Engineers on wheels: A mobile engineering outreach program

Engineers on Wheels (EOW) is a mobile engineering outreach program sponsored by Rowan University. Each semester, a group of 4-6 interdisciplinary engineering students is tasked to bring lessons that cover science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to a number of elementary and middle schools in the surrounding area, focusing on students from grades 5-8. On a weekly basis for a span of approximately six weeks, visits are made to the various schools to promote continuous learning and provide a more detailed look at the various disciplines in engineering. The repeated visits also allow the EOW team members to develop a rapport with the students that they are working with to enable them to provide mentorship and guidance in advising the children on a path to a successful career within the STEM field. Each discipline is spotlighted through a traditional classroom lesson which is then paired with a creative and thought-provoking hands-on activities and experiments. The activities are intended to spike student interest in STEM and facilitate a deeper understanding of the impacts that engineers have on their everyday lives. Founded in 2010 under the direction of Dr. Kauser Jahan, the outreach program has shown great success in maintaining and generating young student interest in STEM disciplines. The program begins and ends with an anonymous survey to allow the EOW team to quantify the changes in general knowledge and interest in pursuing engineering careers. The results over the years have consistently shown positive results. It is anticipated that these mobile efforts will result in increasingly diverse classes of engineering at Rowan University as generations of past student participants approach the college age.