Project: "Parkway X-Ride"
A workshop for the City of Pittsburgh Public School Children 2003

Engineering Your Future! Every summer since the early 1980's, The Society of Women Engineers invite counselors and science teachers in the City of Pittsburgh Public Schools to recommend a group of students to attend the program "Engineering Your Future" at Carnegie Mellon University. These students are invited to attend this educational program. There is no charge to attend. The program is funded by local Foundations, the objective being to stimulate high school students to consider engineering as a profession. Students begin the summer after completing 8th grade. They are recommended by their high school counselors. The students must attend all sessions and show interest in learning. They are invited back successive summers until they graduate from high school. This year the engineering faculty, spearheaded by Dr. Susan Finger, Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, created a project for the returning older students - those who were now continuing in 9th, 10th, and 11th grades and who attended their first workshop at the conclusion of 8th grade. The project for the summer of 2003, was known as the "Parkway X-Ride."

The engineering faculty decided on ONE continuous project whereby the students would attend 10 sessions, 5 full days. Each of the engineering disciplines focused on their area of expertise and each session was predicated by the previous session. All sessions were created and supervised by Carnegie Mellon faculty. This year was an experiment to stimulate the learning interests. Forty-three students started on the project, with forty completing the project.