MakerCamp: students code, build at Digital Harbor summer camps

At the Digital Harbor Foundation’s MakerCamp this summer, kids ages 7 to 17 are getting two-week-long crash courses in robotics and Arduino programming, video game development, 3D printing and — paper-airplane making.

Four different camps divided among eight weeks have taken over the Digital Harbor Tech Center in Federal Hill for this inaugural Digital Harbor Foundation summer program.

It’s Baltimore’s contribution to the nationwide Maker Education Initiative, funding by the likes of MAKE magazine, Pixar, Intel and others.

“The whole purpose is to give students different tools and ideas, and let them come up with the details of what to do,” said Andrew Coy, the executive director of the Digital Harbor Foundation — a position he now solely holds, since former co-executive director Shelly Blake-Plock is now at the helm of new education professional development startup, An Estuary.

Here are the four camps:

• Circuit Adventures (June 17-June 28): learning about circuits and creating things like lamps, flying propellers and moving motors.
• Digital Design and Fabrication (July 8-July 19): learning how to digitally design objects that will then be created in the real world using vinyl cutters, Legos, and 3D printers.
• Game Development (July 22-Aug. 2): programming in Lua with Corona for Android video game development.
• Aerial Pursuits (Aug. 5-Aug. 16): learning about the principles of flight by exploring rocketry, paper airplanes and unmanned aerial vehicles. (You know: drones!)

Tuition for each of the camps is $350. But for families that need some help covering costs, scholarships are available.

Digital design agency Cynergy, which has an office in Harbor East, is sponsoring some of the scholarships.

“Based on the money we have donated, they will be able to provide between 7 – 15 scholarships, depending on if the students needs a full or partial ride,” said Michael Wolf of Cynergy.
See other photos of the camp here.