Hands-on Summer Physics Camp inspires students, welcomes VIP guests

Imagine you’re a high-schooler who’s spent the previous two weeks learning about a range of science topics and working on your multi-day project. It’s the last day of the camp and you’re getting ready for the final presentations to parents, the volunteers who have helped during the camp, and other guests.

Then you learn that among the attendees coming to see your work are a U.S. senator and the director of Los Alamos National Laboratory. No pressure, right?

That was the experience for the students at the 10th annual Summer Physics Camp, which took place June 8-19 at the New Mexico School for the Arts, providing an immersive STEM experience for middle and high-school students from across New Mexico and Hawaii. 

The students rose to the challenge of their VIP guests, discussing what they’d learned during the camp, and answering questions about the projects they’d been working on: building remotely operated robotic hands or solar-powered houses with proximity sensors, lights and fans.

Highlighting STEM careers

Supported by Los Alamos National Laboratory and Laboratory operator Triad, the free two-week camp founded by Laboratory scientist Anna Llobet aims to inspire students to pursue higher education and empower them to explore careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), with the hope that they will one day contribute to making the world a better and safer place for everyone.

Thirty-four attendees from 12 New Mexico counties and Hawaii explored the science of the unseen forces that underpin our world, from electricity and gravitational waves to the quantum realm and the microscopic machinery of life. 

A residential option allowed eight New Mexico students from outside the Santa Fe area to attend, expanding access to attendees from more rural parts of the state.

“This was my first year serving as a co-leader with Anna at the camp,” says Dylan Tharp Eralie, a postdoctoral research associate at the Laboratory. “It was amazing to see the growth in the students over the two weeks. They all worked so hard to learn and improve and I just can’t wait to watch their careers take off in whatever fields they choose!”

The students enjoyed intensive sessions covering a range of areas including physics, computer science, radiation, astrophysics, robotics, engineering and machine learning, led by role models who help students identify career pathways the students may not have been exposed to before.

As volunteers introduced the science topics and hands-on activities, they also discussed their career journeys, explaining the range of challenges, experiences and opportunities that had led them to their current positions.

When asked the main lesson he would take away from the camp, Efrain Juarez (9th grade at the Master’s Program in Santa Fe) says, “To embrace struggle, since through our failures we learn how to do better next time. It is how I imagine science is most of the time: your experiments may fail many times until you finally get it right.” 

Powered by volunteers

With the help of more than 130 volunteers from Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories and elsewhere, the camp gave students a chance to boost their understanding of how STEM impacts and improves the world through hands-on activities, demonstrations, tours, talks and the final engineering project. 

“Volunteers from across the many disciplines that support the national laboratories’ missions are the driving force behind the success of this camp,” says Llobet. “Their dedication reflects our workforce’s deep commitment to Los Alamos National Laboratory’s mission of being a force for good by inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers, and innovators across New Mexico.”

Through institutional support and the Laboratory’s community service program, full-time and part-time employees can request paid time to participate in STEM outreach activities like the camp.

The camp also offered professional development sessions on how students can discover their personality strengths, write a resume, perform well in interviews, and apply for internships. The attendees explored future opportunities at a college fair attended by representatives from UNM, NMSU, and Los Alamos National Laboratory student programs. They also heard from a former camp participant and current Laboratory intern, who shared their journey to a military college, involvement in ROTC, and success in securing national STEM-focused scholarships.

Four educators (two each from New Mexico and Hawaii) ensured the camp was varied, educationally sound, and provided students the educational support they needed. 

Tours and projects

The first week included a tour of Los Alamos National Laboratory, where students visited the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center linear accelerator (LANSCE) and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory to see how some of the scientific concepts they were exploring are used in cutting-edge research.

As part of the second week, students put their new knowledge and skills into action, working on their final projects.

“From day one when they first built a working direct current motor to the final day where they are sharing their incredibly creative houses and robotic hands, you can see not only the improvement in their technical skills but also their confidence,” says Tharp Eralie.

During his remarks at the final presentations event, Sen. Heinrich described his own engineering background and how it has helped him in his professional and legislative life, particularly around conservation and energy issues. Laboratory Director Thom Mason stressed the value for everyone of having an interest and understanding of STEM topics, and underscored how the committed and curious camp attendees were exactly the sort of young people the Laboratory is looking to hire.

The Summer Physics Camp has already proven to be a pipeline for future STEM leaders, with at least two former attendees now working at Los Alamos, and 19 other alumni from previous years pursuing Laboratory internships in 2026 at the high school, undergraduate and graduate level.

This year's camp was supported by Los Alamos National Laboratory, Triad National Security LLC, Sandia National Laboratories, STEM Santa Fe, New Mexico Consortium, Delle Foundation, N3B, Pueblo Alliance LLC, Herrera Coaches Inc, SAGE, Hawaii Science & Technology Museum, Hawai’i State Department of Education, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Chemical Society, American Physical Society Four Corners, New Mexico School for the Arts, J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee, New Mexico  Network for Women in Science and Engineering, Los Alamos Women in Science, STEMArts Lab, and private individuals.