Programs

The Engineering Place is dedicated to impacting underserved and underrepresented students through its many K-12 programs for students and teachers. TEP also participates in community programs, generating interest and excitement about engineering and associated careers.

Additional programs may be added, so be sure to Sign up for our newsletter to be the first to know of these and other opportunities.

Click on the event titles for the registration form. Links will be added as registrations open. Visit each program description (below the schedule) for registration deadlines. Not all events will have a registration link, such as Gadgets & Gizmos, Girl Scouts, etc.

2023-2024 Schedule Coming Soon

Event	Date	Time

Program Descriptions

Learn more about each of our programs!

Summer Programs

Middle school students participate in Girls Game Design camp. — Middle school students participating in summer camp engineering challenges..

Each summer, the College of Engineering plans and executes multiple summer programs for rising 3rd to 12th-grade students. From day camps to week-long stays, these programs introduce students to engineering through hands-on activities and problem-solving. Students spend the week with other like-minded students and gain exposure to NC State and university life.

The Solar House

Tours are available for K-12 students and the public. We will have two events this spring! One is a Solar House ShowCase and one is a classroom visit! Information about these events and registration information will be coming soon!

All tours include an informational component about the passive solar technology used in the Solar House AND an age- and grade-appropriate, hands-on, engineering activity. We are happy to work with you to help meet the needs of your students and the educational outcomes you hope to achieve as a part of your experience. Tours generally last approximately 30 minutes, depending on questions, and the engineering activity takes another 60 minutes. Please note: A staff member from the Solar House will be in touch to discuss your request.

Information on Tour Group Size

The Solar House has limited space and can accommodate a maximum of 40 students in a single tour. If you have more than 40 students in your group, we will schedule multiple tour times to accommodate the entire group.

Solar House Location

The NC State Solar House’s address is 1201 Gorman St, Raleigh, NC 27606, and is located at the corner of Gorman St. and Western Blvd. Parking is available in the McKimmon Center’s main parking lot and is free for student groups and participants. For student groups arriving in school activity buses, please drop students off in front of the Solar House and park your bus in the overflow parking lot on Varsity Drive.

Solar House History

The NCSU Solar House, built in 1981 by NC State’s Professor Herbert Eckerlin of the Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department, was created to promote and demonstrate renewable energy technologies to the community. The house features 5 kW solar PV panels, solar water heating, a ground loop geothermal heat pump, efficient construction, and insulation, LED lighting, and is designed with several passive solar features that further reduce energy costs. The site was used to conduct numerous renewable energy research projects, educate undergraduate students, and enable graduate students to write research papers, theses, and dissertations.

Today, the primary purpose of the Solar House is STEM education and outreach as well as renewable energy research. Anyone looking for information on solar home construction or personal home improvements should contact the NC Clean Energy Technology Center.

Tours of the Solar House are managed through The Engineering Place at NC State University.

Check out this video on the construction of the Solar House in 1981!

We look forward to seeing you!

Family STEM Engineering Nights

School Hosted Program

Registration Deadline: August 31, 2022

Family STEM Engineering Nights are all about family, fun, and engineering! Our team of NC State Engineering Ambassadors, student volunteers, and faculty will come to your school and provide fun, engaging, and hands-on activities to inspire and excite everyone in attendance! Ten different stations are set up in either the cafeteria/gym and/or classrooms and families engage in the different stations at their own pace.

We are currently scheduling for the entire 2022-2033 academic year. While we wish we could come to every school interested in our program, we have limited availability each year. If we can’t make it this year, please be sure to sign up again next year!

Dinner for the NCSU students is the only cost to the school, thanks to a partnership with Duke Energy!

Details

Schools must be ~20 miles or under from the NCSU campus in Raleigh, NC.
The program runs from 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm.
Engineering Activities include Catapults, Straw Rockets, Diaper Dissection, Smores Packaging, Extreme Rollercoasters, Let’s Communicate, Lightbulbs, Foil Boats, Marshmallows Towers, and Tumbling Towers.

Virtual Program

This program is currently on break!

If you have children in grades K-5, we hope you will join us for an evening of fun engineering challenges over Zoom.

Families are invited to join the Engineering Ambassadors and The Engineering Place as we work together to solve two exciting Engineering Design Challenges!

Learn more about NCSU engineering and engineering thinking by using The Engineering Design Process and participating in fun challenges.

Engineering Bits & Bytes Days

Engineering Bits & Bytes Days are STEM curriculum enrichment experiences held on the NC State Centennial campus for students in elementary, middle, and high school — grades K–12. These half-day events include age- and grade-appropriate hands-on engineering activities and often a tour of Hunt Library or other engineering facilities. For middle school and high school groups, NC State Engineering Ambassadors are available for a Q & A session about admission requirements, scholarships, college life, and suggestions on how best to prepare now for the college experience you want. Detailed information about this program, including the application, can be found here.

Engineering Minds in Motion

Engineering Minds in Motion is a new program! We collaborate with K-12 partners in providing engineering education programming at their location. Our Engineering Ambassadors and TEP team bring fun hands-on activities and engineering challenges to engage kids of all ages!

Engineering on the Road

The Engineering on the Road program brings engineering to life in K-12 schools all over the state of North Carolina. Through interactive demonstrations and hands-on activities linked to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study, we illustrate the true nature of engineering — not just the stereotypical view that many people have — to students, teachers, and staff. Programs are customized to meet the needs of the school or organization and for small- and large-group events. We even have an engineering roadshow!

