Over the summer, more than two dozen local high schoolers participated in a crash course in biomedical engineering at Duke University. The program, Outreach Design Education (ODE), uses the engineering design process to teach through hands-on activities. Over five weeks, small teams develop prototypes to address real-world problems. This year’s examples included a wearable device for athletes with asthma and a temperature sensor for babies left in hot car seats.
Day after day, students buzzed around The POD makerspace, free to follow their intellectual curiosity. Many tried laser cutting, soldering or 3D printing for the first time.
In the back of the room, three local teachers looked on, watching the design process unfold and taking copious notes.
Though ODE’s summer program is best known for its work with high schoolers, it also serves local middle and high school teachers interested in bringing engineering design into their classrooms.
“It was just beautiful to watch a group of strangers come together and solve problems,” said Jeffrey Faulkner, a science teacher at Orange Middle School in Hillsborough, N.C. “Everything we saw this summer, we want to apply it in our classrooms.”
Everything we saw this summer, we want to apply it in our classrooms.
Jeffrey FaulknerTeacher at Orange Middle School
ODE is one example of Duke Engineering STEM outreach, ranging from summer camps and school visits to lab tours and hands-on design challenges. Built alongside teachers, these efforts expand educator knowledge, complement curriculum and help bring engineering to life for students.
He didn’t want to strictly teach out of a textbook, so he sought partnerships with local companies to inspire students with real-world engineering. It didn’t happen overnight, but with the support of fellow teachers and parents, Davidson connected with a nearby global safety science corporation.
Adam Davidson frequently hosts visiting schools in the ECE labs.
Over a decade, the partnership yielded field trips, guest speakers and lab tours to enrich the engineering education.
“We had some great engaging experiences with them, had the students take some good tours, speak with their engineers, present to those engineers, and even dive into how their engineers use equipment in their labs,” Davidson said.
At Duke, Davidson has continued K-12 outreach from the other side—as a host. Prior to field trips, he ensures any on-campus activities match what students are learning in their home classroom. When Riverside visited last March, Seth Stallings, a digital electronics teacher at the time, spoke excitedly about the lab activities that previewed upcoming lessons.
“We can say, ‘Remember we did K-maps in that lab?’” Stallings said. “Now we’re going to do it ourselves. I think it’s going to be remarkable.”
Dirgo (middle) now works as a facilitator to help other teachers teach computer science.
Davidson keeps in touch with another ex-Riverside engineering teacher, Russell Dirgo, and together they’re sharing their prior experiences to help other teachers who want to start outreach but are unsure where to begin. Even with a willing industry partner, Davidson faced numerous logistical, funding and planning challenges at Riverside. Davidson and Dirgo have now started a blog to share their insights and connect to others.
“When I got to Riverside, there was not a lot of opportunity to bring my students anywhere on a field trip,” said Dirgo, who is now a computer science education scholar at NC State’s Friday Institute for Educational Innovation. “As a teacher, it’s difficult to do outreach yourself. You have no idea who to call at a university or business.”
They’ve recorded a conversation discussing four pieces of advice for organizing outreach:
How to make initial contact and negotiate logistics
How to remain persistent and patient
How to design activities to engage students
How to be creative and resourceful
Before You Plan That Field Trip: Four Lessons from Teachers Who’ve Been There
Connecting students with hands‑on engineering experiences takes persistence, creativity and some insider knowledge. In this video, Adam Davidson and Russell Dirgo, two friends and former high school engineering teachers who’ve done it themselves, share advice to help other educators launch successful outreach partnerships.
They outline ways people in academia or industry can support teachers in these programs, whether it’s paying for kids’ transportation or lunch, tailoring lessons to classroom content, or assisting with paperwork.
“In my experience, starting an outreach program can add another 20 percent to a teacher’s workload, but we hope our experiences can be valuable resources for anyone,” Davidson said. “We want to encourage teachers to start forming these connections because the returns for your students are incredible.”
“I loved the mutual satisfaction that comes with somebody actually learning something,” Kyle said.
Through ODE, he can not only educate younger students but also provide professional development for STEM teachers—educating the educators.
