STEM Academy High School Camps

STEM Academy High School Camps offers sessions where participants conduct their own toxicology experiments and analyze their data, go into the field to sample the environment, test chemical effects in daphnia, and explore molecular mechanisms in glowing zebrafish. Other camps focus on learning about color trends and forecasting, color symbolism, and color schemes in the design sphere, as well as brainstorming color schemes and applying color theory to develop Mood Boards that focus on color and branding. Additional camps include 3D modeling, rendering, animation, 3D viewing, moving objects in 3D, creating 3D geometry, and learning coloring, lighting, rendering, and animation using Blender, as well as tracing the path of cyber attackers through a network, performing digital forensics, participating in a virtual cybersecurity Capture the Flag (CTF) event, and taking part in transportation-related walking tours, drone flights, driving and bicycling simulators, design sessions on real-world transportation challenges, and tours of the Eugene Airport and the OSU Marine Studies Building in Newport, along with presentations on transportation resilience, distracted driving, engineering ethics, and emerging modes of transportation.

• Ages: 14–18 years old
• Schedule: Toxicology Camp runs July 7–9 from 1:30–4:30, and the OSU Summer Transportation Institute runs 9am–4pm Monday–Thursday and 9am–2:30pm Friday
• Price: OSU Summer Transportation Institute: NO CHARGE; Lunch provided; this program has received substantive external funding from FHWA and ODOT and is offered at no cost to participating students

GenCyber Camp within STEM Academy High School Camps is taught by cybersecurity professionals, with guest speakers with various areas of expertise, and includes a virtual Capture the Flag (CTF) event available throughout the month of February 2026, as well as encouraging attendance at an industry-led Career Expo organized in collaboration with the Technology Association of Oregon. Needs-based scholarships are available for Toxicology Camp, Color Innovation Workshop, “Blender” Camp, and Virtual “Blender” Camp, and Blender is a free software package that allows 3D modeling, rendering, and animation; for Virtual “Blender” Camp, participants are asked to load the Blender software from blender.org and make sure it runs before signing up. The OSU Summer Transportation Institute is offered at no cost to participating students, only Oregon residents are eligible, and acceptance depends on an application that includes short answers to a few questions, with lunch provided each day. STEM Academy is a self-funded program relying on grants and business or personal donations and does not offer any programs in the Bend area.

STEM Academy is led by Cathy Law, Ph.D., Director of STEM Academy at OSU. Its stated mission is to engage K–12 youth in programs designed to increase college attendance and participation in STEM fields, broaden participation of underrepresented groups in STEM fields, maintain year-round programs for K–12 students aimed at increasing college enrollment, retention, graduation rates, and life-long learning, establish and maintain STEM partnerships within the state and across the nation to offer high quality STEM programs based on researched best practices, provide various mentoring programs for youth in the early stages of their STEM exploration, and emphasize STEM endeavors that promote social equity. STEM Academy establishes and maintains STEM partnerships within the state and across the nation based on researched best practices, and the OSU Summer Transportation Institute has received substantive external funding from FHWA and ODOT, with an industry-led Career Expo organized in collaboration with the Technology Association of Oregon.

Last updated December 28, 2025.