TechCamp
June 2026
Campus Leonardo Milano
Places still available
Discover the summer coding course for high school students (starting in their second year) to develop computational thinking, the ability to tackle a wide variety of problems (even everyday ones!) using the conceptual and technical tools of computer science. On this adventure, you'll be guided by the experience of professors and experts from the Polytechnic University of Milan.
There are languages that are building ever larger parts of our world: languages that power the applications that run on our computers and phones, languages that teach cars how to brake better (and more safely!) than we ever could, languages that teach objects how to communicate with each other, languages that are reinventing the concept of money, languages that build entire social worlds, and so much more.
You've probably heard of coding: it's the ability (and art!) of speaking these languages, and these days it's practically a superpower! Potential solutions to intricate problems, imaginary universes, bold hypotheses about the meaning of the data we collect from the world around us—all of these things can be brought to life through code! You can explore millions of imaginary worlds, create universes with alternative laws of physics, and express and communicate complex ideas.
In this course, we'll introduce Python, a powerful exploration and programming language that will offer you some exciting possibilities: programming the objects around you, imitating some aspects of human intelligence, writing video games, processing images, and synthesizing music.
But most importantly, you'll develop a powerful way to extend your thoughts, and you'll get a clearer idea of what's possible with computers.
We begin with the very timely consideration that computers are increasingly present in our lives today, often without us even realizing it, and we are the ones who use them. The idea of the course is to "open the box" and expose students to the creative possibilities offered by this technology. Many of us play video games made by others, but what if we could create our own?
The course will have a total duration of five days, which will be dedicated to the analysis, study, in-depth analysis and exploration of applications of the code and even "bizarre" consequences, which
They will touch on various issues, from scientific to cultural, and even existential ones!
The course will be mainly structured in two parts, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, under the direction of professors from the Polytechnic.
In the mornings, the course will focus on lessons introducing the tools of computational thinking. After introducing the fundamental principles of the Python language, these will be applied to solving small problems. Once the basics are mastered, we will move on to more complex computations, ultimately introducing tools that will allow us to create original and unique worlds.
The afternoons will be devoted to workshop sessions that will allow students to fully apply the skills they have acquired. In the second half of the course, students will be able to independently create their own worlds for the purpose of creating a video game.
Like all TechCamp summer courses, the approach is hands-on, providing a true STEM experience (a term used to indicate scientific-technological disciplines such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics and the various related courses of study).
To participate in the course, you are required to bring the following materials:
• A laptop. Anyone who owns an iPad (models released from 2018 onwards) is invited to bring it so that we can use one of the motion analysis software. The installed operating system does not matter, but the Office package is required. The software packages used in the course will be installed by the instructor during the afternoon exercises.
• A mouse (recommended to facilitate interaction with the software that will be used).
