Record number of scholarships awarded for WSU engineering camps

Wichita State College of Engineering summer camps will begin today (Monday, June 5). More than 325 children in fourth through 12th grades are enrolled in 16 weekly camps being held during June and July. Camps focus on robotics, coding, applied engineering design, biomedical engineering, aerospace engineering and cybersecurity.

Though camps typically cost $200 to $350 a week, a record 100 campers number will attend on scholarship, paying only $10 each. Scholarships are funded by private camp sponsors, which this year include Textron Aviation, Boeing, Airbus and Booz Allen Hamilton, and target children who might otherwise not get exposure to the field of engineering.

"Our camps are essentially a tool to boost our recruitment of those who are under-represented in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math," said Polly Basore Wenzl, camp coordinator for the College of Engineering. "Scholarships are essential to helping reach under-represented children, which include girls, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and children from all backgrounds who would be the first in their families to attend college."

This year, 40 percent of scholarships will go to first-generation college students, she said.

WSU College of Engineering began hosting summer camps more than 10 years ago, beginning with what remains its most popular camp, LEGO Robotics. Originally focused on middle schoolers, the camps now offer several options for high school students, as well.

"High school camps have proven an excellent recruitment tool; about half of those who attend end up enrolling at WSU," Basore Wenzl says.

Camps are held throughout the summer at three locations -- Donald Beggs Hall and the Experiential Engineering Building on the WSU main campus, and the National Center for Aviation Training.

While many camps are full, openings remain for high school students.