Ignite: Place-based Community-centered Design to Promote Biomedical Engineering Efficacy

Jennifer Ayres; Hannah Lee; Amaris Huang; David Knudsen; Nirmala Ramanujam; Megan Madonna

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Conference: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publication Date: June 22, 2025
Start Date: June 22, 2025
End Date: August 15, 2025
Conference Session: Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice in Biomedical Engineering
Tagged Division: Biomedical Engineering Division (BED)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 16
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/56729

Paper Authors

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Jennifer Ayres Duke University

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Jennifer Ayres is a Research Associate at Duke University in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

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Hannah Lee Duke University

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Hannah Lee is an undergraduate researcher at Duke University.

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Amaris Huang Duke University

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Amaris Huang is an undergraduate student researcher in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University.

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David Knudsen Museum of Life and Science

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David Knudsen is the Associate Program Manager for Communication and Evaluation at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC. He oversees the data collection and program evaluation of informal education programs at the Museum and science communication of grant-funded projects. He also works with Duke University as a community partner for the Ignite Program to offer informal education expertise to the program.

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Nirmala Ramanujam Ph.D. Duke University

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Nirmala (Nimmi) Ramanujam is the Robert W. Carr Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Cancer Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, and Global Health at Duke University. She founded the Center for Global Women’s Health Technologies (GWHT) in 2013 to reshape women’s health through technology innovation. Her translation program in cervical and breast cancer has brought together multiple partners across U.S. and international academic institutions, hospitals, companies, non-governmental organizations, and ministries of health. Prof. Ramanujam values co-creating solutions with those that are at the level of the problem. This led to the creation of a global education program Ignite in 2013 that intersects engineering design thinking, STEM concepts, and the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

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Megan Madonna Duke University orcid.org/0000-0001-8297-7672

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Megan Madonna is an Assistant Research Professor in Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. She serves as the Director of Ignite, a human-centered design-based engineering program that links engineering and local, community-based issues to encourage empathic and creative thinkers and broaden participation in engineering. In addition, she works as the Assistant Director of Education for the Center for Global Women's Health Technologies at Duke University.

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Abstract

Quality education is key to improving lives and advancing society [1]. Yet, equitable education remains a challenge worldwide, particularly among girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) [2]. As the demand for biomedical professionals mounts, so does the urgency for diversifying and preparing the next generation of the STEM workforce to be critical problem-solvers within a modern era.

We created a sustainable educational program in 2014 to address a lack of access to quality K-12 engineering education to empower secondary school-aged students to explore engineering design concepts. Our program aims to cultivate the next generation of innovators by offering hands-on biomedical engineering opportunities to humanize problem-solving, build resilience, and bolster a student’s ties to their community.

We utilize near-peer teaching, pairing undergraduate students (“Trainers”) with middle and high school students (“Learners” and “Makers”, respectively) to guide them through an engineering design project that advances local concerns related to UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: Good Health and Well-being in the context of biomedical engineering. Guided by PjBL, students work on projects rooted in local, community-based health problems using the human-centered design process. Both the Learners and Makers courses followed a parallel scaffolded design process where Learners’ problem space is confined to learning about heart and lung diseases in the community and, in return, designing low-cost, Arduino-based pulse oximeters, and Makers source their own projects, which in the past have included a custom knee brace for osteoarthritis, a bike appropriate attachment for chemo-induced pediatric neuropathy, and a portable second-hand smoke detector.

Trainers work with both Learners and Makers to empathize with challenges by learning about local needs according to community reports and researching current solutions and their limitations. Next, participants ideate or brainstorm possible solutions through open inquiry. Prototypes undergo testing methods to determine if the solutions meet the design specifications. Finally, participants participate in a Design Day symposium where middle school students present research posters and high school students present oral presentations.

We studied the effect of Ignite on both participants (Learners and Makers) and mentors (Trainers) through survey data collected between 2021 and 2024 to assess the impact of our program on Learners (n=53), Makers (n=22), and Trainers (n=21). Attitudes toward STEM, self-reported resilience, and engaging identity were assessed before and after participation using previously validated metrics [3-6] according to IRB-approved protocol number 0087. All analyses were conducted in JMP comparing pre- and post-surveys via paired t-tests.

