Virtual engineering and city planning would seem to be classes for college students, but middle and high school students are studying those subjects in Pine Bluff.
The Ivy Center for Education hosts a monthly Zoom meeting for such students enrolled in the group's Future Engineers' Program.
Recently, students have been learning about virtual engineering concepts and city planning, with the help of Sederick Charles Rice, an associate professor of biology at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and a Center for the Advancement of STEM Leadership fellow.
Rice, who mentors the students, instructs them in the use of Cities: Skylines, which is an interactive single-player sandbox city simulation game available on PC (Steam), Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch gaming systems, according to a news release.
The Ivy Center and Rice sponsored the purchase of Cities: Skylines games for student participants, based on gaming system surveys and parent and student commitment agreements.
Students use Cities: Skylines to learn and apply virtual engineering concepts in municipality infrastructure design, understand city planning strategies and resource management and zoning. Gameplay also introduces students to the successes and challenges of engineering, growing and maintaining a city, according to the release.
Acting as virtual mayors, students are challenged to use critical thinking skills to deal with realistic traffic congestion, and make decisions for the effective use of city services, taxation, education, health care, and employment needs of citizens. Students work independently each month to create and develop their own virtual cities and then prepare videos of their work for upload and sharing on YouTube, during Ivy Center meetings.
The overall goal of the program is to help students apply virtual engineering principles and concepts to learn more about the technical and political processes of urban planning and pollution control.
Christopher Carter, a Pine Bluff High School senior, has been with the Future Engineers Program for three years.
"I really appreciate the challenging assignments and critical thinking skills that the Ivy Center and Dr. Rice has equipped me with which I feel has prepared me for my next step, college," Carter said.
Students interested in joining the Future Engineers Program may join the Zoom meeting from 6-7 p.m. Tuesday. The Zoom meeting ID is 856 8296 4187 and Pass Code 351061, according to a news release.
Details are available from Ivy Center President Mattie Collins at mattie1908@gmail.com or Patricia Berry, executive director, at Pberry867@gmail.com.