The Buckeye Precollege Institutes, held throughout the month of June on Ohio State's campuses, allow pre-college students to get a head start on the college experience by exploring new academic subjects, interacting on campus with peers from across the U.S., and experiencing engaging, intensive courses taught by Ohio State faculty and staff.
“The Buckeye Precollege Summer Institutes will enable high school students to learn more about Ohio State, benefit from our outstanding faculty and instructors, and consider Ohio State as a destination for college,” said Ohio State Executive Vice President and Provost Melissa Gilliam. “Through these programs, participants will discover potential career paths, gain college-level academic skills and engage with thought-provoking, real-world challenges that can impact our world.”
One of the courses offered to these ambitious students is Impact Engineering, Technology, and Science for Solving Wicked Problems, taught by Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering (FABE) lecturers Cherish Vance and Patrick Sours.
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he course gives students an opportunity to address complex global issues such as climate change, food security, access to clean water, growing inequality, and emerging infectious diseases. This course also serves as an introduction to the field of Humanitarian Engineering, which emphasizes the societal dimensions of contemporary engineering and seeks to answer the question, how can the practice and application of engineering solutions contribute to (and potentially alleviate) societal inequality? The students participated in small group discussions, presentations by guest speakers, field trips to campus engineering laboratories and demonstrations on 3D printers and other advanced technology.
“The whole idea was to make the experience interactive,” Sours said. “The students are coming in excited. They see the challenges in the world, and they look forward to using their skills to make an impact.”
The first session of the Buckeye Precollege Institutes was held June 5-16 and the second session began June 19 and continues through June 30.