Digital engineering is the practice of designing, testing, and improving systems in a digital environment before they are built. Imagine testing a design again and again, pushing it to its limits, finding the weak spots, and making it better, all without building a single real part. That’s digital engineering. Engineers create detailed virtual models of real systems, run them through simulations, and use data to make smarter decisions, faster. Participants learn to work with models, simulation, systems thinking, and data so teams can make better decisions faster.
If you like building things, coding, gaming, or figuring out how the pieces of a system fit together, you already think like a digital engineer. DEAP helps you turn that curiosity into a career.
For Students
DEAP is a great fit if you’re:
- A high school junior or senior interested in engineering, modeling, coding, or technical careers
- High school graduate ready to earn while they learn
- Exploring certificate, dual-enrollment, or two-year college programs and looking for your next step
- Planning a four-year degree and want a stronger application, internship experience, and a direct path into digital engineering work
New to engineering? That’s okay. DEAP’s camps introduce the basics of modeling, simulation, and design.
For Parents and Families
You want your student to have a real plan after high school, one that builds on what they’ve learned and doesn’t have to mean years of guesswork or debt. DEAP is a clear next step after STEM classes, career and technical education (CTE), or Project Lead The Way.
- A paycheck and a profession. Apprentices are paid while they train under experienced mentors.
- College with a plan. College-track students get application support, internships, and mentoring for scholarships that can cover full tuition.
- Backed by the Army. DEAP is led by Army engineering leaders in partnership with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory.
For Teachers and Counselors
DEAP builds on what you already teach. It connects STEM, CTE, and Project Lead The Way coursework to hands-on camps, senior-year Work-Based Learning placements, and clear routes into paid apprenticeships and college. Know a student who lights up in the lab or the makerspace? DEAP gives them somewhere to go next.
DEAP is led by Product Manager Army Systems Engineering & Architecture (PdM ASEA) and the Army Digital Engineering Ecosystem, in partnership with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and the Energetics Technology Center (ETC). That means the program is shaped by the people who do digital engineering for the Army every day.