University of Arkansas Pre-College Summer: Engineering Summer Academy

The Engineering Summer Academy (ESA) is a one-week residential engineering academy for students who have recently completed 9th, 10th, or 11th grade. This intensive summer academy provides students with the opportunity for in-depth exploration into a concept that crosses engineering disciplines. Find out more!

Each course allows students to participate in hands-on activities in our cutting edge labs, working alongside engineering faculty and current students. Space is limited. Students will be chosen based on the quality of their application materials and space available in their program of interest. 

Programs offered include:

• Living Systems: Studying cells, tissues, and organs while they are alive is technically challenging, but provides important information about how these systems behave and react to new treatments, drugs, and devices created to identify or combat disease. Students here will learn about new methods developed by engineers to study living systems and how they respond to mechanical forces, drugs, and other stimuli.
• Cybersecurity: CyberPatriot is the Air Force Association's National Youth Cyber Education Program, created to motivated students toward careers in cybersecurity and other STEM disciplines. The CyberCamps offered this summer emphasizes fun, hands-on learning of cybersecurity principles that are relevant and applicable to every day life. Through these camps, students will learn the importance of cyber safety and how to protect their personal devices and information from outside threats.
• Structure and Function: During this camp, students will work with University of Arkansas faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students to learn how critical the understanding of structure and function are to various fields of engineering. Students will learn how the smallest structures, components and scaffolding within living cells, tissues, and organs are essential to understanding biological functions and diseases. Understanding these structure-function relationships through engineering principles, allow us to devise creative solutions and new devices to better understand biological systems and improve medical care for patients. Students will also learn methods used by engineers for designing and building large structures, like bridges and buildings.
• Non-Living Systems: During this camp, students will work with University of Arkansas faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students to learn about the ways engineering concepts can be applied in the design of non-living systems. Most of the projects are done with our electrical, and mechanical engineering faculty and students. Projects include solar powered cell phone chargers, energy optimization design, smart irrigation systems, and others.