SIE Alumna Hosts Summer Engineering Academy at Caterpillar
Kasey Spradling introduces high schoolers to modern construction engineering tools.
Arizona Summer Engineering Academy had a landmark year in growth — with enrollment nearly tripling since 2023, achieving the highest attendance in its 22-year history.
Partners like Bosch, Intel and Caterpillar were integral to the camp's expansion goals, providing scholarships and facility tours. Cummings Aerospace also fully supported the middle school version of SEA — and with their help, 100 young engineers attended at no cost.
The Experience Engineering Overnight Camp students were treated to a tour of Caterpillar’s newest mining division office in Tucson on July 10. Campers marveled at touchscreen tabletops and a life-size off-highway truck mural, as data analyst Kasey Spradling guided them through the facilities.
Spradling graduated from the U of A in 2023 with a bachelor’s in engineering management and a minor in industrial engineering. Caterpillar snatched her up quickly after an internship and capstone project with the company.
During the visit, she showed students the ultramodern makerspace and virtual reality lab where Caterpillar engineers dream up new construction equipment.
“(Engineers) can design a part within CAD systems, implement it in a virtual environment and test it on the equipment, without it ever actually being made,” she explained. “Or they can utilize the makerspace to develop their designs in a real-life environment before its produced at a large scale.”
Read more about the 2024 Summer Engineering Academy.