Biomedical Engineering

BSE

Our biomedical engineering degree students have had many hands-on opportunities to develop their skills and to determine what type of career experience they would like after graduation, while often earning a significant paycheck over summer breaks and even during the academic year.

Here are some of the businesses where our biomedical engineering students have had internships, co-ops or begun their careers:

• Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center
• GE Healthcare
• Medtronic
• Stryker
• Welch Allyn

In BME 595 Capstone Design, teams have the opportunity to use advanced technology to study and develop medical device products to assist people with disabilities. Students also have the opportunity to pursue independent studies and research projects with faculty to enhance understanding of advanced concepts. 

Biomedical Engineering Society at UWM

BMES is a group of mostly Biomedical Engineering students looking to provide opportunities to other BME students. We set up connections between students and professors as well as some volunteer opportunities in the form of working with 3D printing prosthetic hands for kids in need through our connection with eNable, a non-profit. We host monthly speakers from different realms of BME, including research, industry, and continuing education.

For full descriptions and contact information for all Biomedical Engineering and other engineering-related student organizations and clubs, click here.

Biomedical Instrumentation Laboratory

The Biomedical Instrumentation Lab provides hands-on signals and processing experience using sensors to record and analyze brain waves, which control today’s state-of-the art prosthetic limbs, robotic arms, and humanoid robots. The lab also contains Virtual Reality (VR) headsets that are coupled with state-of-the-art EEG equipment to study cognitive processes and translate brain waves into movements in a VR environment.

Biomechanics and Human Motion Analysis Lab

The Biomechanics and Human Motion Analysis Lab is where our students get hands on experience learning about the musculoskeletal system, including biomechanics of tissues, structures, and joints. Motion capture technology tracks detailed human motion and can model gait, wheelchair use, sports, and upper body movements. The laboratory includes a motion capture system, force platform, Wireless Electromyography system and a full-featured mechanical testing machine.

Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Laboratory

The Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Lab is where our undergraduate students are introduced to biomaterials and tissue engineering. It uses a unique combination of biomaterials fabrication, characterization, and cell-culture techniques to assess the role of biomaterials in various clinical and biological applications. The lab includes a fully functional biosafety cabinet class II, water-jacketed incubator for cell culture, 6 optical microscopes, one fluorescence microscope and materials for bio-fabrication.  

UWM students have a wealth of additional resources available to them within the College of Engineering & Applied Science. From computer labs and tutoring resources to teaching labs and spaces to create or collaborate. Details here.

We’re a top tier R1 research university and our students have the opportunity to work with faculty engaged in cutting-edge research in areas such as:

• Biomechanics
• Biorobotics
• Bone Healing
• Intelligent Assistive Devices
• Medical Imaging
• Medical Instrumentation
• Rehabilitation Engineering

As an undergraduate you’ll have the opportunity to work in the Mechanobiology and Vascular Biomechanics Lab, directed by Dr. Mahsa Dabagh

In this lab, both graduate and undergraduate students use biology, mathematics, mechanics, biomaterials, and fluid dynamics to answer key questions about human diseases. We develop innovative prevention and treatment plans for cancer and cardiovascular diseases, which are tightly interconnected.

For example, four undergraduate students working with Dr. Dabagh presented their work at the 2021 UWM Undergraduate Research Symposium (https://sites.uwm.edu/undergrad-research-symposium-2021/category/mentor/mahsa-dabagh/). They used image segmentation to reconstruct personalized geometry of the vascular system and organ-specific tissues, then created codes based on Lattice-Boltzmann method (LBM) coupled with cellular particle dynamics (CPD) to model the growth of cancer tumor and progression of vascular diseases,  simulate blood flow distribution, and finally modeled the interaction of drug particles with cancer cells and vascular tissue.

Student Research Poster Competition

Both graduates and undergraduates have the opportunity to participate in this competition to see who can best represent their research visually on a poster and verbally by describing it to judges. Here are some examples of biomedical engineering undergraduates who have won past competitions:

Marina Slawinski, BS Biomedical 2021 SRPC 2^nd place Undergraduate winner for poster entitled, “Manipulation of Mechanical Properties in Protein-Polysaccharide Hydrogels.” See her short video description here https://youtu.be/jci6pqgtywA

Corey Huffman, BS Biomedical 2021 SRPC 3^rd place undergraduate winner for his poster entitled, “Design and Development of a Cable-Driven Wrist Prosthesis.” See his short video description here: https://youtu.be/1oaj0MC8rOY

Marina Slawinski, BS Biomedical 2020 SRPC 1^st place UG winner for her poster, “Shape programming of protein hydrogels using metal cations can help with the advancement of soft robotics.” See her short video description here: https://youtu.be/VlYlSdlgOro

Directed by the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center, the UWM Student Startup Challenge is an optional, co-curricular program that fosters our students’ innovative and entrepreneurial ideas. You can work alone or as part of a team as you gain the skills that come from entrepreneurial experience. More detail here.