Students learn team skills, take on big project at inaugural engineering camp

Attendees of this month's first Bob Barker Engineering Camp for Future Innovators will come away with more than a certificate once their three-week stint on campus comes to end.

Their work will hopefully help others.

The 19 students taking part in the inaugural camp - funded through a $100,000 gift from 1965 Campbell University alumnus and longtime benefactor Bob Barker - learned in Week 1 they'll be working with an organization that works with athletes with different capabilities to design a less-expensive foot pedal that can adapt to specialized bicycles.

The idea behind the project is to not only unlock the student's critical thinking and creative skills, but also introduce them to a team atmosphere and experience working with a client, says Dr. Lee Rynearson, associate professor of mechanical engineering for Campbell's School of Engineering and one of two professors leading the camp this month.

"The research is very clear that the best product development is not done by a single person," Rynearson said. "So we want to be successful, and we want to have successful outcomes from these students working in a team setting."

The School of Engineering first announced Barker's gift and the innovator camp back in January and made a call for high school students to take part in "an immersive, hands-on experience designed to introduce engineering, professional skills and college preparation." The camp is free for all participants, made up of mostly rising high school sophomores and juniors (though at least one middle school student made the cut this year). Accepted students demonstrated "strong academic potential, an interest in STEM fields and a willingness to engage fully in team-based learning."

The camp coincides with the 10th anniversary of the School of Engineering's launch. Barker said back in January that he hoped the camp would inspire future thinkers: "I hope it will be the start of many innovative ideas that will attract outstanding and smart students to Campbell."

Prior to beginning their big project, students took part in several team-building exercises to begin the camp. On the first day, they formed small teams and were tasked to hold a thick textbook an inch and a half off their table using only a sheet of paper and three paper clips. Two of the five teams cut their paper and rolled them into small pillars (held together by the clips) to hold the book up. Other teams took their full sheet and folded a thick triangle- or star-shaped base to hold the book (one team only needed a single paper clip).

On the third day, the teams were told to build a chassis (small vehicle frame) using only dry linguini, toothpicks and gumdrops. The twist of the competition was students had to take on the role of "bad teammates" - know-it-alls, blamers, idea crushers, dominators and silent ghosts, to name a few - to learn what not to do when working with others.

One student - a "rule breaker" - sabotaged his team by eating gumdrops.

"These are common behaviors that make teamwork a little more difficult," said Dr. Allison Lee, assistant professor of mechanical engineering. "Students are asked to identify these behaviors and practice giving constructive feedback.Sometimes the best way to learn is through bad examples."

One Wednesday, the group met Wes Hall, CEO and co-founder of N.C. Adapted Sports, to discuss the bike pedal design. Hall was 15 when he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, which led to the amputation of his right leg. As a high school student in the 1980s, he learned to bodyboard, surf, sail and snow ski and was a member of his high school swim team. In 2012, he trained kayakers for the Rio Paralympics, which got him into working with athletes with physical disabilities - leading to the launch of his organization.

Hall said he turned to Campbell to help design a cost-effective foot pedal for specialized bicycles. Existing designs can run more than $550 per pedal, he said.

"It would be a cheaper option for these athletes, and for these students, it's chance for them to deal with a customer," he said. "I get to explain to them what I need, then they follow through and work through it. Hopefully, it will inspire a young mind, and they'll want to go into engineering and continue to design products that help people."

Bob Barker Engineering Camp for Future Innovators will run through the end of the month.

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