MIT - Nord Anglia Collaboration

MIT - Nord Anglia Collaboration We are delighted to announce that as part of Nord Anglia’s innovative collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), four BIS Abu Dhabi students have been selected to travel to MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts USA, to participate in the MIT - Nord Anglia STEAM Festival. The Festival is a week-long programme which provides unique learning opportunities specifically for our students at one of the world’s leading educational institutions.

We are delighted to announce that as part of Nord Anglia’s innovative collaboration with  one of the world’s most influential universities, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), four BIS Abu Dhabi students have been selected to travel to MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts USA, to participate in the MIT - Nord Anglia STEAM Festival.

Partnership Between Nord Anglia and MIT

From April 2017, the school will offer an enhanced STEAM curriculum (science, technology,
engineering, art and maths) developed by experts, researchers and scientists from MIT. At the centre of this collaboration is MIT’s philosophy of ‘mind and hand’ , which calls for a hands-on,
interdisciplinary approach to learning and problem solving. This approach encourages students to develop key 21st century skills such as flexibility, creativity, communication and complex problem solving, which will support students’ success in school as well as preparing them for the jobs of the future.

MIT - Nord Anglia STEAM Festival.

The Festival is a week-long programme which provides unique learning opportunities specifically for our students at one of the world’s leading educational institutions.

The four BIS students are Rosa Engles, Diksha Jain, Hyun Seo Hwang and Mohamed Azouz, who earned their place by successfully completing a ‘Hacking the Tube’ challenge. The challenge was a reference to the history of hacking at MIT, which refers to a clever, benign, and "ethical" prank or practical joke, which is both challenging for the perpetrators and amusing to the MIT community. Students were presented with a 15cm length plastic tube wrapped in gold paper, and were asked to ‘Hack the Tube’ into something cool.

At The Festival

Students will have the opportunity to collaborate with their peers from all over the world and participate in exciting workshops and activities delivered by leading MIT academics, as well as visiting the campuses of two of the best universities in the world (MIT and Harvard University).

The activities have been co-created by NAE and MIT to increase students’ understanding of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics), while developing their interdisciplinary learning and practical problem-solving skills.

Specifically, students can expect to participate in the following festival activities:

• Interactive MIT tour: MIT have developed their very own app for Nord Anglia students to navigate their way around campus looking out for all the key landmarks and learning what it’s like to be an MIT student!
• Synthetic Biology with BioBuilder: Learning all about synthetic biology and how it can be used to program living cells to tackle today’s challenges. Biofuels, safer foods, anti-malarial drugs, less toxic cancer treatment, biodegradable adhesives are all goals of this field.
• Science Trivia Challenge: This lively team trivia quiz will test student knowledge of science from a variety of fields ranging from biology, chemistry, and physics to ecology and the history of science. Which school will be the overall winner?
• App-building and programming workshops: Students’ app-building and programming skills will be brought out to see how creative and innovative they can be in developing their very own app with guidance and tutelage from MIT experts.
• Humanity Needs Dreamers: A visit with Marie Curie: Students will enjoy a captivating evening of narrative science & living history with the performance of Humanity Needs Dreamers: A Visit With Marie Curie followed by an interactive Q & A session with Marie Curie in person – portrayed by scholar & playwright Susan Marie Frontczak.
• MMMMaven music workshop: Students will try their hand at manipulating music live with the industry standard production software, Ableton Live. They will also have an opportunity to create their own performance with hands-on Akai hardware. Get a feel for what it's like to be the DJ!
• Harvard University Tour: Touring Harvard University to learn about the campus and what being a student there is really like. It may just be the first trip of many for those who choose to study here one day!
• Science of Sport: Students will learn how math and science combine to create some of the most classic American sports. They will test their physics problem-solving skills whilst also engaging in friendly sporting competition with fellow students from all over the world.
• Team-building adventure quests at Bodaborg: Students will be transported into a real-world gaming environment to tackle a variety of mental and physical tests as a team. No video games, no virtual reality… just the team working together to succeed in the world of questing!
• Build Project: Students will have a week to work on a building project, which will be unveiled on the first day. Teams will compete to build the best invention to meet the specification and trial what they’ve created against one another on the last day. Who will win first prize?
• Nautical themed engineering workshop: Design, build and test mechanisms for ship propulsion in this introduction to nature-inspired engineering at MIT.
• School Dance: The British International School Boston will host a classic American school dance on the last night of the trip.