"TKS has helped me realize that I'm meant to build and that I will continue to build and help others in spaces like climate tech and space tech! It helped me build an engineering portfolio and get amazing internships and opportunities."

"Through the mentors and friends I met during TKS, I learned mental models that deeply impacted me and shaped who I am today. TKS helped me be unafraid of tackling ambitious problems and pursue a more unconventional path.”

"TKS gave me a community of inspiring peers, helped me create projects that got me internships at AI research labs and startups while in high school, and made me feel ready to work full-time at a startup in Silicon Valley without university."

“TKS sparked my interest in building real-world change. I’ve worked with scientists in the cultured meat industry, built a maternal public health program in Nigeria, and created a women’s health product (Boob Blurb)."

"TKS propelled me into an environment of like-minded individuals where I built projects in cancer research, formed life-long connections, and built mindsets towards innovative success. The people I met in TKS remain my closest friends."

"I got my first exposure to CRISPR-Cas9 and the scientific method during TKS, and I find myself relying on those lessons to this day as I help develop and deploy the next generation of genetic engineering tools here at MIT."

"Through TKS, I was strongly encouraged to pursue my curiosities in areas that normally require a deep technical background, and was exposed to frameworks that have been immensely valuable as I've been building my company."

"I met people at TKS who really get me and enable me to be my most authentic self while pushing for my growth. TKS helped me unlock opportunities, internships, and network connections that were life-changing."

"TKS was the catalyst for me to rapidly progress toward my goals. It showed me that I didn't need to wait to start building valuable technical skills, start companies, and carve my own path. Without it, my life would look very different."

"TKS gave me a new frame of reference for what I could accomplish. I trained tangible mental models like breaking down major issues into their root causes. I wouldn't have been able to cofound a biotech startup without this experience."

"I started TKS in 2016 and it was the place where I learned about artificial intelligence and data. I met my mentor Mike during TKS, who later hired me to work at Tecton as an early product manager building advanced AI tools."

"TKS pushed me to build, learn, and invent, alongside the most supportive group of friends I've ever met. During the program I built my first Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) project, and projects in artificial intelligence, blockchain, and gene editing. TKS changed my trajectory."

Jennah previously ran marketing in the startup world and non-profit space. She’s interested in building companies and teams that are optimized for high growth. Her students have gone on to speak on world stages, create supercapacitors and engineer solar panels out of bacteria.

Skylor is an educator turned entrepreneur with extensive experience in crypto, fintech, artificial intelligence, and venture capital. He grew the #1 Bitcoin exchange in Canada before being acquired in 2016. His research led to investments in Starkware, NuBank, Discord, and Scale AI. He’s invested alongside world-class firms including YCombinator, Sequoia, and Andreessen Horowitz.

Aatik is a management consultant turned educator who has worked with an incredible variety of learners over the years, in terms of age, culture, and learning styles. He ran a national entrepreneurial learning program for Canada’s startup ecosystem and has coached many product-focused young professionals in cultivating a meaningful, fulfilling career. Aatik also has experience with Synthesis - an education division at SpaceX.

Mikaela is a creative turned data wizard, with experience in data science and strategy, and an MS in Data Visualization from Parsons School of Design. She helped build and scale Kode with Klossy’s pilot data science program, one of the largest all-female programs in North America and was employee number one at New York based consultancy, Data Culture, helping organizations translate critical business challenges into scalable data solutions. 

Andrés has built a career designing and creating novel, tech hardware at the cutting edge of material science, neuroscience, nanotechnology, renewable energy and space. Andrés is passionate about advancing the future of education, especially for BIPOC learners everywhere. Most recently, he taught a course in Engineering Design at MIT and built a multi-million dollar analytical laboratory from scratch. His past collaborators include the National Institutes of Health, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory and NASA.

Niloo is a filmmaker turned entrepreneur, with experience in fintech, blockchain, and scaling early-stage startups. She co-founded Hello Iris, which was backed by Techstars, was formerly the Head of Education at BlockGeeks, and worked closely with Michele Romanow from Dragon’s Den to turn her startup, Clearco, into a billion-dollar lending platform.

Steven spent 10+ years helping founders build digital products. Joining as the fourth employee, he helped scale his last agency to 40+ team members and 9-figures in revenue before the company was acquired in 2021. Steven has led client projects worldwide, such as launching a digital insurance company in Barbados, a neo-bank in Dubai, and a cryptocurrency exchange in Canada.

Brandon has worked at McKinsey, SpaceX, Raytheon, Li & Fung, and the US Army R&D center. He was an early employee at Bowery Farming, the world’s leading vertical farming company, where he helped to design food systems of the future. He earned his MBA from MIT Sloan, his MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, and his BSE in Mechanical Engineering from Penn.

Pranav is an Engineer turned startup enthusiast whose career began in product roles for medtech and manufacturing companies. He then worked in startup consulting, where he worked with over 100+ founders to solve critical world problems within wildfire prevention, water treatment for remote communities and mental health support.

Steven founded Acorn Biolabs, a bioengineering startup accelerated by Y-Combinator, incubated by Johnson&Johnson’s JLABS, and funded by over $3.3M of venture investment. Acorn non-invasively collects, transports, and cryopreserves young cells directly from consumers to help superpower future longevity therapeutics like 3D bioprinting. His students have gone on to start companies that have raised $250K, and build biology projects that have been accepted into University labs.