Hands-On Learning
Careers and Passions Take Flight
Students learn best by doing and hands-on learning experiences help create Flyers who are day-one ready for the workforce. Over the years, we have seen these experiences also lead to personal discovery and growth. For these reasons, hands-on learning is a campaign priority.
Currently, at least 80 percent of students participate in opportunities like working in research labs across campus, partnering with community organizations or studying abroad. As part of our Catholic, Marianist mission to educate the whole person, we need to give all Flyers a chance to take part in these beyond-the-classroom experiences. With your support, we can increase and enhance hands-on learning opportunities, making them available to all students.
Learning in Action
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Fulfilling a Dream
Explore Myanah's StoryMyanah Keys ’23 was named one of Dayton’s “5 Under 25 young innovators” by the Dayton Business Journal and was recently one of 10 students nationwide to receive a grant for pediatric oncology research.
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Supporting Impactful Research Experiences
Explore Terrence's StoryTerrence Tilley, Ph.D., remembers what it was like to be a struggling graduate student. He recently established an endowed fund to provide impactful research experiences for students without the financial burden that he endured.
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Making an Impact
Matt McNamara ’09 is providing resources for students to enhance their experience at UD.Explore Matt's Story -
Faculty-led programs: expanding global citizenship
Faculty-led education abroad and away programs continue to evolve and provide diverse offerings for Flyers.Read the Story -
Raising the Curtain
Read the StoryThree UD civil engineering co-op students are helping to raise the curtain on the magnificent Roger Glass Center for the Arts.
Instead of reviewing lines for an upcoming play, they’re reading engineering drawings and working behind the scenes with Messer Construction Co. to help manage the design and construction of the $45 million facility on the southeast corner of Main and Stewart streets.
Workers are currently installing window frames on the ground level and terra cotta tiles on the upper sections of the building while constructing site walls to help to define entry walkways, plazas, and landscape areas. Construction is entering the home stretch with two-thirds of the building now complete.
“I think it will be cool to come back to campus and tell my kids, ‘I saw this concert hall when it was filled with scaffolding,’” Sophia Dugan, a sophomore from Cincinnati, told me. As part of her co-op experience, she’s marking up drawings and shadowing the construction superintendent during safety inspections.
I met Sophia and classmate Tyrone Smith when I recently toured the facility, which, when finished later this year, will be a testament to the power of the arts to elevate imagination and creativity on campus. Their classmate, Olivia Bistrek, completed an eight-month co-op on the project last August.
“I started working during the pre-construction phase. I reviewed the plans for most of the underground work, including the utilities and foundations. At the end of my co-op, I saw some of the steel go up,” said Olivia, a junior from Beavercreek, Ohio, who will co-op with Messer at its Cincinnati headquarters this summer in the virtual design and construction department
“It’s cool that one day maybe my kids will come to UD and have classes in that building or perform there.”
Tyrone, a junior from Loganville, Georgia, bikes to the construction site from the student neighborhood for his co-op experience, where he’s currently overseeing a crew of painters. He juggles his second-shift work schedule with serving as secretary of UD’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, internal communications coordinator and ambassador in the Multi-Ethnic Engineers Program, and as a peer mentor in the Multi-Ethnic Education and Engagement Center, where he received an Emerging Leader Award in 2021.
“I feel like I’m giving back to the University in some ways by working on this project,” he told me. “I have friends who are theatre folks and Flyer News staff who will use this space.”
It’s not lost on Sophia, Tyrone, and Olivia that the engineering staff on this and most construction sites is sparsely populated by women and people of color, but they are proud to be part of a new generation that is expanding the pipeline of opportunities and enhancing the talent pool available to forward-looking companies like Messer.
At UD, students learn best by doing. Project engineer co-ops for Messer update construction documents, develop and maintain color-coded progress plans to track foundation and steel installation, and supervise sub-contractors, among a myriad of other hands-on duties.
“To use a baseball term, co-ops tend to be the ‘utility infielder’ of a construction project,” said Scott Kulka, UD’s director of construction management. “They are always willing to try and learn new things, they can typically play any position, and they put their heart into everything they do.”
As a proud engineer myself, and as someone who is very excited about the new Roger Glass Center for the Arts, I say THANK YOU and BRAVO to Sophia, Tyrone, and Olivia!
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Engineered to Help
Marty Kilbane dreams of teaching college and possibly running his own lab one day - a dream borne out of his own experiences in the Engineering Wellness Through Biomechanics lab at UD.Watch Marty's Story -
Overcoming Obstacles
An engineering capstone project was dubbed "a nearly impossible" task, but that didn't stop Joe Vicaro.Watch Joe's Story -
Sustaining Impact
Engineering students Eric and Emma partner with faculty and students in Haatso, Ghana on various sustainability-focused projects as part of an Ethos immersion.Read More
I had always thought about grad school, and working in the lab really solidified my decision to go beyond my master’s and pursue a Ph.D.
Marty Kilbane '23
Real-World Experience
As part of our Marianist mission, educating the whole person is a priority, which is why hands-on learning is important at UD.
Explore Experiential LearningFeatured Opportunities
Internships and Co-ops
Practical work experience as an undergraduate is an important part of our students’ education.
Explore Internships and Co-ops
University of Dayton Study Abroad
Intercultural competency is no longer a luxury. Helping all Flyers study abroad is a gift we must give to the world.
Discover Study Abroad$2500
just $2,500 funds a study abroad experience for an undergraduate student.
$60 million
UD's student-run investment fund, worth nearly $60 million, is the largest in the country.
80%
at least 80% of students participate in hands-on learning.
Explore the Campaign
