Gator Engineering at SCF

Gator Engineering at SCF Launch Proves Successful

Nick and Tricia Pepper can’t stop talking about Gator Engineering at SCF and all the support their son, Benjamin Pepper, has gotten through the program. At the end of his freshman year, he has already completed an engineering internship and is now working part-time during his second year in the program for DTC, a Sarasota-based engineering firm. The Peppers are able to save a significant amount of money by having their son start at SCF. Savings include the cost of tuition and room and board, since he can live at home while starting his engineering studies. Benjamin is also grateful for all the support he receives in the program and for the facilities at SCF Venice, where he studies and works on projects between classes. But it’s not just the students and their parents who are enthusiastic about the program; it’s also the engineering community in Manatee and Sarasota counties. Shay Atluru, CEO/President at DTC, said he didn’t know what to expect at the start of the program, but working with Benjamin Pepper has proved the program is delivering what it promised. “I saw an opportunity to get young, smart minds in engineering,” said Atluru, who donated to Gator Engineering at SCF scholarships. “Engineers are in short supply throughout the world. I could have 10 more Ben’s here working in paid internships. He’s not getting coffee or making copies; he’s doing highly technical things, including drafting and design work.” Atluru sent Pepper to his offices in Connecticut, where he worked with some of the top engineers designing projects. Pepper said the internship was “a whole other world.” “It helped me figure out what I really want to do, which is to become a computer engineer,” he said. As some of the inaugural-year students head off early to Gainesville, others offered their support to the incoming freshmen. During orientation in August, Pepper joined two other classmates to answer questions, offer advice and encourage the incoming class of 15 students, including the first two young women in the program at SCF. Savannah Lyle, who was accepted into Gator Engineering at SCF this year, got an early start at SCF after completing a year of dual enrollment. She’s not worried about the usual first day of college jitters, but she is a little nervous about the subject matter this year—differential equations, in particular. She loves science, especially physics, and is looking forward to the laboratory work at SCF. Lyle’s interest in physics and how the universe works led her to explore a website for NASA, which led to her desire to go into aerospace engineering. She saw that she could combine her interest in space and the planets with her ability to build things. She spent part of last year building a robot.

The engineering students who have “I loved it. I was already finished getting a head their first year and are sticking aroundstart on my future, for at least one and I was constantly more term remindlearning new things.” ed the students to work hard from the beginning and not to get behind. “There is a lot of rigor in this program,” student Shane Toepfer said. “It’s double and triple what you did in high school, so you have to put that much more effort into it.” Pepper advised his fellow students to get organized early. And he reminded the students of all the resources they have in their teachers, in the program manager and in the first-year students who will continue to be around and studying in the Gator Den. “Having communication and a network here is wonderful,” Tricia Pepper told the students. “It’s going to be a great experience.”