Aaron Kyle

Dr. Aaron Kyle is co-founder and director of the Hk Maker Lab, a suite of interconnected programs that encourage the pursuit of STEM by high school students from underrepresented minority groups. We do this by emphasizing (biomedical) engineering design: the iterative process of uncovering needs and creating engineered solutions to the needs. Each summer, the Hk Maker Lab welcomes NYC high school students to the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia for a six-week design camp. These students learn about design and use the process to devise solutions to biomedical problems that they identify. Additionally, local high school teachers join the summer camp to observe design instruction and integrate engineering into their courses to broadly enhance STEM instruction. Students who join Dr. Kyle will assist with the research that accompanies the Hk Maker Lab. This will include, but is not limited to: becoming knowledgeable of the engineering design process and helping to onboard incoming teachers; assisting students during the summer program as they bring their project ideas to fruition; collaborating with the participating teachers to develop design-centric curricula; and reviewing the resultant data from the summer program to inform outcomes from this ongoing research effort. Working with Dr. Kyle will be best suited for persons interested in becoming STEM educators or are interested in outreach-based research.