Overview

Berkeley’s Girls in Engineering (GiE) program runs camps where participants learn about engineering in a fun, hands-on way. Our program is open to San Francisco Bay Area students entering 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Participants in GiE learn about a range of engineering topics, from bioengineering and robotics to nuclear engineering and chemical engineering. All of the workshops are run by women–the majority of whom are students at UC Berkeley. The workshop presenters often discuss their experiences and career paths, and what they were interested in when they were in middle school. In addition to hands-on activities, campers create team projects and practice their presentation skills; enjoy social time with each other and our high school volunteers; and visit a variety of locations around campus.

Berkeley Girls in Engineering participants building a robot

Berkeley Girls in Engineering sample schedule

Program schedule

Click here to download the sample schedule.

Our program starts at 8:45am with breakfast and continues until 4:30pm. On a typical day, campers might first learn about presentation skills before working on their team projects. After a break, they then work in their team to create an optimized water filtration system. After lunch next to O’Brien Hall, the participants finish their day by creating origami robots and visiting a robotics lab. For our 2017 camps, we plan to end the day with team building activities or quick engineering challenges.

Team Projects

Throughout the week, campers work in teams to develop an engineering solution to a problem of their choosing. These projects are a great way for the participants to use their new knowledge, learn how critical creativity is, and discover the many ways engineering can improve their world.

To prepare for their poster presentations, the students participate in a workshop that focuses on public speaking. This workshop, like many of the morning workshops, is focused on general professional skills that are important for many careers, not just engineering careers.

Finally, we invite all interested family members and friends to join us on Friday afternoon, when the campers present these projects to their guests. This is a fun way for the participants to share part of what they’ve been learned during the week.