Engineering Horizons at UCLA

by Sophia Mdinaradze and Ryan Park

On April 13th, Paratus Learning, an organization founded by Science Academy students Ryan Park and Sophia Mdinaradze, co-hosted an event called Engineering Horizons at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

The event was hosted by UCLA’s Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), who worked with other UCLA clubs specializing in different fields of engineering. The event consisted of three workshops, one led by each club, and a Q&A panel with several UCLA professors.

The attendees of Engineering Horizons

The first workshop was run by ACM Teach LA, an organization providing computer science classes to schools in Los Angeles. It involved a group project where the students worked together to write a program to test someone’s reaction time using Python. Students were educated on the applications of these programs in the real world, with the specific example of training the reaction times of athletes in sports such as racing. Then, students participated in a workshop led by IEEE, where they learned about signals and attempted a circuit-building challenge. Finally, the students participated in a competition by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) charter inspired by the sky crane used for the Perseverance rover. They were given the task of designing a mechanism to protect a plastic egg from cracking when dropped from a certain height. After the workshops, the students had the opportunity to ask UCLA professors for both college and career advice

Students testing their circuits with IEEE members

Students building their egg-drop mechanisms at the ASME workshop

This experience allowed students to get a glimpse into the engineering fields they hope to spend their future in. Many of them were able to talk to engineering students at UCLA about their experiences in both high school and college, and they learned about how they could continue to explore their interests and prepare for their future studies.

Though the event only lasted one day, it had been in the works since August of 2024. Paratus and IEEE faced challenges in the coordination of the event due to conflicting school schedules and financial constraints. However, after weeks of meetings, we were finally able to secure a date. Paratus’s role was to invite students to the event, involving making flyers, emailing school principals, and advertising it to students we knew. In a month’s time, we received 91 student registrations for Engineering Horizons.

This is not the only event Paratus Learning has hosted. In the past, we have held events with IEEE, such as the previous Engineering Horizons and a Project showcase, as well as webinars and  with UCLA students involved in STEM or political science. As an organization, our goal is to keep students college-ready, while also informing them on different career paths in STEM and humanities. These types of events can help create a more fun environment for students to explore different careers in engineering, like robotics, mechanical, aerospace, and much more.

If students wish to get involved in our organization, they should get in contact with Paratus through Instagram @paratus.learning, or by contacting either Sophia Mdinaradze or Ryan Park.

For more info on IEEE’s Education Week: https://educationweek.ieee.org/