We also participate in other community organizers’ programs, such as math and science nights, career fairs, and workshops.

Please note: Due to limited staff, we are offering this program on a limited basis. Please note we are not able to provide science fair judges.

COE First-Year Engineering Design Day (FEDD)

The NC State Belltower against a blue sky, with flowering trees in the foreground

First-Year Engineering Design Day (FEDD) is an end-of-year opportunity for first-year engineering student teams to showcase their design projects and compete for awards. The projects are completed as part of the E 101 – Introduction to Engineering and Problem-Solving course, allowing students to practice core design concepts during their first year while learning how to work successfully on a design team.

The College of Engineering at North Carolina State University would like to invite you to attend the 23rd Annual First-Year Engineering Design Day (FEDD). K12 teachers are invited to bring their students to FEDD on Friday, April 22, 2022. There will Engineering Ambassadors available to answer any questions during the event.

Check out our pictures from our past events!

FEDD Team Projects:

Assistive Device
Automatic Chicken Coop Door Opener
Cisco 3D Printing
Collapsible Bridge
Concrete Canoe
Educational Computer Game
Engineered Fish Passage
Entrepreneurship Project
Fabric Bucket
Music Maker Machine
Nuclear Probe
Precision Launcher
Solar Still
Toy Design

Two Sessions

Morning Sessions: 9:00 am – 10:30, 10:30 – 12:00 pm (Awards presented from 11:30 am – 12:00 pm)
Afternoon Session: 1:00 – 2:30, 2:30 – 4:00 pm (Awards presented from 3:30 – 4:00 pm)

Location

NC State University McKimmon Center for Extension & Continuing Education at 1101 Gorman Street, Raleigh, NC 27606. (corner of Gorman Street & Western Blvd). Parking is available and free.

Registration

Registration Opens in Spring 2023

Questions? Email coe-theengineeringplace@ncsu.edu

Future City Program

Future City NC is a vibrant, authentic, and engineering-aligned real-world experience for middle school students across the state. The Future City program, a national organization and program from DiscoverE, teaches 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade students problem-solving techniques through hands-on, project- and problem-based learning.

Future City is a STEM program for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders attending North Carolina Middle Schools. The annual competition in January provides participating student teams with an opportunity to present their semester-long Future City project to industry engineers.

Click here for the official NC Future City website and to learn more about the competition:

Project Lead the Way

PLTW is a program providing activity-, project- and problem-based (APB) instructional design and centers on hands-on, real-world activities, projects and problems that help students understand how the knowledge and skills they develop in the classroom may be applied in everyday life. The APB approach scaffolds student learning through structured activities and projects that empower students to become independent in the classroom and helps them build skillsets to apply to an open-ended design problem. This approach provides students with unique opportunities to work collaboratively, identify problems, apply what they know, persevere through challenges, find unique solutions and lead their own learning.

Through Project Lead The Way (PLTW) programs, students develop in-demand, transportable skills – such as problem-solving, critical and creative thinking, collaboration and communication – that they will use both in school and for the rest of their lives, on any career path they take.

Students of PLTW participating schools are eligible to apply for one-time scholarships that are available to engineering first-year students enrolled in the College of Engineering. Please encourage your students to apply.

PLTW Scholarship Application

At this time, NC State University will not be hosting summer training for teachers.

Workshops

The Engineering Place can develop a specific program to meet the needs of many organizations, including K-12 school districts, individual schools, engineering professional organizations, and university departments. Below is a sampling of some of the workshops that we have offered. Contact us at coe-theengineeringplace@ncsu.edu for workshop information.

Engineering is Elementary Professional Development
Engineering as Part of Integrated STEM Professional Development
Encouraging Girls to Pursue STEM* Careers
Developing Non-traditional K-12 Engineering Activities
Integrating Engineering into the K-12 Curriculum
Training in Outreach for Working Engineers
Designing a STEM School
Using the Grand Challenges for Engineering as a Basis for Instruction
Project Lead the Way
*Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

Consulting Services

Faculty Grant Writing Assistance
Unique Program Development to Support Grants
K-12 Engineering Curriculum Development
Developing Non-traditional K-12 Engineering Activities
Engineer Outreach Training

Special Program: Women in Engineering Celebration!

The Women in Engineering Program is celebrating 25 years and The Engineering Place has a great program lined up for girls and young women in K-12 grades to help celebrate. Of course, all are welcome! Come join us for a morning of inspirational messages and hands-on activities! Free T-shirts for participants registering by September 9th!

Please keep in mind you must attend with your child/children (all children under the age of 18) during the entire event, so please plan accordingly if you are bringing more than one child. If parents/guardians will “divide and conquer” with children, each parent/guardian should register separately. Here is a brief overview of the day.

NC State Centennial Campus: Hunt Library Auditorium
September 24, 2022
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 grade breakout sessions

All Grades

Welcome and Overview

Grades K-8

We will have two different hands-on activities for each grade level band (K-2, 3-5, 6-8)

Grades 9-12

Session 1: Learn all about NC State College of Engineering with Dr. Kim Roberts

Session 2: Participate in tours/activities with NC State faculty, staff, and students.