’s possible,” said the Calvary Chapel Christian School graduate.

Newcomb also feels more self-assured after attending Engineering Blast Off. He appreciated the program’s social activities, which he said were fun and entertaining: “I met a lot of new people and got to form bonds.”