K-12 and Outreach

Penn Engineering and groups affiliated with the School organize a number of outreach programs targeting elementary, middle and high school students. There are also programs that include local teachers and educators to enhance their ability to prepare students for STEM. Outreach programs in the Philadelphia school district engage with students of whom more than 75 percent are underrepresented minorities.

Student-run service clubs like Access Engineering, Girls Who Code, InnoWorks, and Engineers Without Borders run mentoring programs for Philadelphia middle and high school students throughout the academic year.

Organized by Advancing Women in Engineering (AWE), the Penn Girls in Engineering, Math and Science (Penn GEMS) Camp, is a one-week hands-on STEM summer program for girls entering grades 7-9.

The GRASP Laboratory runs several outreach programs, including the regional Penn FIRST LEGO League competitions. This event attracts 50 teams from middle schools in the Philadelphia/Camden/Southeast PA region for an annual championship tournament, and engages hundreds of teams in regional qualifiers. This includes training for the coaches and teachers involved in mentoring students and deploying undergraduates to mentor teams.

Each year, the CIS Department and Women in Computer Science (WICS) host a day for girls in high school who are interested in computer science as a career.

Research centers affiliated with Penn Engineering organize events designed to publicize research and educational programs to high school students. NanoDay at Penn is an annual event offering demonstrations on nanoscale science and engineering and guided tours of labs. The GRASP National Robotics Week Open House attracts over 200 students and teachers from the Philadelphia area.

Penn Engineering participates in the Penn Early Exploration Program (PEEP) which informs high school seniors from low-income or first-generation college backgrounds about the academic and social life at Penn as they explore their college options.

The School also collaborates with the Netter Center and other University institutions to improve outreach to middle/high school students and demonstrate the value of STEM careers to women and underrepresented minorities.