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Making Biomaterial Development Real to Students—Elizabeth Friis

Elizabeth Friis

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Background

Two bases for introducing biomaterials
Two ideas form the basis for my teaching work with Mechanical Engineering (ME) 765, the introductory biomaterials course. First, biomaterials education for mechanical engineering students should be addressed from a design-based approach as opposed to a materials science approach. Second, biomaterials education needs to include a practical aspect of development issues with medical products.

In this poster, I present and discuss techniques for teaching students in the ME 765 course about practical considerations of biomaterials in biomedical product development in order to better prepare students for careers in industry. Many of the basic concepts I use developed out of concepts presented at the 2003 Society For Biomaterials workshop entitled Pathways to Successful Careers: Improving the Interface Between Industry and Academia Through Education, April 30, 2003.

| Implementation

Implementation

New assignments for increasing student understanding
Through the use of open-ended homework questions and three new projects, students have the opportunity to become involved in practical issues of biomaterials. Teams of three were formed to give all students a forum for discussing homework problems. Open-ended problems included case scenarios for decision-making based on biomaterials technology.

In one new project, the Journal Club, students learned to critique biomaterials research and technology through oral review of articles from academic biomaterials journals. In another project, reverse engineering of a medical device, I gave student teams a biomedical product that they had to reverse engineer in order to determine its function, regulatory status and biomaterials design considerations. In the final project, student teams consulted with me to select a biomaterials topic and then proposed a new material development or product using that biomaterial. Instead of writing a traditional term paper, student teams wrote a Phase I NIH SBIR Proposal with a technical review and proposed experiment to address the research development of their new concept.

| Student Performance

Student Performance

Students grow progressively throughout the semester
At the beginning of the semester, most students had difficulty even attempting to answer the open-ended questions. Early solutions were often extremely vague and lacked depth. As the semester progressed, teams were better able to recognize and organize the thought-processes required for this type of analysis. Student comments on final course evaluations indicated enthusiasm for the open-ended comments and a desire for more courses using this approach. I also noted that homework quality on both the traditional and open-ended problems improved tremendously throughout the semester.

Journal Club was a favorite classroom activity of students. Nearly all the students read and answered questions about the articles in advance. They engaged in active debate during the in-class discussions. In semester evaluations, they commented on the usefulness of this exercise for preparation for the final project. Students also self-reported strong positive results from the biomedical product reverse engineering methods. During group presentations and the following discussions, students actively engaged in understanding the issues and comparing analyses between different product types without prompting from me.

Many students found it difficult to define a topic for the final project, so I assisted each group as they narrowed down specific subjects. On the written mock Phase I SBIR proposals, the intellectual property, regulatory and technical analysis was satisfactory, but cost and resource analysis was grossly underestimated, despite intermediate review. Students self-reported that while this experience was more difficult than a standard term paper, they also felt that it was more beneficial and interesting.

| Reflections

Reflections

Value of approach proven
From my viewpoint, this mode of student evaluation required slightly more work than a traditional approach, but it was more rewarding and easier to implement. Final course instructor evaluations increased significantly compared to previous years. These methods, based on the Society for Biomaterials workshop suggestions, have shown how valuable it is to use group work and an interactive project with a medical device.

Because of its success, I plan to expand the hands-on, interactive class work in other graduate courses. I also will adapt the Society for Biomaterials panel recommendation that students become involved in a course on design and development of a biomedical device. I am currently developing a new graduate course titled Biomedical Product Development that will build on the ideas established in the Biomaterials course. The project development in this new course will rely on partnerships with regional industries and our technology transfer office, as well as student collaborations with each other.

| Summary

Project Summary

To better prepare students for careers in industry, a mechanical engineering professor changes the way she teaches students about practical considerations of biomaterials in biomedical product development.

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