Idea Accelerator Program

This Summer, Peninsula Academy partners with MIT's BioBuilder Foundation again to offer our 6-11th grade students an excellent program to explore and engage in biotechnology. The Idea Accelerator is an online guided learning community for teams of students who want to design biotechnologies that might change the world. Developed by MIT biological engineering faculty, Dr. Natalie Kuldell, past project ideas have included a biosensor to detect vaping in school bathrooms, a modified kombucha scoby that smells sweet, and a living therapy to combat lactose intolerance.

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If you have an idea for a biotechnology, BioBuilder’s Idea Accelerator will cover biology and engineering principles that can bring it to life. BioBuilder will also lead middle school students through a framework for project development, with the opportunity to present their work and possibly document their work in BioBuilder’s Project Library.

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Peninsula Academy will supplement the program with three additional enrichment seminars, one focusing on ways to engage in scientific research as a middle or high school student, another focusing on STEM writing, and the third one focusing on planning for college majors and careers in bio-related fields such as medicine, pharmacy, and bioengineering.