Last year’s campers test their designs in a friendly student competition. Photo by B.A. Rupert
The average starting salary for Missouri S&T graduates was $59,500 last year. Not bad. In fact, S&T graduates earned the second-highest starting salaries among grads of all public universities in the U.S. It’s no secret that this success can be attributed to the nation’s strong demand for scientists and engineers.
Meanwhile, the costs of college are going up — something parents are keenly aware of. They are looking for a good investment. That might be why a particular summer camp at Missouri S&T is so popular. The Jackling Introduction to Engineering camp introduces high school students to different fields of engineering.
First, a little background. Daniel Jackling, a graduate of this university, was a pioneer in open-pit copper mining. He organized the Utah Copper Co. in 1903. He made a fortune. There’s a copper statue of him in Utah’s capitol building. Here, the Jackling Gym, which stood on campus for half a century, was named after him.
So was Jackling Field at Allgood-Bailey Stadium. Near San Francisco, his old mansion was eventually purchased (and demolished) by Steve Jobs.
Anyway, back to the Jackling Introduction to Engineering camp. During the mornings, high school students spend time with faculty members and S&T students.
Each afternoon, they get hands-on experience in laboratories. And in the evenings, fun competitions are held.
The campers select four programs they might be interested in pursuing, and those fields are their focus during the week. The choices include: aerospace engineering, architectural engineering, ceramic engineering, civil engineering, computer science, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, engineering management, environmental engineering, explosives engineering, geological engineering, geology and geophysics, mechanical engineering, metallurgical engineering, mining engineering, nuclear engineering and petroleum engineering.
Brad Farley, from St. Louis, made his choice to attend Missouri S&T after attending the camp. “I chose S&T based on my experience at the Jackling camp the summer before my senior year (in high school),” says Farley, who started out as a mechanical engineering major but has since switched to physics.
This summer, there are three sessions of the camp: June 10-14, June 24-28 and July 8-12.
By Lance Feyh
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