Testing the Waters: High School Students Get Hands-On With Engineering at Roger Williams University

From building and testing RC boats to exploring college life, rising juniors and seniors experience engineering in action through SEA by the Bay.

By Mikayla Larguinha '26
Student participate in RWU's SEA by the Bay Camp.
Throughout the week, campers explore civil, environmental, electrical, and mechanical engineering. They learn about buoyancy and boat design, apply circuitry and test their RC boats while developing teamwork and problem-solving skills.

BRISTOL, R.I. – Before their boats ever reach the open water, campers at Roger Williams University’s SEA by the Bay test them somewhere considerably smaller: a bucket.

They check whether their remote-controlled boats, assembled from 3D-printed parts, float and remain watertight. Then comes the bigger test. At RWU’s Sailing Center, campers take their boats onto the water, where a sail may need repairing or a keel may need adjusting before the boats successfully return to shore.

The process is at the heart of SEA by the Bay: Summer Engineering Academy, a weeklong program that introduces rising high school juniors and seniors to the engineering design process and different branches of the profession.

“The camp emphasizes the design process, which is applicable to all branches of engineering,” said Pamela Judge, associate professor of engineering in RWU’s School of Engineering, Computing and Construction Management.

The week concludes with a celebration at the Sailing Center, where campers demonstrate their boats to family and friends before receiving certificates. 

 

Throughout the week, campers explore civil, environmental, electrical, and mechanical engineering. They learn about buoyancy and boat design, apply circuitry and test their RC boats while developing teamwork and problem-solving skills. Field experiences include a walking tour of the Mount Hope Bay Bridge, a boat tour of Mount Hope Bay, and a visit to the Portsmouth Abbey wind turbine.

Campers also get a taste of college life by living in residence halls, eating in Upper Commons, and working in RWU laboratories. At the end of the week, they present their work to the SECCM dean and faculty members, receiving feedback on their technical work and presentation skills.

For Judge, learning to work through problems when the first attempt doesn’t go as planned is an important part of the experience.

“Engineering requires a lot of trial-and-error,” she said. “It is challenging and things don’t always go the way you expect them to. But, if you stick to it, it is very rewarding!”

The week concludes with a celebration at the Sailing Center, where campers demonstrate their boats to family and friends before receiving certificates. They also take their boats and remote controls home, where they can continue modifying them and put what they learned at RWU into practice.

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