B(E)log

Welcome to the B(E)log! Here you can find posts about BMES, the BE department, or bioengineering in general!


A Topic in Bioethics: Bioweapons Event Summary

BMES Board

On Tuesday, 3/24/15, Dr. Matthew Hersch and Dr. Jonathan Moreno led a group of students in a discussion on the ethics of bioweapons. This is an issue that has become increasingly crucial as new technologies are developed, and the accessibility and lethality of bioweapons increases. Dr. Hersch and Dr. Moreno talked about topics that ranged from the various types of bioweapons to the United States’ preparedness for a bioweapons attack against the USA. They also briefly discussed their similarities with chemical and nuclear weapons.


Resume Workshop Event Summary

BMES Board

This year, Engineering Week at Penn was held February 23rd-27th. On Monday the 23rd, BMES hosted a resumé/cover letter workshop with guest speaker Rosette Pyne from Career Services. Pyne walked students through the steps to writing a cover letter and building a resume tailored to different applications. She even included memorable anecdotes from past students’ experiences, particularly about proofreading and using one’s own words, to reiterate her points.

For the second half of the event, as they munched on Federal Donuts, attendees broke off into one-on-one resume checks with upperclassmen from BMES and Theta Tau. All in all, Mrs. Pyne’s presentation combined with these resume critique sessions ensured that the event was an informative, yet interactive experience for the mostly freshman and sophomore attendees.


The Degradation and Mechanical Properties of Hydrogels

James Howard, Ryan Wade &  Dr. Jason Burdick

Our first Research Spotlight was written by James Howard, a junior working in Dr. Jason Burdick’s lab.  If you would like to learn more about his work or the other research being conducted by the Burdick lab, feel free to visit their lab website.

The goal of the research was to form a mathematical model that related the strength of hydrogels with a hyaluronic acid (HA) backbone to the enzymatic degradation rate of that hydrogel. Ultimately, this model could be used for future studies that apply to cell culturing, cell delivery, and growth factor delivery.


Research Spotlights

BMES Board

This semester, we will be posting Research Spotlights to give BE undergraduates who are working in a research lab the opportunity to share their work with the BE community.  We hope the Spotlights will promote discussions and well as introduce readers to areas of study outside of their own.

If you work in a lab that does biomedical-related research at Penn and would like to write a short summary of the lab’s activities, please email the BMES Board at pennbmes@gmail.com. If you plan to work in a lab over the summer, let us know, and you can submit at article at the beginning of the Fall 2015 semester. Remember to first get permission from your PI!


 

Plans for Next Semester

BMES Board

We are very excited for the spring semester, as we have a lot in the pipeline which we believe will benefit the BE community.

Our first event of the semester was a talk by Eric Esch, a PhD student in the Huh Lab.  He worked as an engineering consultant for MPR Associates, and spoke to members of the BE Mentoring program about important lessons he learned as an undergrad.  The talk took place on Thursday, 1/22/15 in Raisler Lounge from 12-1pm.

The mentoring program will continue to hold small events to encourage the mentor/mentee relationships that began in the first semester.  We are hoping to hold a spring semester kickoff event in the near future for members to reconnect with each other after the long winter break.


Semester in Review

BMES Board

BMES would like to welcome you back to what is sure to be another fun and fulfilling semester at Penn.

The Fall 2014 semester was a very successful one for us. We won the BMES Outstanding Outreach Award from the national BMES organization for our efforts in spreading awareness about bioengineering to the surrounding community. We also organized a variety of events focused on professional development, community service and academics. One of our biggest events was the BE Alumni Reception. Taking place in the Glandt Forum of the Singh Center for Nanotechnology, undergraduate BE students had the opportunity to speak with alumni about their undergraduate experiences and the careers they are currently pursuing with their BE degrees. Another event was the Healthcare Consulting Panel, hosted in partnership with the M&T Club. The panel consisted of representatives from ZS Associates, PwC, and Simon-Kucher & Partners. It was a great way for students to learn more about healthcare consulting from professionals in the field. In November, we organized a registry drive with Be The Match to allow BE students to join a bone marrow registry and get the opportunity to save the lives of blood cancer patients. We are planning on holding another drive this semester to give even more people the chance to register.