Valpo Accelerates Engineering Summer Camp
The 2024 camp for current 10th – 11th graders will be held on June 23 – 29, 2024.
About
The Valpo Accelerates Engineering Summer Camp is a one week summer camp experience for high school students to learn about engineering! During the camp, you will work with engineering faculty to learn about different engineering disciplines and tackle an engineering project.
This is an overnight camp! During the day (8 am – 5 pm), campers will participate in engineering activities! In the evenings are an opportunity for campers to socialize with the camp counselors who are undergraduate engineers and get the full camp experience. The cost for the camp is $1,200.
Who teaches the program?
Valpo prides itself in the opportunities for undergraduate students to work closely with their professors. We extend this ideology to our summer camp where campers will learn directly from engineering professors!
There will also be a group of camp counselors composed of undergraduate engineering students from Valpo who will assist during the day and run the social activities!
What types of projects are offered?
The core of the camp is split into four components: Engineering Exploration, Engineering Skills, Week-Long Engineering Project, and Social Activities.
The Engineering Exploration activities provide students to explore a wide array of engineering topics including sustainable engineering, ultrasonic flow, water filtration, 3D printing, materials science, solar energy, and more!
The Engineering Skills activities provide an opportunity for students to develop relevant engineering skills such as computer aided design (CAD), programming, soldering, and more!
The Week-Long Engineering projects are large scale engineering projects where the campers will work in groups to tackle a challenging engineering problem. It will provide an opportunity for the campers to learn about a specific area of interest in engineering as they build their engineering device! The 2024 projects include:
- Prosthetics and Haptics: Learn about biomechanics and biosensors and how we can design and build prosthetic and haptic devices!
- Solar Powered Robotics: Learn about the mechanisms of robotics as you explore the areas of dynamics, electronics, and programming to build your own robots! Build a robot to efficiently capture the sun’s energy through sustainable engineering!
What can you expect day-to-day?
Though this is not the exact schedule for each day, this is roughly what you could expect as a camper. There are plenty of opportunities to explore interesting topics in engineering, work on your week-long engineering project, and socialize with your fellow campers and counselors!
| Timeline | Activity |
|---|---|
| 8:00 am | Breakfast and Morning Activity |
| 8:30 am | Engineering Exploration and Skills Activities. 1 hour activities led by faculty for campers to learn about different areas of engineering! |
| 11:30 am | Lunch |
| 12:30 pm | Project work time. This time is dedicated to completing your week-long project. It will be split into time for lessons to learn the necessary skills to accomplish your project and work time. |
| 5:30 pm | Dinner and after hours activities for our overnight campers with the counselors! |
Application
Eligibility
- The camp is open to current 10th and 11th graders
- Campers are encouraged to have completed physics or chemistry by the summer
How to apply
Applications can be submitted here. We will begin evaluating applications after January 15. Applications will close after April 20. Applications have been extended until April 27.
Scholarships
A limited number of partial scholarships are available for campers who meet one of the below criteria.
- The camper will be the first among their immediate family members to earn a degree from a 4-year college or university.
- The camper demonstrates financial need based on household income.
Contact Dr. Jesse Sestito by email at engineering.camp@valpo.edu to inquire.
Start and end times
The camp will run from Sunday, June 23 to Saturday, June 29. Sunday camper drop-off is currently scheduled from 1 – 3 pm and Saturday camper pick-up is currently scheduled for 8 – 10 am. Individual drop-off and pick-up times can be adjusted for special cases.
Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding the camp, feel free to reach out to Dr. Jesse Sestito by email at engineering.camp@valpo.edu.