After completing the program, Learners and Makers reported a significant increase in their attitudes toward STEM in their post-survey compared to their pre-survey (p=0.0005, n=56). Learners and Makers also experienced a significant increase in resilience (p=0.016, n=56). Among high school Makers and undergraduate Trainers, there was a significant increase in students’ confidence related to identifying, developing, and testing a design (p=<0.0001, n=40). Female and underrepresented gender groups represented a majority of students across each group (64%, 82%, and 91% for Learners, Makers, and Trainers respectively). Specifically, these middle and high school participants experienced a significant increase in their self-perceived engineering identity following their participation (p=0.0374, n=39).

Based on constructivist and resilience theory, our program increases students’ attitudes toward STEM, resilience, and confidence after working through the design process to solve problems relevant to their community, related to biomedical engineering. The positive outcomes indicate that future studies should explore the program’s longitudinal impact on returning students’ education and career readiness and aspirations, furthering the program’s long-term goal to empower upward mobility across participants and mentors.

Citation
Format

Ayres, J., & Lee, H., & Huang, A., & Knudsen, D., & Ramanujam, N., & Madonna, M. (2025, June), Ignite: Place-based Community-centered Design to Promote Biomedical Engineering Efficacy Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/56729

TY - CPAPER
AB - Quality education is key to improving lives and advancing society [1]. Yet, equitable education remains a challenge worldwide, particularly among girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) [2]. As the demand for biomedical professionals mounts, so does the urgency for diversifying and preparing the next generation of the STEM workforce to be critical problem-solvers within a modern era.

We created a sustainable educational program in 2014 to address a lack of access to quality K-12 engineering education to empower secondary school-aged students to explore engineering design concepts. Our program aims to cultivate the next generation of innovators by offering hands-on biomedical engineering opportunities to humanize problem-solving, build resilience, and bolster a student’s ties to their community.

We utilize near-peer teaching, pairing undergraduate students (“Trainers”) with middle and high school students (“Learners” and “Makers”, respectively) to guide them through an engineering design project that advances local concerns related to UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: Good Health and Well-being in the context of biomedical engineering. Guided by PjBL, students work on projects rooted in local, community-based health problems using the human-centered design process. Both the Learners and Makers courses followed a parallel scaffolded design process where Learners’ problem space is confined to learning about heart and lung diseases in the community and, in return, designing low-cost, Arduino-based pulse oximeters, and Makers source their own projects, which in the past have included a custom knee brace for osteoarthritis, a bike appropriate attachment for chemo-induced pediatric neuropathy, and a portable second-hand smoke detector.

Trainers work with both Learners and Makers to empathize with challenges by learning about local needs according to community reports and researching current solutions and their limitations. Next, participants ideate or brainstorm possible solutions through open inquiry. Prototypes undergo testing methods to determine if the solutions meet the design specifications. Finally, participants participate in a Design Day symposium where middle school students present research posters and high school students present oral presentations.

We studied the effect of Ignite on both participants (Learners and Makers) and mentors (Trainers) through survey data collected between 2021 and 2024 to assess the impact of our program on Learners (n=53), Makers (n=22), and Trainers (n=21). Attitudes toward STEM, self-reported resilience, and engaging identity were assessed before and after participation using previously validated metrics [3-6] according to IRB-approved protocol number 0087. All analyses were conducted in JMP comparing pre- and post-surveys via paired t-tests.

After completing the program, Learners and Makers reported a significant increase in their attitudes toward STEM in their post-survey compared to their pre-survey (p=0.0005, n=56). Learners and Makers also experienced a significant increase in resilience (p=0.016, n=56). Among high school Makers and undergraduate Trainers, there was a significant increase in students’ confidence related to identifying, developing, and testing a design (p=&amp;lt;0.0001, n=40). Female and underrepresented gender groups represented a majority of students across each group (64%, 82%, and 91% for Learners, Makers, and Trainers respectively). Specifically, these middle and high school participants experienced a significant increase in their self-perceived engineering identity following their participation (p=0.0374, n=39).

Based on constructivist and resilience theory, our program increases students’ attitudes toward STEM, resilience, and confidence after working through the design process to solve problems relevant to their community, related to biomedical engineering. The positive outcomes indicate that future studies should explore the program’s longitudinal impact on returning students’ education and career readiness and aspirations, furthering the program’s long-term goal to empower upward mobility across participants and mentors.
AU - Jennifer Ayres
AU - Hannah Lee
AU - Amaris Huang
AU - David Knudsen
AU - Nirmala Ramanujam Ph.D.
AU - Megan Madonna
CY - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DA - 2025/06/22
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Ignite: Place-based Community-centered Design to Promote Biomedical Engineering Efficacy
UR - https://peer.asee.org/56729
ER -