BYU students and faculty led two sessions of a weeklong day camp for future electrical and computer engineers.
In a typically male-dominated field, preteen Alexa Featherstone had never seen herself as an engineer. Data USA shows that only 9.27% of electrical and electronics engineers are women as of 2022.
Alexa’s mom, Jana, saw an opportunity arise just days before BYU’s Chip Camp was to start. Spots were still open and Jana, being the Electrical and Computer Engineering College Advisor, decided to enroll Alexa in the camp.
“Being an academic advisor, I’m very passionate about women in STEM, and so I wanted to expose my daughter to opportunities and let her know that’s something she can do,” Featherstone said.
Alexa had no prior experience in coding or engineering before the camp and was worried she would have to do things she wasn’t able to do—math was the biggest concern.
However, one day in Alexa learned how to code on the computers thanks to the BYU students running Chip Camp. She bonded with the other girls in the camp while getting to do fun activities such as catapults, rockets, and programming her own LED frisbee.
“When we were walking in the second day, and [Alexa] saw the computers, she looked at me, and she’s like ‘oh, yeah, we learned how to code on the computers. I was surprised that I could do it and I was actually really good at it.’ So that was my mom win,” Featherstone said.
Alexa wasn’t the only middle schooler at the camp to be surprised at what she was capable of. Many other kids in the camp shared the same sentiment on their feedback forms:
This activity was the one I knew the least about, and was there I learned the most from.
I really liked coding the different colors and patterns but failing and trying again!
Other kids simply expressed their excitement at what one could call the ‘coolness factor’ of the camp:
It was fun watching the rockets soar.
I like watching stuff explode.
As the camp is aimed at seventh and eighth graders, their experience wouldn’t be complete without their memes. One BYU Electrical & Computer Engineering student, Tyler Adams, became known as “Carrot Man” during lunchtime for entertaining the campers as he encouraged them to take all the carrots. “Carrot Man” became a camp phenomenon for the kids this year, resulting in Adams even wearing a carrot suit and dancing in the final assembly.
The camp’s counselors and volunteers were comprised of BYU IMMERSE students. IMMERSE is an undergraduate research program for BYU Engineering students; the program has a required element termed “Engineering Broader Impact” to encourage students to contribute to the engineering education of others.
“It’s a way for our [students]…to teach and give back to the community. It’s also meant to be an outreach tool, and we take that very seriously,” said Aaron Hawkins, former department chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
The engineering students enjoyed interacting with the kids and watching them learn as they introduced the next generation to computer engineering.
“I just love seeing how excited the kids get about all the different activities…it gets me excited to see the new future generation of engineers coming up and help them get excited about that path in life,” said Jordyn Palmer, Chip Camp Coordinator.
“Sometimes they would throw a little higher concept stuff at [the kids]… I realized for the first time this year how similar those seventh and eighth grade students are to their counselors. They’re not that far removed in age, and they’re all interested in the same stuff…so they speak the same language,” Hawkins commented.
The main goal of Chip Camp is to help kids understand that engineering is fun and for everyone. Alexa returned home each night of the camp with new stories to tell at the dinner table of accomplishments she never realized were possible.
“It’s not just for boys…it’s for everybody, and you don’t need to know a bunch of stuff to go here,” Alexa concluded.
Alexa’s mom was happy to report that the biggest change in Alexa was that her daughter could envision herself in a STEM career rather than just being aware of it.
The camp works to be accessible to all income levels by being a day camp and offering scholarships to lower-income families who wish to attend.
“[Chip Camp] is built for everyone. Whether your student has interest in engineering or not, they will have a good time, and it may really spark something in them that they never knew was there,” Hawkins said.
Watch the highlights video here.
