Abstract

One goal of the NIH SEPA (Science Education Partnership Awards) program is to create partnerships among biomedical researchers, teachers and schools. The MSOE Center for BioMolecular Modeling (CBM) has leveraged the support from a series of SEPA awards to create a multifaceted outreach program that connects biomolecular researchers and their stories of active research with middle and high school teachers and the foundational concepts of chemistry and biology they teach. 3D printing is the enabling technology that supports this outreach program. For twenty years the CBM has pioneered the use of 3D printing to create physical models of proteins that engage teachers and students as active participants in the process of science, while at the same time allowing researchers to tell the story of their research project. Here we discuss the key components of our outreach program and how we’ve overcome challenges to sustaining the program for twenty years.