GE Aerospace extends Next Engineers program at UC

The partnership provides an introduction to engineering careers for younger students and career readiness for high schoolers who are interested in studying engineering when they go to college.

The foundation offers the program on four continents, including three cities in the United States: Cincinnati, the headquarters to GE Aerospace; the Capital Region of New York and Greenville, South Carolina.

“Over 30,000 students around the world have experienced the power and possibility of engineering through our Next Engineers program and the dedicated GE Aerospace volunteers who make it possible,” said Meghan Thurlow, President of the GE Aerospace Foundation.

“I’m really elated,” said Whitney Gaskins, associate dean of UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science.

“It feels really good because we’ve grown the program together so it feels like a true collaboration to draw new talent into the engineering workforce.”

The Engineering Discovery program provides students ages 13 and 14 an opportunity to explore engineering through short, hands-on design challenges guided by UC staff and GE Aerospace volunteers, while the two-year Engineering Academy program immerses high schoolers in engineering through in-depth design challenges, career coaching, and skills-building workshops.

Students who complete the Engineering Academy program and enroll in a qualified engineering or engineering-related degree program receive scholarships to support their education toward becoming engineers. The program has reached more than 30,000 students globally and has awarded $1.4 million in scholarships to qualifying graduates in Cincinnati.

Students work collaboratively on a challenge and solve it as a team, supervised by GE volunteers.

“They get to learn from people who love this career field and ask questions. We can see those light-bulb moments when students realize they can do this,” she said.

Through the Engineering Academy, high school sophomores come to UC on Saturdays to work on design challenges like building a working water filtration prototype or creating new adaptive technology for people with disabilities. All the while, they get a more detailed perspective on engineering majors and career paths from working engineers.

At his Engineering Academy graduation in April, Phurin Lehman said the best part of the Next Engineers program was making new friends with other students he got to know while collaborating on projects at UC.

“We’ve been together now for three years. So I was able to see their experience and share mine. We’re like family now,” he said.

Lehman is now studying construction management in UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science.

“The Next Engineers program was a turning point for me. Before joining, engineering felt like a broad, intimidating concept,” Lehman said. “The program demystified the field by providing hands-on experience and direct access to professionals. It shifted my perspective from ‘I might be good at this’ to ‘this is exactly what I want to do with my career.’”

Gaskins said students are full of enthusiasm and promise.

“We get told no throughout our life so much that we sometimes forget to dream,” he said. “And these are students who aren’t afraid to dream or be innovative. They come up with beautiful designs.”

The enrollment deadline for the next Engineering Academy is Jan. 23.

Featured image at top: Students in the Next Engineers program took a field trip to see how jet engines are made. Photo/Kyle Turner