Community-Based Innovation

Engineering in Service to Society

Duke Engineering is strengthening local and global connections through community-engaged research, transformative learning and impactful STEM outreach. Our mission is to serve society by turning innovation into action and making a lasting difference with the communities we serve.

aerial view of Durham

Upcoming Events

Apr 11

Discover Engineering@Duke: Imagine. Build. Belong.

The Pratt School of Engineering invites community members of all ages to spend the afternoon with Duke Engineering faculty, staff, and students. Wearable technology, robotics, quantum computing, and more…welcome to […]

1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

May 16

Girl Scouts STEM Day@Duke

Girl Scouts STEM Day @ Duke is an event offered through a partnership between Triangle Women in STEM, the Pratt School of Engineering, and the Coastal Pines Girl Scouts. The […]

8:00 am – 8:00 am

Community-Engaged Research & Design

The search for solutions shouldn’t happen in a vacuum. Our faculty and students design with the end user in mind, integrating community input to build trust and create more effective, holistic results.

Caroline Zuber conducting field sampling

PFAS and Heavy Metal Contamination in North Carolina Oyster Populations

This research, in partnership with Coastal Carolina Riverwatch, focuses on detecting PFAS and heavy metals in farm-raised and wild-caught oyster populations within the White Oak River Basin while elevating community voices and educating coastal areas.

View from dock bridge overlooking algal blooms in the water

Community-Led Research in the Chowan River and Albemarle Sound

This research grant explores community-led validation of a remote sensing and deep learning approach to identify cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms and toxins in the Chowan River and tris in the tributaries of the Albemarle Sound.

Digital Biomarker Discovery Project

Digital Biomarker Discovery Project

Digital biomarkers are digitally collected data that are transformed into indicators of health outcomes. The purpose of the DBDP is to make discovering digital biomarkers more accessible. From the input of wearable sensor data to the development of machine learning algorithms, we provide an open source software resource for the digital biomarker community.

Community-Based Learning

Students actively learn through direct, hands-on experiences. They see the issues they study firsthand, while meaningfully contributing to the analysis and solution of real-world challenges.

Two graduate students in a lab working with pelvic exam equipment

BME 462L: Design for the Developing World

Student teams will apply the engineering design process to create community-driven focused solutions for global health applications. The course will build students’ ability to understand the relationship between global health and engineering while constructing and testing prototype solutions to design challenges from global partners. Students will collaboratively build solutions driven by global partnerships and human-centered design to better unite theory, application, and reflection through a global lens.

The Durham Sign at American Tobacco Campus was created by Liberty Arts and Cricket Forge and erected in April of 2019 as a tribute to the strength and resilience of the Durham community. Photo by Discover Durham

EGR 190L/790: Engineering Design in the Community Context

The course is an overview of engineering design with a focus on gaining hands on experience and building skills that will support positive impact in a community setting.

students gather around a board covered in paper and post-it notes

DESIGNTK 540: Design Ethics & Social Innovation

In this course, students use methodologies and frameworks related to design ethics, design justice, participatory and co-design, and social innovation while completing a semester-long innovation project focused on a single client.

STEM Outreach

Duke Engineering supports a wide range of programs that work with local partners to inspire the next generation of problem-solvers.

Duke Research in Engineering Program participants

Duke Research in Engineering Program

The Duke Research in Engineering Program (DukeREP) is a 7-week summer research program hosted by the Biomedical Engineering Department (BME) for high school students with an interest in science, engineering, and research. As part of DukeREP, high school students learn the fundamentals of engineering and BME and are paired with Duke BME PhD student mentors to complete a lab-based research project.

Hackathon participants on a school needs finding trip

Design Hackathon for Middle School Students

In partnership with Durham Public Schools, students and their teachers participate in an introductory engineering design activity and use rapid prototyping tools (3-D printing, laser cutting, and Arduino programming) to design and create devices.

Girl Scouts STEM Day patticipant holding a sign that says

Girl Scouts STEM Day @ Duke University

Girl Scouts STEM Day @ Duke is an event offered through a partnership between Triangle Women in STEM, the Pratt School of Engineering, and the Coastal Pines Girl Scouts. The event offers to students a fun-filled day of hand-on STEM workshops and emphasizes STEM careers for middle and high school students with a parallel program designed for the accompanying adults focusing on STEM college readiness and supporting students STEM aspirations.

Community-Based Innovation Stories

Prof. Judy Ledlee partners with Radiant Rays to lead a prototyping workshop to design solar carports to be accessible solar installations for low-income communities.

Browse Programs

The examples highlighted above represent only a small fraction of the community-based innovation efforts happening across Duke’s campus and the world!

Contact Us

How can Duke help spark innovation in your community? Email Pratt-CBI@duke.edu or complete the form below to learn more.

Alisha Brice Profile Photo
Alisha Brice Profile Photo

Alisha Brice

Director, Community-Based Innovation