Fostering Innovation at the Center for K12 STEM Education

The Center for K12 STEM Education is a hub for transformative educational opportunities, dedicated to nurturing the next generation of STEM leaders. It hosts dozens of programs that bring in-person STEM instruction to students of all ages while providing guidance and resources for their teachers. Summer sessions, for example, cover topics like machine learning, virtual reality, and connected devices.

What’s more, about half of these programs are free. For example, in 2023 alone, 570 students participated in summer sessions at no cost. Among this cohort, 65 New York City high school students took part in a special program called ARISE (Applied Research Innovations in Science and Engineering). There, they received training, mentorship, and lab experience across a range of STEM fields.

Aysha Naveed is a current NYU student who participated in ARISE while she was in high school. Through the program, she worked in a lab focused on soil mechanics, conducting digital image modeling and analysis directly with PhD students. Later, she presented her work at a research symposium.

Through ARISE, high school students like Aysha have conducted research to develop more efficient solar cells, use chemical engineering to deliver cancer drugs, and better understand the automated systems we encounter and interact with every day. This emphasis on real-time research and real-world application is a hallmark of the Center for K12 STEM Education. “In the same way that our researchers—both students and faculty—work on problems and projects inspired by their concerns for communities and interest in the world around them, we want young people to experience this opportunity and understand how engineers solve problems,” says Ben Esner, the center’s senior director. “Tandon is an applied engineering school. So, we take the concepts and use them to solve real-world problems.”

Today, Aysha is a senior Civil Engineering major at NYU Tandon. Following her experience with ARISE, she decided to concentrate in environmental engineering and pursue a minor in Public Policy. Then, in 2022, she returned to the Center for K12 STEM Education as an instructor. There, she taught a middle school course called Science of Smart Cities. The class introduced students to concepts like circuitry and coding. As part of the class, students built a model city, incorporating automated cars, sensors, and water systems.

Each year the center hires nearly 60 undergraduate and graduate students to teach summer session classes like Aysha’s. It’s a chance for NYU students to develop professionally and engage in socially relevant work that makes a difference—all while earning a paycheck.

Beyond job opportunities, the Center for K12 STEM Education provides students with a sense of belonging. “Part of the appeal for the student instructors and teaching assistants is the community. You get to pay it forward and demonstrate for younger students what it’s like to be an engineer and an engineering student,” says Esner.

Aysha agrees, adding, “The best thing about the center is that it’s really such a community. With so many people at NYU, you might not always know where you fit. However, I connected with people at the center and spent time with the community they’ve built there. Their door is always open.”