Work in Progress: Vertical Integration of Engineering Design in an Undergraduate BME Curriculum

Relevant and robust biomedical engineering programs integrate challenging, hands-on engineering design projects that require student teams to develop and deliver functional prototypes in response to biomedical design problems. The inclusion of such projects throughout Biomedical Engineering (BME) curricula not only brings active learning to the classroom but helps students improve as team members, decision makers, and problem solvers. This work highlights how sophomore and junior level engineering design projects can increase students’ fundamental engineering design knowledge and self-reported confidence in approaching design projects. By steadily increasing the complexity of engineering design experiences throughout the BME undergraduate curriculum, our continued work studies whether intentional, vertical alignment of engineering experiences ultimately better prepares BME undergraduates for their senior design capstone projects and their professional pursuits

Tracking Capstone Project Quality in an Engineering Curriculum Embedded with Design

This Work in Progress Innovative Practice paper describes efforts to track student design gains in an undergraduate biomedical engineering (BME) curriculum in order to measure the effect of newly integrated design projects on capstone success. Engineering curricula often culminate in team-based capstone experiences in which students face complex design problems. Student capstone teams face significant challenges during design, as solving difficult engineering problems can require a multitude of skills, access to diverse resources, and teaming ability. Assessing the quality of student design work is also non-trivial, as few shared frameworks or assessment tools exist for engineering design. Capstone experiences compel students to connect and apply undergraduate curricular learning in a final design experience, and design-rich curricula should better prepare students for success in capstone courses. To this end, we recently embedded team-based engineering design projects in our curriculum at the 200- and 300-levels. Consequently, we have the opportunity to track capstone design projects for students with varying amounts of curricular design experience. We developed a BME Capstone Design Rubric, adapted from several sources, and used it to score design reports submitted by student teams. Thus far, we have used the rubric to assess student design growth at the 200- and 300-levels and to collect baseline data for capstone design reports. Our preliminary results demonstrate that students produce reports of increasing quality as they complete additional embedded design projects. Due to the growth we see in project reports from the 200- to 400-level and qualitative data that support the benefit of embedded design experiences to capstone success, we expect to be able to measure significant differences between capstone design reports produced by students with varying levels of curricular design experience. This Work in Progress begins to address the research question: Does embedding design projects throughout an undergraduate engineering curriculum affect capstone project quality

Biomedical Engineering Students Gain Design Knowledge and Report Increased Confidence When Continually Challenged with Integrated Design Projects

Introduction: The undergraduate biomedical engineering (BME) curriculum should prepare students to confidently approach complex problems, as graduates will enter the workforce in an environment of rising healthcare costs, decreasing average life expectancy, and significant socioeconomic disparities in health outcomes. With this landscape, solutions to contemporary problems will require innovative thinking and groundbreaking medical technologies, suggesting that the future of BME will be increasingly design-oriented. Undergraduate BME curricula generally include laboratory and project components aimed at preparing students for senior capstone; however, students may begin capstone without the knowledge, skills, and confidence required for engineering design success. With these shortcomings in mind, we vertically integrated design experiences in our undergraduate BME curriculum and evaluated student design performance throughout. Methods: Four engineering design project assignments were developed and integrated into sophomore- and junior-level BME laboratory courses, establishing a continuous design thread spanning the four years of the undergraduate BME curriculum. Through the sequence of projects, student teams worked to design (1) fracture fixation devices, (2) electromyogram-controlled motor assemblies, (3) compact spectrophotometers, and (4) programmable drug dosing devices. We developed a common instructional Design Module, organized around an adapted version of the FDA waterfall diagram, and used it in each course to build student understanding of the BME design process. By emphasizing different portions of the waterfall diagram in each course and varying student deliverables, we implemented a stepwise approach to building student design confidence. The set of design projects also intentionally target a multitude of skills relevant to design, including computer-aided design (CAD), computational modeling, iteration, prototyping, programming (LabVIEW and Python), hardware-software integration, and technical communication. A mixed methods approach was employed to assess student knowledge, confidence, and achievement in design. A pre-/post-quiz (8 questions worth 10 points total) was used to assess student knowledge of design concepts and their application toward medical device design. Students self-reported their design confidence levels prior to the first design project and after each design project, and focus groups were held after design projects to assess student design confidence going forward. Students also rated how worthwhile and enjoyable they found each project using a reflection grid and reflected on the integration of prior coursework into their design projects. Finally, student design reports were scored by instructors using a rubric influenced by AAC&U VALUE Rubrics and the Informed Design Teaching and Learning Matrix. Students also self-reported design mastery via survey, and these responses were correlated to scores from the instructor rubric. Results: Students engaged in 200-level and 300-level projects demonstrated knowledge gains of the BME design process after one project (p < 0.0001) and further knowledge gains after a second project (not statistically significant). In particular, students gained knowledge related to the waterfall diagram, design requirements and constraints, and verification and validation (p < 0.005 for each). In their reflections, students demonstrate cognizance of prior coursework knowledge that they have integrated into their designs, adding to the sought-after sense of curricular connectedness. After the completion of each project, students self-reported significant confidence gains in four major areas (p < 0.05 for each): (1) design process and approach, (2) working with hardware, (3) working with software and interfacing with hardware, and (4) communicating results. Focus group responses support the observed quantitative improvements in student design confidence. Finally, instructor scoring of student design reports indicates that design achievement and ability to communicate design improve as students progress through the curriculum; however, student self-assessment of design mastery does not correlate strongly with instructor scores. Discussion: Active learning in undergraduate classrooms has been shown to improve performance, motivation, and communication skills among engineering students. By implementing and assessing hands-on engineering design project assignments at the sophomore and junior levels, we have improved student design knowledge, confidence, and achievement prior to capstone design. Future work will address limitations of student self-reporting of confidence levels and will investigate changes in the quality of capstone projects that could result from better prepared students

