Coming Up
Oct. 26-27, 2018
Fall Explore Engineering Weekend
March 22-23, 2019
Spring Explore Engineering Weekend
June 22-23, 2019
Summer Explore Environmental Engineering Weekend
July 21-26, 2019
Summer Explore Engineering Design Course
“This week was amazing and it really cemented what I want to do in the future.”
Imagine, design and create things that matter!
Explore Engineering is a series of immersive engineering design courses for high school sophomore, junior and senior girls. Weekend events are offered in the spring and fall, and a weeklong pre-college, for-credit course is offered in the summer.
Working in teams with Sweet Briar engineering faculty and undergraduate engineering students, high schoolers work on creative and fun design projects that are perfect for both experienced students and those completely new to engineering. You’ll learn the design process from brainstorming to testing and revising prototypes, experience problem-solving as an engineer, and make your design a reality! Outside of class, you’ll stay in one of our historic residence halls with engineering student mentors, explore the many amenities of our beautiful campus, and get a taste of life as a college student.
Over the past 10 years, more than 500 students have attended an Explore Engineering event, designing and building such things as:
- Computer-controlled smart wearables
- Automated musical devices
- Sustainable building materials
- Automatically refilling pet bowls
- Electromechanical drawing machines
- Optical bass guitars
Want to learn more about our events? Check out this recent coverage:
WSET
WDBJ
Interested in getting updates on our Explore Engineering events? Sign up here.
Fall Explore Engineering Weekend | Oct. 26-27, 2018
Cost
Cost is $65 and includes room and board, snacks, supplies and a T-shirt.
Registration
Register here by Sept. 15 for highest priority. Space is limited. Registration occurs on a rolling basis until the course is full.
Cancellations received before Oct. 1, 2018 will be refunded in full. Cancellations received on or after Oct. 1 will not be refunded.
Friday, October 26, 2018
Campus Tour
Optional
4 p.m.
Dinner
Event Introduction
5 p.m.
Overnight Stay with Sweet Briar Student Mentors
Saturday, October 27, 2018
Group Work
Work in teams with Sweet Briar professors and students to create a computer-controlled, interactive Halloween-themed device. No experience needed!
All Day
Project Exhibition
You’ll show your family and friends your work.
5 p.m.
Spring Explore Engineering Weekend | March 22-23, 2019
Cost
Cost is $65 and includes room and board, snacks, supplies and a T-shirt.
Registration
Register here by Feb. 15 for highest priority. Space is limited. Registration occurs on a rolling basis until the course is full.
Cancellations received before Feb. 25, 2019 will be refunded in full. Cancellations received on or after Feb. 25 will not be refunded.
Friday, March 22, 2019
Campus Tour
Optional
4 p.m.
Dinner
Event Introduction
5 p.m.
Overnight Stay with Sweet Briar Student Mentors
Saturday, March 23, 2019
Group Work
Work in teams with Sweet Briar professors and students to build an Arduino-based magnetic levitation device. No experience needed!
All Day
Project Exhibition
You’ll show your family and friends your work.
5 p.m.
Summer Explore Environmental Engineering Weekend | June 22-23, 2019
This event will focus on environmental engineering.
Cost
Cost is $65 and includes room and board, snacks, supplies and a T-shirt.
Registration
Register here by May 15 for highest priority. Space is limited. Registration occurs on a rolling basis until the course is full.
Cancellations received before May 20, 2019 will be refunded in full. Cancellations received on or after May 20 will not be refunded.
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Campus Tour
Optional
4 p.m.
Dinner
Event Introduction
5 p.m.
Overnight Stay with Sweet Briar Student Mentors
Sunday, June 23, 2019
Group Work
Work in teams with Sweet Briar professors and students on hands-on projects relevant to environmental engineering. No experience needed!
All Day
Project Exhibition
You’ll show your family and friends your work.
4 p.m.
Summer Explore Engineering Design Course | July 21-26, 2019
The summer course is offered for college credit.
Cost
The $950 course fee includes tuition, room and board, snacks, course supplies and a T-shirt. A non-refundable $200 deposit is due at registration, with the remaining balance due by May 15, 2019.
A limited number of scholarships are available for students interested in participating in the Summer Explore Engineering Design Course but who have significant financial need. Scholarships are awarded at $475. Click here to apply.
Registration
Register here by March 1 for highest priority. Space is limited. Registration occurs on a rolling basis until the course is full.
Only fully paid course registrations reserve your student’s seat; unpaid registrations are put on a waiting list until payment is received.
Cancellations received before June 1, 2019 will be refunded in full minus the deposit. Cancellations received on or after June 1 will not be refunded.
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Campus Tour
Optional
4:30 p.m.
Dinner
Program Begins
5:30 p.m.
Monday-Thursday, July 22-25, 2019
Classes and Group Work
Tour a local engineering company; interact with successful women engineers; relax at the campus lake and pool
Main project: Design, build and test your own smart clothing device. See an example of a past student-built device here.
Friday, July 26, 2019
Course Overview and Project Exhibition (families invited)
You’ll show your family and friends your design work.
10:30 a.m. – Noon
Lunch (families invited)
Noon – 1 p.m.
Check Out
1 – 1:30 p.m.
Past Explore Engineering events have been supported by AREVA and the National Science Foundation — through its S-STEM (award #0850092) and STEP (award # 0525388) programs.
Additional Explore Events
Sweet Briar College’s EXPLORE is a series of immersive pre-college, residential events for high school sophomore, junior and senior girls. Weekend events for various disciplines are offered in the fall and spring, and a weeklong for-credit engineering course is offered in the summer.
The EXPLORE series offers high school girls opportunities to investigate different fields of study in a small-class setting. Working in teams with Sweet Briar faculty and undergraduate students, high-schoolers work on creative and fun projects — whether they’re collecting carbon storage data from the forests on our campus or designing and building a wearable electronic device in one of our engineering labs. No prior experience or knowledge is required — it’s a chance to EXPLORE!
Click here to learn more.