The second session of ASPIRE (Achieving in Science through Physics Instrumentation, Research and Exploration) will take place July 31 through August 4 in the Physics Reseach Building.  This weeklong day camp for high school aged women began in 2014. The workshop of approximately 20 young women will be led by a team of volunteers ranging from undergraduates, graduate students, research scientists and postdocs through tenured faculty.  Participants do a a series of four radio-themed projects, where they learn how to (1) make measurements with antennas, (2) program an Arduino, (3) do data analysis with Mathematica, and (4) program a video game. They experience what it means to “spend a week” as a physicists, gaining the satisfaction that comes from the kind of problem solving professionals do every-day. They are also exposed to some of the exciting research going on at OSU, especially by young people and receive talks and lab tours from astronomy, biology, chemical engineering, and more in addition to physics. Finally, participants learn about OSU through a campus tour and interfacing with OSU scientists.

This exciting experience for young women is generously funded by Professor Amy Connolly's National Science Foundation Early Career Award.  Professor Chris Orban's STEMcoding project worked with ASPIRE for the first time in June to integrate computer programming into the curriculum.  It was a very successful collaboration.

Students make  presentations of their work on Friday.  If you get a chance, stop in to see and hear what they learned.  It is thrilling to see and hear the excitement in their faces and voices as they share their experiences.