Pueblo Community College offers engineering and other preparatory STEM courses to help people learn more about STEM and prepare them to pursue a degree.

Melissa Watters, the academic and career expert in the program, said the goal of the program and the grant backing it, Hispanic Serving Institution, is to “increase underrepresented populations in STEM pathways.”

“My main role is to identify those students in the community that are as young as sophomores, juniors and seniors or up to whatever age you want that might be interested in a STEM career pathway and help them identify courses, transfer plans, work experience and other things that can help them meet those goals,” she said.

This summer, Watters hosted a workshop at Animas High School that taught different aspects of 3D printing and other areas of advanced manufacturing such as CNC numerical control machines (like a glow forge) and robotics to high school students interested in STEM.

Students used online resources, materials from the Society of Mechanical Engineers, a Fusion 360 computer-aided design application and a 3D printer to model and create a “puck light,” which is normally used under cabinets or in other areas of a kitchen.

“They went through that whole process of design, and then they manufactured it by 3D printing it and then all the things that went together with that,” Watters said.

One student, Niko Peterson, wrote a piece detailing the aspects of the project.

“During these two weeks, the students went through the complicated process that is designing something from scratch,” he wrote. “At the beginning, students were asked to create a prototype of their design with different types of foams, cardboards and miscellaneous pieces of wood.”

“Next, they transferred their designs into Fusion 360 by making measurements and designing it on the actual platform,” he wrote. “After that, the students used the programs required to get their design ready to 3D print, selected their desired filament and started printing their design components.”

PCC also did a STEMward Bound program that helps students interested in STEM transition into college. Watters said that while her target audience for STEMward Bound is high school seniors or individuals under 24 planning on studying STEM in college, she ended up getting mostly high school juniors.

“Even though they were a little younger than my real target, they still know that they’re going into a STEM college program,” Watters said. “We did things around study skills, understanding yourself, communication, the culture of college and then we also did some hands-on STEM activities.”

In one part of the class, they teamed up with PCC’s agriculture coordinator, Heather Houk, to look into agricultural science and the drone program.

One of the last projects they did was a “STEM escape room” of sorts, which Watters said she called the “great STEM race.”

“They had to solve a lot of STEM puzzles, from figuring out what the DNA code was and solving math problems until they get to the point where they gather materials to create a little aluminum-powered car. The first car to cross the finish line was the winner,” Watters said.

On the last day, the group went to Medicine Horse Center, an equine-assisted learning facility in Mancos, to participate in a transition-to-college event that the facility created just for them.

“It was wonderful,” Watters said. “They used a hero’s journey as kind of a metaphor for change, and they took the horses through a labyrinth.”

While the programs this summer were geared more toward students who are interested in pursuing STEM, PCC will offer classes in the fall that work toward STEM degrees. Watters herself will teach PCC’s class about engineering methodologies on Fridays.

“It will be for any student who’s interested in an engineering pathway,” she said.

Watters also will run a Colorado Space Grant team that will compete in a robotics challenge.

The robotics challenge is a statewide program and space grant consortium in which students have to design and build an autonomous robot.

“Like a Mars rover thing,” Watters said.

Once the challenge is complete, the students will take their robots to the sand dunes in April to test them out and compete. PCC will run the competition for 2024.

They also will do outreach events in local schools throughout the school year.

Watters said she hopes to raise awareness for the programs that PCC offers.

“It’s just a lot of getting the word out and building awareness. I had six students in the engineering class and should have nine this fall,” she said.

Watters added that PCC is a great place for students to start their four-year degree if they aren’t able to head to a four-year university right away.

“Maybe they have to work, maybe there’s some family commitments or they need to build up some skills. Whatever it is, we’re here for that,” Watters said.

“It’s local, it’s affordable, and it’s a really good program,” she added.

Those who wish to learn more can visit https://pueblocc.edu/programs.