Worcester, MA — This July, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) President and CEO Kirk Taylor, MD and several members of the MLSC team visited Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) to meet with leaders, tour MLSC-funded lab facilities, and celebrate this year’s MeDHigh graduates. WPI’s MeDHigh, a four-week biomedical engineering training program offered as part of the MLSC’s High School Apprenticeship Challenge, is designed to prepare students for MLSC-sponsored internships with local MedTech companies.
“Seeing these students present genuine, thoughtful solutions to global healthcare challenges is truly inspiring,” said MLSC President and CEO Kirk Taylor, MD. “The level of care and drive behind these projects gives me great confidence in the next generation of MedTech professionals and the impact they’ll have all over the world.”
The primary focus of MeDHigh is to introduce students to biomedical engineering, which is an interdisciplinary field that combines principles of engineering, medicine, and biology to develop innovative solutions for healthcare challenges. Through hands-on learning, students discover how engineering principles and design concepts are used to improve the quality, effectiveness, and accessibility of medical care.
“At MeDHigh, we’re not just teaching science, we’re inspiring innovation,” said Solomon Mensah, WPI Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering. “By equipping young minds with hands-on experiences and mentorship, we’re cultivating the next generation of problem-solvers who will drive breakthroughs in medicine, engineering, and global health.”
By fostering an understanding of biomedical engineering principles and instilling a global perspective, MeDHigh equips students with the knowledge and skills necessary to address real-world healthcare problems. During the graduation ceremony, each team of students proudly presented their capstone projects for the program. These projects are hands-on prototypes designed to create solutions that can make a meaningful impact on improving healthcare access and outcomes for under-resourced communities across the globe.
Since 2024, 27 students from various Worcester high schools have participated in the MeDHigh program, which has been supported by the MLSC with more than $140,000 to assist with the program’s design and implementation.
The MLSC High School Apprenticeship Challenge facilitates and funds paid internships for underrepresented and low-income high school students throughout Massachusetts. The program creates more than 150 new internship opportunities each year by subsidizing intern wages for research institutions and small life sciences companies to enable them to hire paid interns. The program also offers several pre-internship training cohorts, such as MeDHigh, that provides rigorous technical and professional skills development.
About MeDHigh
MeDHigh is a four-week summer program for high school students to learn more about developing medical devices for global health. The program contains curated lectures, workshops, and resources that encourage creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration, nurturing a new generation of biomedical engineers who are passionate about improving healthcare access and outcomes for communities around the world.
About Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is a top-tier, STEM-focused university with an R1 research classification and global leadership in project-based learning. Founded in 1865, WPI’s distinctive approach integrates classroom theory with real-world practice, preparing students to tackle critical challenges through inclusive education, impactful projects, and interdisciplinary research. With more than 70 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs across 18 academic departments and over 50 global project centers, WPI advances knowledge and innovation in fields such as life sciences, smart technologies, advanced materials and manufacturing, and global innovation. Learn more at http://www.wpi.edu/.
About the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC)
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) is an economic development investment agency dedicated to supporting the growth and development of the life sciences in Massachusetts, home to the most verdant and productive life sciences ecosystem in the world. Through public-private funding initiatives, the MLSC supports innovation, research and development, commercialization, and manufacturing activities in the fields of biopharma, medical device, diagnostics and digital health. Since its creation in 2007, the MLSC has strategically deployed more than $1 billion in Massachusetts, through a combination of grants, loans, capital infrastructure investments, tax incentives and workforce programs. These investments have created thousands of jobs and propelled the development of new therapies, devices and scientific advancements that are improving patient health and well-being in Massachusetts and beyond.
