NORMAL - Normal Community West High School sophomore Dhalvin Gomez-Bonner didn't mind taking time from his lunch Thursday to explain to other students and teachers how a Rubik's Cube works.

"I like to know how things work," the sophomore said.

That curiosity led Gomez-Bonner to be one of 130 Unit 5 students enrolled in the Introduction to Engineering Design course, which was launched this year at both high schools in the Normal-based school district.

He and other students in the program set up displays Thursday outside the school cafeteria to explain the workings of objects ranging from pencil sharpeners to plastic toys. They ate their lunch beside their exhibits and stopped to answer questions about their work.

The lunch-hour displays conclude today.

Gomez-Bonner's display showed the insides of a Rubik's Cube and the three-dimensional drawings he made of it.

While he has aspirations to be a lawyer, he took the new class because he wants to "explore options."

Technology teacher David Schippert said his students run the gamut from freshmen to seniors. About eight of his 61 Normal West students studying engineering are girls.

The class is part of Project Lead the Way, a nationwide program designed to encourage interest in engineering among U.S. students, especially among nontraditional students, Schippert said. It promotes hands-on project and problem-based approach to teaching engineering-related skills.

For Rebecca Smith, a junior, Introduction to Engineering Design it is one of several courses that will prepare her for college.

Smith, the only female student in her engineering class, is interested in music and sciences, but she doesn't know what career she will pursue. It will include building something, not just sitting behind a desk, she said.

Her class has spent two weeks taking apart a common item, looking inside, learning how the design works, and then making a computer drawing of it. She looked into a pencil sharpener with her partner TJ Morley, a sophomore of Normal.

Jared Ruhrup, a junior who is considering a career in civil engineering, looked at how a plastic basketball toy worked.

"There's a lot of engineering that goes into toys," his teacher noted.

The program provides a good introduction to various aspects of engineering and will help students decide before they get to college whether engineering is for them, Ruhrup said.

For Victoria Kovanic, a senior, this course has helped confirm her interest in architecture and given her some computer skills that aid her interest.

For example, the students use Auto Desk Inventor, a software program to make three-dimensional drawings.

She said she likes being able to take the class at her school rather than having to go to the Bloomington Area Vocational Center at Bloomington High School, which also offers it.

Next year, a more advanced Principles of Engineering course and Biotechnical Engineering, a course that deals with forensics, will be offered at Normal West for the first time. The high school may be the fourth in the state to offer the new biotechnology program, Schippert said.

Project Lead the Way, a not-for-profit, pre-engineering education program for middle schools and high schools, grew by 38 percent in Illinois in 2007, said Dawn Green, director of secondary education for Unit 5. Today it offers programs in 70 middle and high schools across the state.

Project-related courses are offered at BHS, the vocational center and the two Unit 5 high schools.

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Open house

What: Project Lead the Way open house showcasing student engineering work

When: 6 to 7 p.m. May 8

Where: Normal Community High School, 3900 E. Raab Road, Normal