Biomedical Engineering Event Matches UCI IP-based Student Projects with Industry Mentors

On March 1st, 26 teams of biomedical engineering students presented their senior capstone projects, of which most are based off of UCI intellectual property (IP), to an audience of 30 industry and academic mentors at the Cove @UCI. The ‘speed dating-style’ event, presented by BioENGINE, matched these teams to appropriate industry mentors. Mentors will spend 12 weeks advising teams on topics such as go-to-market strategy, FDA approvals and manufacturing.

“This is the first year that our teams are interdisciplinary,” said Michelle Khine, Ph.D., professor of biomedical engineering and Director of Faculty Innovation for the Henry Samueli School of Engineering. “We are actually over-subscribed this year, and we have a record number of students who applied.”

The teams spent 90 seconds each delivering their elevator pitches to the packed room, mentors picked their top five choices, and teams provided feedback on their preferences to determine a team-mentor mutual match.

From a personalized sub-conscious sensor to compact, wireless and portable medical devices, and bubble-free syringes, to LED surgical headlamps, and dual technology systems that are low risk and cost-effective, each team offered a unique invention that can potentially become an invaluable asset for hospitals, companies and the general public.

Teams like Paranostics are designing a microfluidic system for malaria detection that aims to serve as a non-invasive alternative. Malaria’s 2017 mortality rate was 500,000 from a pool of 616M people who were affected by the disease world-wide, according to Paranostics. The team of five developed a system based off UCI IP and will use saliva to instantaneously detect malaria. This improved system cuts down on costs, time and training requirements.

Team Slapband designed a wristband with a built-in blood pressure monitor. The technology also uses UCI IP, and continuously measures blood pressure for any signs of cardiovascular disease. Readings are sent to the user’s smart phone device.

Another team also utilized UCI IP to develop a micro-nanobubble generator to promote wound healing and tissue preservation. The team combined negative pressure wound therapy, which is a medical procedure that enhances and helps wound healing, with an oxygen-infused micro-nanobubble solution in a dual system to restart the healing process of chronic non-healing wounds. The team aims to utilize a current proof-of-concept technology and transform it into a portable and cost-effective device, with the goal of utilizing it in clinical applications by the end of the year.

Many more teams presented throughout the evening, most with the goal of acquiring an industry mentor.

BioENGINE connects UCI’s diverse resources, which includes the School of Medicine, Samueli School of Engineering, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, Beckman Laser Institute, UCI Athletics and UCI Applied Innovation with industry leaders to develop real-world solutions to high tech and med tech challenges.

For more information about this program, click here.

Read the full article at: http://innovation.uci.edu/2018/03/biomedical-engineering-event-matches-uci-ip-based-student-projects-with-industry-mentors/