American
Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering Forum
Saturday,
Feb 22, 2003
Focus:
Significant numbers of engineers and scientists currently in the workforce need
some knowledge of biology and bioengineering, and others wish to retrain in
this field. This forum will review
several models for delivering continuing education, and the practical challenges
and rewards of initiating continuing education programs. Further information can be obtained from the
speakers and their websites.
Moderator/Overview:
Joseph
(Jay) T. Walsh jwalsh@northwestern.edu
Professor,
Biomedical Engineering Department
Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern University.
·
Bio-optics on-site short course for Abbott Laboratories
Speakers
and Panelists:
Kristina
M. Ropella k.ropella@marquette.edu
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering Department, Marquette
University
· On-site
continuing education courses in biomedical signal analysis and other topics for
General Electric, Abbott Laboratories, Kimberly-Clark, and Medtronic. Several faculty collaborate on courses
lasting up to 10 weeks, once per week, tailored to the needs of an individual
company, at that company’s location.
This model is optimal for engineers who are too busy or lack resources
for a full graduate degree. The
advantages of this type of outreach for universities include 1) better links
for faculty in terms of research interactions and awareness of industry
products and processes, 2) links for students in terms of job opportunities, because industry knows the
faculty members who are training students, 3) minimal time commitment by each
faculty member, 4) reusability of different modules once developed, and 5)
increased participation of industry in university curriculum. Courses are aimed at the introductory
graduate level, and include refresher material as well as a
physiological/clinical focus, which traditionally trained engineers do not
usually have.
Shaun Bennett, PhD SBennett@ese.washington.edu
Program
Manager for the Medical Engineering Program, University of Washington
(Presentation
by Buddy Ratner.)
· The
University of Washington Educational Outreach (UWEO) Program, collaboratively
with the UW Department of Bioengineering, offers the Medical Engineering
Program. Medical Engineering offers a
professional evening Masters Degree consisting of 4, year-long evening
certificate programs and an optional thesis. Students must have an
engineering degree and must complete two of the certificates (Basic Medical
Sciences and one other) to qualify for entry into the degree
program. The Program presently has about 80 enrolled students, most of
whom are working engineers from the Puget Sound region. Degrees are conferred
by Bioengineering, and courses are taught by tenure-line or research faculty,
who are paid for their time, but infrastructure is provided by UWEO. More information can be found at:
http://www.outreach.washington.edu/evedeg/graduate/medengr.asp
Larry
V.McIntire mcintire@rice.edu
E.D.
Butcher Professor and Chair, Bioengineering Department, Rice University
· Tissue Engineering Short Course. Focusing
on advances in the science and technology of tissue engineering, these courses
have been offered in Houston in August over a 4 day period for the last 11
years. They bring in experts from Rice
and internationallyl to survey the latest knowledge and technologies in the
world of patient-specific therapeutics--from transplantation of cells and
tissues to artificial organs. Some
material is recycled from year to year, but new material is continuously
introduced. Incoming graduate students
make up about 40% of the audience, which typically numbers about 100. The course is endorsed by several societies,
which allow mailings to their members.
Robert M.
Nerem robert.nerem@ibb.gatech.edu
Institute
Professor and Director, Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and
Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology
· Georgia
Tech has three programs that include continuing education: the annual Hilton
Head Workshop, started in 1997; a Tissue Engineering Short course, which has
been offered since 1998, most recently in Ireland and Singapore, and the New
Biology Toolbox for Tissue Engineering. The last was developed as a program of
the GeorgiaTech/Emory Engineering Research Center for the Engineering of Living
Tissues in order to provide education on developments in biology important for
tissue engineering. Topics change every
year, and have included 1) Genetic Engineering, Nuclear Transfer and Stem Cell
Biology, 2) Immunology, 3) From Gene to Function and 4) Stem Cell
Technology. Attendance is up to 140.
http://www.gtec.gatech.edu/events/toolbox2003.html
Martha L.
Gray mgray@mit.edu
Professor,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Co-director, Health Sciences and Technology (HST) Program of Harvard and
MIT
· HST, in collaboration with the Sloan Business School at MIT and the Harvard Business School is developing a new two year MBA/MS program, the Biomedical Enterprise Program, with the expectation that graduates will understand both business and biomedical science and be leaders of biomedical industry. This will educate students in three intersecting “streams,” medicine, engineering/science, and business. A separate outreach effort is the creation of two-day short courses called Experiencing the Frontiers, in which HST will offer a view of emerging biomedical science in such areas as Hybrid Biological Devices, Tissue Engineering, Drug Delivery, and Bioinfomatics to industry through task-based workshops.
http://bep.mit.edu, http://hst.mit.edu/symposium/
Notes compiled by R. Linsenmeier, Chair, Academic Council, 2002
(r-linsenmeier@northwestern.edu)