Gone Camping

The catch? Instead of pitching tents and making s’mores, the 34 rising 8th and 9th graders who attended spent the week constructing things like a light-up glove, an electrified keyboard and a motion-sensor soccer goal. They also problem-solved scenarios like using those light-up gloves to communicate in the darkness of space and brainstorming energy sources for astronauts stranded on Mars

Baptiste and Peter designed the activities with Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Christine Julien, who is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, to emphasize the connection between engineering and art, sports, space, health, sustainability and, of course, fun. Since the camp took place virtually due to COVID-19, Baptiste and Peter tested and troubleshot all the activities in advance, and they assembled and mailed each camper a kit containing all the needed materials — a microbit computer, alligator clips, limit switches, motors, LED lights and more. During the week of camp, they oversaw 22 UT student counselors as they guided campers through the activities in Zoom breakout rooms.

“I didn’t have the chance to go to a camp like this when I was younger, and there are still so many kids out there who don’t know about engineering or don’t think it’s something they can do,” says Baptiste. “Our goal was to show them that it’s for anyone. It‘s not about who you are or what you have.”

The camp was a joint initiative of the Cockrell School of Engineering’s DEI Office and UT’s Youth Engagement Centers. All of the campers live in historically underserved schools across Texas; 41% identify as female, 35% as Black, and 38% as Hispanic. And in surveys after the camp, 100% said they would recommend it to a friend.