Tufts Pre-College STEM Programs
Engineering Design Lab
Engineering Investigations
Meet our Program Leads

Merredith Portsmore, Program Director
Merredith Portsmore is the Director of the Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach, as well as a Research Associate Professor. She has the unique honor of being a “Quadruple Jumbo,” having received all her four of her degrees from Tufts University (B.A. in English, B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, M.A. in Education, and Ph.D. in Engineering Education). Portsmore's research interests focus on how children engage in constructing solutions to engineering design problems. Her outreach work focuses on creating resources for K-12 educators to support engineering education in the classroom. She is the founder of STOMP, LEGO Engineering.com, and the online Teacher Engineering Education Program.

Berri Jacque, Director
Dr. Berri Jacque is an Associate Professor of Medical Education and teaches immunology in a number of professional programs (medical, dental, PA, and MBA) at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM). He directs The Center for Science Education at TUSM which aims to bring biomedical learning to high school classrooms, with the goal of broadening participation in science. Using a collaborative approach with high-school educators, his research focuses on understanding approaches that build interest in science and increase health literacy to prepare a diverse, engaged STEM workforce.
Related Summer Offerings
Tufts Summer Accelerator
This program is designed to provide students with a chance to immerse themselves in the Undergraduate experience, allowing highly motivated students to engage in their own academic interests and develop their own ideas. Students enroll in 2 college-level seminars per 2-week session, designed specifically for high school students. These seminars are small (15-20 student), discussion based, interactive sessions in subject areas from across the University.
Choose from a variety of seminar topics including Social Psychology of Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism, Russia's war on Ukraine: why, why now, and what's next..., Introduction to Children's Media, Art, Truth, and Misinformation, and many more.
Full Semester Courses