Wright College Engineering Students Partner with Prestigious Organizations for a Summer of Research and Discovery

This summer has been an exceptional opportunity for learning and growth for engineering students at Wilbur Wright College. About 130 students participated in some form of research, industry internship, or career exploration experience. As City Colleges' engineering and computer science pathway, Wright's program provides students with an introduction to cutting-edge work across various engineering industries.

Wright College graduate Praise Daniels recently transferred to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's (UIUC) Grainger College of Engineering to study computer science. He's already making waves in the field of quantum information research. He spent the summer participating in the Open Quantum Initiative (OQI) fellowship program. It included a quantum industry site visit, work at one of seven partner institutions of the Chicago Quantum Exchange, and finished with a research symposium at the University of Chicago. Praise presented his project on understanding the properties of materials using quantum principles.

Praise's research is just one example of the caliber of work Wright College's engineering program prepares its students for. Additionally, more than 30 Wright students participated in research at various prestigious locations, including the UIUC's Summer Research Opportunity Program, the National Science Foundation funded NSF-START -3D nanoprinting for semiconductor research at UIUC, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Northrup Grumman, Fermilab, Argonne, Princeton University, and Northwestern University. These work-based learning opportunities were provided by the National Science Foundation's Building Bridges into Engineering and Computer Science grant for Hispanic Serving Institutions.

These experiences set the stage for students' future success. Twenty-five recent Wright graduates have transferred to UIUC for engineering and computer science this fall, and more than 600 students have already registered for Wright's engineering program for the Fall 2024 semester. The engineering and computer science pathway at Wright College is not just preparing students for the next step in their education-it's providing them with the tools, experiences, and opportunities to become leaders in their fields.

Visit engineering.ccc.edu to learn more about the Engineering and Computer Science program at Wright College.