Walnut Hills High School senior Alexandra Mendlein was pretty sure she wanted to go into the field of engineering, but taking a college-level engineering course convinced her.

        Even better, the yearlong course is offered at Walnut Hills and is free. And since she's taking it in high school, she'll have an edge on college freshmen next year.

        “I'll know what's going on ahead of time,” she said.

        Alexandra, 17, is one of about 60 students at Walnut Hills taking the new class, offered in partnership with Ohio State College of Engineering. Students receive high school credit and can also earn college credit for the course, which has the same books, lab experiments and course requirements as Ohio State's college freshman course.

        Introduction to Engineering is a two-course sequence at Ohio State, with each course being worth three credit hours, for a total of six credit hours. The high school students taking the course save $803 in tuition fees, said Gina Langen, spokeswoman for Ohio State's engineering college.

        The idea is to get students interested early in engineering, she said.

        College professors assisted Walnut Hills math and science teachers in developing the course and will work with the teachers throughout the year. General Electric helped pay for supplies, including software and textbooks.

        One difference between the Walnut Hills course and Ohio State's: Students at Walnut Hills take it for a year, while Ohio State freshmen take it for two quarters.

        Teachers say the class is turning on lightbulbs for students who want to know what practical applications their math and sci ence classes will have.

        “Math sometimes seems like an abstract pursuit, but here it has a purpose,” said Liv Ramstad, a Walnut Hills science teacher teaching the course.

        Students use their physics and calculus knowledge to determine how much weight a bicycle can hold, and to build a sorting system for small items on a conveyor belt. They also gain experience with computer systems engineers use, including making computerized three-dimensional designs.

        For some students, the best part about the course is learning that engineering is not the career for them.

        “I've always been interested in math and science,” said Zak Slemmer, an 18-year-old senior. “And I'm glad I took the course but I'm not going to go into engineering.”

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