Middle School students explore robotics, programming, and science at Yale Wright Laboratory
This summer, Wright Lab hosted a week-long program from July 27 to 31 for a cohort of middle school students from New Haven and surrounding towns called Summer Explorations in Robotics, Programming, Science, and Technology. Participants learned to assemble and program robots and 3D print parts; learned about the science of the Universe; and attended physics demonstrations by Yale scientists. They also toured Wright Lab, the Yale Center for Engineering Innovation & Design (CEID), and the Yale Peabody Museum.
Throughout the program, the students participated in hands-on robotics activities led by Lynn Connelly, director of robotics at Hopkins School, who teaches physics and robotics and coaches the Hopkins robotics competition teams.
Over the course of the week, participants assembled a robot from a kit and programmed and reconfigured it to achieve different goals, including moving autonomously, going through a maze and an obstacle course, using ultrasonic sensors, adding a remote control and a 3D-printed robot arm, and playing basketball with ping pong balls.
Connelly said, “The kids were introduced to the world of robotics and learned how hardware and software components work together to make a complete robot. They also learned about the fundamentals of design and prototyping. Along the way they were great problem-solvers, and everyone had a fun time together.”
This is the second time Wright Lab has offered the Summer Explorations program for local middle school students. The first iteration, “Summer Explorations in Science, Technology, and the Natural World,” took place in 2024. Karsten Heeger, Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics and director of Wright Lab, and Reina Maruyama, professor of physics and a member of Yale’s Wright Lab, initiated the program in 2024, and they continue to serve as faculty advisors to the program.
A variety of enrichment activities throughout the week augmented the robotics curriculum. These included:
Tour and scavenger hunt at the Yale Peabody Museum
Students were welcomed to the Peabody by Eliza King, director of development, and enjoyed a scavenger hunt and tour of the museum.
Lecture and demonstration of invisible particles at Wright Lab
First, students learned from Heeger about the study of invisible particles at Wright Lab and how scientists are exploring the invisible Universe. This presentation was followed by a cloud chamber demonstration led by Heeger, along with Paul Noel, Yale Physics instructional lab manager, and Caitlin Hansen, lecturer, where students were able to observe a variety of particle tracks. After the demonstration, Victoria Misenti, Wright Lab program manager, provided a tour of the Wright Lab facilities.
3D printing and tour of CEID
Nathan Burns (Yale), Pablo Macias Lopez (Yale), and Lucy Fagan (CalPoly), all undergraduate students who have been doing research as part of the 2026 Summer Programming for Student Researchers at Wright Lab, gave brief talks to the participants about how they have used 3D printing and the CEID and what they have built using its resources. Then the participants walked to the CEID and were given a tour of the facility by Ashlyn Oakes, CEID Program Manager.
Exploring particle physics
Elise Le Boulicaut Ennis, postdoctoral associate, explained her work in particle physics and led the students in an activity to calculate the mass of a z boson particle and explore the scientific method using data from physics experiments called ATLAS and CMS, which are located at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.
Robots and Artificial Intelligence
Connelly led a discussion on the use of AI in robotics and demonstrated a robotic dog.
Administrative support for the program was provided by Misenti, along with senior administrative assistants Tobi Kassim and Dan McGurk. Technical support was provided by Seraphim McGann from Wright Lab and the Yale Center for Research Computing, as well as Noel and Hansen. The program also benefitted from the support of Burns, as well as graduate students Zach Muraskin and Katie Ream, who all served as student assistants throughout the program; interacting with and assisting the participants with both hands-on activities and enrichment programs.
Ream said, “Participating as a student assistant at the WL robotics summer camp was extremely fulfilling! The students were exposed to ideas such as vector addition, circuit components, and coding with Arduino.”
Ream continued, “I was both impressed and excited to help the students learn and navigate such concepts I encountered much later than in middle school, and hope it inspires them to further pursue robotics and other physics topics!”
The Summer Explorations in Robotics, Programming, Science, and Technology program is sponsored by the Yale Department of Physics, the Michele Dufault Endowment, Yale Wright Laboratory, and Yale University.
