STEM Summer Institute projects built by girls, bound for space

By Ava Rumsey '25

Have you ever wondered what astronauts see on the dark side of the moon? Have you ever considered how women brush their hair in zero gravity? For the past two weeks, girls in the STEM Summer Institute have been answering questions just like these, guided by their own curiosity, drive, and innovation.

Working together using the engineering design process to solve real-world challenges, these students learn how to do extensive research, create models, receive and apply constructive feedback from women in STEM fields, and give detailed presentations to showcase their work. This year, girls focused their research on challenges in space, inspired by the recent Artemis II mission.

Designing everything from a radiation-protection belt to a maximum-visibility light suit to use on the dark side of the moon, the girls’ ideas and final products were truly out of this world.

“It made me feel like anything was possible,” STEM Summer Institute student Emma AbouZeid said.

Becoming women in STEM

Since 2012, the STEM Summer Institute has brought together girls from across Middle Tennessee to spend two weeks on Harpeth Hall’s campus stepping into the shoes of STEM professionals. Through innovative classes, professional demonstrations, and hands-on engineering projects, these 6th through 12th grade students forge new friendships as they envision solutions to real-world problems.

Last year, students learned the basics of architectural design to create blueprints and 3-D models as they reimagined existing spaces in the Nashville area to meet local community needs. In previous sessions, campers have created prototypes to help people with disabilities, structures to mitigate flooding in Middle Tennessee, devices to increase the efficiency of small-scale farmers, and hand-washing stations for people with limited access to water.

With space exploration and the moon as the focus for 2026, students examined the dynamics of travel beyond Earth's atmosphere.

Rising 6th and 7th grade students researched the requirements and constraints of activities that astronauts do in space to build community and collaboration before designing their own team-building game for astronauts. Rising 8th and 9th grade students explored the problems that female astronauts face in space, and the current solutions to those challenges. They then designed their own solution to attempt to improve on current methods.

Finally, rising 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students researched conditions on the moon’s surface and what issues astronauts face because of these conditions. They used this research to design original solutions to address the problems they identified.

Students were divided into groups and allowed to pursue any topic that interested them within their respective categories. Projects covered every topic imaginable, from a coded mini-rover that tested optimal tire design on the moon’s surface to specially designed urine funnels for female astronauts.

Designing spacesuits and radiation shields

Emma, whose group designed an abdominal protection belt to shield important female organs from harmful radiation — which also included a heating pad for pain relief during menstrual cycles — reflected on how rewarding this process has been.

“After seeing the finished product and poster, we were really proud of ourselves and everything we accomplished,” Emma said. “We did an entire engineering notebook, a poster, and the final product in two weeks. We worked together really well.”

Their impressive final product included a sample of the multilayer material their suit would consist of, as well as a scaled-down model of what their suit would look like on an astronaut.

Four-year STEM Summer Institute attendee Canan Anderson reflected on the learning opportunities these experiences have given her.

“I like working on a different subject every year, especially subjects I don’t get to focus on in school. I don’t take classes on specific topics like this one, so I have liked getting to hone in on one field,” she said. “Learning that there are things on the south pole of the moon that can actually give us the chance to have human civilization on the moon is really cool. I would have had no idea.”

Canan’s group designed a spacesuit that included a light system to achieve maximum visibility on the dark side of the moon. Their final product was a rudimentary but fully functioning model of their suit with lights they could turn on and off to demonstrate its effectiveness.

Each summer, Harpeth Hall’s STEM Summer Institute allows girls to explore the world beyond the classroom in a hands-on environment, creating future scientists, mathematicians, and maybe even astronauts.