Building Leaders for Advancing Science and Technology offers an exciting way for rising 9th and 10th grade students to spend three days of summer! Participating students get to stay in a college dorm and see what campus life is like on-site at one of our five partner universities: Old Dominion University, Radford University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, or William & Mary. No previous experience in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is needed, and this program is FREE for participants. BLAST is designed to help students find their place in STEM.

Each day of BLAST is jam-packed with STEM-related activities and demonstrations led by faculty of the university. Students come away from BLAST with a greater sense of curiosity, deeper insight about the variety of careers that exist in STEM fields, and enhanced readiness for advanced programs in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Click the links provided to watch videos from past BLAST sessions. You will find more information about the program, as well as the online application, through the tabs above.

The BLAST program is a partnership between the Virginia Space Grant Consortium, Old Dominion University, Radford University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, William & Mary, and the Commonwealth of Virginia.