Register

The Summer 2024 Program at NuVu takes place over 3 sessions. Each session is two weeks long, with a variety of unique studios to choose from. Students can only register for one studio per session. Students can attend one, two, or all three sessions.

Through online registration, a deposit of $200 is paid via credit card. The final payment is paid by check.

Age

Session

Skills

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Viral Video Effects

Age

Middle School at NuVu

Session

Session 3: August 4 - 15, 2025

Skills

Sketching

Film Making

Storyboarding

Stop Motion

AI

In Viral Video Effects, participants will leverage the latest film-making tools and techniques to create engaging short-form video narratives, integrating both practical and virtual effects. Through experiments with various in-camera techniques like stop motion, forced perspective, and high-speed photography, participants will reveal hidden worlds, stretch space and time, and blend movie magic with reality. This studio will challenge participants to stretch their imaginations and see the world through a new lens. By the end of the studio, participants will bring it all together, refining their footage using beginner-friendly editing and compositing software to produce a viral, cinematic masterpiece. This immersive studio empowers young filmmakers to unleash their creativity, blending practical hands-on skills with imaginative storytelling in a way that’s ready for the big screen–or just your phone!

Chain Reaction City

Age

Middle School at NuVu

Session

Session 3: August 4 - 15, 2025

Skills

Sketching

Mechanics & Engineering

Prototyping

CAD Drawing

Laser Cutting

In Chain Reaction City, students will embark on a thrilling journey to explore various modes of transportation and unleash their creativity by designing intricate "Rube Goldberg" inspired machines. Each student will take charge of a specific section of an imaginary city, collaboratively working with peers to ensure that their contribution seamlessly connects to neighboring components, ultimately crafting an urban landscape brimming with motion and marvels. At the end, students will line up their urban machines to create the ultimate coordinated chain reaction.

Escape Room: Art Heist

Age

Middle School at NuVu

Session

Session 3: August 4 - 15, 2025

Skills

Game Design

Prototyping

CAD Drawing

Laser Cutting

3D Printing

In Escape Room: Art Heist, participants will dive behind the scenes of escape rooms and discover what it takes to create mind bending puzzles and games. They’ll visit a local escape room, Red Fox Escapes, to experience the immersive adventure first hand. Then, they’ll draw on that challenge to design and fabricate interactive puzzles and props inspired by famous art heists, hidden masterpieces, and gallery mysteries.This studio combines critical thinking and creativity, challenging participants to create puzzles and code clues in an art-centered quest.

Treehouse Architecture

Age

Middle School at NuVu

Session

Session 2: July 21 - August 1, 2025

Skills

Model Making

Laser Cutting

3D Printing

CAD Drawing

Sketching

What kind of treehouse will you create—a secret hideaway, an artistic studio, or a serene oasis in the branches? In the Treehouse Architecture studio, designers in training will kick off the experience by prototyping an in-studio life-sized tree model, which will serve as the foundation for the innovative treehouse designs. Working in collaborative groups, designers will brainstorm and develop unique concepts, exploring diverse functions such as cozy residences, adventure decks, canopy cinemas, tree-top stargazing observatories, and more. This hands-on project will spark creativity, enhance critical thinking skills, and foster teamwork as participants harmonize their designs with the natural environment. Join us this summer to unleash your imagination and make your architectural dreams come true!

AR Worldcraft

Age

Middle School at NuVu

Session

Session 2: July 21 - August 1, 2025

Skills

Augmented Reality

Coding

Game Design

Storyboarding

Sketching

In AR Worldcraft, participants will dive into a world of creativity and exploration, bringing a stylized aesthetic to their immersive, game-based experience.They’ll transform everyday spaces into pixelated realms of adventure, blending simplified, cubic graphics with rich storytelling. They will first illustrate and develop their worlds and characters, translating them into 3D models to populate their AR worlds. Next, they’ll harness the power of cross-platform software for video game development, learning essential skills in illustration, storytelling, digital design, and 3D modeling.

