Workshop Descriptions
CU Science Discovery: Creative Design with micro:bit (10:00AM–12:00PM and again 1:00PM to 3:00PM)
Recommended for Middle School Students
Inspired by CU Boulder’s innovative Creative Technology and Design program, students will participate in a hands-on workshop led by CU Science Discovery educators. Using the versatile micro:bit, a pocket-sized computer with endless possibilities, students will practice block-based coding and apply the engineering design process to create their own prototype inventions. From beginner coders to seasoned makers, every student will find opportunities to strengthen their skills in coding, electronics, and design thinking while seeing their imagination come to life.
CU PISEC: Drop-In Circuit Exploration (10:00 AM–12:00 PM)
Recommended for Middle School Students
Come join the Partnerships for Informal Science Education in the Community (PISEC) to explore and build different kinds of circuits! This will be a highly interactive and open-ended drop-in session where students can rotate through different stations to learn about and build circuits. Can you light a bulb with only one wire? What kind of materials do you need to make a speaker? How might you design and build your own circuit? Come work with CU students to explore all of this and more! Feel free to stop by this session for 10 minutes or the whole time.
Brightest LEDs Ever by CU Faculty, Professor Eric Bogatin (10:00 AM–12:00 PM)
Recommended for Middle School Students
Explore LEDs like you have never seen them before! Using a beginner-friendly Arduino board and a few lines of code, you will program vivid, colorful light effects, no complicated wiring required. Create flashing red-and-blue police lights, a UV flashlight effect, a bouncing light, a pulsing heartbeat, and millions of possible colors. Learn how code can bring light to life while you design your own glowing creations.
CU ITLP: Soldering Workshops (10:00 AM–12:00 PM and again from 1:00 PM–3:00PM)
Recommended for Middle & High School Students
Practice your soldering and rework skills with a variety of hand tools, and master the application of soldering through hole components and surface mount devices.
CU Pre-Engineering Program: Exploring Electric Motors, Wireless Charging, and EVs (1:00 PM–3:00PM)
Recommended for Middle & High School Students
Curious about the future of electric vehicles (EVs)? Join the CU Pre-College Engineering team to explore the STEM concepts behind EV motors and cutting-edge wireless charging technology. The ASPIRE Foundation is helping shape the future of transportation with its innovation to "bring the charge to the vehicle" instead of "bringing the vehicle to the charge." Through hands-on activities inspired by ASPIRE's research, you'll learn how EV technology works and take part in a series of fun activities you can build and take home!
PhET Interactive Simulations Workshop (1:00 PM–3:00PM)
Recommended for Middle & High School Students
Meet the coolest online virtual lab ever, where you can see physics and electronics come alive. In the first workshop, experience the basic principles of electricity and magnetism: static charges, magnetic fields, and generators. In the second workshop, experiment with resistors and capacitors, and build circuits to see how currents flow.
See Your Pulse with Light by CU Faculty, Professor Eric Bogatin (1:00 PM–3:00PM)
Recommended for Middle & High School Students
Discover how wearable devices use light to detect your pulse. In this hands-on workshop, you will build a simple photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor using an LED, a light sensor, and an Arduino. Watch changes in blood flow through your fingertip, collect real sensor data, and use averaging techniques to turn a tiny signal into a bright LED that pulses in time with your heartbeat. Along the way, you will explore sensors, data acquisition, and signal processing.
Participant & Family Registration Volunteer & Teacher Registration