This award provides funding for a three year standard award to support a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and puter Science Site program at the University of Southern California (USC), entitled, "The Engineering Medical Therapeutic Technologies-Research Experience for Teachers (EMT2-RET)", under the direction of Dr. Mark Humayun.
The vision of the EMT2-RET program, is to leverage the considerable resources of the University of Southern California to create long-term partnerships among world-renowned biomedical engineering and computer science researchers, K-12 teachers in Los Angeles inner-city schools, and community college educators. 6-week program will support the involvement of a total of 30 (10 per year) high school and community college educators in mentored engineering and computer science research focused on medical therapeutic technologies conducted in Viterbi School of Engineering (VSoE) and the Biomimetic MicroElectronic Systems Engineering Research Center (BMES) Laboratories at USC. The coordinated efforts of multidisciplinary research groups offer RET teachers the opportunity to work in laboratories that range from basic science to systems engineering. Additionally, teachers will participate in professional development workshops in engineering and technology, aiding the teachers in the translation of the RET experience into relevant classroom activities, including discovery-based laboaratory exericses that are standards aligned.
The majority of students in the Los Angeles Unified School District, East Los Angeles College, Pasadena City College, Los Angeles City College are from underrepresented minority groups. The RET program will train science teachers from urban schools in biomedical engineering and computer science and, in turn impact the education of their respective students. Students who traditionally have little or no direct connection with STEM will, through the RET teachers, experience the excitement of cutting edge discoveries. In addition, the professional and collegial relationships that develop between the RET teachers and their USC colleagues and the extensive academic year follow-up component of the RET will foster long-term partnerships.
