July 30,
2007
Students place first in national competition
Biomedical engineering students (from left) Justin Goldstein ’07, Joseph Lust ’07, Mitchele Au ’07, and Brian Duffy ’07 took first place in a national competition for their design of a portable, low-cost device that interfaces with an infusion pump.
Four biomedical engineering students took first place
in a category of the National Design Competition with a portable, low-cost
device designed to make infusion pumps and intravenous devices safer for
people with disabilities.
The win marks the third year in a row Rochester has
placed first or second in the competition and this year, 25 teams from 16
universities entered the contest sponsored by the Rehabilitation
Engineering Research Center on Accessible Medical Instrumentation.
The Inf-U-Tech team—Mitchele Au ’07, Brian
Duffy ’07, Justin Goldstein ’07, and Joseph Lust
’07—developed the device as part of the Senior Design Class
taught by Amy Lerner, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical
Engineering.
“Our course has a very customer-driven
focus that is perfect for the accessibility challenges, but the
competition itself is also very motivating,” says Lerner.
Lust says the project turned out to be much more
complicated than initially envisioned. “Around every corner was
another layer of complexity, just like with any medical device.”
“They say what you learn in engineering is how
to think and how to be creative,” says Goldstein.
The team interviewed infusion pump manufacturers and
customers, doctors, and nurses. The Inf-U-Tech team also consulted with
Kathy Sweetland, University coordinator of disabilities resources and chair
of the Rochester Disabilities Cluster, a collaborative venture at the
University that includes professionals from the Medical Center and the
River Campus; and Vicki Roth, dean of sophomores and director of learning
assistance services.
Scott Seidman, assistant professor of biomedical
engineering and of neurobiology and anatomy in the School of Medicine and
Dentistry, served as the team’s faculty supervisor. While he offered
advice on how to work as a team and focus on client needs, Seidman says all
the design work came from the students, who he describes as “a
driven, motivated, and talented group of undergrads.”
Lerner says the program is always looking for new
challenges for the undergraduates to tackle. Learn more at http: //courses.ats.rochester.edu/lerner/SRDesign.
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