DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The continued emergence of STEM-focused careers spurs the need for an engineering-adept workforce. This trend is particularly relevant in New York City, which is experiencing a burgeoning technology, engineering, and life-science economy while hosting large numbers of highly promising students from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in technology careers. An integral part of developing this workforce will be early (P-12) education in STEM. However there are persistent deficits in STEM education, particularly in underrepresented minority groups and in lower-resource schools. To address these deficits, the project team is creating programs focused on enhancing STEM education by emphasizing biomedical engineering design for both students and secondary school teachers. Biomedical engineering design, or biodesign, is an appealing mode of instruction because it entails the practical utilization of science, mathematics and technology knowledge that students have accrued throughout their education, giving them a real-world appreciation for these skills and fostering continued interest in STEM fields. Accordingly, the program described here proposes the HYPOTHEkids (Hk) Maker Lab, an intensive summer program in engineering design held at Columbia University. The Hk Maker Lab will facilitate engineering design training for both teachers and students from underserved communities. Furthermore, the Hk Maker Lab provides STEM workforce preparation for its participants by facilitating mentorships and internship opportunities in New York's evolving biotech industry space. The Specific Aims of the proposed program are to: 1. Develop and sustain a program in biomedical engineering design for high school students, particularly for minorities underrepresented in STEM; 2. Create a co-learning program with the Hk Maker Lab to train high school teachers in biodesign for the development of novel high school engineering courses and curricula; 3. Provide biotech industry mentorship and internships for participants in the Hk Maker Lab. The Hk Maker Lab will give both teachers and students a hands-on design experience. The student participants will have the opportunity to devise solutions to engineering problems of their own design and interact with professionals and entrepreneurs from New York's burgeoning biotech sector. The participating teachers will receive an innovative professional development experience, which they can subsequently use to integrate engineering design into their school curricula. The long term goal is to upscale this model, utilizing the resultant instructional tools and findings in high schools to augment upcoming generations' knowledge of and appreciation for STEM fields.