Engineering Pathway

The engineering pathway at SOH exposes students to design and development methods essential for their career as future engineers. Students will begin with Intro to Design, advance to Principles of Engineering, reach Architecture, and culminate with Design and Development. These courses are A-G approved and articulated through a community college.

Throughout this class, students will learn the engineering design process and its application, tackling real life issues such as climate change, recycling, garbage disposal, renewable energy, mechanics, and more. Through hands-on projects, students will apply engineering standards, document their work using an engineer’s notebook, and communicate solutions to peers and members of the professional community. Course work consists of activities and models of solutions developed by students utilizing 3D modeling software.

An extension of the introductory course, students will understand the processes that occur when creating products, the functions of assembly lines, automation and their role in manufacturing, and the history and evolution of fabrication. This presents them with more hands on experience as they obtain the knowledge necessary to develop their own projects. They are given instruction on Autodesk Inventor, a 3D modeling software used in the industry. By the end of the semester, students will be ready to receive their official certification.

The next step on the pathway is learning how to design and develop public infrastructure. Students learn about various aspects of civil engineering and architecture, and work in groups creating presentations about different structural techniques. Eventually, the groups will go through the entire development process of designing their own custom building, from sketching, to building it in Revit, and finalizing with a physical model. Revit is an industry software utilized by architects, and it is taught to students throughout the semester. Students whishing to further their interest in civil engineering can join the ACE club. There, they will follow similar, but even more complete projects as in the course; ACE projects count as credit.

After gathering all the skills needed to become an engineer, Design and Development, a capstone course, encourages students to apply all they have learned toward a project. These semester-long projects allow students to showcase their passion for engineering and their ability to apply the engineering design process by creating solutions to open-ended technical problems. Students perform research to choose, validate, and justify a technical problem, working in teams to design, build, and test their solutions. Students may continue the architecture path through ACE, explore the intricacies of farming and irrigation with our Zero Waste Farm, use their creativity in engineering by participating in VEX Robotics or MESA challenges, or construct a tiny house.