August 2013
Dr. Blanca Lapizco-Encinas receives first NSF research award!
Dr. Blanca Lapizco-Encinas has been officially notified of the award and funding of her very first NSF grant. The award was granted to support her proposal titled, "Rapid and Dynamic Cell Assessments in Dielectrophoresis-Based Microfluidic Devices." Dr. Lapizco-Encinas is the single Principle Investigator of this National Science Foundation Grant as part of their Fluid Dynamics Program. Information regarding the grant can be found via the NSF website .
May 2013
BME Participates in Imagine RIT!
The Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Student Chapter at RIT displayed some of the projects that they had worked on during this past academic year. The exhibit included an interactive biomaterial experiment along with images of cell cultures and some of the research projects conducted by some of the BMES members.
Dr. Behnaz Ghoraani and her students at the Biomedical Signal and Image Analysis Lab (BSIA) at RIT displayed their recent advances in developing an instrument to alert patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) when they enter into an AF episode. AF affects 3 million Americans and is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, accounting for frequent hospitalizations and increased risks of stroke, heart failure and mortality.
BME Sophmore, Emily Holz, Receives Fellowship from NIST
Emily Holz received a fellowship from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to work during this summer on the project, "Microsystems for Bio-Imaging and Metrology," with Dr. John Moreland at NIST's Boulder Colorado location. The project uses micro- and nano-systems (MEMS and NEMS) for new instrumentation in biomedical research. Emily feels very fortunate to have obtained her top research choice in this very competitive program.
Student, Lindsay Demblowski Headed to Rwanda
Lindsay Demblowski , second year BME student, is traveling to Rwanda this summer to provide assistance with medical equipment. This will be Lindsay's first co-op experience at the Summer Institute sponsored by Engineering World Health (EWH), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare in hospitals in developing nations. EWH provides biomedical engineering students the opportunity to spend two months of their summer break in a developing nation working on medical equipment. Lindsay went through a rigorous application process that included multiple essays and interviews before being selected to participate in the program in Rwanda. For more information about Lindsay's co-op experience, please visit her blog at lademblowski.tumblr.com .
Students Head to Guatemala
First year engineering students, Melissa Mendoza, Andrew Wetjen, Emily Sanseverino, and Erik Freeman will be traveling to Guatemala to work with Dr. Randall Lou in the pediatric department of Nephrology, hypertension, dialysis, and transplants for Roosevelt Hospital located in Guatemala City. There students will work with doctors and the department's technician in the unit to give maintenance on current medical equipment. Students will also be brainstorming and trying to develop ways to make existing methods more efficient and cost effective. This is a completely voluntary effort that was started by Biomedical Engineering student, Melissa Mendoza, and Dr. Lou. All of the procedures carried out by Dr. Lou are completed using donations from the foundation he started named " Fundanier: Fundación para el Niño Enfermo Renal ."
April 2013
Dielectrophoresis 2013
Dr. Blanca Lapizco-Encinas invites you to take a look at the special issue Dielectrophoresis 2013, of the journa,l ELECTROPHORESIS, issue17-volume 34. This special issue with a unique collection of articles presenting the latest findings on dielectrophoresis-based microdevices. This is the second installment in this series that started with “Dielectrophoresis 2011” published as issues 17 and 18 of volume 32.
Dr. Behnaz Ghoraani Presents at IEEE
Dr. Ghoraani was invited to present her paper, “Biomedical Signal Feature Extraction: Advanced Methods and Applications,“ at the Signal Processing Society at the annual IEEE Rochester Section joint chapter meeting on April 17, 2013. She spoke about her research on joint time-frequency signal analysis and the application of the extraction and classification of complex instantaneous signal parameters with respect to real world biomedical signals such as cardiac electrograms and pathological speech signals.
Gaborski NanoBio Device Lab presented at NanoDays
The Gaborski NanoBio Device Lab is proud to be a regular presenter at the Annual NanoDays weekend event at the Rochester Museum and Science Center. This year
seven members of the Gaborski lab demonstrated everything from liquid crystal displays to hydrophobic sand and even invisibility. NanoDays is a nationwide festival of educational programs about nanoscale science and engineering and its potential impact on the future. NanoDays events are organized by participants in the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network.
Junior Kayla Wheeler Honored for Giving Back
Biomedical Engineering junior Kayla Wheeler was named to the Allstate Women's Basketball Coaches Association Good Works Team as part of the women's Final Four festivities Sunday night. The award recognizes student-athletes who have made outstanding contributions in the areas of volunteerism and civic involvement. Wheeler was one of only five student-athletes chosen among from Division II, III and NAIA institutions.
Microfluidics Workshop
Dr. Blanca Lapizco-Encinas and Dr. Aytug Gencoglu from the Microscale Bioseparations Lab and BME program presented a microfluidics workshop to the middle
school students from Rochester school 43. This outreach workshop is part of the BEYOND NINE POINT EIGHT program organized by Professor Satish Kandlikar. Participating students made small channels from Jell-O and observed liquid mixing through diffusion. They also learned the concept of microfluidics and compared the differences between macro and micro scales.