Science experiments? Innovative designs? Young, curious minds? Yes, it’s Family Science Day! The University of Rochester’s annual ‘Family Science Day’ was held on 20th April 2019 this year in Rettner Hall. About 20 student groups, including EWB, SWE, UR Robotics and of course BMES, were present with mind-blowing projects. We had a heart model which depicted the path blood took through the different parts of the heart. For those who were interested, we gave them a worksheet in which they had to label all the parts of the heart and if they got all correct, they won a brain-shaped stress ball! So many kids were fascinated by the heart model and how it works. Many even took the quiz at the end and got all correct. By the time we had to leave, we ran out of all stress balls! Oh, and did I mention there were delicious food and drinks served by Wegman’s? It was a great time and I can’t wait for it next year!
On Thursday, March 21st, Joe, Lauren, and I conducted a very successful presentation in front of a group of high school students. The audience was an assortment of freshmen to seniors, as well as some parents. The purpose of the presentation was to introduce to the students the idea of biomedical engineering and give them some insight into the premise of the program, as well as a basic understanding of the academics of the field. Our presentation was a relatively standard one, with slides and a demonstration. The students seemed to react much more actively to the demonstration portion of the presentation, in which we showed them the use of the bicep model lab from BME 101. Getting to see hands-on the practicality of BME in everyday life resonated with the students. At the end of the presentation, we all shook hands and received very kind words from both the coordinator of the program and from the parents. I think Lauren and Joe would agree with me when I say we’d be happy to do it again in the future.
by Alexander Rivera
BMES Mentoring Event
BMES had another successful mentoring event on Tuesday, March 19th in Goergen Atrium. This event focused on pre-registration, and mentees were able to get advice from junior and senior BME mentors on which classes to take and how to fit everything into their busy schedule before meeting with their advisors. Pizza and soda were served!
by Caroline Stockwell
BMES Spring 2019 Engineering Social
The Spring 2019 Engineering Social (E-Social) was held on Mar. 29th in Rettner. This semester, the E-Social included different stations held by various engineering student associations including EWB, BMES, ASME, Robotics, and UR Makers. The BMES station organized a paper tearing activity for incoming students. This involved thinking of strategies to tear paper into its maximum length and perform it. The final paper tearing product hung from the second and even the third floor of Rettner and dropped all the way to the first floor. Eventually the longest one and the most artistic one was identified. Everyone had fun during the event. So did I!
February 4th, 2019 was definitely a day to remember. Some members of BMES were sad, yet excited to leave their E-Board positions and pass it on to their successors, while some were nervous and hopeful to make it to the prestigious E-Board. Approximately 15 members ran for E-Board positions that day; a record-breaking number since all past elections! Chantelle Lim, our former President, conducted the elections with the help of the rest of the former E-Board and after solid two hours of tough decision making, the new E-Board was selected. So now I present to you, BMES’ new E-Board for this semester…. drum roll please…
President: Ananya Goyal
Vice President: Joe Madejski
Business Manager:Lam Nguyen
Secretary:Tram Nguyen
Social Chair:Alex Rivera
Publicity Chair:Thu (Tracy) Le
Outreach Chair:Ruyi (Lauren) Li
Mentoring Chair:Caroline Stockwell
Newsletter Chair:Reshul Narhari
Webmaster:Priscila Passeroti
by Reshul Narhari
BMES Game Night – Mentoring Event
Game Night – Mentoring Event
Game Night – Mentoring Event
The event took place on February 7th from 5 – 7:30 pm, in the Munnerlyn Atrium, Goergen Hall. It was the first mentoring event of the semester, and the theme of the event was BMES Game Night. We brought playing cards, UNO and paper for origami for activities, and students from the BME Dept. were invited to meet and socialize with each other. The aim of the event was to help first and second year students get advice about course registration and schedule planning, as registration is coming up soon. Pizza and soda were also served.
by Ananya Goyal
STEM Superstar
BMES participated in our first outreach event of the semester in Rettner Hall on February 9th, 2019. Along with several other student organizations, we taught a science lesson to six groups of ten to fifteen girl scouts of elementary school age who had an interest in science! With our brand new heart model, we taught the girls all about how blood is pumped through the heart and lungs and then sent into systemic circulation. The model pumps “blood” (water with dye) through labeled chambers of the heart to show filling and emptying of the chambers with each heartbeat.
They learned fun facts like “The heart beats 112,000 times per day” and “Whales have the largest hearts of all animals”. The girls also filled out a worksheet where they labeled all the parts of the heart, so they could take it home and look at it again.
The girls got to feel their heart in action by taking their pulse and counting for one minute to find out their heart rate. After running in place, they felt their pulse again and were excited to find out that their hearts were working much faster after exercise. We explained how hard the heart has to work hard every day, and how sometimes there are problems with the heart that Biomedical Engineers can fix. They asked many great questions and learned a whole lot about one of the most important organs in their body! The event was overall a very successful start to semester full of outreach events, and we can’t wait for the next one!
by Caroline Stockwell
Study Abroad Event
The Biomedical Engineering society had a study abroad panel on January 30th, 2019 in Goergen hall. Students heard valuable information from representatives from the study abroad office as well as Professor Lerner. They emphasized that there are numerous options for fitting study abroad into the BME curriculum. You can even choose to go abroad in the summer or do research abroad.