Battlebotics

Age

Middle School at NuVu

Session

Session 2: July 21 - August 1, 2025

Skills

Robotics

Electronics

Prototyping

CAD Drawing

Laser Cutting

Battlebotics propels students into the world of robotic competition. Here, you will design remote-controlled bots to battle other bots using defensive and offensive mechanisms inspired by animal features! How can the spikes of a porcupine, an octopus’s arms, or a lion’s bite turn your creature into the winner of NuVu’s premier robot games? Get ready to unleash your bots into the arena filled with surprises and hidden traps to compete in obstacle courses, tag team tasks, and sumo challenges!

Drawing Machines

Age

Middle School at NuVu

Session

Session 1: July 7 - 18, 2025

Skills

Visual Arts

Robotics

CAD Drawing

Mechanics & Engineering

Coding

In Drawing Machines, you will engage in a unique blend of art and technology by first freely expressing yourself through drawing and mark making and later conceptualizing and building a drawing machine inspired by your experiments. You will create interactive art pieces by building Drawing Machines that translate human movements and emotions into captivating works of art. The studio serves as a platform for participants to explore the convergence of artistic expression and cutting-edge technology, fostering their creativity and imagination.

Ninja Warrior

Age

Middle School at NuVu

Session

Session 1: July 7 - 18, 2025

Skills

Sketching

Prototyping

Woodworking

Game Design

UI Design

Calling all ninjas! Inspired by the hit show, this studio will have participants study challenging obstacle courses and how athletes navigate them, then design and fabricate their own. Working in both models and full-scale builds, students will design obstacles that test body and mind. Has your ninja always loved the monkey bars, or racing a friend to the top of a rope structure? This studio will give them the chance to take their climbing, jumping, and parkour skills to the next level!

Exploration Rovers

Age

Middle School at NuVu

Session

Session 1: July 7 - 18, 2025

Skills

Coding

Robotics

CAD Drawing

Radio Frequency Communication

Mechanics & Engineering

In Exploration Rovers, young explorers will dive into the realm of mobility, where they will unleash their creativity by designing, building, and reimagining futuristic rovers. These innovative vehicles are more than just machines; they represent the future of human exploration across uncharted terrains. Participants will be challenged to envision and construct their own sci-fi rovers, discovering the potential they hold for advancing human exploration into new and thrilling discoveries. They will discover uncharted lands that humans have yet to roam and design adaptive rovers that will face the challenges of these extraterrestrial terrains.

Light Sculptures

Age

High School at MIT

Session

Session 3: August 4 - 15, 2025

Skills

Sketching

Product Design

Laser Cutting

Electronics

Photography

Participants will dive into the dazzling world of light to discover how its properties can spark creativity! This studio will explore light as a medium, studying three key aspects of perception– shape, color, and motion– through fun, inventive design challenges. Drawing inspiration from fascinating patterns around us, participants design captivating light installations that transform their space. They will use folding, layering, and perforating/ cutting material to craft dynamic sculptural lighting fixtures that not only showcase their creativity but also reflect and reveal different shapes, shadows, and scenes, turning ordinary spaces into immersive experiences full of visual intrigue!

Super Splash Lab: Projectiles

Age

High School at MIT

Session

Session 3: August 4 - 15, 2025

Skills

Sketching

Mechanics & Engineering

Prototyping

Woodworking

Product Design

In the brand-new SuperSplash Lab: Projectiles studio, students will dive into physics and engineering principles as they design and build innovative water spray and launch toys. Through hands-on experiments, they'll explore concepts like projectile design, fluid dynamics, force, and pressure, using this knowledge to develop a unique final project—such as a high-powered water balloon launcher or a redesigned Super Soaker™. This studio invites students to blend creativity with technical skills, sparking curiosity and problem-solving in a fun, interactive environment. On the final day, students will test out their devices… make sure to bring a towel!

Code Jam

Age

High School at MIT

Session

Session 3: August 4 - 15, 2025

Skills

Coding

Game Design

Storyboarding

AI

Sketching

Dive into the dynamic world of video game development in this hands-on Code Jam studio! Participants will learn the essentials of programming while designing their own interactive game. Through coding challenges and collaborative problem-solving, they’ll explore the structure of games, from mechanics to storytelling, and bring their own game concepts to life.

Working together, participants will build their coding skills and creative confidence, to develop a game that combines strategy, design, and technical fluency. By the end of the studio, each participant will have created a playable game, showcasing both their coding skills and unique creative vision.

