Outreach takes many forms at the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering. This summer faculty and students participated in the University of Florida Student Science Training Program (UF-SSTP).
The UF-SSTP is a seven week residential research program for high school students who have completed their junior year and are considering medicine, math, computer, science, or engineering careers. The program emphasis is research participation with a UF faculty research scientist and his or her research team.
Students engage in the ongoing research of the faculty-mentor for 30 hours each week, attend a lecture series on current research topics and participate in a UF honors seminar class. Students enrolled in a Florida high school have the option to earn dual enrollment credit.
The mentor program provides students and others interested in the biomedical engineering profession with access to experienced mentors who can provide valuable career guidance and advice, and contribute to professional and personal development.
“I learned how much I truly love teaching people about the field I am so passionate about. Volunteering as an instructor confirmed my goal of entering academia but also developing a mentoring relationship, and sharing my own experiences to help others figure out what their goals are. As a team we developed lesson plans, lectures, assignments, and activities for our 12 student class. We also gave students the opportunity to interact with a clinician and try to develop a creative solution to a real clinical problem,” said Michaela Mertz, BME Ph.D. student.
UF BME faculty mentors:
- Dr. Kyle Allen – Assistant Professor & Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies
- Dr. Mingzhou Ding – Pruitt Family Professor
- Dr. Jon Dobson – Professor
- Dr. Aysegul Gunduz – Assistant Professor
- Dr. Gregory Hudalla – Assistant Professor
- Dr. Parisa Rashidi – Assistant Professor
- Dr. Carlos Rinaldi – Charles A. Stokes Term Professor & Senior Associate Chair
- Dr. Blanka Sharma – Assistant Professor
UF BME student mentors:
- Ben Goolsby, Ph.D. student, graduate assistant for Dr. Oweiss Karim
- Olivia Lanier, Ph.D. student, graduate assistant for Dr. Peter McFetridge and Dr. Jon Dobson
- Michaela Mertz, Ph.D. student, graduate assistant for Dr. Christine E. Schmidt
- Enrico Opri, Ph.D. student, graduate assistant for Dr. Aysegul Gunduz
- Yash Shah, Ph.D. student, graduate assistant for Dr. Kyle Allen and Dr. Jon Dobson