10 Robotics Camps for High School Students in Texas
If you’re looking for a competitive mentored research program in subjects like data science, machine learning, political theory, biology, and chemistry, consider applying to Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs!
This is a selective virtual research program that lets you engage in advanced research and develop a research paper in a subject of your choosing. Horizon has worked with 1000+ high school students so far, and offers 600+ research specializations for you to choose from.
You can find the application link hereIf you are a high school student in Texas who is interested in robotics, chances are that you are looking for summer programs in your area as a valuable addition to your college application.
In this post, we have curated a list of 10 robotics programs in Texas that will enable you to gain hands-on experience and will make for an excellent learning opportunity.
1. Rice University’s ELITE Tech Camps
Rice ELITE Tech Camps is a pre-college engineering summer program that focuses on technology and engineering! In this program, you will attend college-level engineering lectures which include topics such as machine learning, AI, the Internet of things, data analytics, deep learning and more! You can also expect to participate in real-life simulations where you can apply the engineering design process to develop a deeper understanding. You can view the entire course catalog here!
ELITE Camps 2024 offers some interesting courses in robotics including “Robotic Engineering II: Adding Sensors for your Robot to See, Hear, Feel and Smell” where you will learn how to deploy sensors and work with the Arduino platform.
This program is created and managed by the engineering faculty from the Rice University School of Engineering and the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership, so it is an excellent opportunity to learn from faculty and experience the workload of a university student.
Cost: $1,695 for commuters and $3,795 for residential
Location: Rice University Campus (although this camp is also offered at UCLA and Emory University!)
Application Deadline: Rolling admissions
Program Dates: There are 4 cohorts:
June 16-22, 2024
June 23-29, 2024
July 7-13, 2024
July 14-20, 2024
Eligibility:
Open to all high school students.
2. Veritas AI
Veritas AI is founded and run by Harvard graduate students and our programs are geared towards high school students who want to build their foundations in AI, ML, and data science - all key things in robotics. In the program, students learn various concepts like neural networks, image classification, natural language processing, sentiment analysis, coding using python, and more.
In the AI Summer Fellowship program, you can create a novel AI project independently with the support of a mentor, over the period of 12-15 weeks. Through this program, you can combine both robotics and AI!
Cost: $1790 - $4900 (financial aid is available)
Location: Remote - you can participate in this program from anywhere in the world!
Application Deadline: There are 4 cohorts (You can apply here!)
Spring 2024: February 25th, 2024
Summer 2024: Multiple deadlines from May-July
Eligibility: You must be currently enrolled in high school or plan to enroll as a freshman in college in the fall of 2023. No previous knowledge is required!
Note. The financial aid is available for students from households earning less than $60,000 annually (for a typical household of 4) with minimum assets.
3. UT Dallas’ Academy for Robotics
In this summer camp, you will learn to assemble and program robots to solve simulations and real-world problems. Apart from the regular course instruction by current faculty at UT Dallas, you will also carry out experiments such as controlling wheeled robots.
The topics covered in the camp include Linus, C++, Arduino, robot sensors and motors, skid steering, senor thresholding and more. You will also engage in a variety of hands-on exercises such as assembling and programming the Bot/n Roll One A robot, and even competing in a robot race with other students.
Cost: $2,100 for tuition.
Location: University of Texas, Dallas Campus
Application Deadline: Rolling Admissions
Program Dates: June 16 - June 21, or June 23 - June 28, 2024.
Eligibility:
Open to all students between grades 9-12.
4. Lumiere Research Scholar Program – Robotics Track
Lumiere has been founded by researchers from Harvard and Oxford. In this program, each student is paired with a top PhD and works with their mentor 1-on-1 to produce a university-level research paper.
The programs are entirely virtual and vary in duration based on the student’s end goal with respect to how much of a deep dive they would like to do. Past research projects include comparisons in sports training between humans and robots and exploring how robots increase the efficacy of monitoring disasters such as wildfires.
This program is a good fit for you if you are interested in interdisciplinary research and creating an individual research paper from scratch. Check out this in depth review of Lumiere Education to see if it is the right program for you!
Cost: $2800
Location: Virtual
Application deadline: There are four cohorts throughout the year. Applications are due in February, May, September, and December, respectively. Apply here!
Program dates: There are four cohorts throughout the year in spring, summer, fall, and winter.
Eligibility: All high school students may apply.
The George A. Jeffrey NanoExplorers Program is an opportunity for you to do original research work in nanotechnology. Your role in this program will be assisting faculty members in their research lab (allocated based on your interest), and you will be taught the skills needed to test your ideas, how to work as a team. The goal is for the work you participate in to have tangible results and potentially be an actual funded program at UT Dallas!
Cost: Not specified
Location: University of Texas, Dallas
Application Deadline: Application is yet to open for 2024 - expect it to be open 2-3 months before the program as decisions are released in April.
Program Dates: To be announced with the opening of the application.
Eligibility:
Open to sophomores, juniors and seniors.
6. Rice University’s Tapia STEM Camps
The Tapia STEM Camp is a 6-day/5-night program where high school students can explore STEM careers through classes conducted by Rice University students, with a curriculum designed by research members.
