This Isn’t Your Typical Summer Camp — It’s the Future of AI

On a warm June morning, while many teenagers were sleeping in or making plans for the beach, a classroom inside San José State University's Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering hummed with a different kind of summer energy. Conversations bounced between laptops and circuit boards. Students huddled around NVIDIA Jetson Nano devices, tested artificial intelligence models, debated cybersecurity strategies and celebrated each breakthrough with the excitement of discovery. For one week, summer vacation gave way to something far more enduring: the realization that the future isn't waiting for them - it is inviting them to help create it.

That is the promise of CyberAI Camp, a five-day immersive experience that introduces high school juniors and seniors to artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, networking, computer vision and other emerging technologies that are rapidly reshaping nearly every profession. In its third year, the program has become much more than an introduction to coding or engineering. It is an opportunity for students to explore ideas that many won't encounter until college while discovering that curiosity, perseverance and collaboration matter just as much as technical experience.

The camp itself has evolved as quickly as the technology it teaches.

"Starting with Raspberry Pi platforms and later moving to NVIDIA Jetson Nano devices, we've continuously expanded the curriculum," says Amith Kamath Belman, assistant professor of computer science and one of the camp's organizers. "This year, students are exploring cutting-edge topics including computer vision, vision-language models, cybersecurity, networking and system vulnerabilities."

Rather than relying on lectures, the program immerses students in 11 hands-on sessions where they build AI applications, investigate system vulnerabilities, experiment with advanced computing hardware and tackle challenges that resemble the work taking place inside research labs and technology companies across the world.

The week builds toward a hackathon where teams transform newly learned concepts into working projects under tight deadlines. It is often the moment when uncertainty gives way to confidence. Christopher He, a rising senior at Lynbrook High School and now a student volunteer, still remembers how overwhelming - and rewarding - that experience felt when he previously attended the camp.

"The hackathon was probably my favorite experience because I was able to apply everything I learned throughout the week," he says. "It felt stressful working on a project with so little time, but looking back it introduced me to concepts like HTML and running AI models locally."

By the final awards ceremony, the project he doubted had become one of his proudest accomplishments. More importantly, the experience fundamentally changed how he viewed artificial intelligence. "Before the camp, AI just seemed like some sort of magical element," he says. "Afterward, I understood it on a much deeper level and knew I wanted to continue exploring it."

For many students, that shift in perspective extends well beyond the classroom. Kumari Aditi, a rising junior at Evergreen Valley High School in San José, arrived at the camp last summer believing artificial intelligence and cybersecurity were fields reserved for expert programmers. A week later, she left with an entirely different understanding.

"I thought these fields were only for people deeply interested in software and programming," she said. "Throughout the week I realized there was so much more."

One of the camp's defining experiences came during its daily Power Hours, where professionals from companies including Apple, Google, Anthropic and LEGO discussed innovation, entrepreneurship and the unexpected paths that led them into technology careers. Their stories demonstrated that today's breakthroughs often begin with curiosity rather than expertise. Inspired by those conversations, Aditi joined her school's robotics team, enrolled in its computer science career pathway and actively pursued opportunities that once seemed beyond her reach.

LEGO software engineer Jay Pandit demonstrated how AI and cybersecurity are transforming product development and customer experiences, encouraging students to embrace emerging technologies as opportunities to innovate rather than obstacles to fear.

Returning this summer as a volunteer, Aditi recognized the same hesitation she once felt in many of the new campers. She spent the week reassuring students that experience is not a prerequisite for success.

"I wanted to show them how much can change in just one year if they take their learning into their own hands," she says.

Her advice is refreshingly simple: Ask questions, stay curious and don't be intimidated by advanced technology. Everyone starts somewhere, and everyone at camp-from faculty members to undergraduate mentors-is invested in helping students succeed.

Recent Los Gatos High School graduate Johann Jacob said CyberAI Camp strengthened his interest in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity through hands-on projects, the team hackathon and conversations with industry leaders. The experience inspired him to pursue a future in AI and cybersecurity.

Jacob's advice to future CyberAI Camp attendees is simple: "Don't be afraid to learn and to be challenged. At first, it may seem like an information overload, but in the end, you'll have a good understanding of everything."

That supportive environment may be CyberAI Camp's greatest strength. Students receive access to advanced computing equipment, collaborate with university faculty and mentors, network over lunch with industry professionals, and work alongside classmates who share the same excitement about solving difficult problems. Those connections often become just as valuable as the technical lessons themselves.

Christopher He credits the mentors and fellow students with creating an atmosphere where learning felt collaborative rather than competitive, making it easier to tackle unfamiliar concepts and continue exploring them long after the camp ended.

For Melody Moh, computer science professor and principal investigator of the cybersecurity grant supporting the camp, that lasting impact is the program's ultimate goal.

"We want students to walk away with new skills, confidence and a deeper understanding of AI and cybersecurity," she says. "Our theme is 'Navigating the AI-Empowered Future.' We want students to see AI not as something to fear, but as a powerful tool that can help shape their future careers and the world around them."

In an era when artificial intelligence is transforming industries faster than educational systems can adapt, giving students early exposure to these technologies is no longer simply an advantage - it is preparation for the world they are about to inherit.

By the time the week came to a close, students left with far more than certificates or completed projects. They left having built something less tangible but arguably more important: confidence. Confidence to ask bigger questions, pursue ambitious goals, join robotics teams, study computer science, launch new ideas or simply believe they belong in a field that is shaping the future.

The greatest takeaway from CyberAI Camp isn't found in a line of code or a finished project. It's the moment students realize they belong in the conversation about the future. They arrive with questions and leave with ambition, carrying the confidence to tackle problems that don't yet have solutions. If the stories from this summer are any indication, the next generation of innovators won't simply inherit the age of AI - they'll define it. And for many, that journey will begin at CyberAI Camp 2027.