Inspire 2026 Faculty on E4 Mission: Engineering Summer Course
“I love connecting with students. Everyone has their own story, their own passions, their own future ahead of them…It’s all the fun of learning engineering without all of the stress and homework." - Benjamin Goldschneider
E4 Mission: Engineering applies this multi-faceted field to today’s rapidly evolving, demanding environment. Read about some of the ways you can apply an engineering degree to different jobs here. Below, meet Benjamin Goldschneider, the instructor for Summer 2026!
Meet Professor Benjamin Goldschneider:
Q: Tell us about your journey into the world of engineering and how you developed your expertise in the field?
A: I was a LEGO kid. I loved building and designing and breaking things back down. As I grew up, the builds got more complex, and I got more and more into math and science at school. In high school, I decided that engineering was my path forward. I didn’t know which branch of engineering, but I decided that I had time to figure that out in college. I entered college as a general engineering major, leaning towards mechanical engineering due to its broad applications, but pivoted towards industrial & systems engineering after learning more about it. I still didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, so Systems’ broad applicability was also appealing, but it was mostly because systems gave me the opportunity to focus my engineering work on people, something that I valued greatly. During the summers in college, I worked as an intern and counselor for a summer engineering program for high schoolers interested in engineering (much like this one!) designing activities and running lectures that introduced basic engineering content and thinking. By the time I was set to graduate, I had decided that I had enjoyed my summers more than my semesters, and I decided to pursue the educational side of engineering more deeply. I enrolled at Virginia Tech in their department of Engineering Education for a PhD, and through the next five years developed myself as an educator and instructor. My passion for engineering remains, largely in the form of supporting students as they go through the same difficult decisions that I did when I enrolled.
Q: What knowledge and skills can students expect to learn in E4 Mission: Engineering this summer?
A: Mission: Engineering is about developing your understanding of the field of engineering and figuring out where your interests lie with respect to the field. Never considered chemical engineering before? Never heard of systems engineering? We’ll talk about the range of options in engineering and explore what kinds of skills, knowledge, and career opportunities you can pursue. We’ll also introduce a variety of basic engineering skills, including programming, teamwork, effective communication, and design thinking through a range of activities and hands-on work.
Q: Do students need a background in engineering to be successful in this class?
A: Nope! Students do not need any background in engineering to succeed in this class. Some baseline familiarity with what engineering is at a very high level (i.e., you’ve heard of it before) is good, but beyond that, you’ll be fine! The purpose of the class is to explore the field of engineering and come to better understand what it is, what the subfields of engineering entail, and some basic engineering skills and mindsets. It is meant to be an introduction, so no prior knowledge is needed.
Q: What advice do you have for students interested in taking E4 Mission: Engineering this summer?
A: Come with an open mind and be ready to explore! You can definitely have a preference for one form of engineering or another, but if you decide too early, you may miss out on the opportunity to explore others that you simply might not have looked into. We won’t be able to do a deep dive on every single option, but hopefully this will serve as an effective first step as you discover what pursuits are best for you!
Q: What are you most looking forward to about Inspire this summer?
A: Above all else, I love connecting with students. Everyone has their own story, their own passions, their own future ahead of them. I know the stress of applying for college, of making the decision of a major, of the uncertainty of it all. It’s why I wanted to work with first-year engineering students out of graduate school. Summer programs were where I began with my educational journey, and I always looked forward to coming back. It’s all the fun of learning engineering without all of the stress and homework.
This course is part of a four-part series: E4 Exploring Exciting Engineering Essentials. Other courses in the series include:
- Design Thinking & Rapid Prototyping: From Idea to Innovation
- Teamwork and Leadership in Engineering
- Engineering for Human Health: A Dive into Biomedical Engineering