The Summer Program for Automation Robotics and Coding (SPARC) introduces students to the basics of robotics, mechatronics, and programming. This is a 2-week, full-day summer program for rising 9th through 12th-grade high school students. Students do not need experience in robotics to participate in SPARC, but should be academically strong students with an interest in robotics and the ability to take initiative. During the program, students will learn about applications for microcontrollers, interface sensors, and actuators through hands-on manipulation of the components provided in their robotics kit.
SPARC is robotics at a high level: combining concepts and practices from computer science, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Learn about basic electrical components, circuits, and circuit configurations; microcontroller anatomy, features, and programming; coding key constructs like variables, conditionals, loops, data representations; all while building interactive, robotic devices. The program introduces advanced technical skills like how to interface various electrical and electronic components with the microcontroller and how to perform serial and parallel communication. Other challenging content includes learning to add sensors and actuators, how to acquire measurements from sensors, and how to command the actuators under program control.
Location(s)
- New York University, New York, New York
Schedule
- Program is not running in 2026
Cost/Compensation
- $3,300 Tuition Fee
- $616 Optional Housing Fee
- $192 Mandatory Meal plan with housing
Eligibility Requirements
- High school students who are age 14 and older the day program begins (minimum 15 years old for housing)
Deadline
- Program is not running in 2026
Application or Entry Requirements
- A completed online application
Notifications of Decisions
Financial Aid Details
Other Dates to Keep in Mind
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New York University (NYU) is a private research university located in Greenwich Village in New York City. Founded in 1831, it has since grown to become the largest private university in the United States, with over 50,000 students enrolled across its nineteen schools and colleges.
The NYU Tandon School of Engineering dates to 1854, the founding date for both the New York University School of Civil Engineering and Architecture and the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute. NYU Tandon is rooted in a vibrant tradition of entrepreneurship, intellectual curiosity, and innovative solutions to humanity’s most pressing global challenges. Research at Tandon focuses on vital intersections between communications/IT, cybersecurity, and data science, AI, robotics systems and tools and critical areas of society that they influence, including emerging media, health, sustainability, and urban living.
