MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute (BWSI)

The MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute (BWSI) is a four-week summer STEM program for high school students entering their senior year, hosted by MIT Lincoln Laboratory and MIT's School of Engineering. Students work in teams on hands-on, project-based courses in areas such as autonomy, artificial intelligence, radar, cybersecurity and satellites. BWSI lists 14 summer courses. Some meet in person on MIT's campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, including Autonomous RACECAR Grand Prix, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles and Unmanned Air System-Synthetic Aperture Radar. Others run virtually over Zoom, such as CogWorks, Medlytics, Cyber Operations and Quantum Software. The 2027 summer schedule runs Monday to Friday, July 5 to August 1. For 2027, BWSI is free for families with income and assets under $200,000 and costs $3,000 for others. There is no residential option. BWSI also offers Saturday programs in the fall and spring and two year-long national team challenges.

Applicants must live in the U.S. and physically attend a U.S. high school, and must be in 10th or 11th grade when they apply; most admitted students are rising seniors. In-person students must arrange their own housing and have an adult staying with them. Applying takes several steps. Students first register for BWSI's free online prerequisite courses, which open February 1; no teacher nomination is needed. Registered students in the U.S. receive the summer application in March. It includes three short essays and a teacher or mentor recommendation, and progress in the online coursework weighs heavily in admission.