One of the highlights of the first phase of SMA's education is the Summer Conference, an immersion experience of MIT’s campus life at Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2005, the Summer Conference took place from 25 July to 13 August. A total of 55 students from the CS and MEBCS programmes participated in the 18-day programme.

At MIT, the students participated in a range of enriching activities.

A series of entrepreneurship seminars were lined up for the students. Founders, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and other senior officers of highly successful companies shared their entrepreneurship experiences with the students. Dr Saman Amarasinghe, Chief Technology Office (CTO) and co-founder of Determina Inc. narrated the growth of an MIT research project into a venture-backed startup company. Dr Michael Gordon, founder and CEO of AngelDeals.com, shared his expertise in start-up companies. Dr Amir Nashat, Principal Consultant of Polaris Venture Partners introduced how venture capital companies work and Mr Jack Derby, Senior Manager of Derby Management, inspired the students with an in-depth case study of how a dynamic technology manufacturing materials company was borne out of the MIT Technology Licensing Office. In all, the speakers gave students a first-hand account of their experiences in transforming ideas and dreams hatched during their university days into full fledged profit-generating companies. The students also attended lectures and had discussions with their professors and peers.

Apart from the academic-oriented activities, the students took part in some leisure as well. They thoroughly enjoyed touring the MIT campus, and in particular, the ‘Duck Tour’—on an amphibious vehicle from World War II—on the scenic Charles River on the banks of which MIT is situated along.