AI Movie Making

Age

High School at MIT

Session

Session 2: July 21 - August 1, 2025

Skills

AI

Film Making

Storyboarding

Sketching

Photography

In AI Movie Making, participants will be challenged to work collaboratively with generative AI tools such as Midjourney, DALLE, and ChatGPT to imagine human-centered narratives within a future world of their design. Participants will work in teams to develop a 3-act story, create concept art, design characters, write dialogue, and even envision promotional materials for their film. In addition to these outcomes, participants will be asked to critically evaluate the work they create with AI by iterating on the results and rationalizing their creative decisions along the way. Ultimately, each student should strive to find a healthy balance between the inspiration they receive from AI and their own creative vision.

Rocket Car Racers

Age

High School at MIT

Session

Session 2: July 21 - August 1, 2025

Skills

Sketching

Prototyping

Woodworking

Mechanics & Engineering

Laser Cutting

In Rocket Car Racers, participants will design and build CO2-powered drag racers while learning the physics principles behind speed: aerodynamics, rolling resistance, and inertia. Designers will sketch their car designs, carve wooden bodies, and then sand, paint, and add decals for the perfect finish. Along the way, they’ll master free body diagrams to understand the forces acting on the car. Finally, they’ll race their creations to see who becomes the Rocket Car Champion!

Escape Room: Great Escapes

Age

High School at MIT

Session

Session 2: July 21 - August 1, 2025

Skills

Game Design

Prototyping

CAD Drawing

Laser Cutting

3D Printing

In Escape Room: Great Escapes, participants will dive behind the scenes of escape rooms and discover what it takes to create mind-bending puzzles and games. They’ll collaborate with a local escape room, including a field trip to Red Fox Escapes where they will get to try out a real escape room and learn from their experience. Then, they will go back to the drawing board to design and fabricate interactive props and mindboggling puzzles inspired by legendary escapes and escape artists throughout history, such as Houdini's handcuff tricks, escape attempts from Alcatraz, and other iconic events. This immersive experience blends critical thinking and creativity, challenging participants to create an escape room full of riddles, design mind-bending puzzles, and uncover clues in thrilling, history-driven adventures.

Tiny House, Big Ideas

Age

High School at MIT

Session

Session 1: July 7 - 18, 2025

Skills

Laser Cutting

3D Printing

CAD Drawing

Sketching

Model Making

Join us for an exciting summer adventure in Tiny House, Big Ideas, where participants will dive into the world of architecture. In this hands-on design studio, participants will brainstorm, ideate, and prototype a tiny house for a particular client: themselves! Considering their own interests, hobbies, and habits, they will create the tiny house of their dreams. They will explore the essential elements of architecture, learn about cutting-edge building techniques, and experiment with innovative materials. 

Architects-in-training will brainstorm, conceptualize, draft plans, and build scale models using innovative fabrication techniques, all while discovering small spaces can make a big impact.

Fashion Tech: AI Pattern Design

Age

High School at MIT

Session

Session 1: July 7 - 18, 2025

Skills

Sewing & Pattern Making

AI

Sketching

Prototyping

Laser Cutting

In Fashion Tech: AI Pattern Design, students will harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to embark on a virtual globetrotting adventure, exploring diverse communities and cultures worldwide. We will explore the world through patterns and textiles and learn about the different values and meanings visually encoded in them. With the growth of fast fashion, garments are no longer encoded with the value systems of our cultures. In this studio, students use their own life values to inspire patterned garments and harness AI to bring their designed patterns to life. Finally, they will use fabric hand printing techniques and transfer these patterns onto garments, capturing the essence of their values, culture, and diversity into their own creations.

Bot V Bot

Age

High School at MIT

Session

Session 1: July 7 - 18, 2025

Skills

Robotics

Mechanics & Engineering

Electronics

3D Printing

Radio Frequency Communication

Fight, robots, fight! In this advanced Battlebotics studio, participants will design and build ant-weight (one pound) battle-ready robots, complete with drive systems, defensive armor, and unique engineered weapons. After carefully considering possible designs and researching precedents, bot designers will use CAD drawing, 3D printing, and advanced mechanical engineering and fabrication to bring their bot to life. This studio culminates with a Bot V Bot tournament, in which the robots will enter the cage and face off. May the best bot win!