ORONO — Ronald W. Rideout of Orono, a senior at the University of Maine, is one of seven students spending the summer at the University of Maine in the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program.

The program is designed to encourage graduate studies and was established in 1986 for the U.S. Department of Education. Ronald E. McNair was a black astronaut and engineer who died in the 1986 Challenger Space Shuttle accident.

Rideout is a civil engineering student and the son of Ronald W. and Marilyn Rideout of Winterport. He is taking part in a riprap project with Vijaykumar G. Panchang, assistant professor of civil engineering and mentor.