Changing lives, one scientific advancement at a time.
Biomedical engineers use technology and biological sciences to solve health problems and advance healthcare. They do things like design joint replacement implants, develop life-saving tools, and discover new ways to deliver drugs to fight disease.
Start solving health problems in Herff's BioMed lab. Grow your own cells on a template to see how you might heal different parts of the body. Right now, we're developing a device that guides the treatment of septic shock better than ever before. Sound unbelievable? It's not. Every day, Herff students bring new ideas to the table and push the field of biomedical research further.
Biomedical engineers collaborate with scientists, other engineers, and practicing physicians on projects such as orthopedic implants, artificial organs, cardiovascular prostheses, and improved medical imaging techniques. We offer the only undergraduate biomedical engineering degree within 200 miles of Memphis. Our graduate program is a collaboration of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, the University of Memphis and their partnering entities.
Outstanding Biomedical Engineering Senior Design Competition
The Biomedical Engineering Senior Design Competition is the culminating experience for undergraduates in Biomedical Engineering. Each semester, teams of BME seniors present their projects to the BME Advisory Council. The council members score the projects based on a problem description and need statement, product designs, detailed protype development, testing and validation, and the overall quality of presentation.
Spring 2022 Outstanding Biomedical Engineering Senior Designs
Selection of outstanding student designs was based on scores by the Biomedical Engineering Advisory Board members during the Spring senior design presentations. We are especially grateful to our external industry and clinical team mentors who gave generously to the teams and their design projects.
First Place
Team: Modular Environment Research System (MERS)
Student team members: Lucas Hines, Graeme McCord, John-David Ross, Samarth Vedante,
Andrew Williams
Team advisors: Dr. Joel Bumgardner (UofM BME), Dr. Gary Bowlin (UofM BME), and Kaitlynn
Jones (Smith & Nephew Orpthopedics)
Second Place
Team: Thinking Critically
Student team members: Julia Strecker, Madison Higgins, Jehad Esmail, Kyra Brady, Michael
Diep
Team advisors: Dr. John Williams (UofM BME), and Drs. Jennifer McLevy-Bazzanella and
Elizabeth Crowder (LeBonheur Children’s Hospital)
Third Place
Team: Fusion Orthopedics
Student team members: Thaiz Cruz, Jerry Jenkins, Taryn Lema, Shiyanzi Shaikh, Shannon
Wallace
Team advisors: Dr. Bernard Grisoni (UofM BME), Bradley Bomar (MiRus LLC)
Fall 2021 Outstanding Biomedical Engineering Senior Design Project
At the end of the Fall 2021 semester, three participating teams competed for the Best Senior Design Project competition and a $500 cash prize! Congratulations Team MicroFlow for their design of a low-cost small volume flow cell system for the detection of components of body fluids using chemical and biological sensors.
Team MicroFlow from left to right: Uogita Dintakurthi, Jena Masler, William Coley, Darwin Ramirez Alvarez
>Click here to learn more about Team MicroFlow's winning project.
Spring 2021 Awards for Best Senior Design Project
At the end of the Spring 2021 semester, eight participating teams competed for first, second, or third place in the Best Senior Design Project competition. Three teams tied for first place and shared a $1,000 cash prize!
Congratulations to the three winning teams!
Team Babysitters for their design of an assistive device to aid a 3yr old child with spina bifida to sit up on own.
Team Biotech Tools for their design of a safe, efficient and reproducible tool for use in biotechnology DNA analyses.
Team Feet for their design of an easy to use, comfortable and non-constricting shoe insert for reducing pressure on diabetic foot ulcers.
>Click here to learn more about all three Spring 2020 winning design teams.
2021 BME Outstanding Senior
Pictured: Nancy Pont Briant and Dr. Joel Bumgardner
Congratulations, Nancy Pont Briant, on being named Outstanding Senior in the Department of Biomedical Engineering!
While at Herff, Nancy was a top student and involved with the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), the UofM Student Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society and Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB) biomedical engineering honor society. Hear from Nancy below about why she chose to major in biomedical engineering here at Herff, what were her toughest challenges as a biomedical engineering student, what she was most proud of from her time here in the department, how BME prepared her for her future goals and if she could go back in time, what would she tell herself as a first year student?
"I chose to major in BME because I got involved in engineering back in middle school with the Technology Student Association (TSA) club. Once I got to high school, I took classes about the physiology of the body and then a clinical internship to shadow various medical professionals. I saw BME as a perfect way to mesh both my love for science and the medical field with my affinity for mathematics. I specifically chose to come to the University of Memphis for biomedical engineering because when I was visiting other universities, professors never stopped and talked to the tour group. When I was on my tour of Herff, several professors stopped and talked to us about the research taking place in their labs and they were very generous with their time. I found this to be very unique.
My toughest challenge in BME at UofM was taking an upper divisional BME class my sophomore year. I moved up taking Medical Physiology by a year because I had the room in my schedule. In hindsight, I should have taken this class during the designated semester because I was taking too many classes during that particular semester. Following the BME track would have made my sophomore year a little less stressful.
I am most proud of my senior design project where my group successfully helped a three-year-old patient with spina bifida sit independently. Throughout this project, there were various problems relating to the design and construction of the device because our meetings were practically all virtual because we were all socially distancing ourselves and doing classes remotely due to COVID-19, but my group overcame all of these challenges. Being able to see the impact biomedical engineers have on peoples' lives was amazing.
BME has prepared me for my future goals by giving me a great foundation to build and learn upon. During my. BME coursework, I was taught how to problem solve, research, persevere and work together with my teammates. I believe this was invaluable.
I would tell my freshman year self to start applying for internships early even though I might not have been as qualified as other candidates, it would give me practice at interviewing and networking. Also, it is completely possible for a company to decide to hire a freshman/sophomore as an intern. While pursuing internships, also try to get involved in undergraduate research. Undergraduate research added so much to my undergraduate experience that I would not trade it for anything. Finally, I would also tell my freshman year self to get involved in the clubs in the engineering department that interest me, they are a great way to meet other classmates and older classmates as well!"