Project Discovery: A Computing Experience for High School Students

During the summer of 2014, EECS provided a computing experience for high school students.  In the one-week Computer Science camp that is part of Engineering Summer Camp – Project Discovery students build websites from the bottom up.

All of June 2014 Engineering Summer Camp - Project Discovery.
All of June 2014 Engineering Summer Camp - Project Discovery.

Everyone begins with an empty text editor, but throughout the week students learn how HTML, CSS, and JavaScript can be integrated into building functional websites. Students combine their engineering mindset with personal creativity in order to build profile pages, photo galleries, and even a mock-up of Twitter. At the end of the week, all campers are required to give a presentation to their family members, but the CS camp has an added twist: The campers have to program the entire presentation from scratch. The students work collaboratively in order to build a website to demonstrate what they have learned about programming. Dr. John Gibbons, a multi-term lecturer in EECS and graduate of our programs, taught the Computer Science section. John has been involved with the camp for 5 years, he received his MS and Ph.D. in computer science from KU in 2010 and 2014 respectively.

When not in the lab with Dr. Gibbons, the campers are taken to a wide range of activities with a resident assistant. Students are given presentations about other engineering disciplines.  Businesses in the Kansas City area – such as Perceptive Software – invite the high school students to their site and show them how engineering and computing play a crucial role in their operations. And there are plenty of leisure activities such as bowling, swimming, and movie night to round out the experience.