Candidates for BED offices

Program Chair Elect — link to ballot

Manage the Work In Progress portion of BED program at the Annual Conference. It is expected that this individual will subsequently serve as Program Chair, Division Chair, and Division Past Chair in the following 3 years.

1. Jen Choi, University of California Davis

Jennifer Choi is an Associate Professor of Teaching in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at UC Davis. In addition to teaching Introduction to BME and Senior Design, she has been highly engaged in integrating engineering design principles and hands-on experiences throughout the undergraduate curriculum. She has strong interests in engineering education, curricular innovation, as well as impacting the community through increased K-12 STEM awareness and education. She has had several administrative roles including Program Director for the UC Davis Institutional Beckman Scholars Program, PI of her department’s Team-Based Design in BME (NIBIB R25) award and currently, part of the faculty team leading the launch of a new BME UG Program, Quarter at AggieSquare, based at the UC Davis Medical Center. Prior to joining UC Davis, Jennifer taught in the BME Department at Rutgers University, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Advanced Technologies and Regenerative Medicine, LLC. She received her doctoral degree in Biomedical Engineering from Tufts University, M.S. degree from Syracuse University, and B.S. degree from Cornell University. She has served as the Awards Chair for the Biomedical Division of the American Society for Engineering Education since 2019, and is interested in continuing to contribute to the community of educators that she has already benefited greatly from. Becoming Program Chair Elect would be an honor, and she would greatly enjoy the opportunity to continue collaborating with and serving the Biomedical Division.

2. Ruth Ochia, Temple University

Thank you considering me for the position of ASEE BED Program Chair Elect. Currently, I am a Professor of Instruction at Temple University in the Department of Bioengineering. My primary area of expertise involves the biomechanics of human injury, with special emphasis on the areas of spine trauma and degeneration, and occupant kinematics in automobile collisions. In addition, I have also performed research in degenerative disc disease and low back pain. My current interests are in engineering education and curricular assessment with specific focus on innovation and entrepreneurship in engineering design teams, as well as student engagement and motivation at the undergraduate level. This new area of focus has enabled me to obtain a couple of funded engineering education grants, several publications, and conference presentations. I have been a member of ASEE for the past couple of years and have served as a reviewer and session moderator for the Bioengineering Education Division. I am interested in applying for Program Chair Elect as I would like to be more involved in BED. I feel that my experience as Co-Chair of the BMES annual conference in 2019 (Philadelphia) will parley well into being Program Chair for BED, as I needed to recruit track chairs, review and organize special sessions, help set up the technical session schedule, and interact with the Board and President throughout the planning process. The experience at BMES was exciting and rewarding. I hope to be able to bring my energy to the BED.

3. Sarah Rooney, University of Delaware

My name is Dr. Sarah I. Rooney, and I appreciate your consideration as I run for ASEE Biomedical Engineering Division (BED) Program Chair-Elect. I am an Assistant (Associate in September) Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in biomedical engineering at the University of Delaware, with a primary workload in teaching. I have been a member of ASEE and active in BED since I was a graduate student, when I was awarded the BED Travel Award. In my past 8 years of BED membership, I have authored proceedings; reviewed abstracts and papers; co-moderated and co-organized several ASEE conference sessions (including this year’s Biomedical Engineering Speed Networking session); served as a reviewer for BED Best Paper, Teaching, Travel, and Work-in-Progress Awards; served on an ad-hoc BED bylaws committee; and received the BED Teaching Award in 2018. Most recently, I have held the position of BED Member-at-Large for the past 3 years, where I have contributed to discussions and decisions about the division. I am also on the ASEE Interdivisional Town Hall Planning Committee for the 2021 conference. As Program Chair-Elect, I aim to 1) continue to streamline the Work-in-Progress review process for authors and reviewers, 2) support the Program Chair to develop next year’s conference program, and 3) work with the rest of the BED executive board and broader membership to achieve BED’s goal of becoming the leaders and core community of BME education. My strength in organization, leadership experience, and prior experience in conference program planning by serving as the 2018 BMES Undergraduate Research & Design Track co-chair have prepared me for this position. Thank you for your consideration!

 

Member at large (3 year term, 2021-2024) — link to ballot

Members at large serve as and recruit judges for the annual poster session, serve as judges for the BED Travel Award(s), and serve in other capacities on an ad-hoc basis.

