Design + Build Camp
For rising high school sophomores and juniors
July 14 to 25, 2025
On the UC Berkeley campus
Take your maker skills to the next level at UC Berkeley this summer. You’ll work side by side with fellow campers to imagine, design, and build a mini golf course using state-of-the-art tools in the College of Environmental Design’s wood and metal shop and digital fabrication lab.
Registration will open mid-December, 2024
A Creative Design/Build Experience
In this intensive design/build day camp for rising second- and third-year high school students, you’ll collaborate on a small team to create one mini golf hole. Get creative with themed environments, tunnels, bridges, buildings, windmills, tubes, ramps, characters and other engaging elements and obstacles. The sections will be joined together and installed in the CED courtyard, creating a complete course for you to play with family and fellow campers on the final day. It’ll be a “hole” lotta fun!
Design and build in an industrial fabrication shop
The camp emphasizes a hands-on learning experience in CED’s 4,000-square-foot industrial wood and metal shop and the adjacent state-of-the-art digital fabrication lab. It’s a unique opportunity for high school students to get experience with professional-grade equipment, including table saws; welding, machining, and casting equipment; Prusa 3D printers; Universal laser cutters; and a CNC router. Highly skilled fabrication specialists will instruct you on how to safely and effectively use these tools to bring your design ideas to life.
Why Berkeley Design + Build Camp?
- Engage in college-level design thinking and communication skills
- Level up your maker skills by learning how to use professional woodworking and metalworking equipment.
- Explore digital fabrication software and tools
- Create a complete project from initial idea to finished object
- Develop STEM skills
- Collaborate with other creative teens
- Experience a college campus
- Receive a certificate of completion from UC Berkeley
Details
Location
Design + Build Camp is offered in person on the UC Berkeley campus. It takes place in Bauer Wurster Hall, the home of the College of Environmental Design.
Program cost
The camp fee is $2,900. This fee includes:
- Instruction and supervision
- All materials
- Use of the shop and lab equipment
- UC Berkeley certificate
- Lunch at the final celebration on July 25 (students bring their own lunches on all other days)
- PLUS take home one of your fabricated objects
A small number of need-based stipends are available. The general financial aid guidelines for other CED Summer Programs apply (see CED Summer Program Deadlines & Fees page, toward the bottom of the page).
Schedule
The camp meets daily from July 14 to July 25, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Final celebration: July 25 (parents invited)
Attendance
This is a fast-paced class with important instruction in every class session. Therefore, there are no excused absences at Design + Build Camp. Students are expected to attend every camp day and be present for the full class session. There are no exceptions. Students who anticipate missing too much class time will not be allowed to attend the program. Anticipated absences not addressed prior to the refund deadlines will not be considered for an exception.
Registration
Registration and Enrollment
This is a non-credit-bearing commuter camp for students entering 10th or 11th grade. To register, parents and students complete an online registration together. Registration opens mid-December, 2024.
Registration processing fee: $50
Students' admission will be confirmed by an email including details on the next steps. (Please check your spam folder if you don’t hear from us after five business days.) The next steps are signatures via DocuSign ("enrollment") and payment.
The camp has rolling admissions, i.e., we confirm registration for eligible students in the order in which we receive their registrations, usually within less than five business days. The camp size will be capped at 30 students.
NOTE: A space in the program is only confirmed after the student is fully enrolled, i.e., parents have signed pertinent forms via DocuSign, including liability, waiver, code of conduct, and confirmation that students commute from home or from a trusted and responsible relative, and have paid all camp fees.
Deadlines and Refunds
The Design + Build Day Camp registration deadline is May 15, 2025.
Need-based stipend application deadline: March 11, 2025
Cancellation deadline for a full refund (minus a processing fee of $150): April 15, 2025
Cancellation deadline for a partial refund (50%): April 30, 2025. There will be no refunds after that date.
NOTE: If you enroll after the respective cancellation deadlines, you will be financially responsible for the fees as indicated above.
Experienced Instructors
CONNECT WITH CED SUMMER PROGRAMS
- Sign up for our mailing list to receive reminders and updates
- Specific questions on Design + Build Day Camp? Email us: cedsummerprograms (at) berkeley.edu