Weldon Honors Second Undergraduate Class of 2008

On May 9th, the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering honored their second class of new alumni, the Weldon School Class of 2008. On a beautiful May afternoon, Dr. Wodicka and Professor Pedro Irazoqui addressed the class with heartfelt pride. Stories of their classmates' bond and antics were shared by students before a crowd of family, friends, faculty, staff, and students. The event concluded with awards presentations for outstanding achievement. Of thirty-two graduates, sixteen are entering industry, twelve will be continuing their education in graduate studies, and four will be entering medical school in the fall. Please join us in congratulating the Class of 2008.

 The recognitions for the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering were as follows:

Haselby Outstanding BME Senior:

This prestigious award is given to the student, or students, who exemplify the Weldon School values of Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and Character. This year's award recipients were both very active leaders, in service at Purdue and beyond, and excelled in the classroom and the research lab.

Halle Burton is now employed by GE Healthcare in the prestigious Financial Management Program.

“Halle has one of the top engineering minds of her generation.  She demonstrates this through a strong work ethic, passionate spirit, and solid leadership...   Halle exemplifies integrity and servant leadership.”

Steven Lee is one of two students nationwide accepted this fall to the joint MD/PhD program with IU School of Medicine and Weldon School.

 “I can for see Steven becoming one of the country's top physicians and research scientists.  …He has dedicated himself to serve others not only on Purdue's campus but internationally as well. ”

 

Senior Design Awards:

These awards are given each semester to teams in the capstone course of Weldon's Biomedical Engineering program.  A new twist this year, ten student design teams developed ten unique products.  The final requirement of the course is for each group to present their system in the format of a technical conference.  Immediately following the presentations, the teams host product demonstrations in the atrium and the Leslie A. Geddes' Senior Design Laboratory.   

The Top Senior Design Team award was a special award created by the faculty this year to honor the team work of certain individuals to successful complete their projects.  The Senior Design Innovation Award is a perpetual award given each semester to recognize the unique contributions that a team's design brings to the biomedical community. 

The Top Senior Design Team Award -  Fall 2007

The Horizontal Nystagmus Team:  Eric Brandner, Iunia Dadarlat, Athurva Gore, and Omeed Paydar

Nystagmus is a condition in which there is a rapid involuntary and oscillatory movement of the eye.  The Team developed a fully automated device capable of determining the blood alcohol content of an individual by employing a horizontal gaze Nystagmus test.

The Brain-Computer Interface Team:  Maria Dadarlat, Meghan Floyd, Shaunak Kothari, Rohit Shah

The Brain Computer Interface (BCI) team has developed a non-invasive system that allows an individual to move a mouse on a computer screen through bioelectric signals of facial muscles.  The concept of this device was to provide a means for individuals unable to use their arms to control a computer mouse.  

 

Top Senior Design Team Award – Spring 2008

inTENSE Team: Steven Higbee, Lauren Hamamoto, Arun Mohan, Daniel Song

In order to provide additional therapeutic alternatives to individuals with a compromised tendon the inTENSE team has developed a programmable tendon bioreactor.  The bioreactor employs controllable mechanical stimulation to encourage cells seeded on constructs to expression a tendon cell phenotype.

Senior Design Innovation Award – Fall 2007

Neural Regeneration Team: Tracy Liu, Jonathan Lubkert, Harsha Ranganath, Ian Thorson

Previous research has shown that oscillating-field stimulators (OFS) are effective tools in the regeneration of damaged spinal cord tissue.  OFS work by creating an electric field to stimulate nerve tissue repair.  The Neural Regeneration Team is interested in extending these findings to repair brain injuries.  They developed an OFS to treat a rodent model of traumatic brain injury (TBI).  TBI commonly results from a jolt or blow to the head during falls, motor vehicle accidents, or assaults. The development of a rodent model to test the effectiveness of OFS treatment on TBI may greatly enhance a patient’s diagnostic outcome.

 

Senior Design Innovation Award – Spring 2008

Under Pressure: Matt Croxall, Jeff Kras, Drew Lengerich

The occurrence of foot ulceration in some diabetic patients is the result of their inability to sense when they have applied too much pressure to their foot while they are walking.  The Under Pressure team developed a portable system which can alert a patient when the contact pressures in the foot converge or exceed the levels which are known to induce ulceration.