By News and Internal Communications

By Cinthia Monsivais

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – The University Transportation Center for Railway Safety (UTCRS) rode into the world of STEM and transportation at its sixth annual summer camp for area elementary school students.

UTRGV’s University Transportation Center for Railway Safety, or UTCRS, held its sixth annual summer camp this year, the largest ever with 1,500 participants from grades three to 12. Organized by Dr. Constantine Tarawneh, UTRGV associate dean for Research and Graduate Programs and director of the UTCRS, the camp is founded on the center’s missions to aid workforce development in the STEM fields and create community outreach and engagement. (UTRGV Photo by Silver Salas)

This camp was the center’s largest to date, with 1,500 participants from grades three to 12.

Organized by Dr. Constantine Tarawneh, director of the UTCRS, the camp is founded on the center’s missions to aid workforce development in the STEM fields and create community outreach and engagement.

“We deal with elementary students, and we want to show them at an early age that they can pursue STEM careers and make them more aware, more confident and less scared of pursuing these careers,” Tarawneh said.

The camp is designed to raise awareness of transportation infrastructure and STEM careers, but the camp’s goals also include building representation for underrepresented groups, including Hispanics and women, in the transportation and STEM career fields, Tarawneh said.

Delving into topics like Newton’s Three Laws of Motion, coding and programming, students experimented with balloon rockets and even got to create their own robots.

Every June, the center hosts its annual UTCRS Summer Camp, one of the largest transportation summer camps in the nation, and has reached some 6,800 students and 600 teachers.

For more information about the UTCRS Summer Camp, visit https://www.utrgv.edu/railwaysafety/education/summer-camps/index.htm.