Students also heard directly from their fellow BME students about their own study abroad experiences. Each student gave a brief presentation on their trips to destinations including Ireland, Germany, Ecuador, and New Zealand. Pizza was served and the attendees learned a whole lot about study abroad as an Engineer!
by Caroline Stockwell
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
On the 15th of February, 2019 I attended a lovely banquet hosted by the University of Rochester chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The event began with half an hour dedicated to networking, during which I personally got to speak with some notable faculty of the Rochester Institute of Technology as well as faculty in some our very own U of R labs. For the next hour there was a catered dinner (the food was great) and some more nice conversation over dinner. Then, promptly at 7:30, Dr. Mike Campbell began his talk.
Dr. Campbell is the Director of the Laboratory of Laser Energetics and is really good at his job. He began by giving a bit of insight as to what exactly they do at his lab, and by explaining the core principles of physics and engineering around which their research revolves. As a BME major, much of this was foreign to me, as it’s quite drastically different from my field of study. However, Dr. Campbell held my attention by frequently putting the research into perspective, and carefully stating why it is such an important field of study. Without going into too much detail, the Lab for Laser Energetics is an astonishing place with some extremely knowledgeable faculty, and I suggest doing some reading into the phenomenal work they do there.
The event took place on October 22nd, from 7 – 8 pm, in the Munnerlyn Atrium, Goergen Hall. It was the second mentoring event of the semester, with another one being planned for October. Upper class and underclass BMEs were invited to meet and socialize with each other. The aim of the event was to help first and second year student get advice about course registration and schedule planning, as registration is in two weeks. Pizza and soda were also served
Concentration panel – Chantelle Lim
The BMES held a concentration panel on October 23rd 5pm. The panel consisted of Seven senior BMEs covering all four BME concentrations and Professor Lerner. They gave advice to first-year BMEs on what each concentration entailed and shared their experiences when choosing concentrations.
Biotech Industry talk- Chantelle Lim
BMES hosted a Biotech Industry Talk featuring 2001 alum Barrett Nehilla. This event was co-sponsored by Tau Beta Pi, AICHE, and SWE. Around 40 students across all engineering disciplines attended the talk. Barrett talked about his academic journey: He started with undergraduate studies at the University of Rochester, then going to graduate school in Boston, and returned to the U of R to pursue a postdoc. After that, he ventured into the industry world and was part of a start-up. Right now, he works at Mersana Therapeutics in Boston, MA as their principal scientist.
E-Social-Caroline Stockwell
The Fall Engineering Social (Esocial) took place on Friday, October 26th from 2-3:30 pm on Wilson commons porch. The Esocial, open to all students, not just engineers, happens once every fall and is a great opportunity for students and faculty alike to bond over fall themed activities and food. Activities included pumpkin painting, doughnut on a string, and corn hole. Guests enjoyed chicken wings, fresh fruit, and apple cider. This event was co-sponsored by numerous STEM oriented clubs, including AIChE, ASME, BMES, CSUG, EWB, NSBE, OSA, SASE, SHPE, SWE, UR Robotics, UR Makers, and UR Solar Splash. The event was overall a success, and many left with festive pumpkins and doughnut on a string victories.
The event took place on September 17th, from 7 – 8 pm, in the Munnerlyn Atrium, Goergen Hall. It was the first mentoring event of the semester, with another one being planned for October. Upper Class BMEs were asked to sign up to be mentors prior to the event and were invited to meet and socialize with some of the first and second-year BMEs. The aim of the event was to match up underclass students with junior and senior mentors, in order for them to get guidance about courses, research, clubs, and college life, in general. Pizza and soda were ordered, and at the end of the event, first and second-year mentees were able to put down their top 3 choices for a mentor, and were matched up later.
Research panel
Chantelle Lim
BMES held our annual research panel on Thursday September 27th from 5pm-6pm in Goergen 101. This event was attended by approximately 20 first year BME students. There were three student panelists: Abby Williamson’19, Grace Weyand’19, Dominique James’19 who talked about their research experiences during the semester and during the summer. The students offered tips on contacting professors and obtaining research positions. Professor Edmund Lalor and Professor Edward Brown also gave insight on what professors look for in students and on how their labs are structured. This event concluded with a Q&A session.
BMES Picnic
Lam Nguyen
On the evening of Friday 9/21, all BME faculties and students are invited to the BME picnic. This is an annual event where the BME department joined together for a meet and greet with delicious food from Dinosaur BBQ for this year.. For 200 people who participated, it was a fun time, especially for first-year BME students, who get the chance to get to know the department and its’ faculty addition to making new friends.
Orientation event
Joe Madejski
Our first ever Orientation Event was a success! Held in the Munnerlyn Atrium on August 25th from 2-4pm, we invited incoming first years to meet and make friends with upperclassmen in their major. By around 3 o’clock the area was very full, with around 75 people. Next year is sure to be as good as this one was!
