In design-oriented biomedical engineering courses, some instructors teach need-driven methods for health technology innovation that use a "need statement" to reflect a student team's hypothesis about the most fruitful direction for their project. While need statements are of the utmost importance to the projects, we were not aware of any…

As students gain more experience with design concepts, they should progress from novice to expert design thinkers. The purpose of this research was to identify the constructs of growth in design thinking (DT) over short- (one weekend) and long-term (10 weeks) design challenges. A DT mindset questionnaire was completed by students in a third-year…

The design of biological systems is a multidisciplinary activity in which biomedical engineers collaborate to build novel biological systems that address society's needs. One of the most relevant skills for designing biological systems is engineering systems thinking (EST). Among the EST elements, the EST cognitive competencies are comparatively…

The main purpose of this paper is to share the Mentoring for INnovative Design Solutions (MINDS) Scholars Program developed by Alpha Eta Mu Beta, the International Biomedical Engineering Honor Society. The program's goals are to (1) introduce biomedical engineering students to an open-ended design experience as part of interuniversity teams with…

With increasing demand for improved medical equipment and healthcare, next-generation biomedical engineers need strong design skills. Equipping biomedical engineering students with tools for idea generation and development can increase student design success. Design Heuristics are an ideation tool developed through empirical studies of product…

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many universities have switched to online learning platforms, which inhibits engineering students from completing formative hands-on experiments. To address this, we developed at-home experiments for an undergraduate biomaterials course. These inquiry-based learning experiments were well received by students and…

Our first year biomedical engineering course exposes students to multiple engineering and design techniques within an overarching theme of understanding health inequity. Currently, the semester-long curriculum excludes computational methods such as Python programming and Machine Learning, which are usually not introduced until more advanced BME…

BME HealthReach is an educational outreach program where undergraduate BME students participate in an out-of-class design thinking course to create and teach interactive STEM activities to K-12 students, where children with chronic illnesses are the primary clients. We detail research that seeks to answer the following: (1) what impact does this…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between students' patterns of reflective thinking and their performance in solving design problems. Reflective thinking is a critical element in the process of solving ill-defined design problems. Many educators are dedicated to finding ways to promote students' reflection. Yet few…

Contribution: This article illustrates how to design and implement a Design Thinking project in a biomedical instrumentation course as a bridge between education and industry. It also presents the effect of the project on student perceptions of their learning gains and their postgraduate preparedness. Background: Biomedical engineering continues…

Biomimicry is a useful method to develop students' skills, such as design and systems thinking, particularly when complemented with inquiry-based learning. The research seeks to uncover how students engage in the biomimicry process and what types of designs they produce to reveal insights that could assist educators in teaching biomimicry. A study…

Contribution: The current study finds that female-identified students report stronger associations between "helping others" and interest in bioengineering/biomedical engineering than non-females, while they report less interest in electrical and computer engineering overall, with similar associations to factors such as…

Engineering is one of the most global professions, with design teams developing technologies for an increasingly interconnected and borderless world. In order for engineering students to be proficient in creating viable solutions to the challenges faced by diverse populations, they must receive an expe­riential education in rigorous engineering…