Engineers: Think globally. Serve the poor. Enable trade. Engineer a new vehicle. Improve living standards. Design toys or Basic Utility Vehicles (BUV). Projects associated to these areas could present the greatest challenge (and fun) ever had in school!

Yet, according to research by the National Alliance for Pre-Engineering Programs the drop out rate in colleges of engineering and engineering technology programs exceeds 50 percent in the first two years.

Two contributing factors for this high number are that students don’t have an understanding of what engineers do and they didn't take the right combination of high school courses to prepare them to succeed in this rigorous course of study, according to Robin Schott, innovative initiatives and services manager at the Oklahoma Department of CareerTech.

Pre-engineering programs now operating in seven of Oklahoma's technology centers and 57 of their partner high schools have students in the programs.

To help students who are interested in an engineering career to be successful, Oklahoma's CareerTech system is now partnering with the National Alliance for Pre-Engineering Programs/Project Lead the Way (PTLW). This initiative offers a sequence of pre-engineering courses.

Project Lead the Way is currently in 41 states and Washington D.C. with more than 120,000 students enrolled at 1,000+ school sites.

More than 400 Oklahoma high school students are enrolled in pre-engineering programs at Central Tech, Drumright; Gordon Cooper, Shawnee; Great Plains, Lawton; Francis Tuttle and Metro Tech, Oklahoma City; Moore Norman; and Tulsa Tech.

“The goal is to help students be successful in engineering degreed programs and postsecondary engineering technology programs and create some excitement about engineering as a possible career,” Schott said.

These high school students are on the technology center campuses for three hours each day, and their home schools for the remainder of their academics.

Students in the pre-engineering programs complete a sequence of foundational pre-engineering courses. They may choose an engineering specialty course, such as Computer Integrated Manufacturing or Civil Engineering, and all take a senior capstone engineering course. Students are also expected to complete a specific sequence of math and science courses as part of the pre-engineering program.

“While building the pre-engineering model, several Oklahoma universities and colleges have offered strong curriculum recommendations and been involved in the planning and implementation process,” Schott said.

One of the reasons the CareerTech system is appropriate to take on engineering academies for high school students are the connections we have with business and industry across the state,” according to Malcolm Fowler, director of the Bruce Gray Center which houses Francis Tuttle’s Pre-Engineering Academy, now completing its second year.

While partner high schools do an excellent job of teaching math and science, an additional dimension is added through this program at technology centers by integrating engineering into math and science curriculum.

“We are at an advantage because of the nature of our programs, which are not only for high school students, but for adults and business and industry. Because of that we have electrical, mechanical, and chemical engineers on our instructional staff,” Fowler said. “These engineers, as well as our other instructors, collaborate in the pre-engineering academy by lending their special expertise to enrich the pre-engineering instruction."

Moore Norman Technology Center is completing its first year with a pre-engineering program, added in response to the growing need for engineering graduates. Next year, an instructor will be added to meet the expected significant increase in the program’s enrollment. Focus will also be on the recruitment of non-traditional students – women and minorities – to the program, according to Superintendent John Hunter

“Our role as a technology center is to help ensure engineering students find success in college,” Hunter said. “Prospective engineering students must understand the differences between the various engineering tracks, such as civil, mechanical and electrical. They must also be able to apply math, science and problem solving skills to the engineering processes.”

The CareerTech mission and technology centers' primary goal is to prepare Oklahomans for the workplace, education and in life.

"This goal is a little different," Schott said. "It's to prepare high school students who have the desire to become an engineer to have success in their goal to graduate from a university as an engineer."

“Our student’s success is our real test,” Hunter said.