Finite Element Analysis as an Iterative Design Tool for Students in an Introductory Biomechanics Course

Insufficient engineering analysis is a common weakness of student capstone design projects. Efforts made earlier in a curriculum to introduce analysis techniques should improve student confidence in applying these important skills toward design. To address student shortcomings in design, we implemented a new design project assignment for second-year undergraduate biomedical engineering students. The project involves the iterative design of a fracture fixation plate and is part of a broader effort to integrate relevant hands-on projects throughout our curriculum. Students are tasked with (1) using computer-aided design (CAD) software to make design changes to a fixation plate, (2) creating and executing finite element models to assess performance after each change, (3) iterating through three design changes, and (4) performing mechanical testing of the final device to verify model results. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to assess student knowledge, confidence, and achievement in design. Students exhibited design knowledge gains and cognizance of prior coursework knowledge integration into their designs. Further, student's self-reported confidence gains in approaching design, working with hardware and software, and communicating results. Finally, student self-assessments exceeded instructor assessment of student design reports, indicating that students have significant room for growth as they progress through the curriculum. Beyond the gains observed in design knowledge, confidence, and achievement, the fracture fixation project described here builds student experience with CAD, finite element analysis, three-dimensional printing, mechanical testing, and design communication. These skills contribute to the growing toolbox that students ultimately bring to capstone design

Mentor-focused Professional Development for Investigators Initiating Discipline-based Educational Research (DBER) in Biomedical Engineering

Our work (NSF PFE: RIEF Award 1927150) initiates a discipline-based educational research study of student design self-efficacy in an undergraduate biomedical engineering (BME) program. A key component of this work focuses on our own professional development as engineering education researchers, which contributes to our abilities to undertake current and future engineering education studies. Our professional development goal is to establish and follow a mentoring plan that facilitates our development of engineering education research skills. We targeted three areas for learning and development as researchers: (1) social science research in design education, (2) mixed methods research, and (3) evidence-based teaching. To that end, we strategically invited engineering education research mentors to our team, deliberately structured our mentor conversations with literature readings to foster growth, and purposefully documented this process by continually responding to reflection questions in a professional development journal. Our approach to include our own professional development in our Research Initiation in Engineering Formation grant has proven instrumental in collecting data and in connecting us with the engineering education community

Creating Virtual Spaces to Build Community Among Students Entering an Undergraduate Biomedical Engineering Program

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or be any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.After the transition to online instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, students in our program lamented the loss of connection to their peers, more so than diminished access to faculty, teaching assistants, or other resources. Fortunately, given that the semester was well underway when the transition occurred and few students in our courses were new to our BME program, we feel that students missed out on relatively few formative community-building experiences. This would not be the case for a fall semester of online instruction, however, so we must take action for the sake of our incoming class of undergraduate students. Our experience from spring 2020 and our review of the relevant literature suggest that we can be successful at building community among our new cohort of BME students, regardless of the mode of instruction

