On the final day of Summer Engineering Exploration Camp at the University of Michigan, the classrooms felt different, as if no one was ready to let the experience end.

“We were all pretty tearful saying goodbye to each other because it had been a couple of weeks of fun,” said Coppell High School sophomore Rohan Jain, co-founder/vice president of Student Alliance for Growth in Engineering (SAGE).

For weeks, Jain had worked alongside students who shared his curiosity for engineering. Saying goodbye was not easy, but the experience left Jain, junior Isabel Conejo from Bellevue, Wash. and sophomore Hannah Shin from Stevenson Ranch, Calif. inspired.

“We had so much fun, both learning about the fields of engineering, as well as connecting to like minded people,” Jain said. “We were brought together by this love for STEM and this idea that other kids can love it as much as we do.”

That interaction sprouted the origins of the SAGE in July 2024.

“We hoped that other kids who maybe don’t have the resources or the funding or the time, or the accessibility to get there and experience the community and the depth of engineering like we had,” Jain said. “We needed to do something about it.”

The outreach-based organization is designed to provide opportunities for high school students in engineering through hands-on engineering seminars, free STEM tutoring services and partnerships with local technology companies.

Since its launch, SAGE has expanded with additional chapters in Texas, Washington and California, with tutors working remotely across the United States and Europe.

Although the organization continues rapid growth, the most actively involved chapter is the CHS9 chapter. Established as a club led by volunteers, SAGE at CHS9 currently supports more than 40 members. Under the leadership of freshman Adweik Nake, SAGE’s CHS9 chapter has established the organization’s presence on campus.

“At first, not a lot of people knew about SAGE, but as I got more outreach, it eventually went from three to 15 then 15 to 30,” Nake said. “It became a chain of socialization.”

SAGE meetings at CHS9 combine planning with collaborative activities, allowing for members to build connections.

“We’ve become sort of like a mutual family that’s worked and built structures together,” Nake said.

A strong sense of community is central to the widespread success of SAGE. For example, a parent in California wrote about her son, Austin, a first-generation Chinese student who speaks Mandarin fluently but minimal English.

“She said for the very first time that she felt hope that her child can further his interests like she couldn’t further for him,” Jain said. “That was our first tangible progress.”

The organization works specifically to make engineering approachable and inviting to all students.

“I try to inculcate a culture of fun,” Jain said. “I really don’t want the organization to turn into something bureaucratic or something authoritarian. It’s a place where everyone should have fun because the culture determines productivity.”

Members help design educational materials and support younger students interested in engineering and technology through tutoring.

“I’m learning with the kids and it’s made me more interested,” freshman Shrriya Bedse said. “It makes me think that I can join both my mechanical interests with AI, and my wanting to go in that direction was definitely increased.”

A majority of seminars held in conjunction with SAGE occur at some of the largest technology companies, such as Microsoft and Nokia, allowing students the opportunity to experience and learn in a professional environment.

At a recent SAGE seminar at Nokia’s Las Colinas offices, students participated in artificial intelligence demonstrations and collaborated on a simulated problem-solving activity. Students learned more about topics not commonly explored in the traditional classroom environment.

“There were 80 kids, and I was stunned how different it was from the first seminar,” Jain said. “It was nothing big, maybe 40 kids max. This one really took off with CHS9’s outreach efforts.”

The success has been largely attributed to the work ethic of the leadership team.

“Because they’ve had so much success, they’re willing to come back and do it over and over again,” sponsor Laronna Doggett said. “The success that they see and the interest that the younger kids, parents and the community have keep them invested in the whole process.”

As SAGE expands, the leaders hope to maintain the same dedication driving their mission to make engineering accessible to all.

“I hope that the kids share my sentiments about the fact that we’re not done yet, we’re only growing.” Jain said. “That same mindset and that same culture is really going to push us in the future to do even greater things. There’s no stopping here.”