Camps Community

Community Mission

Working with the network of SAME Posts, volunteers, and sponsors, the Camps Community of Interest (COI) supports the development, maintenance, and growth of a variety of camps to provide in-person experiences to students interested in exploring Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics skills and careers.

SAME camps help participants learn engineering and construction skills and principles through various projects involving complex problem-solving; experience the range of engineering fields they can explore based on their STEM interests; understand career options across the engineering sector; and interact with STEM volunteers and mentors. The net outcome is more STEM professionals available to meet the infrastructure and readiness needs of our nation.

The Camps is application closed on Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Overview

Each year SAME supports numerous camps across the country and overseas, including five week-long in-residence Engineering & Construction Camps for high school students, to provide students with first-hand experience in STEM. Posts across the world support additional one-day to multi-day camps, extending the reach of the Society to more students.

This COI is open to any SAME member, strategic partner, member company, or donor interested in ensuring SAME continues to provide such in-person experiences.

COI Goals

• Provide a world-class STEM engagement program

• Recruit campers, staff and mentors at both the national and local level

• Expand the number of camp opportunities to engage more young people

• Ensure high school students continue on a STEM path after graduating

• Foster an alumni network engaged in the work of the Society

Strategic Alignment

Goal 2: Build and Sustain Resilient Communities–Lead efforts to prepare communities to absorb, recover, and adapt from natural and man-made threats, fortify our nation’s resolve directly where people work and live.

SAME Camps’ ability to contribute to technical and leadership skill-building in a competitive environment pushes campers resolve to solve problems. They become an important factor in their community’s ability to be resilient.

Goal 3: Develop Leaders for the Profession–Lead efforts to enhance leadership development and cultivate the talent necessary to address the nation’s grand challenges; ensure the enduring stewardship of the A/E/C profession.

At every turn, campers are presented with problems they must investigate, plot solutions, and test their plans. Success is not guaranteed, but that is part of the learning process. Campers understand that their ability to work in teams amplifies the impact they can make. They learn when to lead and when to follow, skills that contribute to the enduring stewardship of the A/E/C profession.

Goal 4: Enrich the STEM Pipeline for the Nation–Lead efforts to inspire, encourage, and enable youth to pursue STEM careers; help them develop the technical capacity that our nation needs to remain globally competitive.

Camps provide in-person experiences to students interested in exploring STEM-related skills and careers. Campers get to interact with scientists and engineers and hear about the path they followed in pursuing their careers. Campers gain a sense of what it takes to become a STEM professional and what options exist to explore that interest from high school to college and beyond. The net outcome is more STEM professionals available to meet the technical needs of our nation and remain globally competitive.

Upcoming National Webinars

• 
  August 12, 2026

  Webinar

  Leading Through Growth: Navigating the Stages of Small Business Success

  In this webinar, **Jonathan Ruffier** explores the critical leadership shifts required to successfully grow and scale a small business. The hard truth? The very skills that help founders launch and build a successful company can become the biggest obstacles to continued growth.
• 
  August 26, 2026

  Webinar

  The Hidden Cost: Why Schedule is the Biggest MILCON Premium

  Military construction (MILCON) cost discussions often focus on dollars per square foot, but one of the most significant portion of the overall cost is time. Every month added to a project can increase costs through
• 
  September 23, 2026

  Webinar

  AI as Load Shock: Rethinking Energy Security and Mission Assurance

  The rapid expansion of AI computing, electrification, and mission-critical digital infrastructure is fundamentally altering the energy security landscape. While AI is often discussed as a software capability or data challenge, its most immediate national security impact is physical: unprecedented, concentrated, and inflexible electrical demand that stresses grid infrastructure and traditional resilience assumptions.