The goal of the Engineering Academy is to provide a project-based learning experience in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. This year, with the opening of the Elings Center for Engineering Education, 108 freshmen joined the Academy. Once enrolled, DPEA students are exposed to a comprehensive curriculum which integrates science, art, and engineering. In their senior year, they are given the opportunity to apply their knowledge to construct a robot to compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition.
With a multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art facility, the DPEA Foundation has been working hard to raise the funds necessary to keep the Engineering Academy up and running. On top of the funds given by the state, running DPEA classes costs the Foundation roughly $1,000 per student per year. The money for the DPEA goes towards equipment necessary for project-based learning such as computers to learn CAD (computer aided design), mills, lathes, and CNC (computer numerical control) machines for students to learn critical engineering skills. Additionally, these funds provide travel scholarships to ensure that every student can attend robotics competitions and watch the performance of the robot that they dedicated hundreds of hours to constructing compete.
At the start of the year, the DPEA was awarded three exceptionally generous grants from Raytheon Company, The Mosher Foundation, and an anonymous donor. All three are Platinum Sponsors with the DPEA. Their donations enable the Academy to acquire much of the equipment necessary to teach students the skills involved in the field of engineering.
To aid in manufacturing robot parts and teaching shop classes, Raytheon gave the Engineering Academy a Hardinge lathe that has quickly become the jewel of the ECEE machine shop. With this machine, students can execute extremely precise and intricate designs.
The Mosher Foundation has donated funds to purchase computers for the new computer in the ECEE and they generously support the development of the new curriculum for the Engineering Academy.
Thanks to Raytheon and the Mosher Foundation, Team 1717 was able to set up the new Elings Center for Engineering Education. In the competitive and interactive environment of the DPEA and FIRST Robotics, students will be given the opportunity to explore the fields of math and science in a hands-on way, which will prepare them for brilliant and fascinating careers as they head off into the future.
About the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy:
Dos Pueblos High School (DPHS), in collaboration with the Santa Barbara County Education Office Regional Occupation Program (ROP), determined that our community would benefit from the presence of an engineering program designed for students at the secondary level. The DPEA offered its initial course during the 2002-2003 academic school year with the introduction of Engineering 1 and Computer Science 1. The capstone senior-level ROP Robotics course, which is supported by the Santa Barbara County Education Office, was added in 2005. The Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy has a broad base of community support, including UCSB, Santa Barbara City College, and local industry partners. The DPEA is a public school program, operating on campus at Dos Pueblos High School, which is located at 7266 Alameda Avenue in Goleta, California. For more
information on the Engineering Academy, please see www.dpengineering.org.
About the DPEA Foundation:
Engineering Academy parents established the DPEA Foundation in the fall of 2007 in order to run the Capital Campaign to raise $3,000,000 for a new facility, which was reached in October of 2011. The DPEA Foundation mission is to enhance the quality of the DPEA learning experience and to facilitate the growth of the Academy by raising the necessary funds and by creating and managing systems and structures to support the program. For more information on the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy Foundation, please see www.dpeaf.org.
About FIRST Robotics:
The FIRST Robotics Competition is an exciting, multinational competition that teams professionals and young people together to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive way. The program is a life-changing, career-molding experience and a lot of fun. Each year the competition reaches more than 60,000 students on over 26,000 teams in competitions held across the USA and in other parts of the world. The teams come from Brazil, Canada, Chile, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, the U.K., and every state in the U.S. The competitions are high-tech spectator sporting events: the result of lots of focused brainstorming, real-world teamwork, dedicated mentoring, project timelines, and deadlines. For more information on FIRST Robotics, please see www.usfirst.org.