Sweet Briar Engineering invites rising junior and senior high school women to apply for a weeklong residential course to introduce them to the field of engineering while earning one college credit hour. The course will be held on the College's campus from Sunday, July 19 to Friday, July 24. Meals and lodging are provided.

The cost to attend is $250 including a $100 deposit due by July 1 with the application. An online application can be found at www.engineering.sbc.edu. Scholarships to cover the cost of attendance also are available.

In addition to the coursework, participants will share meals and hold discussions with current SBC Engineering students, faculty and successful women engineers. Classroom and lab work will explore aspects of engineering design, including working in groups, with an emphasis on hands-on assignments. Students will engage in a group competition that incorporates robotics, structural and other engineering design elements.

Attendees also will learn about engineering computer tools; explore the machine shop, aerodynamic efficiency and robotics research labs; and hear from SBC student and faculty researchers about their ongoing work.

The culminating competition will be held Friday, July 24, followed by a luncheon at the College's Boat House with family and SBC faculty before departing for home.

Engineering is a field where practitioners use not just their skills but their imaginations to create solutions that make the world a better place. In fact, engineers save more lives than doctors. SBC's summer course is an opportunity to "try on" both the engineering field and Sweet Briar's program — and earn a college credit at the same time.

SBC Engineering is one of the few degree-granting programs in the country at a women's college. The small classes and tight-knit science community offer a supportive but rigorous academic environment — one that mirrors the larger Sweet Briar community.

Visit www.engineering.sbc.edu for more information the program. Click on the "course information" link for registration information or contact Hank Yochum, engineering program director, at hyochum@sbc.edu or (434) 381-6357.