Outreach Events | Beaver Works

A Beaver Works mentor for a Lego Robotics program shows a group of 4th grade students how a LEGO robotics autonomous car works.

DYK Beaver Works outreach programs can be customized for any age group in any setting.

A team of five students jubilantly raise their self-built, self-programmed autonomous mini-car after successfully completing the racetrack obstacle course shown behind them.

Beaver Works Summer Institute (BWSI)

A four-week summer STEM program for rising high school seniors focusing on 13 hands-on projects and courses that strengthen their understanding of fundamental concepts in emerging technologies of tomorrow. Courses cover topics such as autonomous systems, programming, microelectronics, cybersecurity, systems engineering, wearable tech, serious game design, and medical analytics.

BWSI consists of an online course in February, program applications in March, and a four-week program in July. Short form BWSI courses are offered to local area students as Saturday programs. See the BWSI site for more information and how to apply.

A 12th grade girl wearing safety glasses solders wires on a circuit board in place.

LLRISE

A three-week summer program to design, fabricate, and test a laptop-based radar sensor capable of measuring Doppler and range, and forming synthetic aperture radar images.

In a small classroom, a student is working on his laptop computer. A mentor leans over at the edge of the table, helping the student go through the proper steps to build a secure encryption scheme online.

LLCipher

A one-week cryptography workshop that provides an introduction to modern cryptography—a math-based, theoretical approach to securing data.

A 6th grade girl and boy in matching robotics team t-shirts are adjusting components on a shoebox-sized robotic car made of LEGO bricks and controlled by their self-coded programming.

LEGO Robotics

Beaver Works provides a practice space for Lincoln Laboratory Robotics teams preparing for LEGO FIRST (For inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) competitions.

A 10th grade girl holds a see-through 3D-printed item containing a circuit board.

Saturday Programs

A variety of hands-on engineering courses for beginners interested in technology topics such as biotech, coding, computer design, racing drones, cognitive assistants, autonomous cars, designing aircraft, and practical radio. These programs are also titled “Yes! You Can!” or “Girls Who Can.”

Three students inspect their self-built CubeSat (a plastic cube containing a computer board programmed to take photos) as it hangs from a rope and pulley system to mimic an orbital path while it takes pictures of “Earth” below.

Build a CubeSat Challenge

A challenge for high school students interested in building a prototype satellite to design a CubeSat that can detect colored plastic in the ocean from space.

A high school boy and girl stand in a garden with their client, who has reduced grip capacity and limited range of motion. The team is showing the adaptive tool they built to help their client take care of plants in her garden.

CRE[AT]E Assistive Technology Challenge

Learn about disability and product design while working in teams to build a prototype that solves a problem of a member of your community with disabilities. This course is based on MIT’s 6.811 Principles and Practice of Assistive Design. Students are given funding for projects, design reviews with technical experts, and idea refinement with a community of learners.

Photo shows a wide view of a gymnasium during the Cambridge Science Festival, with many tables set up for experiments. Each table is manned by several volunteers. Hundreds of people enjoying the hands-on experiments at each booth.

Beaver Works on the Road!

Beaver Works also participates at a variety of science festivals such as the Cambridge Science Festival, MIT’s Maker Fair, State Street Science, and Bridgewater State University’s Career Exploration.