UNLV STEM for Girls Camp Inspires Future Pathways with Seed Funding from Sands

In December, the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) culminated the first semester of the 2025 UNLV STEM for Girls Camp, a year-long extracurricular program for elementary and middle school-aged girls aimed at encouraging interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects and the variety of careers in these areas.

With an initial $75,000 contribution from Sands Cares to kick off the program, the 2025 camp included 16 girls selected for participation from eight Clark County schools. Between September-December, they participated in weekly sessions centered on interactive learning and team-based design challenges that balanced technical rigor with creative, real-world applications.

Each week, students learned about a different STEM topic, such as electronics, mechanical energy and design thinking, and completed projects coordinating with the topics. Curriculum

challenged students to solve problems by creating products, building simple machines like a cotton ball launcher, and working circuits and an electrical fan.

UNLV established the STEM for Girls Camp to address the wide gender disparity in STEM-related fields. The American Association of University Women estimates that women make up only 26% of the STEM workforce. Gaps appear early, with women underrepresented in STEM majors in higher education, particularly in engineering and computer science.

“We truly appreciate Sands making this possible, both with philanthropic support and the inspiration to launch a program that helps break stereotypes and will hopefully lead to more women in STEM fields,” Yingtao Jiang, Ph.D., associate dean in UNLV’s Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering, said. “As we look forward to the next segment, the girls will be meeting more female mentors in engineering fields and continue to work on projects that build excitement, confidence, STEM literacy and pride in their work.”

In the current spring 2026 semester, the program features a critical thinking workshop and project clusters on chemistry and material science, physics and engineering mechanics, and human-centered design. In addition to learning sessions and hands-on experiments, project highlights include building articulated robot hands to understand how tendons and joints function as simple machines, as well as designing accessibility tools for people with disabilities and environmentally conscious solutions for resource conservation. The camp concludes with students presenting their work in a show-and-tell day.

Sands’ involvement in the UNLV STEM for Girls Camp aligns with the company’s focus on workforce development and helping build an inclusive workforce of the future through education, mentorship and skills development programs.

“Research shows that teams with gender diversity consistently deliver the strongest innovation,” Matt Perkins, vice president of global process innovation at Sands said. “Today, women make up about 15-16% of the engineering workforce, yet when they’re included, creativity and problem-solving soar. For the best outcomes, we need more women in engineering – our national security, economic strength and global competitiveness depend on it.”

Perkins said that means tackling barriers head-on by building mentorship programs and visible role models, as well as strengthening the education pipeline.

“Girls need to see STEM as a natural choice if we are to create inclusive workplaces where women can thrive and lead. When we do this, we unlock the full potential of every mind, and that’s how we keep innovation moving forward.”

To learn more about Sands’ workforce development and education initiatives, read the company’s latest environmental, social and governance report: https://www.sands.com/resources/reports