Student/Post-doc News
BME Translational Fellowship Award
Rebecca Schewe-Mott was awarded the BME Translational Fellowship. Rebecca is a third year PhD student who works with Professor Keith Cook. Her area of specialization is Biomechanics (BioFluids) and her research topic is the Optimization of the BioLung ® Artificial Lung Fiber Bundle. Her research involves creating new artificial lung designs using computational and experimental methods with the goal of developing thoracic artificial lungs as a bridge to lung transplantation.
Posted on September 24, 2008, 4:19 pm
BME Merit Fellowship Award
Hesamoddin Jahanian was awarded the BME Merit Fellowship. Hesamoddin is a third year PhD student who works with Professor Luis Hernandez-Garcia and Professor Douglas Noll. His area of specialization is biomedical imaging and his research topic is fast, high SNR cerebral perfusion measurement using MRI. His research aims to improve arterial spin labeling (ASL) technique so that it can be used routinely in clinical applications for: 1) baseline cerebral perfusion measurements in both White Matter and Grey matter; and 2) functional neuroimaging. Selection criteria for the award included: academic excellence, clarity of research plan, and progress toward degree. The new fellowship generated a great deal of interest and the selection process was extremely competitive. Congratulations!
Posted on September 17, 2008, 11:14 am
Luyun Chen Wins American Society of Biomechanics Award
Luyun Chen, a Ph.D. student in BME working with Dr. James Ashton-Miller, won the Journal of Biomechanics Award from the American Society of Biomechanics at their annual meeting in conjunction with the Fourth North American Congress on Biomechanics held in Ann Arbor, MI August 5-9, 2008 for her paper entitled: "A 3-D Finite Element Model of Anterior Vaginal Wall Support for Evaluating Mechanisms Underlying Cystocele Formation."
Posted on August 12, 2008, 8:15 am
BME Ph.D. Student Amy Hsiao Receives MBSTP Fellowship
Amy Hsiao, Ph.D. student in BME, is the recipient of a Microfluidics in Biomedical Sciences Training Program (MBSTP) Fellowship. Amy is working with BME professor Shuichi Takayama. This fellowship covers most of Amy's stipend, tuition, and fees for the 2008-09 school year. Amy also received this fellowship for the 2007-08 school year.
The MBSTP leverages the strength's of Michigan's engineering, basic sciences, and biomedical research community to create Ph.D. level scientists with cross-training in microfluidics and biological research. Their intent is for students leaving the program to be able to identify and define biomedical problems and then design and implement microfluidics tools that can be used to solve those problems. They train students to communicate and collaborate across these disciplines and ultimately lead interdisciplinary research teams of the future. Such students are - and will continue to be - in high demand by instrumentation, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical companies, as well as research universities.
Posted on June 26, 2008, 11:28 am
BME Ph.D. Student Stephanie Grainger Earns Fellowship
Stephanie Grainger, Ph.D. student in BME working with Dr. Mohamed El-Sayed, is the recipient of a fellowship from the University of Michigan Cellular Biotechnology Training Program (CBTP). This fellowship includes tuition and stipend support for two to three years beginning in September 2008.
The Cellular Biotechnology Training Program (CBTP) at the University of Michigan, is dedicated to uniting academic and industrial scientists interested in basic research to further enhance career opportunities for Ph.D. graduates. One of the goals of CBTP is for all students in the Program to gain experience in an industrial research setting. Accordingly, all students supported by CBTP must participate in a 1-3 month industry internship.
Posted on June 24, 2008, 9:37 am
M-HEAL
On Saturday, March 29, members of M-HEAL joined World Medical Relief, Inc., to inventory the Detroit warehouse full of donated medical supplies. M-HEAL is a student group at Michigan composed of mainly BME graduate and undergraduate engineering students with a shared concern for global health disparities. Before this event, physicians from developing countries would wander the warehouse to select the items they needed for their clinics. The goal of the massive inventory project was to create a computerized database of every single item in WMR to make the whole operation more efficient and the equipment more accessible to those who need it. Stephen Dewitt, Annie Mitsak, Pratik Rohatgi, Julia Samorezov, David Turer, and Kristen Wolff, M-HEAL's officers, have worked tirelessly to accomplish this goal.
