UT Dallas students and faculty encouraged teenagers with autism to explore engineering careers at a recent event called Engineering Brighter Futures for Autism. The event challenged participants with tasks that required teamwork and focused thinking.
Working with graduate students from the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, approximately 14 teens with autism were asked to design and build components of a miniature wind turbine. As part of the challenge, the teens learned how to use software to design a part and then use it on a functioning, mini-wind turbine.