In July and August, the engineering and technology department hosted a four-week computer engineering academy program which was opened to all college students and high school sophomores, juniors and seniors. More than 70 students were in attendance for the summer program. Through theory and hands-on practice, students learned about various topics including blockchain technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and more. Each week of the program had students learning about a different module, and in the final week of the program students took a research topic they found interesting from one of the three modules and developed it into a poster presentation. On the final day of the program, students presented their poster in front of family, friends, faculty and fellow students. After the presentations, students enjoyed a summer block party in the main parking lot where they enjoyed free food, participated in games and talked with friends and family.

“We were very happy to have more students enrolled this year which was our second year running the program and maintained high attendance throughout all four weeks of the academy,” said Miguel Bustamante, assistant professor in the engineering and technology department and project director for Title V HSI Computer Engineering. The Title V grant is designed to increase the participation of Hispanic students in high-need, high wage aviation careers. “Each week consisted in student-led research that provided students with their own interest of what they had learned and were assisted by their Vaughn College mentors.”