CSULA hosted a virtual reality showcase, put on by middle school students

At a STEM day camp on Friday, July 11 at California State University Los Angeles, middle school students showed off their projects including 3-D printed designs, “specially-coded robots,” game designs and artificial intelligence. Bianca Guzman, executive director of the Pathway Programs Office at Cal State LA, said the Verizon STEM Achievers free program run by her office is aimed at local young students who learn about STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The students got to eat in the university’s housing dining hall, and saw “what it really feels like to be on a college campus.” And the program held a “graduation” event for those children who attended the summer program that included a technology expo where they learned how to maneuver robots on an obstacle course, Guzman said.

Middle school students show off their completed STEM projects, which include 3-D printed designs, robotics, artificial intelligence and game design, to their families during the final day of the Verizon Innovative Learning STEM Achievers Program at Cal State Los Angeles in Los Angeles on Friday, July 11, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

Joshua, center, shows off a game designed by middle school students enrolled in the Verizon Innovative Learning STEM Achievers Program at Cal State Los Angeles in Los Angeles on Friday, July 11, 2025. Students presented their projects, which included 3-D printed designs, robotics, artificial intelligence and game design, to their parents on the final day of the program. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

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The students are comfortable with 3-D printers, virtual reality simulations using AR/VR goggles, game design and artificial intelligence. “We have several students who came to our program as 6th graders 9 years ago, who will be graduating from our campus this year,” Guzman said.

The students also learned social skills by working with other kids: “How do you help somebody with their coding, or give their applications a name, or come up with ideas about an app that was socially responsible?” Guzman said.

One sixth-grader created an app for students on the spectrum that could be used to “show a happy face or a feeling face, if they were sad or needed time alone,” Guzman said.