View the slideshow below to see the EnQuest journey for yourself!

  • Welcome to EnQuest, where high school girls take on real-world engineering projects.
  • The camp is open exclusively to girls who have completed 9th, 10th or 11th grade. Why? During these years many girls make crucial decisions about their futures.
  • EnQuest is a week-long, hands-on engineering camp, in which high school girls explore careers in engineering. It is held at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in late July/early August.
  • The National Science Foundation provided UWM with initial funding for EnQuest. Now approaching its 7th successful year, it is a project of the dean’s office in the UWM College of Engineering & Applied Science and made possible through generous sponsors and community partners.
  • EnQuest campers learn first-hand about opportunities in the field of engineering. They also learn engineering skills.
  • The heart of the week is a final project. Over the week, the girls collaborate to carry out a real-world sustainable technology project.
  • This year, the teams designed and created easily replicable solar-powered lamps for 34 Guatemalan households living off the grid. The UWM chapter of Engineers Without Borders will deliver the lamps in January.
  • To help them through the year’s project, the girls visit engineering offices and labs in the Milwaukee area. At each location, working engineers give the campers a view of the diverse roles played by engineers.
  • In 2016, campers visited UWM’s Innovation Campus, where they learned about UWM’s role in biomedical engineering research.
  • During another field trip to Eaton Corporation, they toured labs and ate lunch with professional engineers and scientists.
  • The group also visited Johnson Controls, where the company’s diverse women engineers and scientist shared encouragement, inspiration and their stories.
  • Campers stay busy, and have a lot of fun. Structured evening and daytime activities combine recreation with exploration. Discovery World is always a popular field trip for EnQuest campers.
  • One evening each year, the girls share dinner with EnQuest alumni who are now college engineering students and student members of the Society of Women Engineers. Campers hear about the paths these young women followed and the challenges they face.
  • Campers kick back with the traditional evening canoe trip down the Milwaukee River.
  • EnQuest is led by led by Chris Beimborn, STEM Outreach Specialist, and made possible with the help of many faculty members and engineering students.
  • Camp counselors are all UWM women engineering students.
  • Campers lodge in the UWM residence halls for the week, with female engineering supervisors. They get to experience life on a college campus.
  • Remember that group project—engineering lamps for Guatemalan families living off the grid? The week ends with the teams presenting their final projects to their families and the many faculty, staff and students who have mentored the girls through the week.
  • The confidence they have gained during the week is on full display.
  • College of Engineering & Applied Science Dean Brett Peters notes that girls who successfully complete EnQuest are prepared to succeed in college as engineering students.
  • Girls learn about EnQuest from parents, high school counselors, and others. “My counselor said there were lots of good engineering positions for women who enjoy math and science,” says camper Madeline Moran. “But I never knew what engineering was. This week, I learned, and I learned what type of engineering I like best."
  • Campers form supportive friendships during the week with like-minded girls.
  • Friendships among peers who share goals and challenges can be a source of encouragement that keeps girls motivated toward an engineering career.
  • For more information, visit enquest.uwm.edu.

 

Do you like to solve problems? Create things? Want to tackle some of the big issues facing the world? Could engineering be a field for you? Find out at EnQuest—UWM’s engineering summer camp for high school girls, offered only at UWM’s College of Engineering & Applied Science.

You begin with a challenge. Each EnQuest group will work on a central project with a real-world impact. You’ll also meet women engineers who are changing the world, learn new skills, tour engineering workplaces, explore Milwaukee, make friends and experience life on a college campus.

For girls exiting 9th, 10th or 11th grade.

No prior engineering experience needed.

Download the EnQuest 2020 Flyer here

What are people saying about EnQuest?

Campers say:

“My favorite things about EnQuest were the designing, being given a real problem, meeting with actual engineers and asking for advice, and meeting new people.”

“I really did learn a lot and I am so happy I had a chance to come to EnQuest!”

“Thank you for the engineering adventure!”

“EnQuest made me realize that I am going to love engineering and it was a great feeling to be surrounded by people with similar interests.”

“It made me more excited for a future in engineering.”

Featured media stories:

View Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Story

Listen to the RadioMilwaukee Story

UW-Milwaukee will make decisions in the coming months regarding whether face-to-face programs for pre-college students will be held in summer, 2020. You are encouraged to register if you are interested in attending EnQuest. Once you register, you will receive UW-Milwaukee EnQuest camp updates by e-mail.

Important Details:

Day Camp: June 22-26, 2020.  The 2020 EnQuest day camp will make and customize a solar power station for an off-grid community in Guatemala.  Registration fee of $300 includes lunch, snacks, field trip transportation and activity fees plus all supplies.

Download the Day Camp Application here

Overnight Camp: July 26-31, 2020.  The EnQuest overnight camp will contribute to the work of the UWM BioRobotics Research Lab to help people recover muscle use.  Registration fee of $725 includes all meals, snacks, overnight accommodations, field trip transportation and activity fees plus all supplies.

Download the Overnight Camp Application here

 

Scholarships Are Available: All applicants have the option of requesting camp fee scholarships to reduce costs to families; see application forms for details.

Questions? Contact Chris Beimborn, EnQuest Coordinator – chrisbe@uwm.edu

Thanks to our sponsors:

Multiple Anonymous Donors