BME senior design is a two-semester course sequence that provides an opportunity for practical and innovative problem solving in creating a product to meet a real need for a customer/client. These courses are intended to engage students in a meaningful experience by bringing together concepts and principles learned in the biomedical engineering curriculum, and extending this theory to a practical application to plan and construct a project. Course emphasis is placed on learning the design process within the framework of an engineering team. Particular focus in the design experience is placed on the creation of a “commercial product.” This experience is comprehensive, reflecting all aspects of the engineering design process and industry practice. Problem solving for large-scale, open-ended, complex and sometimes incompletely defined systems is the primary emphasis of these courses. Each team is mentored by a faculty advisor with expertise in the field, and team members are selected from across our four BME concentrations namely, (i) biomaterials and tissue engineering, (ii) bioinstrumentation and imaging, (iii) biomechanics and mechanobiology, and (iv) computational and systems biology. This ensures that each team is well equipped with the knowledge and skill set to tackle the challenge.

     Students also learn what it is like to work in the industry and learn the tricks of the trade. Many of our students elect to get valuable work experience by working on a design project with a company. Others choose to get involved in one of the myriad faculty-sponsored research projects in biomedical devices for imaging and diagnostics, physical therapy devices for children with cerebral palsy, machine learning-based approaches to diagnosing neurological conditions, novel biomaterials and in-vitro models to study traumatic brain injury, innovative microfluidic chips, novel 3D-printed breast prosthetics for mastectomy patients, novel biomechanical approaches for assessing and treating musculoskeletal conditions, redesign of mammography paddles for better comfort, human movement biomechanics, and several more.