Inspiring Future Engineers through SEED Center Activity

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From left: Zach and Ethan Anderson and Eli and Ben Ishii
By Susan Walden, PhD
Engineering Pathways Executive Director and SEED Center Founder

In November, OU engineering alumni Zach Anderson (computer engineering 2002 and MBA 2006) and Ben Ishii (chemical engineering 2010) gathered around a table with a group of boys half their size to contemplate the efficacy of building materials. 

Two of the boys are their sons, Ethan Anderson and Eli Ishii, middle school students from Norman Public Schools, who were on campus as part of the Engineering Pathways office’s series of events named Engineering Experiences. The team faced the challenge of designing and building a prototype structure able to withstand modeled severe weather and earthquakes. Photo, from left, Zach and Ethan Anderson, and Eli and Ben Ishii.

The Sooner Engineering Education (SEED) Center, a part of the Gallogly College of Engineering (GCoE) Office of Engineering Pathways, began hosting groups of students from area elementary, middle and high schools 12 years ago in the Rawl Engineering Practice Facility. 

At its peak around 2014, SEED Ambassadors led events for about 4,000 students from as far away as Dallas and Kansas City, according to Susan Walden, PhD, Executive Director of Engineering Pathways and a founder of the SEED Center. "The SEED Center, now under the new Engineering Pathways office, still works to plant seeds of excitement and motivation for engineering among Oklahoma youth, as it supports the GCoE mission to serve the citizens of Oklahoma," she said. In Fall 2021, SEED Ambassadors instructed about 1,000 students in grades 4-12 from 21 different schools.

An endowment by the Boggs Family Foundation awards scholarships to engineering students to serve as Boggs Family SEED Ambassadors to develop and lead educational engineering experiences for visiting students. The K-12 students learn about contributions of different engineering fields as they work in teams to design and prototype a product in response to a posed problem. Students must budget for constraints in materials and time, and they must optimize for defined measurable criteria. Through the work of Boggs SEED Ambassadors, students are exposed to careers, begin understanding the importance of engineering to technological advancement, and have the opportunity to learn about engineering student life.

K-12 teachers and administrators can find more information about outreach options at https://www.ou.edu/coe/K-12. Engineering Pathways is proud to offer the 110th Engineering Open House in late February for high school students. Interested in supporting the work of the SEED Ambassadors or other programs of the Engineering Pathways office? Email Dalton Brasington at dbrasington@ou.edu.

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