The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

The Daily Illini

The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

The Daily Illini

The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

The Daily Illini

The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

The Daily Illini

High school students experience University engineering program

The College of Engineering hosted Engineering Day on Friday, Feb.12, inviting high school students to show what being an engineer is about.

12 high school students registered on Engineering Day. They had a chance to talk to college students in Engineering, visit cutting edge facilities and learn about the fields of engineering.

Lauren Reiser, junior at Sacred Griffin Heart High School,

Springfield, joined the Lab Tour, where she toured several Engineering facilities on campus, such as Rapid Prototyping Lab, Hydrosystems Lab, Siebel Center and Talbot Lab Crane Bay.

The Tour was led by Marlo Goldstein, director of the Engineering Information Bureau, and James Phillips, professor in Engineering.

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“I liked how it actually showed what was going on in hydro systems,” Reiser said.

Mike Herner, senior at De Smet Jesuit High School, St. Louis, has been visiting many colleges, such as Purdue University, Washington University, Saint Louis University and University of Missouri.

“This is just the best engineering school that I’ve ever gone to,” Herner said. “It’s got a big school campus and I like that. Why not visit here?”

Herner says that using the actual math and science to do something with them is where most of his strength lies.

In addition to Lab Tours, high school students had Information Session and Q&A; time. Herner and Reiser said that everything they learned in Engineering Day was new.

“I enjoyed the labs, just discovering what engineering actually was,” Reiser said.

However, Herner and Reiser are both worried about the time

management with majoring in Engineering.

“I’m in high school, and I’m up to one o’clock every night, just because I do whatever and start my homework from eleven,” Herner said.

Goldstein advised high school students concerned about time management to start out easy.

“Otherwise pretty much face yourself…do it on your own pace,” said Goldstein.

Herner has applied to many different schools with different fields of engineering majors because he doesn’t know which one he would go into.

“There’s too many different paths that I can go down,” said Herner. “I don’t have anything in my mind [about my future].”

Goldstein also said that majoring in Engineering is a great way to start your career.

“Whether you want to continue as an engineer, you want to continue with business, you want to go to medical school,” Goldstein said. “In general, Engineering is a great major. Not only is it challenging, but it’s also on a really strong foundation.”

Engineering Day is held several times in a year, and the next one is Feb. 19. Recently, many engineering events have been hosted on campus, such as Engineering Career Services Fair on Feb. 10, Engineering EXPO on Feb. 4 and Society of Women Engineers Conference in later January. From Feb. 14th to 20th is E-Week, in which thousands of engineers, including students, teachers and professionals will celebrate the accomplishments of engineers.

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