Classes

Beaver Works provides spaces for a range of activities, including classroom-type instruction and hands-on prototyping. A variety of courses, including for-credit classes and non-credit activities during MIT’s Independent Activities Period, can be fulfilled in part or in whole at Beaver Works.

Two students looking at a laptop. Behind them are other students in a classroom setting.

Professors! Need class space or maker space? Contact the Beaver Works Facility Manager

White text "BWSI" on a black background.

Beaver Works Summer Institute: Project-based classes for high school students nationwide!

BWSI has programs throughout the year in advanced programming and engineering topics, from Saturdays in the Fall and Spring, the Summer Institute in July and our national challenges, we have something for high school students across the country!

https://bwsi.mit.edu/

A student (who is blurred in the background) wearing latex gloves holds a plastic 3”x1.5” 3D-printed item close to the camera. The item serves as a system for testing micro-organisms and their effect on gut health.

Fluidics For Synthetic Biology: Prototyping Microbial Communities (20.S952) – Dr. David S. Kong

In this intensive graduate course, students develop 3D design and fabrication skills and constructed fluidic "artificial guts." Students utilize these structures to culture a variety of gut-based micro-organisms, both in mono- and co-cultures, to prototype and construct from scratch their own microbial communities.
A 9-person class is shown testing their self-built small aircraft on a remote runway at Plum Island Airport.

Flight Vehicle Development (16.82) – Jonathan How

A capstone course where students design, prototype, test, and operate a complex atmospheric flight vehicle in a large team environment. The course provides a full lifecycle experience from conceptual design through to a physical hardware system, emphasizing teamwork, communication, and individual responsibility. Students work on real-world projects, often for external contractors, to develop innovative aerospace systems.
Two students hold a self-built autonomous underwater vehicle that looks like a mini submarine in a plastic casing. The students help the prototype descend into the Charles River for field tests.

Intro to Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (S.201) – Michael Benjamin/Supun Randeni

Students assemble their own autonomous underwater vehicle using a kit of parts, beginning with core electronics and building out a full vehicle for deployment followed by waterproofing vacuum tests, pre-launch sub-system tests, and dockside ballasting, followed by in-water low-level control tuning runs.
An instructor stands at a large square grid, demonstrating how to adjust the X and Y axis to draw out holograms in real time.

Hands On Holography (IAP) – Dr. Robert Freking

This course explores holography and its utility across physics domains. This course consists of fundamental theory coupled with hands-on laboratory sessions. Students create their own computer-generated holograms and a traditional optical hologram to take home.
A group of three students compare their laptop screens as they work on a team project in the collaboration space at Beaver Works.

Engineering Systems Development (2.014) – Dr. Doug Hart

Emphasizes system integration and performance verification. Includes experimental analysis of subsystem performance and comparison with physical models of performance and with design goals.
A student wearing latex gloves uses a syringe to insert a synthetic fluid into a 3D-printed disc for testing.

Open-Source Fluidics for Synthetic Biology (IAP) – Dr. David S. Kong

Students develop proficiency in 3D design and fabrication technologies by constructing fluidic devices for assembling synthetic DNA. Students fabricate multi-input 3D fluidics for mixing DNA and enzyme solutions on-chip, culminating in the assembly of genetic circuits, which are booted up in bacteria and assayed for function.
As group of seven college students test their self-built laser communication terminal, an instructor shows how a bright light source (in this case, a lightbulb) interferes with the signal the terminal is trying to detect.

Build a Laser Communication Terminal (IAP) – Dr. David Caplan

Teams apply principles of lasers and optical components, communication link design, and analog and digital modulation to build their own free-space laser communication system.
A 14-person class sits at a long table in a Beaver Works classroom. Each student has their laptop in front of them and looks to a projected screen as the instructor gives a presentation.

Engineering Systems Design (2.013) – Dr. Doug Hart

Focuses on the design of engineering systems to satisfy stated performance, stability, and/or control requirements. Culminates in the design of an engineering system, typically a vehicle or other complex system.
An instructor is showing three students something on a laptop

OTHER CLASSES HELD AT BEAVER WORKS:

  • Engaging Supercomputing Research Projects
  • Mathematics of Big Data and Machine Learning
  • Laser Radar: Basic Principles
  • Build a Small Radar System (IAP)
  • Practical High-Performance Computing (IAP)
  • Open Robotics Laboratory (IAP)
  • Software Radio (IAP)
  • Reverse Engineering (IAP)

Courses may not be offered every semester or every year, may not always be located at Beaver Works. Course titles and projects may have changed.

Photo credit for the photos on this page: Dr. David S. Kong, Lincoln Laboratory, or MIT Aero/Astro.