This summer a Technology Innovation camp, hosted by California State University of Monterey Bay and the California Institute for Global Education, aims to teach a diverse group of students about game programming, Lego robotics and creating short videos…for free.
The camp, which normally costs $150 for one week and $250 for the second, is provided for at no cost to all local students and is run by professors and students at the university.
“We are expecting 60-65 students in total,” says Bude Su, an assistant professor at the School of Information Technology and Communication Design. “Among which 31 of them will be international students, and the rest will be from Monterey, Salinas, P.G. and Carmel. Students will be grouped to maximize diversity in each team.”
The summer camp will be held during the weeks of July 5-18, and the first half will focus on the game design and development portion of the camp, while the second half will be focusing on robotics programming.
Students are expected to bring their own laptops and should have prepared a PowerPoint presentation about themselves before attending. Attendees are also responsible for their daily transportation to and from campus.
“The camp is run by our own professors with help from our college students,” Su says. “We think such early exposure to college activities will help students know more about college life and get interested in technology and computer science.”
In addition to the lectures, students are expected to form teams and compete in a game developing competition, with prizes for the top two teams, ranging from certificates to souvenirs.
The camp also includes various field trips for students to museums, parks and industries in places such as Moss Landing, Redwood City, Elkhorn Slough and more.
Students will ride bikes down to Monterey Beach for barbeque and games at the end of the camp.
Although there are no more spots available for this year’s camp, it will be offered again in the summer of 2015, and any local student can sign up.
-Day Gudmundsson