1. Chris Geiger, Florida Gulf Coast University

Chris is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Bioengineering at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). He received his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University in 1996 and his doctorate degree in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University in 2003. Prior to joining FGCU, Chris spent 3 years training at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, where he studied the effects of mechotransduction on exogenous gene delivery in the lung. As a founding member of the U.A. Whitaker College of Engineering, Chris has taught, developed and reimagined eleven different courses within the Bioengineering program, from introductory courses all the way through capstone design. His educational research interests include student self-efficacy, information literacy, and leveraging knowledge content in prior or concurrent classes to reinforce classroom content (learning threads). He has served as an ASEE BED abstract/paper reviewer since 2011 and is looking forward to finding additional opportunities to get involved with the division.

2. Naji Husseini, UNC Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University

Dr. Naji Husseini is an Assistant Teaching Professor and the Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC and NC State, as well as an Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Kindergarten and 1st grade. He received a B.S. and M.Eng. in engineering physics from Cornell University, and an M.S. in electrical engineering and Ph.D. in applied physics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His research projects spanned sperm cryopreservation to synchrotron and laser-based x-ray imaging in various contexts, including protein crystallography, thin-film surface diffraction, and phase-contrast imaging of airplane turbine blades. Naji currently teaches at least mechanics, programming, statistics, and biomaterials, along with whatever other classes faculty don’t want to teach that semester, at both UNC and NC State. He is particularly interested in sophomore-level labs in all areas to make them approachable while still introducing advanced BME concepts. His computer-science labs have been presented and published at ASEE and received a technological innovation award at NC State. He has served as a reviewer for the BEE journal, more than three ASEE divisions, among others. He has experience with most of the member-at-large responsibilities through his many service and leadership roles at UNC and NC State. Naji has learned a great deal from ASEE meetings; now, he’d like to give back to the community that helped him grow as a teacher.

3. Devina Jaiswal, Western New England University

Devina Jaiswal, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, received her M.S. in Bioengineering from Pennsylvania State University where she worked on bone tissue engineering. Her primary research focused on cellular mechanosensing and analyzing the effect of surface geometry on downstream signaling pathways. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut with a concentration in biomedical micro-electromechanical devices used for cellular manipulation and characterization. She has published research articles in various peer-reviewed journals and regularly serves as a reviewer for these journals. She also serves as reviewer on the Department of Defense’s grant reviewing committee. Her research interests include tissue engineering, mechanosensing, and drug delivery. At WNEU, she teaches the core biomedical courses, as well as upper level courses related to her field of expertise. She has participated in atleast three workshops sponsored by Kern Engineering Entrepreneurship Network (KEEN) for inculcation of entrepreneurial mindset (EM) in undergraduate courses by development of experiential learning modules. In 2020, she was awarded with Engineering Unleashed Fellowship for one of her classroom EM modules. She also serves as a co-PI on National Endowment for Humanities grant for planning a curriculum change related to general university requirements. The ASEE BED officer position titled ‘Member at Large’ will give me an opportunity to serve the community, work with my peers and network. I have been part of the Awards Committee at WNEU for past three years and aim at applying that experience productively towards the duties related to this position.

4. Christine King, University of California Irvine

Christine King is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California Irvine. She has been an active member of the ASEE BED since she started her position in 2018, and has published yearly on her pedagogical research findings in introducing neuroengineering to high school students, design and medical innovation, as well as active learning principles in large engineering classrooms. She has served as the ASEE BED Hub and webmaster as well as the ASEE secretary this past year. In addition, she has served on the Lifetime Mentor Award Committee, and the 2021 Conference COmmittee, and was a reviewer for the Best Paper Award. Recently funded through VentureWell, she plans to continue serving and disseminating research to the ASEE BED. I am interested in serving as the awards chair, events chair, and member at large positions as I have been an active member since 2018, have served on several committees as well as webmaster and secretary, and hope to continue to serve as a ASEE BED member in the future. As part of the conference and award committees such as the best paper award and newly created lifetime achievement award, I hope to be able to improve our awards and practices, as well as assist with our annual events and activities.

5. Sudeshna Pal, University of Central Florida

Sudeshna Pal received her Ph.D. in Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering from Michigan State University in 2009. She is currently a Lecturer in the Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department and will start as an Associate Lecturer in fall 2021, at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Before joining UCF, she was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Rochester. Her doctoral and postdoctoral research was in biomedical sensors, biophotonics, and bio-inspired controls. At UCF, she has been teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in system dynamics, controls, and biomedical engineering for the past six years. She also codirects the biomedical engineering educational program entitled “A Biodesign Program in Rehabilitation Engineering” at UCF. Her current research focus is engineering education with an emphasis on blended learning, digital education, and biomedical engineering design education. She has published over 20 research and pedagogical articles and was the recipient of the College Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2020. She aspires to serve and contribute to the Bioengineering division of ASEE as Member at Large or as Awards Chair to the best of her ability.

