An interest form is not always an application. Several UCLA engineering teams use one to send meeting details to anyone who wants to build. Other groups review applications before assigning project roles. Read the How to join note on the club page before treating a form as a selection process. The Tech & Engineering directory has 88 groups, with work ranging from aircraft and software to technical workshops.
Project teams have different ways in
Bruin Formula Racing designs, builds and tests a formula-style car. Its join note points new students to an interest form. Baja SAE builds an off-road vehicle and says it welcomes new members through its interest form. Rocket Project teaches the design, build and test cycle through high-powered rockets; its new member form is open to undergraduate and graduate students. These are better starting points if you want hands-on work without first getting past an interview.
The work also extends beyond vehicles. Bruin Spacecraft Group supports student space mission projects, including small satellites, rocket payloads and balloons. It asks students to fill out an interest form and join its Discord. Design Build Fly makes remote-controlled aircraft for an AIAA competition and uses an interest form for meeting updates. Engineers Without Borders explicitly invites all students to join any of its weekly project teams. Show up to learn what each team needs before deciding where your skills fit.
A project label can also mean a selective role. DevX takes applications for developer, designer, product manager and marketer roles. DataRes opens applications for its subteams at the start of each quarter, while its DataLearn program has a separate registration. An event, a mailing list and a project seat are three different levels of involvement.
Coding clubs and hackathons
ACM says its events are open regardless of major or experience. Its fall general meeting has an RSVP, and its Discord and newsletter carry updates. Its Hack committee runs coding workshops and courses for beginners; the Hack Invaders program has its own interest form. Game Dev Studio, another ACM subcommittee, runs projects, workshops and game jams. It directs newcomers to events and Discord, with a rolling application for late project team sign-ups.
LA Hacks is a different kind of commitment: its join note links a hackathon application and points would-be organizers to a separate organizer page. Applying to attend an event does not make you part of the organizing team. Cyber keeps events open to the public and welcomes beginners, but asks people seeking active membership to complete a quarterly workshop, lab project or competition requirement. That distinction matters when you compare clubs that all call themselves open.
Professional societies are useful without a project seat
Societies can be a steady place for workshops, mentorship and people in your field. Society of Women Engineers uses a general member sign-up form and shares events through its mailing list and Slack. Biomedical Engineering Society says all majors are welcome and uses a membership form and Discord. National Society of Black Engineers points students to its newsletter and GroupMe.
American Society of Civil Engineers has design projects, professional events and mentorship. Its membership form is separate from its intern application and mentorship sign-up. ASME posts a newsletter and Discord for general events, while its robotics project teams have their own Discord links. Joining the parent society is a useful first step, but check the individual team's channel for its work schedule.
Research-style work varies by group
AI Safety at UCLA offers a reading group sign-up and a community Discord. Bruin Sports Analytics combines sports research, data journalism, consulting and machine learning; its fall recruitment asks applicants to pick a sport group or Data Journalism. The Data Science Union uses an application followed by coffee chats and interviews. If your goal is to learn first, BruinXR welcomes interested students through Discord and runs a training program where members build extended reality projects.
These groups describe student-led reading, analysis or design work. Their pages do not promise a faculty lab placement. For a research-style club, ask what a new member produces, who reviews the work and how a beginner joins a team. A clear answer tells you more than the word research on a flyer.
How to get onto a team in your first year
- Choose a build area you would attend even before getting a role. Start with an open workshop or a project team's general meeting, and read its How to join note.
- Fill out interest forms now. For teams such as Baja SAE and Rocket Project, that is how the club gets you its next steps. Save applications with stated selection stages for separate work.
- At the first meeting, ask which subteams take beginners, what they meet to build this quarter and how a new member receives a task. If a team has its own Discord, join that channel.
- Apply to a selective project only after you can say why its work interests you. Keep attending an open group while decisions are pending. A workshop or small task gives you something specific to discuss later.
For more on applications, see the selective clubs guide. The useful first-week move is modest: attend one meeting, enter the team's update channel and find out how work is assigned.