Future engineers full STEAM ahead!

STEAM summer camp enrollment is open for middle and high schoolers looking to unleash their inner engineer


March 27, 2023

Middle and high schoolers interested in becoming future engineers are invited to tinker, explore, invent and dream big at Arizona State University’s engineering-oriented summer camps hosted by the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. Camps are taught by local, STEM-focused schoolteachers and faculty and staff across the Fulton Schools.

Keep reading to learn about three of these camps taught by faculty in The Polytechnic School and School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, two of the seven Fulton Schools. Hands holding a robotic bird with flapping wings. A student in the STEAMpunk Machines in Motion Camp designed and built a robotic bird with flapping wings. Photo courtesy Shawn Jordan Download Full Image

Foldable Robotics Day Camp

The Foldable Robotics Day Camp provides participating students the opportunity to work in groups of two or four to prototype, ideate, build and synthesize a bio-inspired mobile robot using the principles of origami. Students will learn to program a microcontroller using Python and gain skills in programmable cutting using a 2D plotting cutter. This weeklong, project-based camp will emphasize problem identification, problem-solving, brainstorming, rapid prototyping, teamwork and communication skills.

On the last day of camp, students will present their work to their classmates and families during a showcase.

All camp participants will receive a toolkit for continued learning after camp concludes that includes a programmable microcontroller, breadboard, wire, scissors, tape, stapler, cardboard and other materials.

Students working on an origami device at an engineering camp.

The Foldable Robotics Day Camp teaching team explored the motion of and created a six-degrees-of-freedom origami device as a prop to teach students. Photo courtesy Daniel Aukes

  • Target ages and grades: 12- to 17-year-olds in seventh through 11th grades.
  • Camp dates and times: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday, June 12, to Friday, June 16.
  • Location: ASU’s Polytechnic campus.
  • Camp fee: $275 per student if enrolled before Monday, May 15; $300 per student if enrolled after Monday, May 15.

Enroll your student today!

The Foldable Robotics Day Camp was designed by Daniel Aukes, an assistant professor of engineering who teaches in the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks. Aukes’ research investigates the nexus of design, manufacturing and data-driven decision-making to develop robots that can operate in niche environments, with a focus on affordability and accessibility. The camp will be taught by Aukes and STEM teachers from local school districts.

STEAMpunk Machines in Motion Camp

Prototype for a flying steampunk bicycle automata made of wood and cardboard.

A student in the STEAMpunk Machines in Motion Camp created a prototype for a flying steampunk bicycle automata. Photo courtesy Shawn Jordan

The weeklong STEAMpunk Machines in Motion Camp is a project-based camp that offers students the opportunity to design steampunk-themed machines and costumes with help from expert instructors. Steampunk is a design form that incorporates technology inspired by science fiction.

Students will be introduced to the engineering design process using basic science, technology, engineering, arts and math, or STEAM, concepts. The programming promotes the application of problem identification, problem-solving, brainstorming, rapid prototyping, teamwork and communication skills. Instructional content will consist of mechanical movement design, electric circuits, genre-specific aesthetics, retro-futuristic storytelling, programming and computational thinking. Students will gain experience working in both an engineering design studio and an on-campus makerspace.

At the camp’s conclusion, participants will present their project to their families and take home their finished machines.

  • Target ages and grades: 14- to 18-year-olds in eighth through 12th grades.
  • Camp dates and times: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday, June 12, to Friday, June 16.
  • Location: ASU’s Polytechnic campus.
  • Camp fee: $100 per student.

Enroll your student today!

Chain-Reaction STEAM Machines + Storytelling Camp

Chain-Reaction STEAM Machines™ + Storytelling Camp

Camp Assistant, Fulbright Scholar and Research Assistant Imane Aboutajedyne helps a student modify her robotic design inspired by how fish swim. Photo courtesy Shawn Jordan

The Chain-Reaction STEAM Machines + Storytelling Camp is a project-based camp that offers an introduction to the engineering design process through STEAM concepts via simple machines, electric circuits, programming and computational thinking, music and storytelling. The curriculum will emphasize problem identification, problem-solving, brainstorming, rapid prototyping, teamwork and communication.

At the camp’s conclusion, students will be able to construct a giant, thematic chain-reaction machine and perform an oral story describing the machine.

  • Target ages and grades: 12- to 15-year-olds in seventh through ninth grades.
  • Camp dates and times: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday, June 12, to Thursday, June 15.
  • Location: South Mountain Community College Storytelling Institute Guadalupe Center in the town of Guadalupe, Arizona.
  • Camp fee: $20 per student.

Enroll your student today!

