BAMF Health, which provides advanced diagnostics and treatment for various types of cancer, is partnering with Ferris State University and Kent Intermediate School District on FutureSolve, a program that immerses high school students in real-world experiences and challenges them to use design-thinking principles to solve problems.
“FutureSolve was born from the idea that there are students in the community who understand that they want to go into a STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and they might not know that something like BAMF Health exists right in their backyard.”
Andy McLean is Manager of Program Development and External Relations at BAMF.
“These programs need to exist so that students can figure out what they want to do well before they get to their first job, well before they even leave high school.”
This inaugural initiative is a 6-week program where 16 high school students from East Kentwood, Grand Rapids Public, and East Grand Rapids school districts work on ten different projects, exposing them to the company itself while allowing them to work within their field of interest.
Director of Workforce Development at Kent ISD Ryan Graham says partnering with BAMF Health was a natural fit.
“I think we have phenomenal facilities right here in Grand Rapids. I think we have the opportunities to create real life, real learning for students that are able to come in and see these operations in action.”
BAMF hopes to expand the FutureSolve program in the coming years.
