James Bell was all smiles as he watched the rocket he spent days building ignite and launch into the sky above the ROTC training field on the campus of UNC Pembroke.
“This was awesome!” said Bell, pointing upward to the trail of white smoke.
Bell was among the 60 middle and high school students who took advantage of the Cummings Aerospace Engineering Camp. The two-week summer camp introduced students to 3D design, coding, 3D printing and robotics. Like many after the launch on Friday, Bell said flying a rocket that he invested time into designing was the best part of the camp.
“I would definitely come back next year,” Bell said. “These camps help students choose what they want to study when they get older.”
Shelia Cummings, CEO of Cummings Aerospace, said the experience exposes students at an early age to STEM-related curriculums, which may inspire some to follow in her footsteps. Cummings began her educational career at UNCP before completing an aerospace engineering degree at the University of Maryland. The Pembroke, N.C. native is now head of the Hunstville, Ala.-based engineering company considered a leading provider of high-value engineering solutions in the aerospace, defense and intelligence industry.
“We hope we are making a great impact on the community,” Cummings said. “Not only does it give great exposure to UNCP and give them a pipeline to future students, but for those of us in the STEM field, it allows us to gain some future hires in our companies, hopefully. I’m excited to give back to the community in this way.”
UNCP professors Steven Singletary, Ben Killian and UNCP student counselor Zoe Polley cheered on the campers from the launch pad sidelines Friday morning.
“This is a great experience for the kids,” Polley said. “STEM is an excellent field to enter right now, especially with all the job openings.”
Madison Chadwick, a rising seventh grader at Littlefield Middle School, said rocketry was her favorite part of the camp.
“I liked that we got to do a lot of hands-on activities, which is something we don’t really do at school,” she said.
The aerospace engineering camp is a great recruiting tool for UNCP and its award-winning rocket team. The team recently won a $15,000 travel grant at a high-power rocket competition in Wisconsin. They also competed at the NASA University Student Launch at the Marshall Space Flight Center earlier this year.
“You can see that they get excited when building the rockets, but when they launch it––they get hooked,” said Singletary, who serves as team advisor. “These are the students I’m recruiting to come here to join the rocket team.
“The nice thing is everything they are learning at this camp is in demand in the engineering field, so even if they only remember a fraction of what we are teaching them, it’s putting them ahead when they begin looking for a career.”
