Bridges Strong

Bridges Strong was founded in 2024 to create educative programs, in engineering and science, that spark the creative and innovative minds out there.

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

Two months into our Summer 2026 Internship and the Research and Program Development Interns are delivering! 🚀

We’re about to launch testing of the first Water Purification module while completing the strong foundation started by our Winter 2025 interns.
This has been one of the most complex pushes yet for Bridges-Strong — packed with firsts: the first module, documentation structure, resources, evaluation tools, and more. 🔥
Their hard work, creativity, and dedication made it possible. Grateful for this team.
#BridgesStrong #WaterPurification #STEM #Internship #EngineeringEducation

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

Started with clay + Elmer’s glue…
Now printing bio-ink capable of holding living cells.
All achieved on a LEGO bioprinter. From proof-of-concept to real biomedical potential.
Full interview: https://t.co/dCQCoX6f2v
https://t.co/dCQCoX6f2v
#Bioprinting #TissueEngineering #STEM #FutureOfMedicine

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

Commercial bioprinter: thousands of dollars
LEGO version: ~$200
Students showed how low-cost, modular design can make biomedical technology more accessible and repairable.
Full interview here: https://t.co/mHm7chl8jW
#LowCostInnovation #Bioprinting #Engineering #LEGO

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

No instructions. No sponsor. Just LEGOs.
These students designed and built a complete bioprinter from scratch — coding, prototyping, and iterating until it worked.
Behind-the-scenes full interview: https://t.co/dCQCoX6MS3
https://t.co/dCQCoX6MS3
#EngineeringStudents #SeniorDesign #Innovation

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

“I wanted to help people like my mom.”
Allison’s personal motivation for creating a LEGO bioprinter that could one day support artificial cartilage solutions. A powerful student story.
Watch the full interview: https://t.co/dCQCoX6f2v
https://t.co/dCQCoX6f2v
#BiomedicalEngineering #Innovation #STEM

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

They built a real working 3D bioprinter… out of LEGOs 🤯
Catholic University students turned LEGO Mindstorms into a functional bioprinting machine for artificial cartilage research.
Full interview: https://t.co/dCQCoX6f2v
More at https://t.co/dCQCoX6f2v
#LEGO #Bioprinting #STEM #Engineering

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

Representing our organization at the 2026 Amelia Earhart festival. Her flights are an example how the courage and determination of one woman can help advance technology. Imagine what we can achieve if we have more women like her, not making dangerous flights, but just daring to achieve the impossible. @AmeliaDerry

[One Rocket Mom @OneRocketMom]

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet the Amelia Earhart Legacy Association at the 2026 Amelia Earhart Festival. The @ameliaderry association, based in Derry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, keeps Amelia Earhart’s spirit alive! Here also with Duilia de Mello who received the 2026 Amelia Earhart Pioneering Achievem

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

Thrilled to welcome our Summer 2026 Research & Program Development Interns to @bridges_strong!
This remote cohort will use Agile to build bilingual water purification modules empowering underserved adults to engineer local solutions.
Meet the team (full bios: https://t.co/9OXxv1N2oy): Elise Su, Eric Huang, Lila Sengezener, Mercedes Alvarez, Sophia Jiao, & William Sprakties

Welcome! Let's innovate together. #BridgesStrong #STEM #Interns2026

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

Closing & Motivation
Engineering + Medicine = endless possibilities. Thank you Maria for showing us what’s possible! Full interview now live on https://t.co/XUP6jdHR7J 🔗

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

The Vision: Physicianeer
I want to be the doctor who speaks fluent Engineer. Maria’s mission: bridge medicine and innovation so we actually solve real patient problems. Future is bright! 🚀

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

Medigami – Stomach Example (Part 2)
Developing stomach in origami form. It doesn’t just look cool — it teaches the actual folding process of the GI tract. Maria is onto something big! 🧬

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

Medigami – Origami for Embryology (Part 1)
Origami to learn embryology?! Maria created Medigami — folding paper to understand the trilaminar disc. This is genius 📄🧠

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

From Engineering to Medicine – Personal Story
Her dad is a doctor. She saw medicine from both sides — doctor AND patient. That’s why this engineer is becoming a physician. ❤️

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

Why Mechanical Engineering? (Soft Robotics Hook)
Soft robotics changed everything. A Cornell summer camp + a robotic starfish made Maria fall in love with Mechanical Engineering 🤖
Who else got hooked by one cool lecture? 👇

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

Introduction & Impressive Background
Meet Maria Erquiaga: Mechanical Engineer → Future Physician (Texas A&M Class of 2028). Summa Cum Laude + first undergrad in BOTH Phi Beta Kappa & Tau Beta Pi 👩‍💻→ Full story dropping soon 👇

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

Proud moment!
Our Winter 2025 pilot internship wrapped up.
Interns researched commercial water filters, created our first Reverse Osmosis educational video + Spanish version, and delivered a strong final presentation.
Huge thanks for building a solid foundation for Bridges-Strong’s programs! 🚰

More engineering education coming soon for underserved communities.

#BridgesStrong #STEM #WaterPurification

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

Thrilled to have attended the 18th Annual Engineering Senior Design Day at The Catholic University of America today! Saw amazing student projects bursting with ingenuity — solutions that can improve daily life, science, and spark real businesses. So excited about the future inventors we’re inspiring and our growing partnership with these passionate CUA professors! #EngineeringInnovation #FutureInventors

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

2026 Senior Night at CUA where I had the opportunity to meet with collaborators and learn about the amazing work engineering students are doing @CatholicUniv⁩ @bridges-strong

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

Did you know one of the most popular doorbell cameras today, Ring, started as a simple garage hack by an independent inventor?

In 2011, Jamie Siminoff was working in his garage and kept missing deliveries because he couldn't hear the doorbell. He built a prototype Wi-Fi video doorbell using a camera and basic hacks—no big lab or corporate team, just ingenuity and persistence. (He studied entrepreneurship, not hardcore engineering, and bootstrapped it himself.)

From that "Doorbot" grew Ring: a smart device letting you see, hear, and talk to visitors from your phone, enhancing home security, reducing package theft, and providing peace of mind for daily life, families, or monitoring your yard during sports/outdoor activities.

Jamie turned it into a billion-dollar business (acquired by Amazon for ~$1B), proving everyday frustrations + determination can spark massive impact.

Real problems + grit = game-changing innovation. Your idea could be next!

Read the full story on our blog at https://t.co/XUP6jdHjib and follow for more inspiring tales of everyday inventors. Excited for upcoming engineering programs—open to anyone ready to invent the future, no credentials needed!

What frustration will you fix?

#GarageInventors #Innovation #BecomeAnInventor #EngineeringForAll

[Bridges Strong @bridges_strong]

We are offering remote Summer 2026 internships!
High school seniors & college students — help bring practical engineering education to underserved communities, create content in English & Spanish, and support innovation that reaches Earth… and beyond 🚀

📅 Jun 8–Aug 21 | 30 hrs/wk | Fully remote

Apply: Feb 16–Mar 13 → https://t.co/Sz3YO02chA

#STEM #Internship #EducationEquity #Engineering #BridgesStrong