Robotics (Core Course)

Our robotics course uses Legos Mindstorms kits and a set of aftermarket sensors (including color cameras) to engage students in team-based competitions. In teams of 4, students build and program their robots to solve challenges. In the past, students used vision recognition and artificial intelligence techniques to first navigate a maze, and then play "Robot Soccer."

Modern Physics (Core Course)

Our physics course is designed to introduce modern and experimental physics topics to the Governor's School students. The class is designed to be both novel and comprehensible by students whose backgrounds range from no prior physics experience to having completed AP Physics. Topics include special and general relativity, quantum mechanics, particle physics, the Large Hadron Collider, experimental design, & string theory.

Design Experience

Students will choose a class in which they learn basic design techniques in a field, and then use those techniques to create their own engineering design. Our four choices in the past were

• "Designing a Computer-Controlled House"
• "Computational Techniques for Biomedical Engineering"
• "Engineering Entrepreneurship"
• "Mechanical Engineering in the Developing World."

Laboratory Experience

Students will choose one Lab class, featuring hands-on analysis and testing. In the past, our four classes in this category are

• "Biomedical Instrumentation and Biological Signals"
• "The Electrical Engineering Circuits Lab"
• "Biodiesel - Learning About It, Making Some, and Analyzing It"
• "Wonderful and Crazy Ideas in Theoretical Computer Science and Mathematics."

Technical Analysis

This series of elective classes encompasses courses in applied mathematics and computer science/engineering. In the past, scholars chose one of the following courses:

• "Computer-Aided Design and Rapid Prototyping an RC Car"
• "Bridges- Learning About Them, Building Them, and then Destroying Them"
• "Hacking Social Networks: Security and Privacy on Facebook, MySpace, and Flickr"
• "Introduction to Computer Programming for Engineers."

cademia or industry. In groups of 3 or 4 students, the Governor's Scholars will investigate and attempt to solve a complex and novel problem. Each group writes a conference-style research paper and presents its results at the Governor’s School of New Jersey Program in Engineering & Technology Symposium in front of an audience of professors, dignitaries, industry members, and invited guests. At the conclusion of the research experience, students should expect to have made significant connections with their research mentors and to have gained scientific maturity.

• Brain Control
• Artificial Intelligence and Reinforcement Learning
• Automotive Engineering- Designing an Engine Fuel Map
• Engineering Smart Windows using Arduino
• Improving Water Sanitation in the Developing World
• Lighting an African School using Alternative Energy
• Live Event Audio Engineering
• Mission to Mars
• NanoEngineering: Practical Uses of Sol-gel Nanocomposites
• New Jersey and Urban Wind: Perfect Together?

• Pharmaceutical Engineering and Drug Manufacturing
• Quality Engineering
• Reopening Pandora's Box: Improving Music Recommendation Systems
• Re-sequencing CYP 2C9 Gene Regions Using Mass Spectrometry
• Should I Buy or Should I Sell Now?
• The Bone Project
• Wii Rehab: Can Nintendo Wiimotes Be Used for Rehabilitating Range of Motion?
• X-Ray Diffraction of Lipstick and Gunpowder
• Your Own Audio Amplifier

Each Governor's School student will have the opportunity to visit three local corporations to learn about future career opportunities. The tour destinations change each year. In the past, we have visited Bloomberg, Google, Anheuser Busch, Chanel Inc., Colgate-Palmolive, Hess Corporation, IBM's Wafer Fab, Lockheed Martin, Merck & Co., Microsoft, MTA- Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Picatinny Arsenal, PSE&G Nuclear, Sun Microsystems, and the U.S. Golf Association.

• Experiences with science research programs, how to win competitive science fairs
• Energy policy, how oil is refined, careers in energy
• Entrepreneurship, cloud computing, women in technology
• Financial careers for engineers

A number of supplementary activities will reinforce ideas in engineering. “Life Skills Days” will provide exposure to many important skills an engineer needs to know, yet may not have seen before. Each Life Skills Crash Course provides a 60-minute introduction to a topic without assuming any prior knowledge. Past topics have ranged from using power tools, repairing iPods, soldering, and speed-solving the Rubik's Cube, all the way to salsa dancing!

Our Governor’s School students will also work together to design and run technology outreach programs for disadvantaged local communities. In the past, we have also partnered with community organizations in Paterson and Newark and ran a very successful series of computer literacy events for middle school students and senior citizens.

Additional activities at Governor’s School include a College Question and Answer session with current students at elite universities, a half-day simulation of the team design process, recreational athletics activities, and a student talent show!  We also schedule additional activities based on admitted students’ expressed interests, so each year’s Governor’s School is customized.

We highly recommend that you look through past students' research papers to get a sense of the Research Project experience. Research papers from our past sessions are available in our electronic research journal.