Newswise — Indiana high school teacher Chris Montgomery's class gave a harmless strain of E. coli bacteria a green glow by genetically engineering the bacteria using the bioluminescent gene from a jelly fish.
Then the class simulated the mass production of insulin using purified E. coli.
Now the Brownsburg High School students have turned their engineering minds to alternative fuels. Their new assignment: design a car powered by yeast fermentation.
Brownsburg High is one of six Indiana high schools piloting a new course soon to be offered across the United States through a program aimed at helping schools develop new generations of engineers.
The course, Biotechnical Engineering, focuses on two areas: biotechnology or the use of biological processes as tools to create commercial products such as new drugs; and biomedical engineering, the application of engineering principles to human health care, such as used in the design of pacemakers or joint implants.
"It's broadened the horizon of a lot of kids," Montgomery said of the class. "It's really a great opportunity for kids to have some hands-on, real-work experience in high school. This affords them lots of opportunities to get their feet wet in the career . . . to feel out the biotechnology careers.
A biomedical engineering professor from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, a biology professor from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., and two high school teachers designed the course content.
The Indiana Department of Education funded the development of the course in partnership with Project Lead the Way. Biotechnical Engineering will be taught as an advanced high school unit of the Project Lead the Way curriculum currently offered in 1,000 high school schools nationwide.
Project Lead the Way is a national nonprofit organization that provides pre-engineering curricula, software and teacher training for middle and high schools. The goal is to address the nation's need for an expanding supply of engineering professionals by interesting students in those career fields at an earlier age.
Currently Project Lead the Way's high school curriculum includes six units: Principles of Engineering; Introduction to Engineering Design; Digital Electronics; Computer Integrated Manufacturing; Civil Engineering and Architecture; and Engineering Design and Development. An aerospace engineering course is also under development.
"Biotechnical Engineering will roll out nationwide next fall," said Dave Wilkinson, Project Lead the Way coordinator for the Indiana Department of Education. The need for and interest in the course are obvious, he said.
"There is not a day that goes by, when the words 'biomedical' or 'biotechnical' don't appear in the news," Wilkinson said. "The demand to get students in the pipeline for the future is critical."
Project Lead the Way's high school program and four-unit middle program adhere to national standards and math, science and technology. In Indiana, 135 middle and high schools, representing about 14,000 students, participate in the pre-engineering program. IUPUI and other universities offer college credit to students who complete high school Project Lead the Way courses.
"It is a really unique national program," said Ed Berbari, IUPUI professor and chair of biomedical engineering; and one of the lead developers of the Biotechnical Engineering course. "Project Lead the Way has a very professional approach to course development."
Eighteen sites are participating in the biotechnical engineering pilot course, including five other Indiana schools: Gavit High School in Hammond; Greenfield High School; Hamilton Southeastern High School; Owen Valley High in Spencer; and South Newton in Kentland.
Berbari also developed and conducted the teacher training required of those teaching the pilot course. Any Project Lead the Way course is taught by a teacher specifically trained for that course.
"It was a very intensive boot camp," Montgomery said of her two-week, 8-to-5 training program that included homework each evening.
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