Empathy and ethical becoming in biomedical engineering education: A mixed methods study of an animal tissue harvesting laboratory

Biomedical engineering presents a unique context for ethics education due to the human-centric nature of biomedical engineering coupled with the pervasiveness of animal-based practices. This study summarises the design of a pedagogical practice intended to enhance students’ abilities to recognise ethical issues in biomedical engineering practice and inquire into normative aspects of the discipline. The context of the study is an introductory biomechanics course wherein students harvested animal tissue, critically reflected on this experience, and discussed the experience in class. We brought two theoretical frameworks to this investigation pertaining to empathy and ethical becoming. We employed a four-phase mixed methods research design that included quantitative comparisons of changes in empathy and related phenomena, thematic analysis of written reflections, an observation and focus group, and triangulation of these results. Quantitative data remained stable before and after the course. Thematic analysis of reflections revealed five themes: research design, treatment of animals, beneficence, worth of life, and emotional engagement. The observational and focus group results emphasise affective considerations of engineering practice. This study provides a guide for future biomedical engineering education efforts that deal with ethically sensitive, emotionally powerful, and visceral experiences, as well as for research pertaining to empathy and ethical becoming

Engineering Vascularized Hepatic Tissue in Bioactive Poly(ethylene glycol)-based Hydrogels

Transport of oxygen and nutrients to cells within engineered tissues remains one of the most significant challenges in tissue engineering. This challenge has led researchers to seek new strategies to engineer vascularized tissues. Co-cultures of endothelial cells and pericytes can be used to form microvascular networks in bioactive scaffolds, and these networks have been shown to be perfusable and capable of anastomosis with host vasculature. These co-cultures are prevalent in the literature; however, little investigation has been done into the combination of cell-formed microvasculature with parenchymal cells. In our work, we used a co-culture approach to grow microvascular networks in a biomimetic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel, in the presence of functional hepatocytes. Through the simultaneous encapsulation of three cell types – endothelial cells, pericyte precursors, and hepatocytes – in our biomimetic PEG system, we successfully engineered vascularized hepatic tissue. These vascularized tissues exhibited two distinct benefits when compared to non-vascularized controls. First, incorporation of the vasculogenic cells led to significant improvements in hallmark hepatocyte functions. Hepatocytes encapsulated alongside the vasculogenic cells demonstrated improved albumin synthesis and cytochrome P450 enzyme activity. These improvements result from physical and chemical cues from non-parenchymal cells, which regulate hepatocyte function in vivo and in vitro. Second, the cell-formed microvasculature led to improved mass transport within the hydrogel. In a microfluidic culture system designed to investigate the functionality of the cell-formed microvasculature, we demonstrated that the cell-formed networks are capable of anastomosis with prefabricated channels within the device. Further, transport through these networks significantly increased the distance from a media channel over which hepatocyte viability was supported. Our results suggest that a combination of prefabricated conduits and cell-formed microvasculature may be influential in the scaling up of engineered tissues

Design of synthetic peptidoglycans that bind type III collagen

The organization of type I collagen and how it is affected by glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), proteoglycans (PGs), and other extracellular matrix (ECM) components have been extensively studied. Type III collagen and its interactions with GAGs and PGs have not been widely studied. Small leucine-rich proteoglycans (SLRPs) are found incorporated in all collagenous tissues and have been shown to modulate collagen fibrillogenesis. In a previous study, type I collagen-binding peptidoglycans were synthesized to mimic the native SLRP decorin. Synthetic peptidoglycans consist of a collagen-binding peptide attached to a GAG chain, such as dermatan sulfate (DS). This study examines the effects of type III collagen-binding peptidoglycans on collagen organization. The effects of two peptidoglycans, DS-KELNLVYTGC and DS-GSITTIDVPWNVGC, on type III collagen fibrillogenesis, morphology, viscoelastic properties, and biological properties are assessed in this study. These peptidoglycans affect the fibril diameter and density, enhance the viscoelastic properties, and alter the biological properties of type III collagen gels. The ability to control the organization of type III collagen demonstrates the tissue engineering application of peptidoglycans. Type I collagen has been widely studied as a biomaterial for varied tissue engineering applications. The prevalence of type III collagen in vascular tissue indicates that it may be an advantageous component of tissue engineered blood vessels. Future work may investigate vascular tissue engineering materials consisting of types I and III collagen in the presence of synthetic collagen-binding peptidoglycans