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2020 News

1. The team of undergraduate students, Quinn Gaughan (BME/MechE), Amanda Lee (BME/ChemE), Shanley Lenart (BME/Chem E), Rachel Sneeringer (BME/MechE), Isabella Vendetti (BME/ChemE), and Eliza Pratt (Design), has been selected as the Third Place Winners for the ASAIO (American Society for Artificial and Internal Organs)  for their project, efemoral. The team developed the project as part of the BME Capstone Course. The team’s clinical advisor was Mark Wholey, MD. efemoral is a temporary, less than six hours, percutaneous external microaxial perfusion pump used to mitigate critical limb ischemia (CLI). CLI results from blockages in arteries that impair blood flow to limbs and is an increasingly prevalent issue in healthcare.
2. Prof. Barbara Shinn-Cunningham is a 2020 co-recipient of the  from the . The award recognizes individuals who are dedicated to promoting women’s advancement in the field of neuroscience and who have made outstanding accomplishments in mentoring. Check out more.
3. The Department of Biomedical Engineering is excited to announce the Departmental Awards for the 2019-2020 academic year. The awards recognize outstanding academic and research achievements. All the awardees demonstrated hard work, excellence in research, leadership, and involvement in campus activities. Check out the details. 
4. Prof. Rosalyn Abbott has been selected the 2020-2021 Provost’s Inclusive Teaching Fellows (PITF). Sponsored by the Provost and administered by the Eberly Center, this program aims to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion in Ò»±¾µÀÎÞÂë courses. In particular, Prof. Abbott has been working on redesigning Introduction to Biomedical Engineering, a course aimed at first-year students before they have chosen a specialty in Engineering. See further details. 
5. The third Carnegie Mellon Forum on Biomedical Engineering was held virtually at Ò»±¾µÀÎÞÂë in Pittsburgh during September 18-19, 2020 and attracted approximately 800 registrants from all over the world, who attended various sessions during the 2-days event. This year's virtual event had 21 keynote and plenary lectures and 91 selected E-poster video presentations. A panel of judges from multiple institutions reviewed and selected 7 posters for Outstanding Poster Awards. A People’s Choice Award chosen by all voting participants via Whova. Check out more.
6. Associate Department Head and Teaching Professor Conrad Zapanta published an education innovation  on the support of a remote-only biomedical engineering design capstone course in the inaugural issue of Biomedical Engineering Education, a new journal introduced by the . Co-authors include TAs Erica Comber, Andrew Hudson and Melanie Loppnow.
7. Prof. Howie Choset has joined the , an international group founded this year by the United States and 14 other nations to shape a global agenda on how best to use AI to benefit society. Choset was invited by the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy to join the group as one of a handful of U.S. experts. Choset belongs to the GPAI's Working Group on Responsible AI and participates in its AI and Pandemic Response subgroup. Choset said a major meeting on AI and COVID-19 is being planned for this December in Montreal. Check out the .
8. BME Prof. Conrad Zapanta has been elected a  of the . Fellow status is awarded to members who demonstrate outstanding achievements in the field of biomedical engineering, and who also have a record of membership and participation in the Society.
9. BME Prof. Yu-li Wang has been elected to the  of the . The IAMBE Fellows are nominated by current Fellows, evaluated by the Membership Committee, and elected by all active Fellows. The election to the Academy represents recognition of distinguished contributions to and leadership in the field of medical and biological engineering at an international level. 
10. BME Prof. Robert Tilton has been awarded the . The Teare Teaching Award is given to a faculty member within the  to recognize excellence in engineering education in the areas of teaching and/or educational innovation and educational leadership. 
11. BME Special Faculty, Dr. Kai Yu, got his grant proposal, entitled “Functional Imaging Guided Transcranial Focused Ultrasound for Neuromodulation at Human Motor Cortex” approved by Samuel and Emma Winters Foundation for funding in the amount of $10,000. The purpose of the grant is to further develop and test functional imaging guided transcranial focused ultrasound for modulating human motor cortex.
12. BME PhD student Saigopalakrishna "Sai" Yerneni, co-advised by Profs.  and , is one of the 10 international recipients of  for Ph.D. Training from the . Sai will attend and present his research at the  workshop on bone and calcium metabolism during June 23-25, 2020. ASBMR-ECTS selection committee has chosen the recipients of this competitive award based on individual achievements and potential for future success.
13. Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, Eni Halilaj, has won the  Young Scientist Award. The award will be presented at this year’s ASB meeting in August.
14. Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering, Stefanie Sydlik, has been selected by the  as part of the . The Forum's  recognizes scientific rising stars under the age of 40 who are pursuing high-impact research. See further details.
15. BME PhD student Erica Comber, advised by Prof. Keith Cook, has been awarded the 2020 Mara H. Wasburn Early Engineering Educator Grant by the  (WIED) of the . The award covers expenses associated with Erica’s presenting her research at the . Erica has served as a teaching assistant for BME senior design for two years, working under Prof. Conrad Zapanta. Her education research at Ò»±¾µÀÎÞÂë aims to provide students with a capstone design course that mimics the work dynamic between Biomedical Engineers and Industrial Designers in the medical device industry.
16. In the recently released , the Carnegie Mellon Biomedical Engineering Department is ranked a top 17 program for graduate-level biomedical engineering in the U.S. The Department is part of the top-4 ranked College of Engineering, and saw a jump in its USNWR rankings for a second year in a row, a testament to the department’s commitment to innovation and excellence in its graduate education and research.
17. Profs. Christopher Bettinger, Kris Dahl, and Jessica Zhang have been elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE)’s College of Fellows, Class of 2020. The fellowship is an honorific designation, and fellows are expected to contribute to AIMBE’s critical mission to advance excellence and advocate for the medical and biological engineering fields. Check out the .
18. BME PhD students, Anna Kalmykov, Daniel San Roman (advised by Prof. Tzahi Cohen-Karni) and Piyumi Wijesekara Kankanange (advised by Prof. Charlie Ren) participated at this year's  held on March 9th and 10th. Anna and Daniel won 1st and 3rd place respectively in the poster competition, while Piyumi won 2nd place at the Regenerative Medicine Technology Pitch Competition.
19. Prof. Rebecca Taylor received National Science Foundation CAREER Award to support her research on nanostructures made using an artificially synthesized DNA-mimicking polymer. The goal of the project is to understand how complex nanostructures can be built with a synthetic DNA-mimic and how the solvent and chemical modifications relate to the resulting form of the structures. See further .
20. Prof. Jana Kainerstorfer has delivered a plenary talk at this year’s  which took place on February 1-6, 2020 in San Francisco, CA. Prof. Kainerstorfer presented her research in the Neurotechnologies Plenary Session on noninvasive monitoring of intracranial pressure and neurovascular coupling. Annually the conference is attended by more than 22,000 people being the premier event for the photonics and laser communities. Professionals from all over the world come to hear cutting-edge research, find the latest products and services, and network with thousands of other like-minded individuals. Check out the .
21. Congratulations to BME PhD students, Jacqueline Scott (advised by Prof. Keith Cook) and Wai Hoe Ng (advised by Prof. Charlie Ren) who won 1st place in clinical and 2nd place in basic categories respectively at the American Heart Association’s 28th  (FRD) that took place on January 17, 2020. FRD is a conference designed to allow young investigators the experience of presenting their own work to their peers in a professional environment. The event highlights the importance of cardiovascular related research and encourages beginning scientists to pursue these types of careers.

22. Congratulations to three BME students for being selected as the recipients of a Presidential Fellowships (Jaci Bliley and Zhengxiang Cai) and a Neil and Jo Bushnell Fellowship in Engineering (Anna Kalmykov) by the College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon. Your awards reflect your outstanding work in Biomedical Engineering. Good luck with your future accomplishments!

    (left to right Jaci Bliley, Zhengxiang Cai, Anna Kalmykov)

23. Prof. Robert Murphy has been elevated to fellow status in the , the world's largest technical professional organization. Fellow status is a distinction reserved for select members who have demonstrated extraordinary accomplishments in an IEEE field of interest. The IEEE cited Murphy "for contributions to machine learning algorithms for biological images." See further .
24. Ò»±¾µÀÎÞÂë Alumni, Doug Bernstein (BME/MechE) and Jamie Quinterno (Business and History), founders of PECA Labs, named Forbes 30 under 30 for 2020. The company manufactures cardiovascular devices for children with heart defects that can be adjusted without invasive surgery, instead of requiring multiple open-heart surgeries over the years to replace devices as children grow. Check out the .