An Impactful Class-BME 2001

One of the best classes that impacted me was the BME 2000 class, the introductory class the biomedical engineering. This class covered what the biomedical engineering field currently has to offer in an amazing format. It was all asynchronous, providing flexibility as the transition into fully online classes was starting to baffle everyone. We covered all the domain of biomedical engineering: Biotransport, Biomechanics, Biomaterials, Cell & Tissue Engineering, Micro/Nanotechnology, Bioimaging, and a discussion on Bioethics. We had interesting content in the lectures, all of which were available to view at any time. Additionally, the homeworks in relation to the topics were challenging but provided a great look at what the domain involves and what students are expected to learn in them. Lastly, we investigated various biomedical instruments, techniques, and products that gave us a wholistic look at what biomedical engineering can result in. This part was done in the form of group projects that result in a written submission and a Spark Pages presentation. Not only did we look into the details of the assigned technology subjects, but we also made a presentation that would later be published so that students may go back and review these at any point in time. These can serve as a memory refresher when we get more in depth with these techniques and technologies in the future, and the presentation style provides easy to navigate scrolling alongside a slew of imagery and diagrams. This class has been the most helpful when I later took other BME courses, as I could go back and reference videos and the projects that were written out and presented. While not overwhelming students, this class helped us look into the field of biomedical engineering and get a grasp of what there is to study and perhaps turn into a career. I look forward to taking more classes in the biomedical engineering subject, and I can’t wait to see the topic covered in BME 2000 to be studied in greater detail.

Vision Statement/Statement of Action

As an engineer in a research lab, I have become fascinated with the idea of linking the academic side of things to industry. That is, I want to see how to make academia and industry relations work and how they tick. With the rest of my time on campus, I plan to explore this and how I may apply this to a career. Not only am I planning on laboratory rotations this summer with research centers on campus, but I also plan to get involved with industry more. Aside from the Nordson Case Competition I plan on competing in May 13th and 14th 2021, I want to seek an internship or co-op to give me a feel for the industry field. However, I have found a love for academia and research during my first two years, so I wish to remain involved with OSU research. Additionally, I must focus on my coursework for both my major in Biomedical Engineering and minor in Business. With these ideas in mind, I will pursue not only a steady path in my coursework, but I will be working towards experience more in both academia and industry. Lastly, I will also be preparing for a future in graduate school, which will involve GRE preparation, research into colleges, and looking into the field of research I may want to commit to.

Stepping into the External Chair Position-SASE

I’m involved with the club Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE), where I’ve met amazing people that have become great friends. This club has been amazing for my socialization during COVID times, and I especially enjoy their professional development and cultural events. In the absence of COVID, there is also a national conference, one of which I have attended my freshmen year. I loved the trip to Pittsburgh, the workshops, networking, and huge career fair. With my application and acceptance of the position of External Chair for SASE, I will be responsible for organizing and managing the logistics of how the OSU chapter of SASE will be attending the upcoming national conference in Atlanta, Georgia (should it still be in-person) or how to get everyone access to the online national conference (if virtual). I can’t wait to meet with the new executive board of SASE and discuss how to proceed.

Stepping into the Faculty Liaison Position-BMES

I’m excited to still be involved with the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) this coming year as the Faculty Liaison. I will be attending the meetings of BMES faculty and providing input as the the BMES side of things. Additionally, I will report the faculty’s thoughts and plans to BMES to help them in their endeavors. I look forward to meeting the department, and hope that things will run smoothly this upcoming year.

Passing on the ECouncil Representative Position-BMES

I am now the former ECouncil Representative for the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). I am pleased to announce that the new representatives are Celine Ertin and Nikhil Nandyala. I’ve explained what the position entails, which is to attend meetings, gain volunteer hours for the club, fund request, and host an event in conjunction with ECouncil. I can still remember when I stepped into the position and the first ECouncil (Engineers’ Council) meeting. I greatly enjoyed getting involved with the activity fairs, making a video for the spring 2021 activity fair. Even the fund request, as stressful as it was at the time, is now a fond memory. I’ve hosted the BMES ARCHE Week event with these two freshmen, and I can see that they’ll do well in the position. I can’t wait to see what they’ll bring to BMES.

