ABOUT
For over 10 years, BlueStamp Engineering (“BSE”) has offered a unique hands-on summer engineering program to incoming and current high school students.
BSE was designed to be for the student and by the student. Put more simply, BSE strives to offer students a program where they can select a project they feel passionate about making and provides them both the physical tools and instruction to make their dream project come to life.
SUMMER PROGRAMS
The program is offered in two formats during the summer:
1. IN PERSON
6 weeks in San Jose, CA. See the “Programs” page for dates, tuition, and application info.
Custom schedules may also be requested at the time of the interview (i.e. 2-5 weeks or full days in place of half days)
2. REMOTELY
Multiple 3 week sessions (start dates vary). The remote program is attended via Zoom with a private discord channel and is available to any incoming or current high school student both in the U.S. and abroad. See the “Programs” page for dates, tuition, and application info.
PROGRAM LEADERS
BSE was designed by professional engineers and tech entrepreneurs to provide students a real forum to make their dream project come true in an encouraging and uplifting environment.
FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS:
No! BlueStamp Engineering does not require prior engineering experience or prerequisite science classes Many students who come to BSE have no previous experience. Since projects are individually selected and built with instructor guidance, the difficulty level can be personalized from student to student and scaled up as students progress. An interview and reference check helps us determine whether students are a good fit for our program. We are most interested in students whose past experience showcases high character, strong interest, and perseverance regardless of experience and grades.
Absolutely! You will work with your lead instructor before the program begins to pick a project you are passionate about. Your projects are ready on day 1 and you will start building within the first hour! BSE offers a project book with over 100+ curated projects to choose from broken down by difficulty and type (i.e. robotics, coding, hardware, electronics, mechanical, 3d printing, internet of things, etc.). If none of those 100 projects catch your eye, then you are free to propose your own “student defined project” (SDP). Our goal is simply for you to build something you love!
That’s fantastic! Once you’ve attended BSE, you are always part of our family and we welcome you to apply to our more advanced second year program. Let us also write letters of recommendation for colleges, put you in contact with the guest speakers so you can inquire about internships/advice, or just keep us updated with your awesome accomplishments!
Unfortunately, in-person BlueStamp Engineering does not offer housing. Students select to attend either the morning session (8:30am -1:00pm) or afternoon session (12:30pm – 5:00pm). Past students who didn’t live near a BlueStamp location have stayed with relatives, or rented a dorm or an apartment for the summer.
The cost of the in-person program is $4,900 for the standard 6 week program. All parts, tools, equipment, instruction included.
The cost of the remote program is $2,200 for the standard 3 weeks program. All parts, tools, equipment, instruction included.
All projects students make are theirs to keep forever.
BlueStamp Engineering offers financial aid to those who qualify. You can review the financial aid application here.
Yes, if accepted. Second year students build even more challenging projects in their second year. They also have the option of forming a group and focusing their project on competitions and showcases.
BSE is open to all current (freshman through senior) or incoming (current eighth graders) high school students. Past being in or about to enter high school, BSE does not consider age when making admissions decisions. However, admissions standards are the same across the board. Typically, there is an even distribution of age at BSE.
While it is certainly a tricky choice, BSE’s is unique in that is a focused solely to be hands on, project building. We don’t have homework or tests, and there is no textbook. We do have in class discussions where we gives students a starter guide to specific engineering tasks they will face (i.e. how to build a circuit, coding, etc.) but we are not here to lecture! BSE provides you with an independent, self-driven work environment where you get to build, create, and keep a project you are passionate about. Typically BSE style projects offer the greatest challenge and have no predetermined stopping point. We encourage our students to continue building, modifying, and improving their project to their liking all the way until the last day.
BlueStamp accepts applications under rolling admissions until all seats are filled. Please note that applicants are interviewed prior to receiving an admission decision. Since applicants are interviewed as their applications are received, we recommend that students apply as early as possible.
No Problem! You have a few options. With prior approval, you can attend a portion of the program (i.e. 2-5 weeks) or do full days to make up any missed time (staying for both am and pm section). For shorter programs, tuition is typically prorated. Please note on your application if you would like to do a modified schedule and we will work with you to make it happen.
Yes! We have a paid Jr. TA position that is an excellent transition from student to staff. The position is filled by a former BSE student while still in high school. Upon entering college, BSE will invite previous students to apply to be full instructors.
Each BSE section is led by an electrical engineer, computer engineer, mechanical engineer, and Junior Instructor (previous BSE student). The student to staff ratio is roughly 3:1.