In just one year, M-HEAL has developed a very strong relationship with World Medical Relief, Inc., a private non-profit, multi-funded organization based in Detroit, Michigan. World Medical Relief exists exclusively for charitable purposes and seeks to relieve human suffering throughout the global community by collecting and distributing pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and recycled medical equipment. The staff works to supply low-cost prescription drugs and durable medical goods to impoverished individuals in the Detroit area, as well as provide medical supplies to international medical facilities. Approximately 100 shipments of medical goods are sent annually to hospitals in over 75 countries with the recipients of these items paying for only the cost of shipping. World Medical Relief is constantly receiving requests for supplies from international hospitals and the current list of most-asked for equipment includes: hospital beds, ventilators, fetal monitors, ultrasound machines, defibulators, operating tables, autoclaves, and ECG monitors. Such requests could not be met without the generous donations of local hospitals. When area hospitals such as Beaumont and St. John's undergo periodic equipment upgrades, they often call on World Medical Relief to pick up the discarded equipment. This is an environmentally-friendly, socially-conscious and tax-deductible method of recycling the hospitals' "outdated" equipment.
Two Saturdays each month, M-HEAL members join four volunteer medical technicians from Beaumont Hospital at World Medical Relief. Together they spend the morning testing and repairing donated medical devices. These technicians offer their expertise, teaching the University of Michigan students about the equipment, as well as effective validation procedures. Additionally, World Medical Relief has restored a large engineering validation room within its facilities exclusively for the use of M-HEAL members and is extremely excited about the work that the students are able to accomplish. World Medical Relief's Chief Operating Officer is enthusiastic about further building the World Medical Relief's relationship with the University of Michigan.
M-HEAL students also are working on a low-cost surgical lamp as their current design project. This lamp will be capable of operating with intermittent electricity, making it suitable for clinics in areas frequently plagued by power outages. A prototype is in development, and will be sent for testing with World Medical Relief members to the Philippines this summer. As part of the planning process for future design projects, M-HEAL members have created a survey of need to assess hospital and clinic conditions in developing nations. Several University groups have already taken these surveys on their medical aid trips to Cuba, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. The goal is to distribute the survey to as widely as possible, thus enabling M-HEAL to undertake relevant design projects that can make a real difference in the global community.
Posted on June 23, 2008, 9:25 am
Kelly Baker Wins BME Departmental Service Award
Kelly Baker is the first recipient of the BME Departmental Service Award. This award is given in recognition of her exceptional leadership and service to her peers and to the mission of the Department of Biomedical Engineering while maintaining a successful academic career. Kelly's commitment to Biomedical Engineering and her actions as an advocate of the department to fellow students and the administration are truly worthy of recognition. She participated in M-Heal, led BMES as President, and mentored BME underclassmen during her time here. Kelly's service extended beyond the BME community as well. She led tours of the college, took notes for the hearing-impaired, and volunteered in the community through several organizations.
Today's industry environment calls for mentors and leaders capable of working with others, who are able to collaborate, innovate, and inspire without dominating any project. Kelly brought this skill to the projects she undertook, and BME benefited greatly. We are very proud to count Kelly among our alumni, and wish her success in her future career.
Posted on June 19, 2008, 3:31 pm
2008 Margaret Ayers Host Award
Geeta Mehta, a Ph.D. student in BME, has been awarded the 2008 Margaret Ayers Host Award, and will receive $5000 in support. Nominees for this award must be women actively pursing a doctoral degree who have demonstrated exceptional scholarly achievement, a sense of social responsibility, and an interest in the success of women in the academic community. Geeta was also awarded a Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship in 2007.
Posted on May 13, 2008, 4:33 pm
NDSEG Fellowships
BME graduate student David Lipps has been awarded a three-year National Defense and Science Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship. David is a member of Professor James Ashton-Miller's research group. As a means of increasing the number of U.S. citizens and nationals trained in science and engineering disciplines of military importance, the Department of Defense (DoD) awarded nearly 200 new three-year fellowships. The DoD offered these fellowships to individuals who have demonstrated ability and special aptitude for advanced training in science and engineering.
Posted on May 12, 2008, 4:44 pm
2008 NSF Fellowship Grants
Four Michigan Biomedical Engineering graduate students are the recipients of the 2008 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) award. The BME department would like to congratulate David Thompson, Darcee Nelson, Marian Adamson, and Adam Maxwell on their impressive achievement. These 4 outstanding winners are associated with BME core faculty members Daryl Kipke Ph.D., Susan Brooks Ph.D., Michael Mayer Ph.D., and Charles Cain Ph.D. respectively. The awards are extremely competitive, especially this year, with fewer than 4% of applicants receiving honors.
The purpose of the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program is to ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and to reinforce its diversity. Each year the NSF awards approximately 1,100 Graduate Research Fellowships to outstanding individuals who are in the early stages of their graduate study. The fellowship provides three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based masters or doctoral degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields.
