Do any of you know of programs or EC’s for high school students who are interested in exploring automotive engineering?
(This is not for the same child I recently posted about.)
Some high schools have auto shop classes under career and technical education. But perhaps no such thing is available in your area?
Although such courses are aimed mostly at those looking at going into automotive repair, the knowledge and experience gained can be helpful to a prospective engineer who wants to design automotive things.
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He is homeschooled, but maybe the community college would have some intro classes he could take.
You might look into some of these programs - or even a STEP at Purdue, Operation Catapult at Rose Hulman - which will just be engineering.
Also, look at Purdue Indianapolis, UNCC and Clemson to see what they have.
Maybe he can just get a part time job / summer job at a dealer - portering / washing cars or something. My son (during covid) did remote car detailing (went to people’s homes and detailed cars). Made great money and it was something on his resume - and got an internship at a manufacturer the next summer.
Automotive Engineering | Course | Summer Springboard - Summer Springboard
9 Automotive Engineering Summer Programs for High School Students
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There are some automotive specific summer camps for HS students but most are general engineering/STEM camps. Michigan has an automotive engineering specific camp: Automotive Engineering | Michigan Course | Summer Springboard - Summer Springboard
Purdue’s STEP program is great but definitely general engineering/stem with the only possible tie in being a tour of the Subaru plant (kids get to choose their company visit).
For ECs, I think science olympics is great for any student interested in engineering. The build events might be fun for your student.
If you live near a university or polytechnic, you might want to look into if they have a formula SAE team and if they would be willing to have your student shadow or even volunteer.
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I think you’ll find a lot of kids in college SAE teams at the college level did FIRST or VEX robotics in HS - as did a lot of mechanical engineering majors.
The automation, mechanical engineering, controls, etc., have overlap!
A lot of FIRST teams are community teams (though some are HS-based) so you can google and see what’s near you. Kids learn SO much, mine went from zero knowledge to teaching others high-ish level CAD and knowing how to use lots of machining tools, etc.
Worth a look even if not pure automotive IMO. Some kids will almost certainly be like-minded.
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I would underscore that I agree general Engineering, or perhaps Mechanical Engineering, sorts of activities are fine at this stage.
A summer job in something auto-related is also a good idea, but I wouldn’t consider it necessary. But if the kid loves cars and can make some money, why not?
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