Almost 30 high school students are getting hands-on experience using computer simulations to solve everyday problems at the UAB Department of Mechanical Engineering Summer Institute on Simulations and Enabling Technologies.

In the one-week program, rising 11th- and 12th-graders participate in team projects involving in-class training and laboratory work. In the past, for instance, projects have included simulating a baseball bat hitting a ball to optimize bat design and designing an airplane. The program is an outreach effort of the UAB Department of Mechanical Engineering, said Bharat Soni, Ph.D., mechanical engineering chair. Some of these kids are very, very sharp but don't have a family background of science and engineering. We want to get them pumped up about the future direction they want to take."

Participants attend Birmingham area high schools as well as schools in Black Belt counties in Alabama. Some of the schools include Hewitt-Trussville, Springville High School and Selma High School. The program is sponsored by Alabama Power, ACIPCO, Honda, Computer Technology Solutions (CTS) Inc., URS Washington Division, and by the UAB Department of Mechanical Engineering.