2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This complete research theory paper describes a unique, longitudinal engineering engagement and retention model centered on engineering competition teams (ECTs). ECTs engage students in interscholastic competitions, usually organized by professional societies (e.g., ASCE), which require participants to design, manufacture, build, and test engineering prototypes or products for specific purposes. After years of implementation and revision, our program establishes its culture by using engineering competition as the context of senior design projects. Furthermore, underclass students are also encouraged to engage for ECT projects via professional student organizations (e.g., local ASCE student chapter) participation, where they conduct smaller-scale, complementary projects to aid competition teams. This structure constitutes a Core-Periphery participation model, in which senior students form the core of competition teams while early-year students participate through legitimate, lower-intensity peripheral roles. This model is further enhanced via early exposure in first-year engineering classes and sustained visibility of competition outcomes and student success stories. The purpose of this paper is twofold: 1) to disseminate the Core-Periphery ECT engagement and retention model, and 2) to interpret its potential effectiveness with theorizing, using an integrated conceptual framework of Tinto’s Student Integration Model and Bean and Metzner’s Student Attrition Model. The implication of this work extends to showcase an example for other smaller-size, particularly primarily teaching institutions to better engage and retain engineering students to further enrich the shorted engineering workforce.