Master Teacher of Invention and Intellectual Property Education Program (MTIP)

Tyler Dufrene

Raceland, Louisiana, and Arlington, Virginia

Tyler Dufrene’s favorite part of teaching is watching his students experience those “lightbulb” moments when something finally clicks. Sometimes, it’s a student understanding how a theory works in practice. Or it might be students who realize they can be inventors who use science and technology to improve people’s lives or develop a prize-winning robotics project. Those moments are why Tyler returns again and again to the classroom. Now, he's an MTIP and Invention Education alumnus who visits local school districts and provides professional development opportunities on how and why to integrate IP into classrooms. Tyler sees those same lightbulb moments spark in his fellow teachers' eyes when they understand the enormous cross-curricular potential of invention education. 

“The wonderful thing about IP is that it isn't limited to one grade level or subject area," Tyler says. "It is versatile and quite easy to embed in existing standards. [IP education] allows students to feel empowered knowing that systems and structures are in place to protect their novel and intriguing inventions.”

Advocating for his students was how Tyler found the National Summer Teacher Institute (NSTI). As sponsor of his school’s robotics team, Tyler quickly realized he had to find a way to protect the unique inventions of his students. Tyler came across the USPTO's education team in the Office of Public Engagement and NSTI, a weeklong, in-person professional development opportunity designed to support teachers as they increase their knowledge of concepts related to making, inventing, and IP creation and protection. That summer, he learned about the techniques, strategies, and tools to incorporate IP and invention education into his classroom, while also building a strong network of like-minded educators who put students first and strive to be their biggest supporters. Tyler says that his experience at NSTI “transformed the way I teach, because [IP education] allowed me to build in time for students to brainstorm, collaborate, and dig deeper into their own thought processes.”

Galvanized by his newfound passion for IP education and encouraged by the USPTO to take on a leadership role, Tyler became one of the inaugural MTIP teacher-leaders in 2023. In this role, Tyler works with local school districts to deliver IP and invention education workshops for educators. These professional development opportunities, supported by USPTO resources and training, provide teachers with IP knowledge and classroom-ready content so they can in turn advocate for their students and foster creativity and intellectual curiosity. Tyler emphasizes that anyone can be an inventor—no degree or certification needed. This is precisely what makes invention education such a powerful tool; it gives students the problem-solving skills to look within themselves and unlock their full potential.

Yaritza Ortiz

Carrollton, Texas

“Transformative. Uplifting. Validating.” Those are the words Yaritza Ortiz uses to describe her first experience with IP and invention education while attending NSTI in 2015. She vividly remembers working with her small group of fellow educators on the invention challenge, a core component of the weeklong NSTI curriculum and one of many lessons teachers can take back to their classrooms. In fact, her group submitted a provisional application for a patent and formed an LLC after just one week of working together on their invention. Yaritza’s self-efficacy soared as a result of her NSTI experience, and she knew right then and there that she had to ensure her students felt the same. She completely overhauled her curriculum and went into the following school year with a brand new, invention- and innovation-centric approach to her STEM classes. Now, when Yaritza tests students’ knowledge, she tells them, “Invent something that shows me what you’ve learned.”

Yaritza never intended to become a teacher. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, she set out to become an engineer and performed at the top of her class, but barriers such as discrimination eventually forced her to pursue another path. She began teaching in 1993 and quickly fell in love with it (and still loves it 31 years later). 

Yaritza views the NSTI experience and her introduction to invention education as a re-affirmation of why she felt called to teach. It also spurred her to adopt a student-first approach to design curriculum that uses innovation and invention to demonstrate STEM concepts, building students’ confidence and belief in themselves. In IP and invention education, which Yaritza likes to call “STEM with a purpose,” students work to solve problems they really care about. They own their learning path, work in groups to play to each other’s individual strengths, and leave feeling empowered to take on the challenges of the real world. 

Most of Yaritza’s students come from underserved communities, and she believes her approach to education has opened countless new doors for them. Yaritza hears from long-graduated students who tell her inventing in her classroom was the best thing that ever happened to them. “When my students are exposed to this type of learning,” Yaritza says, “they grow in the belief that there are no limitations for learning other than the ones they impose on themselves.”

With her first-hand knowledge of the impact invention education can have on students and educators, Yaritza became an inaugural MTIP and Invention Education alumna in 2023. She loves the MTIP program—where she holds workshops and other professional development opportunities for educators in her community—because it allows her to exponentialize the reach of IP and invention education. By spreading this pedagogy wherever she can, Yaritza is creating new opportunities for underserved students and helping to build an inclusive innovation ecosystem that encourages all Americans to be inventors.

Yajaira Torres

Guaynabo, Puerto Rico 

Yajaira has been teaching STEM for more than 20 years at Colegio Rosa-Bell in Guaynabo. She has led initiatives to integrate effective STEM education from kindergarten all the way through 12^th grade, so she knows firsthand the challenges of holding students’ attention while preparing them for a rapidly changing world. Yajaira also knows that engaged and inspired teachers make for the most engaged and inspired students – and this is where her workshops make their biggest impact. Rather than handing educators a ready-made template for curriculum (“Teachers who think they are coming to my workshops just to copy things are sorely mistaken!” she says), her workshops take a highly interactive approach. She introduces collaborative activities to help teachers incorporate real-world applications of IP and invention – endlessly customizable to the unique needs of their individual classrooms – into their lessons. By emphasizing problems that students and teachers care about, and the critical role IP can play in fostering creativity and new ideas, Yajaira situates educators at the center of their own lesson design. As Yajaira likes to say, “Teachers are the most creative people in the world; for them, there are no impossibilities. They just need to keep that spark of motivation alive to innovate.” 

Yajaira is passionate about helping teachers foster a culture of innovation, because she has seen what a profound impact invention and IP education can have for the students in her community: “Not only do they gain essential skills for their future endeavors, but they also develop a deep-rooted sense of confidence, curiosity, and entrepreneurial spirit that will accompany them on every step of their journey through life.”