2024 Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity (CoNECD)

Building Bridges to Success: A Thriving Program

Presented at Track 4: Technical Session 6: Building Bridges to Success: A Thriving Program

Building Bridges to Success: A Thriving Program

Mississippi State University’s Bagley College of Engineering Summer Bridge program has been around for over 30 years. The month-long program supports incoming future engineers who have been admitted into one of 13 different engineering majors, and is designed to prepare and help students develop academic, professional, and social skills that will help them along their journey to become an engineer. Over the years, our Bridge program has formed strategic partnerships with the mathematics department, student affairs, engineering industries, and many others. These partnerships provide positive collaboration environments which ensure skill development and learning opportunities amongst all participants. These relationships allow the bridge program to have access to expertise and resources. Additionally, by securing funding from industry partners, the program is provided at no-cost to participants and includes hands-on engineering work connected to current industry practices and needs.

In this practice-focused presentation, we provide an overview of our program and discuss the rationale for the most recent improvements to our engineering project element. First, we outline our program components related to academic course work and non-academic experiences, including peer mentoring, networking opportunities, mutual growth, role modeling, and shared experiences. Then, we will discuss the elements of our multi-week engineering team project that connects various Bridge program elements into a cohesive theme across multiple majors, and ends with final project presentations to our industry sponsor. We will discuss how we plan and implement the project in collaboration with our sponsor and multiple engineering departments, and how we linked the project to our overarching goal of “building bridges” between incoming students and each other, along with current engineering students, faculty, staff, and industry members. We also discuss the various ways we use the project to support the development of professional skills such as effective communication and teamwork. Finally, we discuss our participants’ perspective of our program and present recent assessment data from our program that shows we are creating a powerful community where students strive to support each other throughout the journey to become an engineer.

Authors

Ms. Labrisha Nicole Mabry Mississippi State University [biography]

Labrisha Mabry is a recent graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi. She received her baccalaureate degree in Computer Engineering. While attending the University of Southern Mississippi, she held a plethora of positions including President of Louis Stokes Mississippi Alliance for Minority Participation (LSMAMP), Vice President of Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), and she served as President ambassador of the School of Computing Sciences and Computer Engineering at Southern Miss. Labrisha also tutored students in the computer engineering curriculum and mentored students along the way. While possessing a burning passion to help others in STEM related fields, she now serves as the Student Diversity Coordinator in the Bagley College of Engineering at Mississippi State University.
Dr. Mahnas Jean Mohammadi-Aragh http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-3094-3734 Mississippi State University [biography]

Jean Mohammadi-Aragh is the Director of Bagley College of Engineering Office of Inclusive Excellence and Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Mississippi State University. Through her interdependent roles in research, teaching, and service, Jean is actively breaking down academic and social barriers to foster an environment where diverse and creative people are successful in the pursuit of engineering and computing degrees. Jean’s efforts have been recognized with numerous awards including the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development award, the American Society for Engineering Education John A. Curtis Lecturer award, and the Bagley College of Engineering Service award. Jean earned her B.S. and M.S. in computer engineering from Mississippi State University, and her Ph.D. in engineering education from Virginia Tech.
Ms. Lorena Andrea Benavides Riano Mississippi State University [biography]

Lorena Benavides-Riano, originally from Colombia, is a first-year Engineering Ph.D. student at Mississippi State University. In July 2020, she completed her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering at the National University of Colombia. After graduation, Lorena worked as a research assistant investigating the effects of development projects on environmental parameters and rural communities in Colombia, South America. Lorena has also been part of initiatives that promote access to high-quality education, gender equality, and environmental protection. Lorena recently started her doctoral studies at Mississippi State University, where she serves as a graduate assistant in the Office of Diversity Programs and Student Development at the Bagley College of Engineering. Currently, Lorena is interested in learning more about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and how to increase the participation of underrepresented students in engineering.

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