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Ten incoming female engineering students got a head start on college life through the Early Engineering Advantage Program (EEAP), a Batten College of Engineering and Technology initiative partially sponsored by the Virginia Space Grant Consortium.

As part of the program held at 51�鱨վ, the students lived in dorms and dined on campus.

The week-long program centered on a team-building project about bioretention cells: shallow basins with specially engineered soils and plants designed to manage stormwater.

Students participated in several events, including a Women in Engineering panel and a tour of the Hampton Roads Sanitation District’s Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow program.

51�鱨վ Career Development Services hosted two events: a career readiness forum and an etiquette luncheon.

On the final day, students presented their project findings to Batten College professors, staff and family members.

“Being here [at EEAP] has really cemented the fact that I am in love with this college,” said participant Arielle Rodgers. “And I am so excited to go into engineering.”

EEAP was established in 2001 to attract, retain and develop female students in the traditionally male-majority field of engineering. Over 200 students have participated in the program since its inception.

Over the past two decades, alumnae have gone on to successful engineering careers at organizations like NASA, Amazon, PepsiCo, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Norfolk Southern, Dominion Energy and the Virginia Department of Transportation.