E3: Engineering Education Ecosystem

Home » Initiatives » E3: Engineering Education Ecosystem

Building Engineers Together

The Engineering Education Ecosystem (E3) is a partnership between the University of Delaware’s (UD) College of Engineering and secondary STEM educators to expand and diversify the engineering talent pipeline. E3 focuses exclusively on high school STEM teachers and their students and provides K12 partners with direct access to UD’s resources, including faculty and on-campus facilities.

Professional Learning

E3 hosts day-long and week-long professional learning opportunities on-site at University of Delaware. These programs are tailored for high school Science, Math, and CTE teachers who want to integrate engineering design and theory into their existing curriculum. PL sessions are aligned to applicable K-12 learning standards and include recommendations for classroom implementation.

Learn more about Professional Learning for Teachers

Day-Long Workshops

Day-long PL sessions focus on specific pedagogical techniques, technical skills, and disciplinary knowledge relevant to high school engineering education. Day-long workshops will be offered January 2022, with the workshop schedule announced in November 2021. Example courses include:

  • Computer Aided Design Basics
  • Facilitating Team-Based Projects
  • Experimental Design & Data Analysis
  • Introduction to Materials Science & Engineering
  • Hands-On Learning in Biomedical Engineering

Week-Long Workshops

Week-long workshops provide in-depth professional learning opportunities that focus on designing, implementing, and evaluating engineering curriculum into high school Science, Math, and CTE courses. Two different week-long workshops are offered annually in June/July, with registration opening in the early spring.

  • (DxD) Design of Design: This workshop focuses on the engineering product design process and may be of particular interest to Physics, Physical Science, and Engineering CTE teachers. Participants gain a working knowledge of the engineering product design process through hands-on projects in an engineering makerspace, and they develop unique engineering design challenges tailored to their own classroom practice.
  • (ET) Engineering Thinking: The ET workshop is centered on engineering estimation, mathematical and conceptual modeling, and systems-level thinking. The course may be of particular interest to Math, Chemistry, Integrated Science, and Environmental Science teachers who are looking to integrate engineering concepts into their courses. Participants will engage in real-world systems-level design challenges in chemical and environmental engineering and modify or create curriculum of their own that aligns to their course learning objectives.

View Calendar of Events

students learning

Student Design Competitions

E3 Student Engineering Design Competitions provide a platform for high school students to engage in substantive, open-ended design challenges. E3 supports both semester-long and year-long design competitions that culminate in the UD Design Showcase held on the UD campus at the end of the Fall (mid-Dec) and Spring (mid-May) academic semesters. E3 also provides mentoring support for participating high schools by matching high school student teams with current college engineering students as near-peer mentors.

Learn more about Student Design Competitions

TSA Engineering Design Category

E3 has partnered with the Delaware Technology Student Association (TSA) to host the State of Delaware’s official TSA High School Engineering Design Competition. Rules and regulations are set by TSA at the national level, and participation is restricted to Delaware public schools with registered TSA chapters. This is a year-long competition a Critical Design Review at the UD Fall Design Showcase (mid-Dec) and a Final Presentation at the UD Spring Spring Design Showcase (mid-May).

Open Engineering Design Category

The Open Engineering Design Competition is open to all public and private high schools in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Schools may not enter both TSA and Open categories. There are both year-long and semester-long open categories, both of which culminate with final team presentations at the UD Fall and Spring Design Showcases. Open Category teams can choose their own product or process-design project that is consistent with an NAE Grand Challenge of Engineering.

Important Dates

  • 9/27/21 – Teacher Orientation Webinar & Official Project Kick-Off
  • 12/3/21 – Semifinalist Selection for All Competition Categories
  • 12/15/21 – UD Fall Design Showcase
  • Winter/Spring 2022 Dates TBA

Register A Team

Program Advisement

E3 matches engineering faculty with local high schools to provide content expertise and support in developing K-12 engineering courses, extracurricular clubs, and advising young engineers. Faculty are assigned by school or school district and may serve in formal advisory roles (e.g., CTE advisory boards) and/or informally as points of contact for teachers and administrators with questions about pre-college engineering.

Register for an Advisor
Look-up Current Advisors

Upcoming Events

View Calendar

Sign up to receive email updates about upcoming programs. * indicates required field