Events & Programs

By Justin Merlin · August 16th, 2025

This summer, June 2025, I participated in the Intro to Engineering program at UC Berkeley, a hands-on experience designed for high school students. Throughout the program, we explored many important key concepts in the scientific method and engineering design. Throughout two weeks of work, we applied our learned knowledge through many projects.

One big highlight that I had was designing, building, and testing a bridge made entirely of spaghetti and glue, which taught us about structural design and material limits. It was a great introduction to the topic and was a blast to do.

Not only this, we also delved a little into the electronic field of engineering, gaining practical skills in circuits and components, overall to gain a better understanding of how electric circuits worked. Beyond the classroom, we had the opportunity to visit Tesla and a robotics company in the SF Bay Area, where we saw modern cutting-edge technology and engineering innovation in play. I enjoyed this very much.

I also enjoyed the visit to the UC Berkeley campus and Stanford near San Jose, which gave us a little taste of college life and how daily college life felt.

In summary, this experience greatly deepened my understanding of engineering principles, teamwork, and problem solving, and it inspired me to further explore the field of engineering and technology. Not only this, but I met many new amazing people that I will always stay in contact with.

By Justin Merlin · August 16th, 2025

Toulouse, France will always be an unforgettable experience for the rest of my life, as it introduced me to the world of aviation in a completely new way. This program, led by CIEE, a summer abroad program for high school students, fully immersed me in a world I quickly grew to love. The program lasted three weeks and covered the big ideas of what it means to work and live in the field of aviation and space.

Throughout the program, we received many in-depth lessons on the basics of flight and a broad introduction to space travel and the science behind rocket propulsion. We conducted small experiments in class to understand how things work, such as trapped air chambers, wing lift on planes, and various gravity tests with different objects.

Beyond the classroom, we had the chance to visit the Airbus Factory at Toulouse International Airport, where we were given a detailed tour and learned how each aircraft is assembled with careful precision. In addition, we visited several museums to learn the rich history of space travel and aviation, including the Cité de l'Espace, Aeroscopia, and the Pic du Midi in the Pyrenees, where we learned about telescopes and how they capture images of space.

Throughout the three weeks which passed extremely quickly, I not only gained a solid introduction to aeronautics, but I also made many great friendships and developed a new perspective on how the aviation world has evolved and what it may become in the future.

As my first summer abroad program alone, I would definitely say it was perfectly organized, and I learned a lot of new information I hadn't known before. Having seen where the world of aviation stands today, I can not wait to see what it will look like in the years and decades to come.