2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

A Pre-College Summer Program to Inspire and Educate Future Electrical and Computer Engineers

Presented at Electrical and Computer Engineering Division (ECE) Technical Session 14

Early exposure to experiences and practices in engineering can attract and sustain student interest in several STEM disciplines in colleges and universities. While high school covers physics, mathematics, and programming, for example, conceptual and hands-on engineering knowledge are typically underrepresented in the curriculum. Immersive pre-college summer programs or camps can play an essential role in connecting students to practical and experiential learning in engineering, while shaping their awareness of diverse engineering career pathways, including those in the fields of electrical and computer engineering (ECE).

The paper describes the development and implementation of a two-week ECE summer camp for rising high school seniors and juniors that was offered for the first time in Summer 2025. The aim of the program was to educate and inspire the attendees to pursue electrical engineering, computer engineering, or related majors. The curriculum was developed to include interactive hands-on sessions on electric circuits, simulation and measurements, digital logic, programming and microcontrollers, sensors, renewable energy and solar power, antennas and wireless communication, artificial intelligence, robotics, neural interfaces, and soldering and prototyping.

Thirteen students participated in the residential camp and completed a pre-camp questionnaire designed to assess their prior experiences, learning expectations, and goals. About 70% of the students had some idea or knowledge about ECE, while the other 30% had merely heard of it. Thematic analysis of their responses revealed a strong interest in robotics, programming, and hands-on experimentation, with about 77% reporting some hands-on experience. The participants expressed limited familiarity only with fundamental circuits, measurements, and core ECE concepts. The content of the curriculum was adapted to underscore and apply fundamental concepts through the hands-on sessions in practical and creative contexts. Students engaged in experiential and team-based learning sessions on several topics through lectures, guided demonstrations, hands-on activities, and finally, a research project. These sessions allowed the students to explore how ECE incorporates hardware, software, and/or artificial intelligence through sessions, for example, on sensor integration in an indoor sensing system, using solar panels for energy generation, detecting neural activity with bioamplifiers, and implementing motion planning with robots. Assessment through pre-camp surveys, reflections, and instructor observations indicated increased student confidence and awareness of the interdisciplinary nature of ECE. The full paper will expand on curriculum development, assessment, and preliminary results, highlighting effective strategies for using pre-college programs to foster interest, learning, and skills development in ECE.

Authors

Dr. Tahmid Latif http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8342-3513 Wentworth Institute of Technology [biography]

Tahmid Latif is an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the School of Engineering of Wentworth Institute of Technology. He received his doctorate in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. His research interests lie at the intersection of electronics and biology, with a focus on bioelectronics and instrumentation, biohybrid insect robots, insect-machine interfaces, and educational robots. He is a member of IEEE and Sigma Xi.
Dr. Federica Aveta Wentworth Institute of Technology [biography]

Federica Aveta received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electronic Engineering from La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy, in 2012 and 2016, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Oklahoma (OU), Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2020. Before joining Wentworth Institute of Technology, Federica has worked as an Optical Engineer where she designed, built, and tested optical fiber lasers for medical applications. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Her research interests include Optical Communications and Signal Processing.
Dr. Jiahui Song Wentworth Institute of Technology [biography]

Jiahui Song received her B.S. in Automation and M.S. in Pattern Recognition & Intelligent Systems from Southeast University. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Old Dominion University. She is currently an Associate Professo
Pilin Junsangsri Wentworth Institute of Technology
Jayshri Kulkarni Wentworth Institute of Technology
Meysam Ahangaran Wentworth Institute of Technology
Saurav Basnet WentWorth Institute of Technol
Dr. Afsaneh Ghanavati http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-5262-6334 Wentworth Institute of Technology [biography]

Afsaneh Ghanavati received her B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Shiraz University, Iran, in 1998, and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University, Boston, MA, in 2012 and 2018, respectively. She is currently an Associate Professor and serves as the Director of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Programs (ECE) in the School of Engineering at Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, MA. She is the recipient of the Douglas D. Schumann Professorship, one of the highest honors bestowed upon Wentworth faculty. Dr. Ghanavati has conducted collaborative research projects with Eversource in Massachusetts and has made significant contributions to ABET-related requirements, focusing on continuous program improvement and accreditation.

Dr. Ghanavati’s research interests include power systems, signal processing, dynamic phasors, dynamic power decomposition, power quality, microgrids, and the entrepreneurial mindset in engineering education. She is a member of the Eta Kappa Nu (HKN) Engineering Honor Society, the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES), the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IES).
Dr. Marisha Rawlins Wentworth Institute of Technology [biography]

Dr. Marisha Rawlins is an Associate Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Program at Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT). Her research interests include computer architecture optimizations, embedded systems and devices used in teaching and healthcare, and methods and systems for improving teaching and learning. Dr. Rawlins received her PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from The University of Florida. Prior to working at WIT, she was an Assistant Professor in Computer Engineering, and the Discipline Coordinator for the BASc in Computer Engineering and the MSc in Information and Communication Technology Programmes, at The University of Trinidad and Tobago.
Dr. Anuja Kamat Wentworth Institute of Technology

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