CBU Tres Pasos Program Helps Inland Empire Students See Themselves in STEM

Fifty-six high school and incoming college students recently completed three weeks of hands-on STEM coursework at California Baptist University, presenting their projects to family members during Familia Day, the culminating event of CBU’s Tres Pasos Summer Bridge Program.

Hosted by CBU’s Gordon and Jill Bourns College of Engineering, Tres Pasos, Spanish for “Three Steps,” is a National Science Foundation-funded initiative designed to help Hispanic students and other underserved Inland Empire students explore pathways into science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The summer bridge program brought students into CBU’s engineering labs for college-level coursework, research-based learning and exposure to STEM fields that many had not previously considered. Familia Day gave parents, relatives and guests a chance to see the students’ work, meet faculty and staff, and better understand what a future in engineering or STEM could look like.

Wendy Barbosa-Bulrice, program coordinator for CBU’s College of Engineering, said Familia Day is more than a project showcase. It is an extension of the program’s family-centered model.

“Our program model is, ‘We are family,’ ‘Somos familia,’” Barbosa-Bulrice said. “It is a big part of our program that our students feel like they have family here at CBU.”

Barbosa-Bulrice said many participants are first-generation students whose families are also learning how to navigate college admissions, financial aid and campus life. For parents, she said, the day brought a sense of gratitude and connection.

“A lot of our students are first-generation students, and you have parents who are learning to navigate America,” Barbosa-Bulrice said. “They may not know what it looks like to navigate a college system.”

The free three-week program included access to labs, computers, materials, faculty and student mentors. Barbosa-Bulrice said the program could otherwise cost thousands of dollars, but grant funding allows students to participate at no cost.

Interest has grown quickly. The program welcomed 36 students in its first year, according to Barbosa-Bulrice. This year, more than 110 students applied, and the program expanded before 56 students ultimately participated in Familia Day activities, according to organizers.

Professor of Chemical Engineering Dr. Mario Oyanader, known to students as “Dr. O,” said CBU developed Tres Pasos after reflecting on what it means to be a Hispanic-serving institution.

“We realized that our institution was enrolling Hispanic students and graduating Hispanic students, but serving is a broader concept,” Oyanader said.

That reflection led CBU to propose a research-based bridge program to the National Science Foundation, aimed at giving students a clearer sense of vocation, opportunity and belonging in STEM.

“The students had the chance to discover the science behind phenomena they are exposed to in a lab,” Oyanader said. “Most of them have that click moment where they realize, ‘Oh, I could do this.’”

Oyanader said students are introduced to STEM through research and practical problem-solving, including work tied to drug delivery for cancer treatment, fluid behavior and engineering applications in fields such as biomedical, mechanical, civil and chemical engineering.

Some students who enter the program continue into CBU and join what the university calls a familia cohort, where they receive academic, research and peer support. Last year, six students traveled to Boston to present research at an American Institute of Chemical Engineers annual meeting. This November, Oyanader said, the program may take 12 students to Minnesota to present their work.

Student Ruben Lecaro, a mechanical engineering major entering his second year at CBU with a minor in electrical and computer science, participated in Tres Pasos last year and returned this year as a student worker.

Lecaro, a Ruben S. Ayala High School graduate from Chino Hills, said early exposure to engineering helped shape his college path. In high school, he participated in Project Lead the Way and the ACE program, which introduced him to architecture, construction and engineering projects.

“I would definitely say it had a positive impact, not only on my future career, but on what I understood engineering to be,” Lecaro said.

As a student worker, Lecaro helped faculty and supported students as they moved through the summer bridge program. He said many incoming students wanted to know what life is like at CBU, what the professors are like and how the engineering community operates.

Lecaro said CBU’s engineering building helps students build relationships with classmates, professors and upperclassmen. The building includes a 3D printing lab, tools, welding space and a garage for the Society of Automotive Engineers club, where students work on cars and aerodynamics projects.

For students considering STEM, Lecaro said the key is persistence.

“The main thing that differentiates a student who not only is in STEM, but excels at STEM, is the willingness to realize they probably won’t get it on the first try,” Lecaro said. “If they fail at first, they use that as an opportunity to learn why they failed and continue getting better.”

Barbosa-Bulrice said the program’s goal is to help students see themselves in fields where representation matters.

“Oftentimes, people have an image of what an engineer looks like or what somebody in STEM looks like,” Barbosa-Bulrice said. “Our students can sometimes feel like it may not look like them, and we want to prove that’s not true.”

CBU is also looking to expand the program’s reach. Organizers hope to add a third cohort next year and are preparing to launch Pasito STEM, a smaller version of the model for sixth graders through a partnership with Casablanca Elementary School.

“The biggest thing I want people to know is that they belong here,” Barbosa-Bulrice said. “This can be for you. There really is a pathway for you, and we want to help you.”