BME Professor Kate Barald held an NSF application workshop in October of 2007. More than 40 students from many Engineering College and Basic Science departments, including 3 of the 4 BME awardees, attended the informational workshop. This workshop will be given again in the fall of 2008. Dr. Barald is also willing to help students with their submissions, including editing their essays and research proposals. Kate Barald Ph.D. has served as a member of the NSF GRFP
Posted on April 8, 2008, 11:29 am
BME Student Received 2008 Fellowship Award
Hesamoddin Jahanian, Ph.D. student in BME working with Dr. Douglas Noll, is the recipient of a Rackham International Student Fellowship for 2008 and will receive an award of $7,500 which can be used toward his stipend or tuition. Nominees for this fellowship must have a strong academic record, be making good progress toward the degree, and demonstrate outstanding academic and professional promise.
Posted on March 24, 2008, 4:38 pm
Research Fellow Mohammad Abidian Receives Accolades
Mohammad Abidian received the Graduate Student Silver Award from the Materials Research Society (MRS) and his article in Advanced Materials was selected as the cover and most popular article of 2006. Mohammad was awarded the the Graduate Student Silver Award during the Materials Research Society (MRS) spring 2007 event for his contribution "Aligned Conducting Polymer Nanotubes for the Controlled Release of Neurotrophins and Contact Guidance of Regenerating Neurons" - his thesis work conducted in Prof, David Martin's lab in MSE.
His paper (Abidian et. al. "Conducting Polymer Nanotubes for Controlled Drug Release" Adv. Mater. 18, 4, 405-409) was published in Advanced Materials one of the high impact journals (impact factor 9.2). This paper was selected as the cover illustration of volume 18 issue 4 in 2006. Also, according to WILEY VCH publisher for Advanced Materials this paper was one of the most popular and accessed articles in 2006-2007.
Posted on March 18, 2008, 4:29 pm
Sheereen Majd Selected for Barbour Scholarship
BME Graduate student Sheereen Majd has been selected to recieve the Barbour Scholarship ("which recognizes women of the highest academic and professional caliber") for 08-09. The Barbour Scholarship program was established in 1914 at the University of Michigan to train young women in modern science, medicine, mathematics and other specialties critical to the development of their native lands.
Posted on March 12, 2008, 11:32 am
BME Ph.D students finish as finalists in business plan competiton "Nanotechnologies 2007"
University of Michigan graduate students Jungwoo Lee and Meghan Cuddihy were named one of the finalist teams in the "Nanotechnologies 2007" international business plan competition. Although they did not take home the top prize, the team, along with the help of their advisor Professor Nicholas Kotov, finished as one of seven finalist teams from around the world.
Posted on March 11, 2008, 9:43 pm
BME 599 Teams Awarded External Funds to Develop Prototypes
Student design teams from the BME 599 Graduate Innovative Design class have been awarded external funds to develop their prototypes. Two groups from the BME 599 class were awarded $500 (per group) from the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies Dare To Dream Grant Program on February 15, 2008.
Those 2 teams are:
Moduline
Daniel Greenwald
Jeffrey Meng
Auresa Thomas
Bryan Callow
Fontis Medical:
Matthew Gibson
Erin Purcell
Takashi Yoshida
The Fontis Medical group (from the BME 599 Graduate Innovative Design class) finished first place in the COE Center for Entrepreneurship Business Idea Competition. The group members will share the $1000 first prize award. The group also won a spot on the Bay Area Innovators trip in February.
Two teams from BME 599 won $500 Stipends from the BMEidea Biomedical Engineering Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship Award. Those two teams are:NeuroSensor
Sean Xuan Li
Tia Chakraborty
Sunjay Dodani
Morphocor:
Kelly Lynn Baker
Chloe Marie Funkhouser
Heidi Nicole Howes
Christina
Dahlin
One team was awarded $3,000 from the UM COE Center for Entrepreneurship:
Fontis Medical:
Matthew Donivan Gibson
Erin Kay Purcell
Takashi Daniel Yoshida
Posted on February 21, 2008, 12:00 am
Luyun Chen Wins Outstanding Paper Award
BME PhD candidate, Luyun Chen won the Basic Science Outstanding Paper Award at the 2007 American Urogynecological Society (AUGS) annual meeting in Hollywood, FL. The research paper is entitled: "3-D Finite Element Model of Anterior Vaginal Wall
Posted on November 21, 2007, 12:00 am