During the summer, teachers observe Monday through Thursday, and Fridays are dedicated to teacher-only sessions focused on developing an engineering design project or new elective class. ODE’s first engineering design-centric lesson plan was recently published with Madi Evans, a high school science teacher, about data collection techniques for yeast fermentation. Other recent lesson plans developed through ODE focus on drug delivery, water quality detection and soil health monitoring systems.
ODE Lesson Plan
ODE, along with science teacher Madi Evans, and IEEE TryEngineering, published their first engineering design-centric lesson plan: “No Oxygen? No Problem!”
Teacher participants in ODE rave about the new ways of thinking and teaching they learn over the summer.
“You get a lot of science teachers who’ve taken biology or chemistry but not the engineering portion of STEM,” Faulkner said. “I look for programs that may stretch my knowledge and increase my teacher toolbox. When I saw this, I realized this is going to stretch me.”
Faulkner plans to embed design thinking throughout the year, rather than using it only for discrete activities.
Working with teachers allows an extra level of scalability in our efforts. We’re restricted to 20-30 students at a time on campus, but by working with teachers we can reach hundreds of students.
Aaron KyleDirector of ODE and Professor of the Practice of Biomedical Engineering
Willman Henriquez Osorio, a science teacher at George Carrington Middle School in Durham, participated alongside Faulkner. He’s been using the engineering design process in his curriculum for a few years, but he still gained new technological and pedagogical skills.
“What stood out most was observing how students interacted with one another through the process—it gave me fresh perspectives on fostering collaboration and problem-solving in my own classroom,” Henriquez Osorio said. “The experience left me motivated and eager to create similar opportunities for my students.”
What stood out most was observing how students interacted with one another through the process—it gave me fresh perspectives on fostering collaboration and problem-solving in my own classroom.
Willman Henriquez OsorioTeacher at George Carrington Middle School
This fall, Henriquez Osorio plans to teach four BME lesson plans he developed at ODE.
Hilda Hagad-Santiago, a science teacher at Hillside High School in Durham who participated in ODE in 2024, said the program helped her rethink how to best assess creativity and critical thinking in her students.
“The experience was eye-opening and inspiring,” said Hagad-Santiago, who’s been teaching for 28 years. “It was incredibly valuable to collaborate with other educators with different perspectives and disciplines, and I appreciated the hands-on exploration of engineering concepts.”
Aaron Kyle (right) with the 2025 ODE participants. Two of this year’s participating teachers stand on the left.
The Multiplier Effect
Teachers are force multipliers, extending each summer program or lab visit into lessons that spread across classrooms and schoolyears.
“Working with teachers allows an extra level of scalability in our efforts,” Kyle said. “We’re restricted to 20-30 students at a time on campus, but by working with teachers we can reach hundreds of students.”
Davidson emphasizes that long-term, sustainable outreach programs grow out of conversations and trust between individuals. For him, that begins by meeting with a teacher to find out how he can serve the students.
“Partnerships don’t happen between institutions, they happen between people,” Davidson said. “When a teacher trusts a partner and knows they are collaboratively enriching the students’ experience, that’s what you’re looking for.”
Partnerships don’t happen between institutions, they happen between people.
Adam DavidsonUndergraduate Laboratory Manager, Electrical and Computer Engineering
To see the multiplier effect, look at Faulkner’s upcoming year. He will teach half of Orange Middle’s eighth grade—roughly 85 students—and has worked with his colleague, who teaches the other half, on incorporating design thinking into their lessons. He hopes to share the design thinking approach with the sixth- and seventh-grade teachers as well.
By investing in local teachers, the impact of ODE isn’t bound to the couple dozen students from the summer. It cascades to many more every year.
“Dr. Kyle said he’s going to come out to our classrooms or at least follow up continuously throughout the year,” Faulkner said. “So I look forward to continuing my education to become a better teacher.”
Input/Output Magazine
There’s an old adage that you get out of an endeavor whatever you put in. But just as important as the inputs and outputs is the slash between them—the planning, the infrastructure, the programs, the relationships. We hope the content within these pages helps you not only discover a little more about Duke Engineering, but also ideas and inspiration that make your own slashes a bit bigger.
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