The Francis College of Engineering at UMass Lowell is excited to have you on board!

Circle split in 4: atom, globe, pie symbol & gears. With text: 2023 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award from Insight Into Diversity Magazine.
RAMP received the 2023 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. UMass Lowell will be featured, along with 79 other recipients, in the September 2023 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.

The Research, Academics and Mentoring Pathways (RAMP) program is a summer jumpstart for new freshmen engineering students that focuses on increasing enrollment, retention and accomplishment of those that continue to be underrepresented in the engineering field. This includes women and racial and ethnic minority students. RAMP is designed to help you create a pathway to successful graduation that also includes a profile of extracurricular activities such as research and industry experience, entrepreneurship and community engagement.

Starting July 7 and ending August 15, 2025, this six-week program will allow you to earn your first credits toward graduation. But it's much more than early enrollment. We will also help you build skills such as programming, technical writing and communication while providing your very first research opportunity with a professor on campus. You will meet engineers and alumni from different industries and hear about their pathways to successful careers. Finally, we will take you to leading companies in metro Boston to get a first hand look at the diversity of engineering jobs.

2 students intently working on a project.

Research

  • Signal Processing in Acoustics
  • Biomedicine and RF Communications
  • Sensor Design
  • Autonomous Systems & Advanced Manufacturing Data Analytics
  • Computational Modeling
Several students working together over laptops.

Academics

  • Calculus I (4 credits) or Pre-Calculus (3 credits)
The first panel discussion held on campus had a theme: Workplace Dynamics and Effective Communication Strategies. In this picture, two of the panelists, Dr. Ellen Ferraro, Director Research & Technology, Raytheon Integrated Defense System, and Susan Peckham, Director, Hardware Technologies, BAE Systems talk one on one with students after the panel discussion.

Mentoring

  • Establish connections with faculty mentors
  • Network with alumni from industry
  • Work effectively with teaching assistants
Several students listening to a panel of industry professionals discussing success in engineering.

Pathways to Success

  • Build a computer and learn computing skills
  • Learn the art of technical communication
  • Learn how to lead and work as a team
  • Connect math, physics and engineering in problem solution
  • Learn about grand challenges in engineering and their societal impact