6. Nicole Ramo, Assistant Professor, West Chester University

After completing an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, Nicole was introduced to engineering education scholarship while a BME doctoral student at Colorado State University. In 2016, she was nominated as the School of Biomedical Engineering’s inaugural Graduate Teaching Fellow. It was through this program that she completed the work for her first ASEE paper – which earned BED’s Best Paper Award in 2018. After earning her Ph.D., Nicole completed an instructional post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Aileen Huang-Saad at the University of Michigan. Under Aileen’s guidance, she gained confidence in more formalized educational research. Her paper describing a qualitative study of student-written definitions of BME earned BED’s Best Paper Award in 2019. During her post-doctoral appointment, she also gained access to a network of wonderful like-minded people – including many of those involved in BED. Starting this fall, Nicole will be a new assistant professor of BME at West Chester University where she will continue BME-focused educational research. Now that she is in a faculty position, she is seeking the opportunity to take a more active role in the division that she considers her “home” within ASEE. She graciously asks for your support in filling the open member-at-large position.

7. Katie Reuther, University of Pennsylvania

Katie is an experienced educator and leader in the design, development, and translation of early-stage medical technologies and discoveries. She is currently a Practice Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania and the Executive Director for the Center for Health, Technologies, and Devices (Penn Health-Tech).  Previously, she served as a Senior Lecturer in Design, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University, with additional appointments as the Director of the Columbia Biomedical Engineering Technology Accelerator (BiomedX) Program and the Director of Master’s Studies.  Katie has advised and educated numerous student and faculty teams and start-ups in developing and commercializing medical technologies. Her current educational work focuses on developing new instructional tools and programs to enhance biomedical engineering graduate education. She has spearheaded the development of a graduate-level Biomedical Innovation program that covers all aspects of the design process, including needs identification, concept generation, and commercialization. She also serves as a consultant for Biocomx, a national organization that educates, trains, and supports researchers, professionals, and early stage companies in commercializing medical technologies, and is a nationally-trained I-Corps at NIH instructor.   Katie received a BS in Biomedical Engineering (with an emphasis in Mechanical Engineering) from The College of New Jersey, a PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and an Executive MBA from Columbia Business School. Why am I interested in the position? I have been an active member of ASEE since 2015 and regularly present my work through the BED at the annual conference, including two peer-reviewed full-length publications and one work-in-progress. I have always admired the strong community within the BED and am eager to contribute through the Member At Large position. Thanks for your consideration!

8. Vignesh Subbian, University of Arizona

Vignesh Subbian is a Joint Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering (BME) and Systems & Industrial Engineering and a Distinguished Fellow of the Center for University Education Scholarship at the University of Arizona. As the co-founder of the STEM in Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) initiatives and faculty lead for the ASEE Chapter at the University of Arizona, Vignesh brings significant leadership experience in and commitment to STEM education initiatives, nationally and regionally. He is an active ASEE member, participating in Engineering Ethics, BME, and Educational Research and Methods Divisions. Vignesh has contributed to the BME division as reviewer, moderator, and active participant in business meetings for more than five years, and continues to stay involved in the division. If elected as member at-large, he is particularly interested in serving as a BED liaison to the ASEE Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, in addition to supporting division activities at the annual conference.

 

Awards chair — link to ballot

Manage the process of awards nominations and lead the awards selections committee.

1. Jen Choi, University of California Davis

Jennifer Choi is an Associate Professor of Teaching in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at UC Davis. In addition to teaching Introduction to BME and Senior Design, she has been highly engaged in integrating engineering design principles and hands-on experiences throughout the undergraduate curriculum. She has strong interests in engineering education, curricular innovation, as well as impacting the community through increased K-12 STEM awareness and education. She has had several administrative roles including Program Director for the UC Davis Institutional Beckman Scholars Program, PI of her department’s Team-Based Design in BME (NIBIB R25) award and currently, part of the faculty team leading the launch of a new BME UG Program, Quarter at AggieSquare, based at the UC Davis Medical Center. Prior to joining UC Davis, Jennifer taught in the BME Department at Rutgers University, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Advanced Technologies and Regenerative Medicine, LLC. She received her doctoral degree in Biomedical Engineering from Tufts University, M.S. degree from Syracuse University, and B.S. degree from Cornell University. She has served as the Awards Chair for the Biomedical Division of the American Society for Engineering Education since 2019, and is interested in continuing to contribute to the community of educators that she has already benefited greatly from.

