By: Eli Freund, Editorial Communications Manager, UConn School of Engineering
Throughout the summer, students in middle school and high school will get the unique chance to immerse themselves in the world of engineering through two interactive programs: Spark and Explore Engineering.
Explore Engineering, a five-day program for students currently in 10thand 11thgrade, allows participants to reside on campus, gives the students a glimpse into what engineers do in the workplace, and introduces them to key engineering concepts. During the evenings, through the YESS Program, students focus on a single engineering discipline by fabricating a discipline-specific device. The week wraps up with demonstrations of items the students created during the week. Examples have included: rudimentary EKG devices, Smart Lego vehicles that can follow a trail, fuel cell and other energy efficient devices, wooden bridges, environmentally friendly processes, and how to resolve differences.
When students are attending departmental activities during the day, they will be participating in both lecture and hands-on experiment-based activities run by the department’s professors andgraduate assistants. Throughout the day, students will also learn from constant interactions with their counselor, who is a current UConn Engineering undergraduate.
Spots for this camp are filling up fast, but interested parties have until June 10 to claim their spot in either the session from June 16-June 20 or June 23-June 27. To apply for financial aid, applicants should check off that they wish to be considered for financial aid on the application form and then email the documents to engr-explore@uconn.edu (make sure any confidential information is redacted on the documents sent). For more information, or to reserve your spot, please visit: http://edoc.engr.uconn.edu/explore-engineering/.
SPARK, a six-day program for 7th-10thgrade girls, also allows participants to reside on campus, immerses them in specific engineering disciplines, such as coding and robotics, and pairs them with female undergraduate mentors, who provide a positive influence on their future career path as an engineer.
During the day, all of the participants will work on various projects, and during the night, the students will participate in fun activities like movie nights, trips to the Dairy Bar, and an interactive STEM night.
Each week during the four sessions has a different theme, and they are as follows:
- Coding (July 7 – 13): Design apps, make circuits, and learn to apply programming to control the world around you
- Underwater Robotics (July 14 – 20): Explore mechanics while building and testing an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV)
- Designing and Flying Drones (July 21 – 27): Apply principals of material science, 3D printing, and chemistry to make a drone fly
- Engineering Through the Ages (July 28 – August 3): Explore the past and present while building a more sustainable city for the future
The deadline for enrollment is June 17, and applicants must be a current 6th – 9th grade female student during the 2018 – 2019 school year. Applicants who are not in the grade range but are interested in the program are encouraged to apply to be placed on the waiting list. To apply for financial aid, applicants should check off that they wish to be considered for financial aid on the application form and then email the documents to engr-explore@uconn.edu (make sure any confidential information is redacted on the documents sent). For more information, or to reserve your spot, please visit: http://edoc.engr.uconn.edu/spark/.
