The new First-Year Rossin Experience continues to gain momentum, with a select group of students taking part in a pilot course this fall.

This summer, Rossin College faculty—including Dean Steve DeWeerth and CSE Professor Mike Spear, pictured above—and a few student volunteers stepped into the shoes of future first-year engineers during a hands-on FYRE Boot Camp led by Lehigh Design Labs experts Brian Slocum and Kelly Zona. The immersive experience served as a test run for the new First-Year Rossin Experience (FYRE) practicum, which emphasizes interdisciplinary skills and active learning. For more Boot Camp photos, check out this post from @LehighU on Instagram.

A pilot version of the practicum is launching with a select group of students this fall, with plans to expand the program to all incoming engineers by 2028.

Through FYRE, Lehigh's engineering faculty are working to change the way that incoming engineering students are welcomed into the fold. The initiative aims to prepare students to discover their passion for problem-solving and excel in their educational and career paths, part of Lehigh's mission to connect engineering with the real world from day one. Learn more about FYRE at engineering.lehigh.edu/fyre...and read more about the Boot Camp and the program's growth and evolution in the upcoming Fall 2025 issue of Resolve magazine!

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WATCH: Lehigh Engineers Get Back to the Lab with FYRE Pilot Program

In this video, Lehigh engineering deans, faculty, and staff got their hands dirty in the Design Labs and experienced engineering from a student's point of view as a test run of the course Engineering 095, the core of FYRE—Lehigh's efforts to re-invent the way that first-year engineers are welcomed into the fold.