Rapid advances in engineering are facilitating an enhanced understanding of biology and providing novel transformative solutions to biomedical problems. The NEBEC will provide a multidisciplinary forum for dissemination of these advances in biomedical engineering at all levels, and facilitate the sharing of knowledge across interdisciplinary barriers. The conference serves as an open forum for discussion of new directions, ideas and approaches in research and education. To provide a setting to reinforce existing contacts and in establishing new collaborations, sessions will be organized covering a broad range of topics related to: - Engineering of Stem Cells and Biomaterials for Regenerative Medicine - Biomechanics - Biophotonics and Biomedical Imaging - Bimolecular and Molecular Cell Engineering The NEBEC has traditionally served as a platform for students to present their research and to obtain constructive feedback. This conference also provides an opportunity for students to discuss potential career choices with individuals from academia, government, and industry.
Broader Impact The 37th NEBEC will have a broad impact for the Northeast bioengineering community and for engineering education. The knowledge shared at the conference by researchers from over 40 institutions in the Northeast will be captured electronically and broadly disseminated via abstract books, CD ROMS, and via the IEEE website. The conference?s emphasis on students, with multiple opportunities for them to present their work and discuss current obstacles to progress with leading researchers in an intimate setting, will better prepare them for careers in both research and industry. One of the main goals of the conference is to nurture exceptional students and to help develop an environment to support future leaders in the field. In addition, the exposure to research in diverse fields will help spawn innovations and create ground breaking bioengineering technologies, and hence benefit the society at large.
PROJECT OUTCOMES This project s upported the 37th Annual NorthEast Biomedical Engineering Conference (NEBEC) held at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute between April 1st to April 3rd, 2011. NSF funds were used to support student registration, travel awards for students and invited faculty. Intellectual Merit Rapid advances in engineering are facilitating an enhanced understanding of biology and providing novel transformative solutions to biomedical problems. The NEBEC provided a multidisciplinary forum for dissemination of these advances in biomedical engineering at all levels, and facilitated the sharing of knowledge across interdisciplinary barriers. The conference served as an open forum for discussion of new directions, ideas and approaches in research and education. To provide a setting to reinforce existing contacts and in establishing new collaborations, sessions were organized covering a broad range of topics related to: - Design - Biological Engineering - Biomaterials - Biomechanics - Biophotonics, Biomedical Imaging, and Bioinstrumentation - Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells There were 176 papers submitted, of which 168 were accepted for 53 platform presentations and 115 posters. There were over 580 registrants. This conference provided an opportunity for students to discuss potential career choices with individuals from academia, government, and industry. Broader Impact The 37th NEBEC had a broad impact for the Northeast bioengineering community and for engineering education. The knowledge shared at the conference by researchers from over 81 institutions were captured electronically and broadly disseminated via abstract books, CD ROMS, and via the IEEE website. The conference’s emphasis on students, as demonstrated through the multiple opportunities provided to them to present their work and discuss current obstacles to progress with leading researchers in an intimate setting, better prepared them for careers in both research and industry. One of the main goals of the conference was to nurture exceptional students and to help develop an environment to support future leaders in the field. In addition, the exposure to research in diverse fields may help spawn innovations and create ground breaking bioengineering technologies, and hence benefit the society at large.
