The MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute is a rigorous, world-class STEM program for talented rising high-school seniors. In its first year, the program featured an intensive, hands-on, project-based challenge where the students learned how to navigate an autonomous mini-racecar through a complex environment. This program culminated in a final race day where the students put their new skills and knowledge to the test against the clock.

The first year of the MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute was a complete success thanks to the enthusiasm of our students, the dedication of our instructors, and the hard work from our team members. The Institute partnered with 24 high schools across the nation to recruit the future engineers who participated in our program. We had the pleasure of working with 46 students, 24 of them joining us from outside Massachusetts.

Next year, we hope that early-adopting high schools will implement our program for their students and join the final race day competition. Those courses would be just the beginning of the national and then international expansion of engineering education we want the Beaver Works Summer Institute to spark. In the coming years, we will add new programs to the Institute in a range of disciplines to this initiative, which will increase participation substantially and build a model for other high schools and universities. While creating a network of these institutes across the nation and the globe, we will support high school STEM teachers who want to use our teaching materials to help better prepare their students for college and potential future careers. We want this network of institutes to work together to bolster engineering education nationally and internationally and provide more opportunities for students interested in STEM fields.

Thank you for your continued support of our program.