The STEAMpunk Machines in Motion Camp and Chain-Reaction STEAM Machines + Storytelling Camp were designed by Shawn Jordan, an associate professor who teaches in the engineering education systems and design graduate program at The Polytechnic School and is also a professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at ASU. His lab, the STEAM Labs Center for K–12 Research and Engagement, centers its work around innovating engineering design education, K–12 engineering education, human-centered design, STEM storytelling and culturally relevant curricula.

Visit the Fulton Academy for information about all 2023 Fulton Schools summer camps.

Sona Patel Srinarayana

Sr communications specialist, College of Integrative Sciences and Arts

480-727-1590

Tracking water’s footprint in agriculture

4 decades of data reveal the impact of water usage in farming across the country


March 27, 2023

If you’ve ever walked, jogged or biked along the local canals or Tempe Town Lake, you have experienced the benefits of the city’s water management infrastructure. Across the United States, water is ingrained in daily life in many ways, but arguably none are more important than its use for agriculture.

Sustainable water management focuses heavily on the amount of water extracted from natural sources. Known as water withdrawal, this method helps farmers sustain their crop fields. When it comes to advancing researchers’ understanding of water withdrawal, the next frontier is tracking where water wanders. Green field being watered under cloudy blue skies with mountains in the background. Ruijie Zeng, an assistant professor of civil engineering in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, and Weiwei Ren, a former visiting PhD student, used data from across the country to assess agricultural water usage. Photo courtesy Shiqi Wei Download Full Image

Ruijie Zeng, an assistant professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, is working to explore those paths by analyzing decades of survey data measuring water withdrawal across the contiguous United States.

Wading through data

Zeng’s research explores the intersection of how water circulates on Earth, known as the hydrologic cycle, and how to optimize water use to fulfill societal needs. He is analyzing approximately 40 years of data provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, which consists of about 40 years of surveys measuring water withdrawal allocated for agriculture on national, regional and state levels.

In his most recent publication in the scientific journal Environmental Research Letters, Zeng describes how he used survey data to determine the center of mass in a given water source. He then compared how the location of the center varies every five years to assess the impacts of water withdrawals. 

“I want to look at the impact of large-scale hydraulic infrastructures that are impacting the natural environment and socioeconomic development,” Zeng says. “Furthermore, we are exploring how to effectively manage the existing infrastructure to adapt to changing conditions.”

Zeng’s analysis suggests irrigation methods in the Western United States use more efficient technology than on the East Coast, largely because of the need to combat potential drought conditions. Meanwhile, the East Coast is experiencing accelerated water withdrawal due to the rapid expansion of fields to keep up with population growth. Both coasts, he says, have room for improvement.

Though his analysis has focused on water withdrawal on a national scale, he intends to make his results accessible to help other researchers identify influential factors within specific regions.

“We believe that observing the trends of agricultural water withdrawal will provide a simple and meaningful way to summarize the condition of the nation’s water landscape,” Zeng says.

Changing tides

Agricultural irrigation is the largest sector for water consumption in the U.S., taking up a staggering 72% of the available water supply. Agriculture is a primary source of the nation’s food supply, provides access to biofuel and energy supplies and supports the global trade of vital resources. Without a dependable water supply for agricultural irrigation, environmental and socioeconomic stability would decline. 

Now more than ever, climate change is also disrupting the predictability of natural water systems, which subsequently disrupts countless industries and has the potential to trigger major socioeconomic consequences. Such erratic changes in reliable access to water can have a ripple effect across the world.

In our own backyard

Gaining a deeper understanding of water irrigation through research is not the epilogue to the story of water management but instead a chapter in an ongoing saga of exploring the hydrologic cycle. By observing potential trends, researchers and policymakers can develop solutions that trickle down to farmers, which can help sustain large metropolitan areas and the environment.

A collaboration between ASU, the Central Arizona Project, the Salt River Project and other local infrastructure managers is helping Phoenix-area residents sustain water security.

ASU continues to demonstrate its commitment to sustainable water supply practices with the launch of the Center for Hydrologic Innovations. The new center aims to position ASU as a global leader in the development, use and dissemination of hydrologic innovations with public impact through research in Arizona and throughout the arid Western U.S.

Zeng says ASU is an ideal home base for solving water management problems, given the high value surrounding communities put on water security. Because of this value, the desert metropolitan area is ideal for emerging research and innovative efforts to mitigate water resource challenges — and Zeng says he has found ASU to be an excellent environment for collaboration and support.

Insights from the study will help researchers develop technology to enhance the prediction capability of hydrologic models. As policymakers, corporations and farmers tackle future challenges, Zeng’s advanced models will provide scientific evidence to make informed water management decisions.

Hannah Weisman

Science writer, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, Marketing and Communications

602-496-8753