Inspiring Interest in STEM

If you had told the Carleton engineering student societies in 1994 that the science and technology camp they had just launched would go from working with 150 to 10,000 students per year, they probably wouldn’t have believed it.

Virtual Ventures (VV) is an award-winning program hosted out of Carleton University’s Faculty of Engineering and Design that aims to connect youth (junior kindergarten – grade 12) to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) from an early age. Between the Summer Camp, fall and winter clubs, after-school programs, school workshops and special events, VV is continually working on finding new avenues to inspire learning.

Innovating and staying curious has never been more important. VV opens doors for youth to have hands-on, tangible experience in areas such as computer programming, science, electronics, engineering, robotics, and web development. Exposure to these topics greatly impacts their interest in STEM fields and resonates with them as they navigate their academic and professional futures.

2022 marks the first year in Virtual Ventures’ history where more than 10,000 youth have been reached across its programs.

“Working at VV has given me the chance to help the next generation of scientists and engineers find their passion for STEM. It’s a rewarding job, and I absolutely love it.” – Eryn, Camp Instructor 2020-22 & Program Assistant 2022-23, Biomedical and Electrical Engineering Student

Reaching Audiences Where They’re At

2022 marks the first year in the program’s history where more than 10,000 youth were reached across all programs.

The team has worked hard to ensure the programming evolves with new technology and interests. Expanding offerings and including a greater variety of STEM-related topics have helped participants deepen their passions and foster their creativity.

“During the pandemic, we had to adapt and find ways to reach the youth where they were. We created activity kits that were shipped to their homes and the youth joined us online to complete the activities.” – Kyra Bloomfield, Program Director, Virtual Ventures

“This allowed us to reach youth outside of Ottawa, and relieve any barriers in travelling to in-person programs.”

Bloomfield is grateful that youth were able to continue exploring STEM despite the challenges.

Innovative solutions throughout the pandemic were critical to strengthen and enhance youths’ interest in STEM fields. VV’s return to in-person programming in 2022 was met with excitement from new and returning Summer Camp participants hosted on the Carleton campus.