Chip Camp this year at BYU was a huge success thanks to all the students and professors who participated.
At the three-day camp, rising eighth and ninth graders explore the world of engineering through fun projects. If you’ve ever wanted to build and launch rockets, make chemical reactions, or create a circuit to power a lightsaber, Chip Camp is the place to make it happen!
When asked what their favorite part of the week was, students enthusiastically declared it as lunch. Every year, one of the Engineering students helping with the camp spends lunchtime convincing Chip Camp students to eat carrots with their lunches and has become known as the Carrot Man.
Lunch aside, one of the most popular parts of camp was the LED frisbee module. Each student was able to design and program their own frisbee with different colored LED lights. The students really liked seeing how their efforts of building and coding could create something new. One student shared that the highlight of Chip Camp was, "We get to learn and have fun at the same time!" Words such as “awesome,” “cool,” and “epic” were used abundantly when the students shared how they felt about their favorite activities at the camp.
The culmination of the week’s activities was the awards ceremony, in which students were recognized for their creativity and accomplishments. To the students’ delight, the ceremony was hosted by the Carrot Man, who even wore a carrot suit for the occasion! Winners were recognized from the rocket launch and bridge building competitions, LED frisbee designs, and robotic cars activity.
One of the counselors, Julie Wiltbank shared, “I think the main benefit of Chip Camp is the exposure the kids get to a lot of different engineering majors and the chance they have to work individually and as a group to make something happen and accomplish a goal!”
The great news is that students don’t need to have any experience with engineering to enjoy Chip Camp. Any rising eighth and ninth graders can come learn basic programming and engineering skills through these fun projects, so spread the word for next year!
