by Sunnie Redhouse
Daily Lobo
Cassondra Malloy, a student at La Cueva High School, said her father is an engineer, but she still did not know exactly what he did.
Attending the UNM's School of Engineering open house on Tuesday helped her understand.
"Engineering is more diverse than people realize," Malloy said. "It's a really good career pathway."
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Joseph Cecchi, dean of the School of Engineering, said many high school students do not understand what engineering is.
"They learn how they can do something good for the world (with engineering)," he said. "We're here to answer all their questions."
About 70 high school students and their parents attended the open house.
They were free to roam around the Mechanical Engineering Building Atrium and talk with administrators of departments and engineering students.
Brian Patterson, vice president of UNM's American Society of Civil Engineering, said students do not know about civil engineering, which focuses on the design and constructing of roads, buildings, airports, tunnels, dams and sewer systems.
"It's an extremely broad field," he said.
Arup Maji, chairman of UNM's Civil Engineering Department, said he wants to spread the word about the fulfillment students can experience if they go into civil engineering.
"They can drive around town and say that they built that and learn that it helps make up the society," he said.
Members of UNM's American Society of Civil Engineering presented their Steel Bridge Project, which won second place in American Society of Civil Engineering Rocky Mountain Regional Conference in April. The object of the project was to design a steel bridge that was lightweight and held a heavy load.
Steven Peralta, director of the UNM Multicultural Engineering Program, said the open house was a chance to help high school students understand what a great program the University has.
Gabriel Elder, a junior at Highland High School, presented his New Mexico High Science Fair project, which was funded by UNM's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.
Elder's project was a fire-fighting robot, which he said was designed to put out house fires.
"It (engineering) seemed like what I wanted to do," he said. "I learned what to do during high school to be successful in college."
Brittany Branch, a UNM chemical engineering student, said having college students attend the open house was vital in getting high school students interested in engineering.
"It's good to experience opportunities and see what career opportunities are local," she said. "It's good that we're having it on campus so they can see the engineering building and see where most of the classes take place."
May Goldenberg, a parent attending the open house, agreed. She said it gives students a chance to interact with their peers - and it taught her something too.
"As a parent, it opened my eyes a little about the different branches in engineering," she said.
Other engineering departments represented were Chemical and Nuclear Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Computer Science.
