Cal Poly engineering students paid a visit Thursday to Santa Maria and Arroyo Grande high schools to talk teens about what it takes to become an engineer.

The visits were part of a week-long outreach program in honor of National Engineers Week, during which members of Cal Poly's engineering clubs visited five area high schools, and performed demonstrations for three San Luis Obispo County fourth-grade classes.

The outreach was intended to educate kids about the various areas of engineering, and to empower them with the knowledge that they can become the engineers and scientists of tomorrow.

“Our mission is to open the doors of the profession to young people,” said event coordinator Lesley Telford.

Each year during National Engineers Week, members of the Cal Poly Engineering Student Council, in conjunction with the Society of Women Engineers, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and Math, Engineering, Science, Achievement (MESA), visit K-12 classes in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties.

While the students do demonstrations of engineering concepts for the elementary classes, the high school program centers more on engineering careers.

The high school program also specifically targets economically disadvantaged students, many of whom are first-generation high school and prospective college students, and already participate in their school's MESA chapter.

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This year, in addition to visiting Arroyo Grande and Santa Maria high schools, Cal Poly engineering students visited Paso Robles, Shandon, and Morro Bay high schools.

Pioneer Valley High School was originally on the list, but scheduling conflicts prevented the school from taking part.

Elementary schools that received visits were Monterey Road in Atascadero and Monarch Grove in Los Osos.

On Thursday, Santa Maria High students sat happily eating pizza as architectural engineering major Melissa Humber and civil engineering major David Sequeira asked them to name the different types of engineering.

Correct answers were rewarded with T-shirts, pens and foam stress balls, much to the delight of the roughly 30 students gathered for the presentation.

The Santa Maria session doubled as a push to boost membership in the high school's MESA chapter, said Ana Arias, who works for Lockheed Martin Corp., and serves as an advisor to the club.

After quizzing students on what they learned about the engineering field, Humber and Sequeira shared bits and pieces of their own journey to Cal Poly's engineering program.

Sequeira, who described himself as a relatively average student in high school, was rejected by Cal Poly when he first applied as a senior.

However, after completing community college and a short stint at San Francisco State University, he gained admittance to the school and discovered an interest in engineering.

Though he initially struggled through some of his engineering classes, nearly failing one before ultimately acing his final and squeaking by with a “C,” Sequeira continued to plug away.

“Never give up, even when you're doing badly,” he told the rapt teen audience.

For her part, Humber told of her desire to move back to Los Angeles, where she is from, and work at one of the city's prestigious engineering firms downtown.

Eventually, Humber said, she also has plans to get her doctorate and teach at the university level.

Senior Edgar Huerto said he learned much from the presentation.

“There was a lot about engineering I didn't know,” he said. “I didn't know there were so many fields.

As for next year, Huerto said he intends to go to community college and later transfer into a mechanical-engineering program at a four-year university.

Diana Garcia, a junior, said she found the presentation inspiring as she contemplates her goals for the future.

“It made me think of the many possibilities,” she said.

Natalie Ragus can be reached at 347-4580 or nragus@santamariatimes.com.

February 22, 2008