HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Middle and high school students can enroll in free bootcamps at Drake State Community & Technical College thanks to a multi-year grant from NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP). This award supports minority-serving institutions working to increase the number of racially or ethnically underrepresented students (Hispanics and Latinos, African Americans, American Indians, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders), and female students in science and engineering fields.

Drake State created three bootcamps, which are a part of the college’s Frontiers Engineering Coalition, to level the playing field and help minority and female youth take their first steps in future STEM occupations:

1. The Machine Tool and Welding Bootcamps lead to mechanical engineering.
2. The Engineering Design Bootcamp leads to industrial engineering (this bootcamp is currently filled).

“Often students and parents do not realize that many of our two-year associate degrees lead to four-year engineering degrees,” said Director of Workforce Development Karen Ray. “At Drake State, students get hands-on opportunities that they otherwise may not get somewhere else.”

The Machine Tool, Engineering Design, and Welding bootcamps through MUREP begin Saturday, February 26. Each bootcamp is a free one-day event from 9 am – 4 pm and includes lunch.

Parents who would like to register their child for one of these bootcamps can sign-up online at https://www.drakestate.edu/workforce-development/murep-bootcamps. Racially or ethnically underrepresented students and female students are eligible to apply. Spots are limited.