FOUNDED 2024
RITS was founded in 2024 with a simple mission: to make engineering accessible to every middle and high school student, empowering them to learn, create, and lead in a technology-driven world.
We believe students learn engineering best when they have the opportunity to actually do it. That means solving real problems, working with real tools and data, building projects with their own hands, and standing up at the end to explain what they created.
At RITS, we want every student to leave having built something.
OUR METHOD
Learn. Build. Present.
Our programs are designed around three simple ideas.
Learn
Students are introduced to real engineering concepts, emerging technologies, professional tools, and the ways engineers approach complex problems. We make challenging technical ideas understandable and approachable - without watering them down.
Build
Learning becomes meaningful when students use it. RITS students work individually and in teams to analyze real datasets, experiment with engineering tools, solve problems, design prototypes, write code, and turn ideas into working projects.
Present
Engineering isn't only about finding an answer. It's also about explaining your thinking. Students present their projects, findings, and solutions to instructors, families, peers, and adult judges -building the confidence to communicate what they created and why it matters.
Learn it. Build it. Show it.
WHAT WE OFFER
Engineering Experiences Students Remember
We pride ourselves on creating programs that are both rigorous and highly engaging. RITS has offered summer camps, hackathons, online programs, and after-school programs designed to give students meaningful opportunities to explore engineering, artificial intelligence, coding, robotics, and emerging technology.
Rather than spending hours listening to lectures, students are challenged to experiment, collaborate, troubleshoot, compete, create, and present. We want students to remember the project they built, the problem they solved, the teammates they worked alongside, and the moment they realized:
"I can actually do this."
UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP
Step Inside the World of Engineering at VCU
RITS partners with the VCU College of Engineering to create an immersive summer experience that goes beyond the traditional classroom.
For many students, RITS is their first opportunity to experience engineering in a university environment. Our goal is to make that world feel exciting, understandable, and within reach.
Learn inside state-of-the-art engineering facilities
Tour real robotics laboratories
Hear from PhD faculty conducting cutting-edge research
Experience what studying STEM on a college campus can actually feel like
OUR INSTRUCTORS
Mentors Students Can See Themselves Becoming
Great engineering education requires more than technical knowledge. It requires instructors who can make complex ideas understandable, encourage curiosity, and connect with young people. That's why RITS hand-picks near-peer mentors to lead our programs.
Our instructors include talented college engineering students from leading universities, recent graduates, and other outstanding engineering candidates who combine technical ability with the charisma and communication skills needed to inspire younger students. They're close enough in age to be relatable and far enough ahead to show students what their own future in STEM could look like.
THE CURRICULUM
Built Around Real Work
We don't believe students need simplified "kid versions" of engineering. With the right mentorship, they can begin working with the same kinds of ideas, tools, and processes engineers use in the real world. Depending on the program, students may:
Work with real datasets
Build and test engineering prototypes
Train artificial intelligence models
Develop software applications
Experiment with robotics and computer vision
Use professional and emerging technology tools
Collaborate in engineering teams
Present recommendations or prototypes to adult judges
Students may arrive as beginners. But they leave feeling like builders.
LEADERSHIP
Meet the RITS Team
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Phyl Demetriou
Executive Director
Phyl leads the vision and growth of RITS, developing programs and partnerships that make hands-on engineering and technology education accessible to middle and high school students.
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Beth Denson
Programs Director
Beth helps lead the design and delivery of RITS programs, ensuring students have engaging, well-structured experiences centered on learning, building, and presenting.
RESEARCH PARTNERS
VCU Faculty Partners
RITS works alongside faculty partners at the VCU College of Engineering who help connect students with the university's engineering community and learning environment.
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Our Partners
RITS works with organizations that share our commitment to preparing young people for a technology-driven future.
Our Mission Is Access. Our Method Is Building.
Engineering shouldn't feel distant or reserved for the students who already know how to code, already own a robotics kit, or already see themselves as engineers.
We want more young people to have the opportunity to try. To build. To struggle with a problem and figure it out. To work with a team. To stand in front of a room and explain something they created. And ultimately, to see engineering as something they can participate in - not simply something other people do.
That's what RITS exists to make possible.