Students from Passaic County Technical Institute (PCTI) and STEM Academy (STEM) were given an invaluable experience to debate the pros and cons of genetic coding in bioethics during the BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) Diversity STEM Debate Challenge.

The challenge encouraged students to explore difficult real-world bioethical considerations while deepening their understanding of important work being done in biomedical research and technology fields. Ultimately, students from the STEM Academy’s Team BETA emerged as the winners for the day. Winners and runners-up have been invited by BD to attend a day of job shadowing, where they will have the opportunity to participate in hands-on lab experiments and activities with employees from BD’s medical affairs and engineering teams.

The BD challenge was an exemplary model for future debate challenges. Held at BD's headquarters in Franklin Lakes, NJ, students had the opportunity to hear from keynote speakers, including Denise Russell Fleming, CIO Information Technology and Director of Medical Affairs Natacha Montemuino, MD., VP, Chief Information Security Officer Rob Suarez, and Sr. Program Manager Keith Pierce. Each speaker shared their career journey and imparted words of advice to the students.

BD is one of the largest global medical technology companies in the world and is advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics, and the delivery of care. With a focus on innovation, BD has been at the forefront of medical technology for over a century, developing products and services that improve the health and well-being of people around the world.

“These students may be future innovation leaders,” said Kim Lehmann, project creator and Sr. Legal Counsel at BD. “At BD, we see our role as a MedTech leader not only as developing innovation that enables care breakthroughs today, but also as serving to nurture the next generation in STEM fields. We created this debate program to engage students early, fostering a vigorous debate about some tough ethical issues that are prevalent in healthcare as well as underscoring the importance of communicating your ideas for anyone going into an innovation field. The students surpassed our expectations and were wonderful to work with.”

PCTVS Chief School Administrator John Maiello stated, "We are incredibly proud of our students who participated in BD's Diversity STEM Debate Challenge. This was an exceptional opportunity for our students to engage in meaningful dialogue on bioethics, and to hear from experts in the field. We are grateful to BD for hosting this event, and for their commitment to supporting STEM education. We look forward to continuing our partnership with BD and providing our students with similar opportunities in the future."

PCTI & STEM students at BD.

Team BETA, BD Diversity STEM Debate Challenge winners.