PREP Program

The Prefreshman Engineering Program (PREP) at UTSA is a pre-college summer program committed to delivering science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) enrichment opportunities for middle and high school students.

PREP seeks to contribute to the development of the future generations of STEM professionals, and provide opportunities for high school and middle school students to identify pathways to and through higher education. PREP’s current curriculum is delivered over the course of 4 years. The first year involves an introduction to engineering design, logic & algebraic reasoning. The second and third years include topics on physics and integrated algebra and probability, statistics and introduction to technical writing, respectively. The fourth year is dedicated to materials related to innovations in engineering- nano technology, data science, & cyber security. Finally, a new fifth year program will allow high school students to serve as engineering lab interns in a hybrid learning and working environment at a UTSA research lab during the summer.

The program started in 1979 by a UTSA mathematics professor, Dr. Manuel P. Berriozábal. Today, PREP is directed by Dr. Araceli Martinez Ortiz, a highly experienced engineer, professor, researcher and motivational speaker. Dr. Martinez Ortiz is the Microsoft endowed professor of engineering education at UTSA and director of engineering education graduate programs. Dr. Ydania Medina serves as the Assistant Director of PREP and Dr. Gabriela Gomez serves as the Curriculum and Professional Development manager.

PREP is a successful, hallmark pre-engineering program at UTSA that has served over 50,000 students in the State of Texas during the past 40 years The PREP team continues this mission of creating equitable access and participation of underrepresented students in STEM by offering low cost, innovative, active learning, on-campus experiences, motivating and inspiring speakers, and by promoting collaboration between institutions of higher education, school districts, industry and the community at large.