Biomedical Engineering is a unique, new Mount Madonna School course this school year. It’s an elective for eleventh grade students through the high school engineering program. This class includes units on genetic engineering and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR), design of prosthetics, chemical engineering for tablets and pills and medical imaging and analysis.
“I am not aware of any other school offering this innovative curriculum for high school students,” commented teacher Lisa Catterall. “The inaugural class presented their final projects in mid-December. Students were charged with inventing or improving an existing technology, and they came up with some incredible ideas.”
These ideas included:
- A “Prosthetic Arm of the Future” featuring an Arduino-controlled prototype
- First-aid kit with an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled medical supply center for use in developing areas
- An affordable and inclusive nicotine patch
- Wearable AI system to assist blind people
- The AIOB, an all-in-one brace
- A slow-release lidocaine knee brace
- On-demand juice bar for hospitals
- Custom, individualized pill and tablet design
“Mount Madonna School teachers,” commented Head of School Ann Goewert, “are equipping students with the competencies and skills needed to be leaders of innovation and change in the twenty-first century.”
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Nestled among the redwoods on 375 acres, Mount Madonna School (MMS) is a diverse learning community dedicated to creative, intellectual, and ethical growth. MMS supports its students in becoming caring, self-aware, discerning and articulate individuals; and believe a fulfilling life includes personal accomplishments, meaningful relationships and service to society. The CAIS and WASC accredited program emphasizes academic excellence, creative self-expression and positive character development. Located on Summit Road between Gilroy and Watsonville. Founded in 1979.