Purdue University and IUPUI biomedical engineering undergraduates participated as a joint BME team at the 2023 BMES Coulter College Program in Minneapolis, organized and hosted by Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) and Medtronic.

The team was awarded “Best Design” for its work in the Chronic Hypertension category.

One of 12 chosen teams, the rising-senior team included Jon Bryan and Luke Stohler from IUPUI and Ariana Aghevli and Joshua Sexton from Purdue. The four-day training experience focused on biomedical innovation translation where the team worked to develop a creative solution to the problem of chronic hypertension. The team dove deeper into the need for physicians to gather reliable, daily blood pressure readings from patients diagnosed with hypertension and treated with prescribed pharmaceuticals to manage their condition.

The blended Purdue team had the opportunity to learn from and engage with business, design, industrial and academic professionals.

In addition to the design competition, students and capstone design faculty toured multiple Medtronic facilities, learned about medical device cybersecurity and engaged with skilled industrial designers. The opportunity gave students a chance to meet other biomedical engineering students from around the world. The BMES Coulter College experience proved an excellent networking event for young biomedical engineers, learning more about the BME field and its health care prongs in biotechnology, therapeutics and devices.

Mentors guiding the team through the BMES Coulter College experience included Asem Aboelzahab (Purdue) and Dr. Sharon Miller (IUPUI). The BMES Coulter College experience is funded through the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation.