Biomaterials Research Mentoring for High School Students

As a primarily undergraduate institution (PUI), Lawrence Technological University (LTU) provides ample opportunities for students to participate in research. Over 50% of the undergraduates in the Biomedical Engineering (BME) Department have conducted at least one research project before they graduate. The most active research in the BME Department is on biomaterials, with strong student interest and facility support. Over the past five years, many high school students are also involved in semester-long biomaterials research with the BME faculty, staff and students.<br/>One group of high school students are from the Bloomfield Hills High School (BHHS) Biomedical Pathway Program (BPP), the first and only Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) program in Michigan and a nationally recognized innovative high school program that partners with industry and post-secondary institutions to provide authentic immersive learning experience for students. BPP students spend two class periods each week in their junior and senior years to develop biomedical related knowledge and skills in an immersive project-based environment. In the first year, students take classes that provide formative skills in biomedical engineering with limited classroom exposure to research and career pathways. During the second year, they are placed in host organizations that fit their career interests. Built on partnership between the BPP program and the BME Department, BME students with ongoing research projects can choose to mentor and train BPP students in the second year. Students from other high schools participate in research in the BME department either through their school internship/externship programs or over the summer. Since Fall 2019, 19 high school students have conducted research with BME faculty, staff and students. 16 of these 19 students worked on biomaterials related projects, ranging from decellularized spinach leaves, metal 3D printing, to skin tissue engineering, and bioprinted wound dressing mesh.<br/>We have developed a process to effectively mentor high school students on biomedical research. This includes targeted orientation and training of BME mentors and high school mentees, clear definition of the research scope and objectives, regular progress check and oversight of the faculty and staff, and periodic evaluation of the student learning. We report in this talk our high school research mentoring process, example projects, experience gained and lessons learned in our continuing effort to involved high school students in biomaterials research to produce high quality project outcomes with enhanced learning for all students involved.