MIT BeaverWorks Summer Institute
Each summer BeaverWorks hosts a high school institute for rising seniors that promotes understanding of engineering design and development and the building of autonomous systems. The program in 2020 was run remotely. Offerings at BeaverWorks include Serious Game Development with AI, Medlytics, Embedded Security and Hardware Hacking, Remote Sensing for Disaster Response, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, Autonomous Air Vehicle Racing, Cyber Security, Quantum Software and more. WOW!!
“Beaver Works is a joint center chartered by the MIT School of Engineering and MIT Lincoln Laboratory, operated by the Laboratory. Dr. Robert Shin, Head of Lincoln Laboratory's ISR and Tactical Systems Division, is the director of the center. Day-to-day operations are handled by the facility manager. The facility is open to all MIT students, faculty, and collaborators, and provides a nexus for innovation, collaboration, and hands-on development.”
How do I get started? Click here.
How do I expand this narrative arc?
Join other high school students in an effort to identify software vulnerabilities in the Cyber Defense Competition.
If you are a girl, consider spending part of your summer at the Girls Cybersecurity Internship.
Build predictive models using math and computer science in the rigorous Wharton Data Science Academy.
Get involved with Gamers Gift, a non-profit organization created by high school students that aims to use video games and other electronic media to alleviate some of the psychological stress caused by prolonged hospital stays, loneliness, or poverty.
Think about some of the practical elements of data science and then craft solutions at your school. Better yet, organize a hackathon where other teens with coding skills come together to hack solutions to common challenges.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT SUMMER PROGRAMS: College admissions officers are very adept at identifying “resume padders”: expensive, one-off programs paid for by your parents which do not mesh with your narrative arc. Therefore, make sure any summer program or course you consider falls into one (or more) of these four buckets:
Highly selective/competitive
Totally unique + linked to your narrative arc
Evidence of adulthood (long hours, multi-year commitment or simply hard work)
A jumping off point or expansion for an authentic narrative arc.
If none of the above apply, a program could still have value to you if it allows you to test a potential interest. However, if it does not end up being a jumping off point for further interests, then you may not want to mention it in your high school resume