2. Sudeshna Pal, University of Central Florida

Sudeshna Pal received her Ph.D. in Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering from Michigan State University in 2009. She is currently a Lecturer in the Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department and will start as an Associate Lecturer in fall 2021, at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Before joining UCF, she was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Rochester. Her doctoral and postdoctoral research was in biomedical sensors, biophotonics, and bio-inspired controls. At UCF, she has been teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in system dynamics, controls, and biomedical engineering for the past six years. She also codirects the biomedical engineering educational program entitled “A Biodesign Program in Rehabilitation Engineering” at UCF. Her current research focus is engineering education with an emphasis on blended learning, digital education, and biomedical engineering design education. She has published over 20 research and pedagogical articles and was the recipient of the College Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2020. She aspires to serve and contribute to the Bioengineering division of ASEE as Member at Large or as Awards Chair to the best of her ability.

3. Christine King, University of California Irvine

Christine King is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California Irvine. She has been an active member of the ASEE BED since she started her position in 2018, and has published yearly on her pedagogical research findings in introducing neuroengineering to high school students, design and medical innovation, as well as active learning principles in large engineering classrooms. She has served as the ASEE BED Hub and webmaster as well as the ASEE secretary this past year. In addition, she has served on the Lifetime Mentor Award Committee, and the 2021 Conference Committee, and was a reviewer for the Best Paper Award. Recently funded through VentureWell, she plans to continue serving and disseminating research to the ASEE BED. I am interested in serving as the awards chair, events chair, and member at large positions as I have been an active member since 2018, have served on several committees as well as webmaster and secretary, and hope to continue to serve as a ASEE BED member in the future. As part of the conference and award committees such as the best paper award and newly created lifetime achievement award, I hope to be able to improve our awards and practices, as well as assist with our annual events and activities.

Treasurer — link to ballot

Oversee and maintain the financial records of the Division.

1. Alexis Ortiz-Rosario, The Ohio State University (incumbent)

Alexis Ortiz-Rosario currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He is the instructor for the BIOMEDE 3702 Measurements and Instrumentation course that introduces students to concepts of circuit instrumentation, experimental design, and applied statistics. He also serves in the capacity of engineering advisor for senior capstone students and instructs the domain laboratory experiences in bioimaging and micro/nanofabrication. He is currently supporting the NSF Grant: “Research Initiation: Analyzing inequities in undergraduate workforce opportunities between biomedical and other engineering majors.” This grant is looking looks to understand the challenges BME undergraduate students face in obtaining industry careers compared to their fellow engineering peers. Alexis is also the chair of the Biomedical Engineering Educator Community (BEEC), a virtual community of practice that looks to enhance collaboration and sharing of evidence-based teaching practices in the field of biomedical engineering.

 

2. Nomination from the Floor.

 

Events chair — link to ballot

Will be in charge of organizing and planning the BED social and awards dinner, and any other events that arise.

1. Christine King, University of California Irvine

Secretary / Webmaster — link to ballot

Responsibilities include taking minutes at the BED business meeting and other meetings, producing division publications, and maintaining the BED WordPress-based website.

1. Christine King, University of California Irvine

Christine King is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California Irvine. She has been an active member of the ASEE BED since she started her position in 2018, and has published yearly on her pedagogical research findings in introducing neuroengineering to high school students, design and medical innovation, as well as active learning principles in large engineering classrooms. She has served as the ASEE BED Hub and webmaster as well as the ASEE secretary this past year. In addition, she has served on the Lifetime Mentor Award Committee, and the 2021 Conference COmmittee, and was a reviewer for the Best Paper Award. Recently funded through VentureWell, she plans to continue serving and disseminating research to the ASEE BED. I am interested in serving as the awards chair, events chair, and member at large positions as I have been an active member since 2018, have served on several committees as well as webmaster and secretary, and hope to continue to serve as a ASEE BED member in the future. As part of the conference and award committees such as the best paper award and newly created lifetime achievement award, I hope to be able to improve our awards and practices, as well as assist with our annual events and activities.

 

2. Nomination from the Floor.