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April 10, 2008

Contact: Scott Silversten Phone: (718) 862-7232 E-mail: Public Relations

Manhattan College To Host 27th Annual Engineering Awareness Program

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Manhattan College’s Engineering Awareness Program, which aims to introduce high school students to potential careers in the various fields of engineering, will be held for the 27th straight year in July.

The program is designed for minority and women high school students in science, engineering and SAT preparation at no cost to the students and is co-sponsored by the Metropolitan Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the ACE Mentorship Program of New York, as well as individual corporate sponsors. It is meant to introduce students to a wide range of engineering-related career options, with some emphasis on civil engineering.

Directed by Dr. Walter Saukin, associate professor of civil engineering at Manhattan College, the Engineering Awareness Program draws students from the surrounding areas with an emphasis on granting minority and female students an exposure to engineering while providing them with information about scholarships and financial aid. The program also explores engineering careers in the fields of law, business, medicine and education.

Students for the program are selected in part based on strong mathematics and science abilities and either an interest in, or curiosity about, engineering.  The extensive 10-day program, which will be held July 7-10, 14-17, and 21-22, runs from 9:00 am through 3:00 pm and includes:

• Laboratory experiences in chemical, civil, computer, electrical, environmental and mechanical engineering, as well as in physics and chemistry
• Lectures
• Work in surveying
• Computer aided design session in robotics
• Aerospace lecture
• Wide range of guest speakers
• Laboratory experimental design program
• Structural project periods
• Structural competition
• Environmental engineering laboratory experience
• SAT testing and strategy sessions
• Field trip to a structural design company
• Air Force ROTC

To download an application, click Here. For consideration, please return the application immediately by mail or fax to (718) 862-8035.  The program is held in Manhattan College’s Leo Engineering Building (Room 236) at 240th Street and Corlear Avenue in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

The Engineering Awareness Program strives to: 1) give students insight into academic and professional details related to careers associated with the various branches of engineering; 2) provide students with information regarding applying to college and related scholarship and financial requirements; and 3) recruit and encourage minority and female students to seek a career in engineering, or one based on engineering.

Dr. Saukin oversees and directs the Engineering Awareness Program and has been actively involved in planning and curriculum development since its inception. Dr. Saukin created and developed a similar summer program at the University of Vermont from 1992-2000 that grew from 20 to 60 students and he has assisted many students on behalf of Manhattan College, the National/Metropolitan Section of the ASCE and the ACE Mentoring Program, in gaining insight into engineering as a profession.

The Program draws students from surrounding high schools in New York City, eastern Long Island, and Westchester and Putnam counties in the state of New York. The majority of students, however, are drawn from the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, northern Manhattan and Yonkers, areas that are heavily populated with many diverse minority groups.

Faculty for the summer program consists of the program director and approximately four to six undergraduate Manhattan College engineering students. Additional participants include the College provost, the dean of engineering, approximately 10 engineering professors, four science professors, the student advisor to the school of engineering, a representative from the director of support services, an assistant to the dean of admissions, and the College’s medical school advisor.

In 1982, the College began summer and year-round sessions for minority high school students under the New York State Department of Education’s Science and Technology Transfer Entry Program. Since 1991, the College has continued this program on its own, with the support of ASCE, later joined by ACE Mentoring Program of New York, and other private funding sources. Over the years, the Manhattan College Engineering Awareness Program has introduced over 4,000 minority and female high school students to higher education and careers in engineering and the sciences. The program introduces students to all six areas of engineering, with some emphasis on civil engineering.

Manhattan College also runs other summer programs that include the Yonkers Program for Yonkers high school students, the BETA Program for Bronx Engineering and Technical Academy students, and three other programs run by the College’s chemical, electrical/computer and mechanical engineering departments, respectively.

For more information about the Summer Engineering Program, please contact Dr. Saukin, at (718) 862-7171 or e-mail janet.horgan@manhattan.edu. 

Founded in 1853, Manhattan College is an independent, Catholic, coeducational institution of higher learning offering more than 40 major programs of undergraduate study in the areas of arts, business, education, engineering and science, along with graduate programs in education and engineering. For more information about Manhattan College, visit www.manhattan.edu.