A clear sky. Low 47F. Winds light and variable..
A clear sky. Low 47F. Winds light and variable.
Updated: September 11, 2026 @ 9:15 pm

Two students in ARMI’s BioTrek program research a scientific topic.
Students in ARMI’s BioTrek program check the results of an experiment.
Christy Johnson

Christy Johnson
Two students in ARMI’s BioTrek program research a scientific topic.
Two students in ARMI’s BioTrek program research a scientific topic.
Students in ARMI’s BioTrek program check the results of an experiment.
Christy Johnson, director of education and workforce development for ARMI, says there’s no upper limit for educating people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
“We like to say we educate from K (kindergarten) to gray (seniors),” she points out.
Johnson will be one of the speakers in this year’s Wicked STEM Expo on Saturday, Sept. 19. She will speak on “Join the Future in Biomanufacturing: Education and Career Pathways.”
Johnson works with a team of five at ARMI — the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute.
She oversees all of ARMI’s education and workforce projects, with a reach that’s not just local, but regional and national.
They partner with other companies, she said.
“We are trying to co-develop alternate education pathways, career pathways. We want to have as many on-ramps as possible.”
For Johnson and her team, this includes partnerships with high schools, colleges, people already established in their careers — and elementary schools, beginning with kindergarten.
ARMI’s flagship program is called BioTrek. It’s a curriculum emphasizing workforce-readiness projects.
“We encourage the students to work in teams, solve real-world problems, develop a model solution and pitch it to industry leaders,” she said.
BioTrek teaches a number of the “soft” skills, according to Johnson: entrepreneurial skills, teamwork skills, collaboration skills.
The students who succeed are the ones who “come with an attitude that they really want to make a difference, make an impact.”
She especially likes working with the Gen Z cohort, “because they look at things with a different set of eyes.”
Students have no trouble finding projects, according to Johnson. They just have to look around them. They’ve taken on Type 1 diabetes, solutions for broken bones, even situations involving red blood cells.
ARMI works in partnership with Breakthrough T1D (formerly the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) to find a cure or treatment for children with Type 1.
When students start to toss around solutions with their peers, they hear personal stories, Johnson said.
“They say, ‘This happened to my dad. My grandfather. My little brother. They’re invested in coming up with a solution.”
Johnson herself made a later-in-life shift. While she worked as a science teacher for more than 30 years, she felt the need for a change after COVID-19. But she wanted to stay connected to the STEM world, and joined ARMI in 2022.
“They have a strong mission and are involved in community outreach,” she said, adding, “It’s a perfect match.”
She said she had been aware of the company for years. While she was still a classroom teacher in Windham, she printed out articles about the company and pinned them to a bulletin board.
“I would tell the students, ‘This is in your backyard,’” she said of the Manchester location.
While women and girls perform well in STEM jobs, their commitment still lags behind that of boys, according to Johnson.
ARMI is seeking out women and girls interested in being mentored.
“We want to give young women, in particular, the opportunity to break down barriers,” she said.
Locally, ARMI works with organizations such as Girls Inc., Girl Scouts and Girls at Work, which introduces young women to power tools.
The organization is also interested in helping minorities find a place in the STEM world.
“We want to make sure we bring these opportunities to all people,” Johnson said. “We go to urban schools, rural schools, public schools, private schools, charter schools.”
Christy Johnson
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