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GREENSBORO - Peggy Fersner and other instructors at N.C. A&T are counting on the next generation of engineers to solve the country's technical challenges.

And that's where the 33 middle and high school students on campus this month come in.

To generate interest in the field, the school offers an annual two-week camp in June for students to practice their math and science skills through hands-on activities.

This year's camp focused on energy and the environment. Fersner, who teaches geomatic engineering, said Americans take energy for granted.

"If we don't get the kids looking at it and taking it seriously and doing research, we're going to be up a creek," Fersner said. "We all need alternative energy."

Students learned about the state's river basins, surveying and global fossil fuel use. They also took field trips to the city's recycling center and engineering department, and to Northern Guilford middle and high schools to learn about energy- and water-saving features.

"I didn't know there were a lot of steps when they are filtering the wastewater," said Crystal Hogue, a rising seventh-grader at Southeast Guilford Middle School.

Hogue and 15 other middle school students competed in one lab to create the best water filter, using an inverted soda bottle and cotton balls, rocks, sand, coffee filters and activated carbon.

Stephanie Luster-Teasley, professor of environmental engineering, passed around beakers of rain and wastewater for the students to study.

"Do you see anything?" Luster-Teasley asked. "Do you smell anything? Remember to write down your observations."

"Oh my God, that stinks," one student replied.

Meanwhile, high school students in an upstairs computer lab designed posters to memorialize what they've learned. Thomas Faucette, of Tampa, Fla., said he has participated in the camp five times and wants to build energy-efficient commercial buildings because of his concern about global warming.

"The first year I found out so much information on so many different areas of engineering I can get into," said Faucette, 16, working on his biodiesel-themed poster. "It helps me understand the world around me."

Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 373-7078 or morgan.josey@news-record.com