BZI and SUU Celebrate the Positive Impact of the Growing Youth Engineering Academy Summer Camps

Construction and steel company BZI is thrilled to see the results from its support of educational programs for K-12

BZI celebrated the successful second year of the SUU/BZI Youth Engineering Academy Summer Camps at a July 26, 2024 event held at Southern Utah University.  Leaders from the university, participants, families and sponsors shared the positive impact the program has had on increasing interest in science and engineering with local youth, as well as raising awareness of science and engineering careers.

The celebration marked the completion of the 2024 season of the K-12 educational program. SUU reported that due to the popularity of the camps, participation has grown 650% in only one year and the camps were extended from two to six weeks. Girls made up 34% of all participants, which is a much higher percentage of females working in STEM fields, and 53% of the camp attendees between the ages of five to seven.

Participants and their families expressed their enthusiasm for the program, where students engaged in an extensive curriculum that included building robots, 3D printing and manufacturing, laser cutting, computer programming and other forms of engineering design. Some of their comments were:

• ‘My child couldn’t stop talking about the camp and how much fun it is.”
• “My child couldn’t wait to keep working on her program at home.”
• “I didn’t have to wake up my kid and encourage him to get the day started. He was excited to get going and start camp.”
• “My child was so excited and proud every time he and his camp friends figured out something new, like how to control the robot they were building through Bluetooth.”
• “I thought computer programming would be so hard. I didn’t realize how fun it is!”

BZI teamed up with Southern Utah University’s College of Engineering and Computational Sciences to provide this specialized week-long summer camp, which offered half and full-day learning sessions each of the six weeks. The SUU/BZI Youth Engineering Academy Summer Camps provide immersive and entertaining exercises and curriculum to encourage creativity, logical thinking and new methods of problem solving as they are applied to the art and science of engineering.

In addition to its financial support of the program, BZI leaders also volunteered as teachers and shared their real-world experience with camp attendees. In doing so, they passed along innovative methods and the out-of-the-box thinking that has helped BZI become a national leader in the construction industry.

“We hope that through our support, students of the camps will become future innovators who bring new breakthrough discoveries and create more industry and life-enhancing developments for our world,” said James Barlow, CEO of BZI. “We are thrilled to see that the academy and its camps have encouraged heightened levels of interest in engineering among our youth.”

“BZI’s support is vital to the success of our educational programs and will help cultivate the future engineering careers of numerous youth,” said Dr. Jeffrey Miller, Dean of the College of Engineering and Computational Sciences at Southern Utah University. “BZI’s generous contribution of funds and expertise provide further evidence of BZI’s commitment to and leadership in innovation.”

The program actively breaks down barriers related to gender, race, and income, empowering all students to recognize their potential for pursuing careers in engineering fields. To learn more and to register for this unique experience, go to www.suu.edu/cecs/yea/ or call (435) 586-5434.