Biomedical Engineering Students and Faculty attend 2016 BMES Annual Meeting
Dr. Raj Rao and students Courtney Hunter, Paola Monterroso-Diaz, Raisa Rasul and Kinan Alhallak at the 2016 BMES Annual Meeting.
On Oct. 5-8, University of Arkansas biomedical engineering faculty and students attended the 2016 BMES Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the theme of which was Transforming Discovery Into Health Technology. Faculty members in attendance were assistant professor Kartik Balachandran, assistant professor Kyle Quinn, assistant professor Jeffrey Wolchok, and department head professor Raj Rao. Students in attendance were undergraduates Kinan Alhallak, Courtney Hunter, Paola Monterroso-Diaz, and Raisa Rasul, as well as graduate students John Kim and Kevin Roberts.
For students and faculty, the conference is not only a chance to present their own research, but to see what other developments are happening in their particular research fields. Said Kim, a member of Wolchok's Regenerative Biomaterials Laboratory:
"It's always interesting and informative to see how your specific area in the field of biomedical engineering is progressing in terms of research. Especially with the oral presentations, you may learn about a technique researchers used for something totally unrelated to your work but you may find that one nugget of information that may provide you with a tool that you can adapt to your own research. Presenting a poster was fun as it gave me a chance to speak with my peers about our research and theirs as well."
Graduate student John Kim with his research poster.
Notably, Kim explained, the BMES conference is a key opportunity to speak with peers who might, "provide their own 'little trick' in getting a troublesome experiment that's been plaguing you to work." Added Roberts, who presented a poster entitled Engineering Extracellular Matrix Biofibers Via Hollow Fiber Membrane Cell Culture, "The BMES conference was a great opportunity to become better apprised of the many diverse areas of biomedical research. Discussing our research one-on-one with faculty and students from across the country was a very gratifying experience."
Biomedical engineering students and faculty at the U of A table.
The conference is also a chance for students to network, and learn more about potential job opportunities. Stated Hunter, who presented a poster entitled Line Scan Microscope for a Leukocyte Differential based on Colorimetric Ratio, "This was my first time attending a BMES conference. I had a great time with friends and the faculty in the department [and] was impressed by the number of networking opportunities BMES offered."
"The BMES conference is the go-to meeting for researchers in biomedical engineering. Participation by our faculty and students through poster and oral presentations and service as session chairs is an opportunity for us to showcase the ongoing research in our department," said Rao.
Contacts
Elizabeth DeMeo, Media Specialist
Biomedical Engineering
479-575-4667,
eademeo@uark.edu
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