ERC Successfully Pilots Senior Design Teams Capstone Program
Outcome/Accomplishment
The NSF-funded Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Advanced Technologies for the Preservation of Biological Systems (ATP-Bio), co-led by the University of Minnesota and Massachusetts General Hospital, funded five students who engaged in center-relevant research and tested a prototype as part of a senior design capstone project. The successful pilot will be expanded across ATP-Bio sites.
Impact/Benefits
Students in the pilot experienced multiple facets of careers in engineering research: They prototyped a device with a graduate student mentor, then tested it in the field. They attended a symposium where they could share their advances with peers. Finally, they identified ways in which their device could be further improved.
Explanation/Background
The pilot included financial and mentoring support from ATP-Bio for five senior design students at the University of Minnesota, and mentoring support for two other design team projects. The Minnesota senior design team prototyped a third-generation device that freezes and preserves reproductive cells from aquatic species, then tested it during an annual coral spawning event in Hawai’i, in collaboration with researchers from the Smithsonian Institution and the Taronga Zoo. They presented their research at a cryobiology symposium in Hawai’i.
The ERC is now formalizing the application and selection process in preparation for expanding the program across all ATP-Bio sites next year.
Location
Minneapolis, Minnesotawebsite
Start Year
Biotechnology and Healthcare
Biotechnology and Healthcare
Lead Institution
Core Partners
Fact Sheet
Outcome/Accomplishment
The NSF-funded Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Advanced Technologies for the Preservation of Biological Systems (ATP-Bio), co-led by the University of Minnesota and Massachusetts General Hospital, funded five students who engaged in center-relevant research and tested a prototype as part of a senior design capstone project. The successful pilot will be expanded across ATP-Bio sites.
Location
Minneapolis, Minnesotawebsite
Start Year
Biotechnology and Healthcare
Biotechnology and Healthcare
Lead Institution
Core Partners
Fact Sheet
Impact/benefits
Students in the pilot experienced multiple facets of careers in engineering research: They prototyped a device with a graduate student mentor, then tested it in the field. They attended a symposium where they could share their advances with peers. Finally, they identified ways in which their device could be further improved.
Explanation/Background
The pilot included financial and mentoring support from ATP-Bio for five senior design students at the University of Minnesota, and mentoring support for two other design team projects. The Minnesota senior design team prototyped a third-generation device that freezes and preserves reproductive cells from aquatic species, then tested it during an annual coral spawning event in Hawai’i, in collaboration with researchers from the Smithsonian Institution and the Taronga Zoo. They presented their research at a cryobiology symposium in Hawai’i.
The ERC is now formalizing the application and selection process in preparation for expanding the program across all ATP-Bio sites next year.