Medibotics: The Merging of Medicine, Robotics and IT

The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is working with faculty, students and staff in four high-minority urban school districts in New Jersey to integrate robotics programming, engineering design and information technology into existing curricula for grades 7-12. NJIT's Newark College of Engineering and the Center for Pre-college Programs (the Institute's outreach program to hard-to-staff school districts) are collaborating to (1) develop grade-appropriate curriculum units and modules aligned with state and national content, educational technology and technological literacy standards, (2) train 60 teachers how to use the instructional materials and (3) place engineering graduate students in middle and high schools to help teachers integrate the materials into their courses. The goal of the project is to enlarge the number of students from underrepresented groups who are interested in pursuing IT and STEM careers by engaging secondary students in ten robotics activities that involve computer programming to solve grade-appropriate biomedical engineering problems.