Photos by Travis Caperton and Sam Williams
Gallogly College of Engineering welcomed more than 850 high school students representing more than 40 schools from communities across Oklahoma to the University of Oklahoma on Tuesday, Sept. 22, for the 114th Engineering Open House. The annual event gives students an opportunity to explore engineering, compete in design challenges, tour campus and experience what it means to be an engineer while interacting with current OU Engineering students. For more than a century, Engineering Open House has connected Oklahoma students with OU Engineering through hands-on activities and design competitions.
“Engineering Open House gives students a chance to see themselves at a university and start thinking about what a future in engineering might look like,” said Randa Shehab, Ph.D., senior associate dean of the Gallogly College of Engineering. “When students get to design, build, test and solve problems alongside engineers, they start to realize there are so many different ways to be an engineer.”
Since 1912, OU Engineering has hosted high school students through Engineering Open House, making it one of the university’s longest-running traditions. The event is designed to introduce students with a range of engineering experience to the field and to help them explore the academic and career opportunities available through engineering and related disciplines.
The centerpiece of the event is a series of engineering design competitions. Student teams prepare prototypes in advance and bring them to campus to design, test and compete against teams from other schools. This year’s competitions included Egg Car and Design, Build, Fly Glider challenges, giving students opportunities to apply concepts such as mechanics, design, testing and problem-solving in a competitive environment.
Students also participated in hands-on activities led by OU Engineering faculty and students, explored engineering majors, toured the Engineering Quad and learned about admission and financial aid.
“That’s what makes days like this so valuable,” said Dalton Brasington, executive director of outreach and recruitment for the Gallogly College of Engineering. “Students can take what they’re learning in the classroom and see how it connects to the kinds of problems engineers solve every day. We want them to leave excited about what they can do with an engineering education and the impact they can have here in Oklahoma and beyond.”
The event reflects OU’s broader commitment to working with Oklahoma’s K-12 education system and developing the talent needed to support the state’s future. OU’s Lead On, University strategic plan identifies collaboration with K-12 education and other stakeholders to enhance educational outcomes statewide as a priority, while also calling for the university to drive Oklahoma’s economy through research, innovation and talent development.
Engineering Open House provides a direct connection between those priorities and students in Oklahoma communities. By bringing students to a research university and allowing them to engage directly with engineering, the event helps students explore higher education, develop problem-solving skills and consider careers that can contribute to Oklahoma’s workforce.
The event also gives students an opportunity to see the breadth of engineering education at OU. Through the majors fair, students can talk with representatives from engineering programs and learn how different disciplines connect to industries and career opportunities.
For students competing in the engineering challenges, the experience also comes with the possibility of becoming a Sooner. Members of winning teams receive OU Engineering scholarships, creating a direct connection between their work in the competition and the opportunity to pursue an engineering education at OU.
Engineering Open House is part of the Gallogly College of Engineering’s expanding K-12 outreach efforts, which also include Engineering Days, summer programs and other experiences designed to introduce students to engineering, science and technology before they begin college. These programs provide opportunities for students to engage with technical concepts while learning more about the educational and career pathways available to them.
As Oklahoma continues to identify and develop the talent needed for its future economy, programs that connect students with higher education and high-demand fields play an important role in strengthening the state’s educational and workforce ecosystem.
Engineering Open House gives those efforts a longstanding platform, bringing Oklahoma students to OU each year to discover engineering, challenge themselves and begin designing their futures sooner.
See photos from the event online at https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjD5FoH.
