Raider Robotics Academy Summer Camps Offer Hands-on STEM Experience for K-12 Students

Texas Tech University is opening its engineering facilities to local K-12 students through a series of summer robotics camps designed to introduce young learners to high-level STEM concepts.

The Raider Robotics Academy, managed by the Whitacre College of Engineering Outreach and Engagement Program, will offer specialized curriculum tracks for different age groups at the Reese Technology Center.

These camps serve as a practical bridge between classroom theory and real-world application, allowing students to simulate the experience of working on professional robotics teams. By providing hands‑on access to engineering tools, the program aims to cultivate the next generation of innovators in the Lubbock community and beyond.

The initiative comes as the Whitacre College of Engineering grows. According to the Whitacre College of Engineering, the college saw a record‑breaking student enrollment of 6,087 in 2024. This growth shows a rising demand for technical education and professional readiness in fields like mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Three distinct learning tracks

The academy has structured its summer sessions to match the developmental stages of students, moving from foundational building blocks to advanced fabrication and programming. Each camp is limited to 24 participants to ensure quality instruction and hands‑on time with the equipment.

Target Grade Levels	Dates	Primary Technology & Focus
4th – 6th Grade	May 26 – 30	LEGO SPIKE Prime kits and innovation projects
7th – 8th Grade	July 7 – 11	FIRST Tech Challenge and REV Robotics lessons
9th – 12th Grade	July 21 – 25	SparkFun XRP kits and 3D printing fabrication

For the youngest cohort, the 4th through 6th grade camp focuses on design and programming using LEGO SPIKE Prime kits. These students are tasked with an innovation project where they must design a model to solve a specific real‑world problem, concluding the week with practice matches and presentations, depts.ttu.edu reported.

Middle school students in the 7th and 8th grade session will transition to the FIRST Tech Challenge environment. This track incorporates lessons from REV Robotics, covering programming, robot construction, and essential team‑building skills like documentation and marketing. The week ends with a scrimmage where students compete in an actual FIRST Tech Challenge game.

The most advanced tier, designed for 9th through 12th graders, will use SparkFun XRP kits and learn to program using the FIRST Robotics Competition software. Beyond software, the curriculum includes physical fabrication skills, such as 3D printing, to help students build more complex machines.

Engineering graduates face high salaries and evolving career paths

While these camps are recreational in nature, they are deeply connected to the professional trajectories available to engineering graduates. The Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Texas Tech highlights that the field is increasingly focused on autonomous vehicles, renewable energy, and medical devices.

For students entering the workforce, the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering notes that graduates in these disciplines often enter a market with an average starting salary of $96,000 per year.

Because the sessions run from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM and require daily drop‑offs and sack lunches, the program’s accessibility is inherently tied to a family’s ability to manage mid‑day logistics. This creates a potential barrier for families who cannot easily make the commute to the Reese Technology Center during traditional working hours.

Sessions occur at the Advance Vehicle Engineering building

All sessions will be hosted at the Advance Vehicle Engineering building located at 1211 Davis Dr, Lubbock, TX 79416. The program provides snacks and water, but parents are responsible for providing a sack lunch for their students during the 45‑minute lunch break.

The college has said that grade levels are determined by the grade a student will be entering in the semester following the camp. For instance, a student currently in 6th grade who will be entering 7th grade in the fall would attend the 7th and 8th grade camp. Registration systems are currently being finalized, and the college plans to distribute a registration link once the setup is complete.

Worth a look