Power of Bioengineering Summer Camp: A Week of Innovation, Discovery and Fun!

Each summer, the Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE) program offers engineering summer camps at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Available for middle and high school-aged students, these camps are designed to provide an authentic and challenging experience broadening access and participation in STEM. Students engage in projects and activities led by world-class instructors, gaining a collegiate experience from one of the best engineering schools in the world.

Among them is the recent Power of Bioengineering Summer Camp, providing this year’s cohort with an unforgettable journey into the exciting and dynamic field of bioengineering. Led by bioengineering professor Catherine Best Popescu, the camp combined formal lectures and experiential activities, offering students a comprehensive introduction to this exciting interdisciplinary field.

The camp started with a glimpse into Cell and Tissue Engineering through stem cell experiments with Planaria as an in vivo model for regenerative medicine. The students were amazed to discover that entire organisms can regenerate from tiny single-cell clusters and that two-headed planarians can be generated reliably across generations from small body fragments. Discussions combined philosophy and biophysics as students unpacked Mike Levin’s novel theory of bioelectricity (endogenous voltage potentials) as the software of cellular communication that controls morphogenesis, anatomical regulation, plasticity, the re-writing of morphogenetic memories and behavioral cognition.

The students then explored optics and imaging through simple light-bending experiments and hands-on use of various microscopy techniques. They built their own Manu Prakash's foldscopes – which are powerful medical-grade microscopes made from paper and lenses; They collected feathers, leaves, snakeskin, and a variety of microorganisms from a local stream bed, mounted the specimens on slides and imaged their samples with a powerful Spatial Light Interference Microscope (SLIM).

The camp veered into an exploration of biomechanics and biomimicry with a series of prosthetic build sessions and an exciting visit to Professor Yuan Yang’s stroke rehabilitation and neural engineering lab. Professor Victor Gruev captivated campers with a presentation of his multimodal bioinspired sensors and state-of-the-art imaging system that provides underwater remote sensing and promises to transform image guided cancer surgery. The presentation showcased the Mantis shrimp’s compound eye design- a 500-million high-acuity multispectral information detection system and illustrated the use of motion tracking software used to investigate mantis shrimp homing navigation.

The campers then used a similar form of motion capture to monitor and analyze their very own TikTok dances and sport movement.  The camp ended with an exhilarating series of Greg Gage’s Back Yard Brains experiments. Students recorded electrical activity from cockroach nerves, and they were shocked when they formed human to human interfaces. They controlled each other's arm and finger movements through harmless electrical ulner and medial nerve stimulation.

Students finished the camp by making roboroaches. They highjacked cockroach neural control by surgically introducing electrodes into their antennae and through remote stimulation.

These hands-on lab activities, conducted daily in Everitt Laboratory—the home of the Department of Bioengineering—were a highlight of the camp. This practical experience provided a glimpse into the daily work of bioengineers, emphasizing the importance of precision, creativity, teamwork and critical thinking.

One camper remarked - “I’ve learned more this week than I did in a month of school."