By Miguel Del Rio
One of CommUniverCity’s most important initiatives is to create a college-going culture. By engaging San Jose State University’s students with neighboring elementary students, CommUniverCity creates a unique, mutually beneficial learning experience.
The projects under this initiative are designed to inspire K-12 students to pursue higher education by both exposing them to college-level topics presented by university students. One of these projects is “Engineering in Action”, or EIA, bringing SJSU’s MaTE 25 students to neighboring elementary schools’ after-school programs.
Engineering in Action supports the City of San Jose’s Children and Youth Services Master Plan and offers an early introduction to STEAM education. Through collaboration with SJSU faculty, SJSU’s MaTE 25 (Introduction to Materials Engineering) students are tasked with creating an interactive presentation about a topic related to their subject: batteries, plastic deformation, elastic deformation, how 3D printers work, composites, semiconductors, temperature effects on polymers, and forensic materials engineering.
In partnership with afterschool programs such as CORAL (Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County) and YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) of Silicon Valley, the students bring these presentations to local elementary schools and host a fun learning experience.
Spring 2026 Engineering In Action event at ACE Esperanza.
As the project coordinator for EIA, I always love to bring this event together. There’s a lot behind the scenes that goes into planning such a simple, fun event for elementary students, and the impact is so much more than one can imagine.
Having taken MaTE 25 and being a first-generation student, I understand both the SJSU student and underrepresented elementary school student perspective. As an SJSU student, my technical skills were challenged by having to simplify such a complex topic like semiconductors and make it interesting for elementary students.
Team collaboration and communication were vital in the process of making the presentation, as well as public speaking for the delivery of the presentation. On top of this, bringing the presentation to elementary students taught me the effects of bringing a college experience to aspiring young students.
Our very presence had the elementary students interested and wanting to learn about college, and even if the topic was still too complex for the elementary students to understand, they still grasped onto fundamental concepts such as electrical and mechanical designs.
Much of my experience as an underrepresented student involved not feeling as though higher education wasn’t an option in my future, so I understand the impact of having college students come to your school and interact with you. Cost of living and access to educational resources were limited, but a program like EIA would’ve shown me that education was entirely possible.
Through the people and ideas it brings to elementary schools, education is normalized within all communities, especially those that don’t get the same opportunities as others.