Video: https://youtu.be/YORbrCeJsco

Artifact-MakeOhio 2021-Handwashing Compliance System

I participated in the collaboration between BioHack from the Biomedical Engineering Society and MakeOhio, where the two events involve hardware and creating a solution to any of the posed challenges. My team, Blubber Bread Annihilation Drill, and I decided to tackle the ICU handwashing challenge, one posed by BioHack. In order to create a hand sanitization compliance system, we designed a system that would sense forces on hand sanitization stations and forces on the door handle of hospital patient rooms. Should employees not apply force (using the hand sanitizer) but attempt to open the door (applying force on the door), a disparaging message that discourages such actions will appear on a LCD screen. The installation of force sensors will not require additional adjustments to the hospital building integrity, and will be easily accessible through hand sanitizing stations that have become far more commonplace in a pandemic world. Additionally, our system will count how many people have complied with hand sanitization standards and store such information. This anonymous counting will help preserve privacy and not leak any personal information about the hospital employees and patients. However, there will still be data for analysis and decisions in regards to hand sanitization and hospital management. In this challenge, my team and I spent 48 hours to come up with such a solution, program it into a working prototype, made a video of the system, and answered the questions of the judges. This endeavor employed the use of solution ideation, assembly of circuity, assembly of the prototype structure, and presentation of the solution. We named our product “Clean Hands We Demands.”

It was a great deal of fun, and we especially enjoyed coming up with various discouraging messages and praises to flash on the LCD screen. Additionally, we were able to solve a multitude of problems throughout the process. From troubleshooting the code of the Arduino platform to getting the mess of wires to properly connect and attach to the structure, we found that we had fun with all of it. The people that were able to meet in person, namely myself and Grace Workman, also soldered the LCD on the circuit board. This resolved a problem that was extremely frustrating the first day, namely that we wanted to be able to get by without the soldering, but ultimately we did. Despite a small burn from the solder along my index finger, things worked wonderfully afterwards. Additionally, given that the entire competition was online and did not allow for all team members to be on hand to built and work with the hardware, we had to work with giving clear instructions and dividing up the work in feasible ways so that it could all come together to the physical produce. We were immensely proud of our creation, as it was quite a journey to get it into a working product. In the end, we won second place in the ICU Handwashing Challenge.

The video may be found here: https://youtu.be/uwLg_IIrTvU

Credits to the Team: 

Jenny Yi

Grace Workman

Ikra Anwar

HackOhio November 2020-Task Notification System

I decided to participate in the annual HackOhio at OSU, which involves a software and programming solution to a set of proposed problems. Alongside OSU, many industry sponsors and companies have come to speak, mentor, and pose challenges for the students. Throughout this 48-hour hackathon, my team, Garrote Saucy Garlic Bread, and I decided to tackle the Microsoft challenge of creating a productivity hub with Microsoft Graph. We then decided to create a task notification system that can better productivity by programming the reminders to have personalities that best suit the user’s need for motivation. We have a drill sergeant, kind friend, personal assistant, and scary personalities with associated dialogue for each. The result was a web application called “U R Productivity” utilizing HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Afterwards, we presented our product to the judges, and, given the COVID situation, everything was presented and communicated through Sococo. It was a lot of hard work, sleepless nights, and fun. For a first experience into programming a solution and HackOhio, I found it interesting and something I would definitely do again.

Credits to the Team: 

Jenny Yi

Grace Workman

Kowzar Ahmed 

 

The Wilds

Bioscholars The Wilds Trip 2019. It was a fun experience: we rode on a safari-like bus and go to see various animals. I learned a lot about how preservation reserves are run and the reasoning behind some of the actions they take, along with how their efforts help preserve endangered species. Nobody was eaten by a carnivore.