NSF Award
2321623
The Northeast Bioengineering Conference (NEBEC) is one of the two longest continually running conferences in the United States in the arena of biomedical engineering (BME). Drexel University’s School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems will host the 49th NEBEC March 30 – April 1, 2023. The NEBEC has historically been a student-centered conference. This tradition will be continued by providing opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to present their work. An undergraduate design competition will be followed by a career fair offering information and contacts for potential career paths for biomedical engineers. The overall theme of the conference will be “Enhancing Diversity in Biomedical Engineering.” Keynote speakers and session chairs were identified in 5 themed areas: (1) Extracellular Matrix, (2) Pediatric Engineering, (3) Immune Engineering, (4) Neuroimaging and Neuroergonomics, and (5) Biological Computing. Activities are planned for high school students from under-represented groups and a round-table discussion will be held on efforts to increase diversity at universities and industry. This conference will expose students at all levels to leading edge research in biomedical engineering, foster interest in pursuing careers in biomedical engineering research and innovation, and provide networking opportunities with peers and with leaders in their fields. <br/><br/>This award supports the 49th Northeast Bioengineering Conference, a region that is home to over 71 biomedical engineering programs. The conference provides a unique opportunity for undergraduate and graduate student researchers in the field of biomedical engineering to present their research to a broad audience. Historically, 60 75% of the participants are students and over 60% of the platform presentations are given by trainees. The 49th Conference will feature over 200 poster sessions, of which 33% of the presentations are Senior Design Projects. Over 270 abstracts were received from the expected on site attendance of more than 450 participants, with additional participants attending virtually. A new feature of the 49th conference is the inclusion of efforts to promote diverse participation in the field of biomedical engineering by reaching out to high schools serving under-represented minorities in the Philadelphia region. The participating high school students will get to interact with current BME students to help them envision themselves taking that step in their education, and they will hear from recent graduates about the career paths available to them. The goal is to encourage them to pursue STEM careers. The roundtable discussion of efforts to increase diversity in BME programs in the Northeast is expected to generate a whitepaper describing successes and challenges identified that will be distributed to BME program chairs nationally.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
