Happy New Year from BioBuilder! We hope it is off to a good start for you.
Here at BioBuilder, we have opened up the application process for two of our summer-related programs. We can hardly wait to meet this year’s intrepid students. Check it out!
The 2024 edition of this exciting BioBuilder program begins in mid-March. We’re excited to announce that this year, thanks to funding from Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, MBI, the Apprenticeship Challenge is returning to Worcester, MA, for the first time since 2017.
The Apprenticeship Challenge consists of eight weeks of after-school online learning and Saturday hands-on lab work at the BioBuilder Learning Lab. This learning and doing approach helps apprentices build their technical knowledge, gain lab skills and learn key techniques, and strengthen their research-based thinking and professional skills.
The purpose of the rigorous program is to prepare students for paid summer internships in academic labs and life science companies. Since its debut in 2016, the Apprenticeship Challenge has graduated 134 students from 36 different high schools, resulting in 86 summer job placements.
The program’s curriculum has evolved, and this year it centers on BioBuilder’s newest program called “BioTechBuilder.” The BioTechBuilder program focuses on lab skill acquisition and testing for industry-relevant micro-credentials through the Bioscience Core Skills Institute, BCSI, a third-party testing platform.
BioBuilder's Summer Research Program is Inching Nearer!
BioBuilder’s popular Summer Research Program will be here before you know it! If you are, or you know of, a high school student who is passionate about biology, innovation, and laboratory research, don’t miss this opportunity. Summer research students use BioBuilder content to launch independent biodesign and bioengineering projects, while:
- Engaging in cutting-edge laboratory research
- Training with experts in the field
- Fostering a deeper understanding and passion for biotechnology
The program runs in BioBuilder’s Learning Lab @Ginkgo in Boston’s Seaport district. This summer’s sessions are:
- Session #1: July 22nd – August 2nd
- Session #2: August 12th – August 23rd
Device Dude
The 5th Annual Robot Drone League (RDL) Competition took place on January 27th with BioBuilder’s own Dr. Natalie Kuldell in the house!
“This year, alongside BioBuilder we created the Scarecrow as our challenge. We aimed to show how robotics and bioengineering can be used together in this competition."
This exciting event, held at East Tennessee State University, brought together 27 teams of middle and high school students. They came from diverse backgrounds to compete in a collaborative Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) game format – building robots and flying drones to complete tasks such as repairing broken obstacle in the fields, finding and removing diseased corn, and using the BioBuilder Accelarator to generate new resistant strains of corn.
