Colorado Teen Internship 2023
Application for the 2023 Engineering and Design Summer Internship is now closed.
CO Internship Application CO Teacher Reference Form
Internship Requirements
This is a four- week internship that runs from June 19 - July 20, 2023. We will not meet the week of July 3-7. Interns are expected to complete 25 hours per week, Monday - Thursday (approx. 9 AM - 4 PM). The majority of activities will take place on the CU Boulder campus with additional off-site visits. Interns will be responsible for their own transportation to and from the CU campus. Bus transportation is encouraged and RTD bus passes will be provided to interns by request.
Stipend
Accepted interns will receive a stipend of $1200 after successful completion of the program.
Admission
The internship is open to high school students (rising grades 10-12) or who are at least 14 years old at the time of the internship. Admission to the BBB Teen Internship program is selective and requires an application and a reference from a teacher. Deadline is April 2, 2023 for completed applications with teacher references to be evaluated. Applicants will be notified the second week of April.
We strongly encourage students from the following backgrounds to apply:
- Underrepresented in science and engineering, including girls, African American, Hispanic/Latino or Native American students
- Underserved, such as coming from low socioeconomic means, which may be indicated by qualification for free/reduced lunch
- Potentially the first family member to attend college
- Absence of science and engineering degrees in family
- Coming from a high school with low admittance rates to top-tier colleges, especially rural or predominantly minority high schools
All applicants who meet the eligibility requirements will be considered, regardless of race or ethnicity.
Program Overview:
Check the link in the sidebar to view past student projects and for more information on Colorado interrnship activties.
The Build a Better Book project began in 2017 to study youth engagement in the design and creation of accessible materials with STEM and maker technologies and interest in STEM careers. In phase 2 of the project (Empathy-Driven Engineering Internships for Teens: Connecting Technical Work to Social Needs; 2021-25), we are examining the influences of a professionally-structured, empathy-driven engineering internship on teens’ perceptions of engineering, identities, and transferrable STEM skills. We are implementing and studying this internship model across four diverse formal and informal education settings, including a university-based summer internship program (CO), a public library makerspace (NJ), a makerspace/entrepreneurship non-profit organization (MA), and a public school district (AL).
Build a Better Book (BBB) is pleased to offer high school students the opportunity to participate in an immersive engineering and design internship and research project focused on using Maker technologies to create accessible materials for blind or visually impaired clients.
Student interns will learn about and complete projects using:
- Universal Design principles and empathy-driven design
- Accessibility tools and designing for disabilities
- Maker Technologies such as 3D modeling and printing, sound, computer programming, laser cutters
- Tactile and multi-modal learning styles
- Characteristics of blindness, vision impairments, and other disabilities
- Job skills and designing for a specific client
Internship Requirements
Internship opportunities and requirements vary depending on the hosting site. Please view details about each site from the menu list on the right.
The Build a Better Book project is supported by the National Science Foundation under ITEST awards #1615247 and #2049109. Any opinions, findings and conclusions presented here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
