Academics

Biomedical engineering department offers global learning experiences

Biomedical engineering department partners with Shanghai Jiao Tong University to offer global capstone projects

Biomedical engineering seniors communicate with Shanghai Jiao Tong University students via Skype as they collaborate on a global capstone learning project. Pictured from left to right are Kaylyn Hannon, Adam Gordon and Sarah Cosgrove. Credit: Mindy Krause / Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Providing students with collaborative learning experiences and global opportunities has always been a hallmark of the biomedical engineering department, and this semester, six BME seniors were given the opportunity to participate in two global capstone projects - without even leaving the University Park campus.

The idea of a global capstone program that would engage groups of students remotely was initially developed by Marty Trethewey, professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering at Penn State. For several years, the mechanical engineering department has been executing global capstone projects with success. One of their longest and must successful partnerships has been with Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU).

In 2013, Cheng Dong, biomedical engineering department head, identified a need for global learning initiatives within the biomedical engineering department and teamed with Trethewey to develop a successful model. SJTU was considered an obvious partner due to their experience with the mechanical engineering department and their ties to the University. Dong traveled to Shanghai twice within the next year to hold preliminary meetings with STJU faculty and set the groundwork for the program.

In the fall of 2014, Dong selected Margaret Slattery, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and coordinator of the biomedical engineering undergraduate program, to travel to Shanghai to solidify plans for the first global experience anticipated to begin in 2015.

During their time together, Slattery and SJTU faculty discussed the importance of global learning and study abroad experiences and the lasting impacts they provide to students. It was noted, however, that these opportunities are not viable for every student.

“Study abroad opportunities offer students a tremendous number of benefits, however, they can also be very cost and time prohibitive,” Slattery stated. “For those reasons, they are not ideal for every student. We were interested in developing a method that would allow all interested students to take part in a global experience, one that did not necessitate travel.”

With this goal in mind, Slattery and the SJTU team created a collaborative model that would allow teams from both universities to work remotely on a shared project throughout the semester. The model was adapted, largely, from the existing capstone senior design structure, and teams of three students from each university were formed. Teams were also assigned an on-site faculty mentor and a company sponsor.

In the spring of 2015, two pilot projects were launched.

The first project, sponsored by the company LifeRiver of China, has challenged students to successfully combine two pieces of existing equipment; a DNA extraction machine and a PCR machine into a combined bench top model. The hope for this hybrid diagnostic tool is that it will allow doctors to efficiently diagnose diseases with limited human intervention. The students’ role in this project has been to focus on data transfer between the two machines and ensure the output provides clear diagnostic results. BME students working on the project included Tomoko Bowser, Kiki Gordon and Staci Sutermaster.

The team agreed the logistic challenges involved with the project were the hardest part of the experience.

“Communication was definitely our biggest challenge,” Sutermaster said. “We communicated primarily through bi-weekly Skype meetings, the application WeChat and through traditional email. Issues such as internet connectivity, time zone differences and software incompatibilities all caused stumbling blocks we wouldn’t have experienced with a typical capstone project.”

The second project, sponsored by TCP Innovation and Design, a United States company closely associated with the biomedical innovation group at Penn State Hershey, challenged students to find “out-of-the-box” solutions to deploy a colonoscope in patients with C. difficile. Penn State students involved in this project included Sarah Cosgrove, Adam Gordon and Kaylyn Hannon.

The group agreed that communication challenges were also the hardest obstacles to overcome.  The students communicated in English while working on the project, with many SJTU students choosing the global project experience to enhance their own foreign language skills.

“We had to be very succinct in our communication,” Gordon said. “We had to be conscious of our storytelling and limit our use of “slang” and other literary devices when describing our process.”

Though challenges existed, both teams are grateful for their experience.

“The best part of this project was gaining different perspectives in problem solving,” Tomoko Bowser said.  “We approached the project as engineers while the SJTU students took a different approach and dissected the project in a very analytical, scientific way. That, in turn, led us to discover new possibilities that we would not have thought of otherwise.”

All six Penn State students involved in the global projects this semester plan to utilize their experience moving forward. Several cited that they would be working in international markets after graduation while others planned to travel abroad and seek international employment.

“The skills I learned working on the global capstone will certainly carry over into my future,” Sarah Cosgrove said. “Without a doubt it was an invaluable experience.”

With the success of this year’s global capstone experiences it is likely the BME department will provide additional global opportunities for learning and collaboration in the future.

Last Updated May 4, 2015