Your Path Into Digital Engineering starts with hands-on experience in high school. Then you can choose the route that fits you. Whether your next step is work, college, or both, every step builds toward the same goal: a career in a growing field that you’re ready for.
Get hands-on with the core skills of digital engineering: building models, running simulations, and communicating a design so a team can bring it to life. Camps are a great way to find out if digital engineering is for you.
Spend mornings in class and afternoons in a real workplace, typically 15 to 20 hours a week. You’ll gain professional experience before you graduate, and students who succeed here get preferential consideration for the apprenticeship.
Ready to start working after high school? The apprenticeship is a paid, 12- to 18-month program where you learn on the job and in the classroom at the same time.
- Get paid while you train.
- Learn from technical mentors on real digital engineering work.
- Take related classes through regional education partners.
- Advance by showing what you can do. Each skill you master moves you to the next milestone.
- Finish job-ready for digital engineering roles supporting the Army.
Planning on a degree? The College Track keeps you connected to DEAP, and to a career, from application day through graduation.
- Application support for partner universities.
- Summer internships in digital engineering that build real experience year after year.
- Targeted scholarship mentoring for competitive awards like the DoD SMART Scholarship.
- A path to a civilian career after graduation.
DEAP is built around four areas of digital engineering. Here’s what they mean in real life:
You’ll also build the professional skills that set you apart anywhere you go: solving problems, communicating clearly, working with mentors and teams, and documenting your work. It all comes together in a professional portfolio that shows employers and colleges exactly what you can do.
The best first step is Preview Day, a free, hands-on morning for students and parents. Application details for camps, Work-Based Learning, and apprenticeship cohorts will be posted as they’re finalized.