8 STEM Programs at CMU for Middle School Students
If you’re a middle school student interested in exploring STEM, chances are you’d be looking for programs to delve deeper into your interested field, attend higher-level courses and experience the life of a university student!
One of the top choices for any STEM program is Carnegie Mellon University. In this blog, we have listed 8 STEM programs at CMU for middle school students!
1. Summer Engineering Experience (SEE)
The Summer Engineering Experience at CMU is a week-long camp for students aged 13-16, and it dives into the hands-on applications of various engineering disciplines. The session open for middle school students is on “Making and Engineering”, where you will be exposed to the concept of design and the different career paths in engineering.
Apart from the course instruction, you will have to do 2 projects: a structured individual assignment over the whole week and a team project that focuses on innovation and creativity. Both projects will primarily involve using items that are readily available in households!
Note that CMU will not provide housing or transportation, so you will be responsible for commuting every day.
Cost: No cost
Location: Carnegie Mellon University Campus, PA
Program Dates: June 24 - June 28, 2024
Application Deadline: April 10, 2024
Eligibility:
Rising 8th and 9th graders
Must be able to commit to attending the program from 9 AM - 3 PM.
Everyday Engineering is a virtual program that is held during the spring semester at CMU. The goal of the program is to showcase how engineering is around us and to prompt students to question everyday objects and the engineering principles behind them.
By the end of the program, each student should inculcate the habit of asking questions such as:
What problem does this solve?
Who has the problem?
Why is it important to solve the problem?
How does engineering help to solve the problem?
Apart from teaching students the engineering thought process, they will also experience different engineering disciplines through examples, online exhibits and even interactions with CMU students!
Cost: No cost
Location: Virtual
Program Dates: February 24, 2025 (tentative, based on previous year’s dates).
Application Deadline: Rolling admissions
Eligibility: Open to all students from grades 6-8.
TechNights is an outreach program that is hosted by the Women@SCS club at CMU. Through this program, CMU aims to promote gender diversity in the field of computer science. In this program, you will delve into topics such as machine learning, computational biology and robotics.
The main feature of TechNights is the interactive games such as guided programming, biological experiments such as DNA extraction from strawberries or maze solving games! Through these games, you will explore some fundamental STEP concepts such as computational complexity and sequential learning.
Cost: No Cost
Location: Carnegie Mellon University Campus, PA
Program Dates: March 13 - April 3, 2025 (tentative, based on this year’s dates).
Application Deadline: March 6, 2025 (tentative, based on this year’s dates)
Note. There is no application process per say, you will only have to RSCP and fill out 2 forms.
Eligibility:
Open to students from grades 6-8.
Must reside in the Pittsburgh area.
4. Society of Women Engineers Middle School Day
Middle School Day is an annual event where the Society for Women Engineers at CMU invites approximately 250 Pittsburgh middle school girls to CMU’s camps. Within the program itself, you will have the opportunity to participate in activities related to various engineering fields such as electrical, mechanical, civil and biomedical (just to name a few).
An additional bonus is that you will get to interact with CMU professors and students and you will even attend events where they will share their experiences, knowledge and passion for engineering!
Note. CMU also offers the same event for high school students!
Cost: No Cost
Location: Carnegie Mellon University Campus, PA
Program Dates: TBA
Application Deadline: TBA
Eligibility: Open to middle school girls from the Pittsburgh area.
5. Computer Science STEM Network: Introduction to Programming with Python
The Introduction to Programming with Python (or CS1) is run by CMU’s Computer Science STEM Network, a learning management system that you can use free of charge to explore topics in robotics, computer science or related fields!
CS1 is a deep dive into the fundamentals of programming concepts, particularly in text-based coding using Python. Throughout the course, you can expect to cover topics such as conditionals, mouse motion events, types, lists, return values and more! The program culminates with you presenting a final project that showcases your newly found knowledge.
Cost: No Cost
Location: Virtual
Program Dates: Self-paced
Application Deadline: Rolling Admissions
Eligibility: Open to everyone
6. Gelfand Outreach Summer Series
The Gelfand Outreach Summer Series is a week-long summer program that focuses on exploring STEM and arts through courses, collaborations and interactive activities! You will get to learn from CMU’s faculty and will be introduced to the ongoing, cutting-edge research at CMU.
The STEM programs at Gelfand focus on inculcating the scientific method, and there are multiple experiments that you can experience (for example, you will have the opportunity to build prototypes of robots)!
Cost: $200 - $325
Location: Carnegie Mellon University Campus, PA
Program Dates: Depends on the program itself, however, expect it to be a week in June or July.
Application Deadline: Rolling Admissions
Eligibility: Open to all middle school students in the Pittsburgh area.
While not a summer program, Girls of Steel Robotics is a robotics team created by CMU that recruits girls from different middle schools in the greater Pittsburgh area. If you get selected for the team, you will learn how to operate the FIRST robotics platform and will explore key topics in robotics as you learn how to create and program robots for different situations.
While they do have an explore team (where you cover concepts in STEM), in middle school, you will be able to participate in their League Challenge team. Apart from the challenges themselves, you can also attend their FLL Skills Camp which delves into programming and robotics.
Cost: Not specified (Do note that you can write to Girls of Steel for a fee waiver, you can find more information here!)
Location: Carnegie Mellon University Campus, PA
Application Deadline: Rolling Admissions
Eligibility: Open to all middle school girls in the greeted Pittsburgh area.
The Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy is a component of the Robotics Institute, and they offer teacher training, curriculum, virtual tools and certifications for K-12 Robotics education. For example, their Virtual Robot Curriculum is a programming interface and virtual robot that is directly embedded in the curriculum. You can follow along to explore fundamental concepts in robotics through videos, animations, challenges and step-by-step lessons.
Do note that the Robotics Academy is not a project you can do by yourself, it is more of a curriculum designed for faculty. We suggest you approach your teachers or a school official to get these modules implemented in your school!
Cost: No Cost
Location: Virtual
Program Dates: Self-paced
Application Deadline: Rolling Admissions
Eligibility: Open to all students.
If you’re interested in a virtual AI/ML program designed specifically for middle school students, consider applying to Veritas AI!
Veritas AI is founded by Harvard graduate students. Through the programs, you get a chance to learn the fundamentals of AI & 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 AI & ML with us. You can apply here!
Image Source - CMU’s Logo