There is growing concern in the United States about the lack of interest and aptitude in science, math and, in particular, technology and engineering disciplines. Certainly one reason for this could be the lack of true engineering experiences available to students when they are in junior high and high school. This is in part due to the fact that while most teachers are well versed in math and science through their formal education, very few have experience and/or educational backgrounds in engineering and technology. To promote STEM careers, a partnership among university engineering faculty, practicing engineers, and secondary schools is necessary; it is important to demonstrate to young potential STEM professionals the relevance of STEM activities. In addition to interacting with practicing professionals, authentic experiential learning activities for students in secondary education can promote STEM careers. Recently, the authors were awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant as part of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to develop such partnerships and activities. As part of this ITEST project, the fields of building automation, internet of things, and additive manufacturing was chosen as the focus area for all planned activities. This work-inprogress paper will present the ongoing work for this project, including the concept of using building automation to introduce teachers and students to STEM concepts, a novel summer workshop for secondary education teachers, the development of a simple building automation platform that can be deployed in secondary education classrooms, and the development of educational partnerships with industry to introduce and excite secondary education students about the STEM opportunities. There is growing concern in the US about the lack of interest and aptitude in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines. While most teachers are well versed in math and science through their formal education, very few have experience and/or educational backgrounds in engineering and technology. Engineering is widely viewed as the application of math and science for the betterment of humanity. Presenting students with engineering and technology instruction will allow them to better understand the different aspects and interactions among the STEM disciplines. Given the prominence of engineering in both state [1] and the national Next Generation Science standards [2] , this is a critical need. The work in this National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) project is designed to increase teachers' use of engineering design and students' understanding of engineering careers through authentic [3] product development experiences using connected devices. Two of the most exciting and transformational technologies today are connected devices [4] and additive manufacturing [5] . These two technologies have the potential to drastically alter business models and upend entire industries. As major companies adopt these technologies, the workforce of the future will need to be comfortable working with these connected devices, how new manufacturing processes work, and understanding the role these technologies can play in the modern enterprise.
Porter et al. REF argue that the lack of students' engineering experiences in primary and secondary education is in part due to the fact that very few teachers have an engineering/technology background and that the collaboration with universities and professionals would help coping with this issue.
Building Automation and IoT as a Platform for Introducing STEM Education in K-12
Engineering