Online Course Seeks to Inspire High School Students to Engineer in Alaska

A new online course is targeting high school students to consider engineering in Alaska as their education choice.

Engineering Alaska, or ES100X, a one semester course created by UAF’s College of Engineering and Mines, in collaboration with researchers and faculty from all engineering disciplines, UAF’s Alaska center for Energy and Power and e-Campus makes engineering fun and accessible to high school students and college freshmen. 

“I believe that by making Engineering Alaska available to promising high school students, a higher number of students are going to decide that Alaska is exactly the right place to earn an engineering degree,” said CEM Dean Bill Schnabel.

ES100X, including a virtual field trip to Kotzebue, is expected to be offered every semester beginning in fall, 2022. As an asynchronous online course, it will be available to promising high school students throughout Alaska with an interest in engineering. Students will earn university credit for taking the course and gain a jump start in their college career.

The course is required for most UAF engineering majors, and contains elements of numerous engineering disciplines relevant to the development of Alaska’s economy.

“We’re hoping through this class to engage engineering students early in their education career and show them that engineering in Alaska is not only exciting, but also place-based and accessible to all,” said Schnabel.

For more information on ES100X please contact uaf-cem@alaska.edu.

 

Video screenshot shows geological engineer Margaret Darrow draws equations on the learning glass as part of the Engineering Alaska, ES100X class.