Sharing Best Teaching Practices Design Team

Robert AllenBiomedical Engineering

Gynecology and ObstetricsJohns Hopkins Univeristy

2012 NCIIA Conference

2012 NCIIA Conference

What constitutes best practices???• Project results• Project succession• Course evaluations• Sponsor Feedback• Alumni Feedback• Prototype Implementation• National or Regional Recognition• Commercial Success

5

ABET Student Outcomes

• Apply technical knowledge • Think • Design and test a device or system• Design & perform experiments• Appreciate value of teamwork• Understand prof responsibility• Be aware of contemporary issues• Understand societal impact of BME solutions • Demonstrate verbal communication skills

MOCK-UP

DEFINE PROBLEM

BME Design Team – Fall Semester

DESIGN

1. Leaders selected2. Teams formed in “draft”3. Reverse engineering exercise4. Teams select clinical problem5. Translate clinical problem into engineering

one6. Submit Proposal7. Undergo design process 8. Conclude Fall with mock-up design & plan9. Freshmen selected in “draft” 10. Design review panels 3x per semester of

clinicians, engineers, government reps

2012 NCIIA Conference

Select Team Leaders

Redesign & Prototype

Prototype

BME Design Team – Spring Semester

Test

1. Inculcate freshmen2. Revise submit IRB/ACUC application3. Envision experimental protocol(s)4. Prototype, prototype, prototype5. Test & retest6. Perform failure analysis7. Revise design, re-prototype8. Multidisciplinary design review panels 3x per

semester of clinicians, engineers, government representatives

Design Team Outcomes >2000

• Five start-up companies• ~Two dozen licensed to commercial enterprises• Five Issued patents• >Dozen pending• National Awards > 30• Grants > $400K

Success???

Renal Diagnotics™

ICU Patient withFoley Catheter

Current ICU Setting

Urine CollectionBag

Future ICU Setting

CircuitControllerLaser Diode

Photodiode

Photodiode

LED

LED

RamanSpectometer

Pinch Valve

Housing

Device

CircuitControllerLaser Diode

Photodiode

Photodiode

LED

LED

RamanSpectometer

Pinch Valve

Housing

Advanced Optics

Renal Diagnostics TechnologyDisposable Reusable

2012 NCIIA Conference

Peer Evalutions• did not contribute at all to this project. • Did not seem interested. Shows a lack of

initiative. • again, did not show up. ever • If … did not show up to some of the

presentations as well as Design Day, I would have been under the impression that she was no longer a part of our team

• [Self-Evaluation] Great

Sample Judging CommentsPregnancy Detection for the Developing World

•Consider making one pen that draws all three lines at once, with one of them obviously colored to distinguish the end you apply the urine on.

•Show the cost analysis to your product and differentiate the test financially

•Consider reducing the materials and reducing the dimensions to reduce the number of antibodies

•Explain why a pen is needed at all (filter paper v nitrocellulose and the cost) over a dispenser type for a package of premade strips.

•Find how to prevent false negatives since they can be devastating and perform an analysis on specificity.

2012 NCIIA Conference

Take Home Points

• Structure program to your institution• Foster relationships • Give students freedom to choose• Empower them• Consider varying team structure• Heavily weight peer evaluations• Critically evaluate program annually• Be flexible

2012 NCIIA Conference

Acknowledgments

• CBID, BME, JHU• Art Shoukas, professor emeritus• Youseph Yazdi, Soumya Acharya• Clinical Sponsors• Teaching Assistants• Team Leaders – Students• NCIIA, NSF, USAID