The FYRE (First-Year Rossin Experience) is Lehigh University's transformative new approach to welcoming incoming students and helping them find their pathway into a dynamic and exciting future in engineering. FYRE complements traditional coursework with an integrated, project-based learning model that puts hands-on engineering education, teamwork, and societal impact at the center of the student experience.
Why FYRE matters
Today’s engineering challenges—from sustainable energy and resilient infrastructure to ethical AI and healthcare technology—require graduates who can solve complex, interdisciplinary problems. FYRE prepares students to meet those demands by combining rigorous fundamentals with early, repeated exposure to real problems and team practice. This approach to first-year engineering curricula accelerates professional identity, builds transferable workplace skills, and produces graduates who are practice-ready for modern employers by establishing:
- Integrated practicum modules - Short, intensive, project-based modules that blend math, physics, computing, and design into real-world team challenges.
- Competency-driven assessment - Continuous demonstrations and portfolios that show mastery of core competencies rather than single high-stakes exams.
- Co-curricular pathways - Sustained engagement in design teams, research, and makerspaces to deepen practical skills and leadership.
Why Lehigh
Lehigh Engineering's long tradition of applied, context-rich engineering education and its strong cross-college partnerships makes our College uniquely suited to lead this transformation. FYRE leverages Lehigh's makerspaces, interdisciplinary faculty, and a culture that values hands-on, project-based learning.
FYRE helps incoming students to "cross the chasm" quickly and learn how to collaborate across disciplines as they move through the collegiate careers, and beyond. FYRE provides the origin story for portfolios that demonstrate technical skill, communication, and ethical reasoning, and for engineers who connect technical choices to social and environmental outcomes.
Join the shift in engineering education
FYRE is more than a curriculum update—it's a new way of meeting engineering students where they are, so we can better guide them to where they want to be. By making hands-on engineering education, project-based learning, and competency mastery central to year one, Lehigh’s FYRE Initiative prepares students, meets employer needs, and supports solutions that matter to society.