Engineering Summer Academy at Penn

The Engineering Summer Academy at Penn (ESAP) offers a rigorous and challenging summer of college-level course work at University of Pennsylvania’s Ivy League campus in Philadelphia. ESAP provides top-performing STEM students the change to explore Engineering more in-depth before applying to college, while also offering them a first foray into independent student life on campus. The program is highly selective based on students’ previously demonstrated academic excellence; still, students must have completed 9th grade and be at least 15 years old by their start date for eligibility. Accepted students will be able to choose one of the six offered STEM subjects:

Subjects offered:

• Biotechnology:
  • Fundamentals of molecular biology
  • Hands-on genetic engineering
  • Performing molecular cloning experiments in the laboratory
  • Group research project and journal club discussions round
  • Eligible students should have at least 1 year’s coursework in Biology and Chemistry

• Computer Graphics:
  • Introduced to the character pipeline for video games and animation
  • Design, anatomy, modeling, texturing, rigging, programming, and animation
  • From clay modeling and sketches, students will progress to the most advanced software in the industry (such as Alias, Maya, and Photoshop) to create their own animated character.
  • Prior experience with modeling tools (i.e. Photoshop, Maya, etc.) is not a prerequisite for this course.

• Computer Science:
  • Practical work of programming and the important foundations of computer science
  • Variety of programming languages covered
  • Students will learn about abstraction, modularity, objects, loops, arrays, classes, and OOP
  • For beginners with little to no experience with programming
    • Students who have already taken an AP-level computer science course can benefit

• Networks:
  • Basic tools, methods, and algorithms for analysis of networked systems, as well as practical applications of this new science
  • Social networks (Facebook, Twitter), infrastructure networks (Internet), or energy networks (electric grid)
  • Students should have coursework in physics and math
  • Eligible students should have coursework in physics and math
  • Some computer programming knowledge is recommended but not a pre-requisite

• Nanotechnology:
  • Topics in nanomaterials, nanofabrication techniques, imaging nanostructures, real-life applications of nanotechnology, nanoscience ethics, and other concepts necessary to understanding why very small systems exhibit unique behavior
  • Eligible students should have coursework in Chemistry

• Robotics:
  • State of the art in robotics, design, manufacturing, and automation
  • Engaging classroom discussions on a variety of topics including sensing, actuation, control, and embedded programming
  • Rigorous series of laboratory exercises and projects
  • Culminate in a group project in which students will design, fabricate, assemble, and program teams of small mobile robots to perform a series of tasks using a combination of autonomous actions and teleoperator control
  • Eligible students should have prior coursework in Physics, Math, and C programming or Autocad