Throughout the course of a week, students can focus on multiple STEM subjects, design their independent STEM projects, and present them at the end of the program to professors, fellow students, and Dr. Richard Tapia himself. Students also discuss STEM concepts in the context of social equality, and they can gain firsthand experience from professionals and academics on their work and experiences in the STEM field.
We’ve gone through a bunch of student testimonials and what most students speak highly about are the building communication skills they pick up and the college advice that’s given to them.
While the Tapia STEM camp is focused on STEM as a whole, you will be able to explore college-level robotics courses and can even choose to do your project in this field.
Cost: $1,750 for tuition.
Location: Rice University Campus
Application Deadline: Rolling Admissions
Program Dates: (tentative, based on previous year’s dates)
Session 1: July 2 - 7, Sunday - Friday.
Session 2: July 9 - 14, Sunday - Friday.
Session 3: July 16 - 21, Sunday - Friday.
Session 4: July 23 - 28, Sunday - Friday.
Eligibility:
Open to all students between grades 8-12.
7. KLESSE College High School Engineering & Integrated Design Summer Camps
KLESSE College conducts a number of camps over the summer, including an Aeronautics and Robotics Camp. This camp is presented by the UTSA Rocketry Club and the Robotics and Automation Society and is centered around the hands-on application of robotics concepts.
In this camp, you will work in teams and experience the process of building both rockets and robotics, and will learn the theoretical concepts in relation to building your projects. An added bonus is that at the end of the week, you can compete in both a rocket launch and robotics competition!
Cost: $500 for Day Camp (financial aid available)
Location: San Antonio, TX
Application Deadline: Rolling Admissions
Program Dates: June 10 - July 14 (multiple cohorts) - dates are tentative, based on previous years’ deadlines.
Eligibility:
Open to all students between grades 9-12.
8. UT Dallas’ Deep Dive AI Workshop
UT Dallas offers an 8-week program for advanced-level high school students where you will explore the foundations of AI and machine learning under current UT Dallas Computer Science graduate students, with supervision by Dr. Anurag Nagar - a computer science professor at UT Dallas.
The list of topics for the course are:
Introduction to Python programming, tools for data analysis such as NumPy, pandas, and graphics, which are essential for machine learning models
Getting started with data processing – various file formats, loading into data frames, and performing basic statistical operations
Introduction to machine learning, with examples and real-life scenarios These will help you identify what problems can be solved using ML
AI/ML model building – decision trees, neural networks, etc.
Deep Neural Nets using TensorFlow
Convolution Neural Nets(CNN) and Recursive Neural Nets (RNN)
Model Evaluation – accuracy, error, Receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve
An added benefit is that at the end of the 8 weeks, you can request a letter of recommendation based on your performance which can supplement your college application!
Cost: $1,200 (Note - if you cannot afford this, you can email and ask about any financial aid/scholarships available. You can get more information here!)
Location: UT Dallas Campus
Application Deadline: Rolling admission
Program Dates: June 5 - July 28, 2024 (tentative, based on previous year’s dates)
Eligibility:
Open to all advanced-level high school students.
Prerequisites include familiarity with Python programming and high school level mathematics.
9. University of Texas San Antonio’s Explore!STEM
Supported by the Texas Workforce Commission Vocational Rehabilitation, the Explore!STEM camp at UTSA gives differently abled students the opportunity to learn about STEM concepts and occupations through hands-on activities and instructions.
In the 4-day program, students will delve into basic computer programming concepts and skills, computer vision and data science. Moreover, the camp provides hand-on activities to build autonomous driving AI computer programs!
An added bonus are the guest lectures where students can learn from the expertise of professionals working in STEM fields.
UT Austin also has a tuition based Computer Science Academy with 4 different specializations - iOS game development, robotics, web-based game development or graphic programming. If you're interested in covering 1 specific aspect of computer science, this is a great opportunity!
Cost: No Cost
Location: University of Texas, San Antonio North Paseo building
Application Deadline: Rolling Admissions
Program Dates: June 12 - June 16, 2024 (tentative, based on previous year’s dates)
Eligibility:
Open to all students between the ages of 14 and 22.
Must have a 6th grade level reading ability and can type on a computer.
Note. There are no restrictions on the type of disability.
10. UT Austin’s Academy for Women
UT Austin holds a week-long summer program for girls looking to pursue careers and degrees in computer science. In this camp, you learn foundational robotics concepts from the UT Austin faculty. The topics covered in this camp are C++, project management, teamwork, and women in tech jobs.
Apart from courses, you have the opportunity to gain hands-on experiences through projects such as coding an Arduino microcontroller to put on an LED display light show and explore technologies under the guidance of professors and industry experts! You will also discover future internship and career opportunities from the guest lectures and gain insights into the UT admissions process.
Cost: No Cost
Location: UT Austin Campus
Application Deadline: Rolling Admissions
Program Dates: June 2 - June 8, 2024
Eligibility:
Open to rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors who identify as female.
If you’re looking to build unique projects in the field of AI/ML, consider applying to Veritas AI!
Veritas AI was founded by Harvard graduate students, and through the programs, you get a chance to learn the fundamentals of AI and computer science while collaborating on real-world projects. You can also work 1-1 with mentors from universities like Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and more to create unique, personalized projects. In the past year, we had over 1000 students learn data science and AI with us. You can apply here!
Image Source - UT Dallas Logo