The J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering officially opened the improved Senior Design space. The room will support students in the biomedical engineering senior design class, a project-based course designed for custom strategies to address real-life issues in developing biocompatible and biomimetic devices for biotechnology or biomedical applications. Student teams work with clients to develop projects that incorporate various aspects of biomedical engineering, including instrumentation, biomechanics, biotransport, tissue engineering, and others. Formal engineering design principles will be emphasized; an overview of intellectual properties, engineering ethics, risk analysis, safety in design, and FDA regulations will be reviewed.

Ismael Arroyo, BME Teaching Laboratory Specialist II, lead the efforts for the new senior design space. Dr. Eric Fuller and a team of faculty worked with Arroyo on various prototypes. Arroyo drew up a plan to implement the need for students to have a place where they can work freely on their projects. Space before only allowed for 5-6 students at a time to work in the workshop area. The area can now house double that (when the social distancing is removed).

“The new design studio will make a huge impact on our students; I am proud of the efforts everyone made to make this happen,” said Arroyo.

The department also added several new power tools, battery-operated tools, and handheld tools easily accessible to students with the new open-concept space. Arroyo also created a 3D Maker Space with its own space where students can print their 3D projects. Students have four 3D printers and one 3D laser printer that is available to them. The updated area flows better, and the glass partition creates a space where you can interact from both the 3D Maker Space and the workshop area.