Community Mission
The College Outreach Community leads collaborative efforts between SAME and academia to identify and resolve national security infrastructure-related challenges and supports Post’s efforts to mentor and develop future STEM professionals at the collegiate-level. The community serves as a bridge between academia, Posts, government (military and civilian), and the private sector. The community provides guidance to the network of student chapters across the Society, promotes internship opportunities from SAME sustaining members, and will establish a new engineering competition for students designed to address the nation’s grand challenges.
Overview
The SAME College Outreach Community strives to organize programs and present opportunities to future military and civilian members of the A/E/C profession that will foster networking within their professional community, build leadership skills, and provide job opportunities to recent graduates. Additionally, students with an active membership within SAME have at their disposal a wealth of knowledge and experiences from professionals throughout the A/E/C community of practice.
Executive Community Structure
Vice Chairs
Danielle Hughes, Communications
Jeffrey Allen, Academia Engagement
Staff Liaison
Sarah Feighery, Program Manager
2026 SAME Undergraduate Innovation Design Challenge
Submissions for the 2025-26 SAME Undergraduate Innovation Design Challenge are due by February 6, 2026. This competition, led by the College Outreach COI, evaluates design projects that are being developed by student members as part of their degree curriculums and highlights the innovative thinking of the next generation of STEM professionals.
Learn more about the Innovation Design ChallengeUpcoming National Webinars
-
- Webinar
The Hidden Cost: Why Schedule is the Biggest MILCON Premium
Military construction (MILCON) cost discussions often focus on dollars per square foot, but one of the most significant portion of the overall cost is time. Every month added to a project can increase costs through -
- Webinar
AI as Load Shock: Rethinking Energy Security and Mission Assurance
The rapid expansion of AI computing, electrification, and mission-critical digital infrastructure is fundamentally altering the energy security landscape. While AI is often discussed as a software capability or data challenge, its most immediate national security impact is physical: unprecedented, concentrated, and inflexible electrical demand that stresses grid infrastructure and traditional resilience assumptions.
Related TME Articles – College Outreach
-
Transforming Energy Security at Camp Pendleton
A utility energy services contract completed in 2021 at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton included transformer retrofits as an integral energy conservation measures to improve reliability and reduce energy consumption. -
Collaborating with Alaskan Tribes on Cleaning Up Formerly Used Defense Sites
A collaborative program with Alaskan Native communities being led by a research team from the University of Nevada, Reno, is tracking and mitigating impacts from exposure to Formerly Used Defense Sites. -
Conducting Thermal Remediation Under Active Railroad Tracks
As part of the cleanup at a Superfund site that was previously used as waste storage by the Department of Defense, a carefully orchestrated thermal remediation project was conducted that targeted the groundwater plume located underneath a pair of active railroad tracks. -
Extracting and Purifying Rare Earth Elements from Waste
A project underway to develop proteins capable of extracting rare earth elements used in critical defense systems from manufacturing and post-consumer waste aims to secure this vulnerable supply chain and increase national resilience.
