Biomedical Engineering Graduate Innovative Design Team

Submitted by bme599 on 10 April 2008 - 7:48pm.
Teaching with Sakai Innovation Award: 
2008
Award Status: 
First Place
Contributing Institution: 
University of Michigan

This course is a two semester course that encourages innovative design in biomedical engineering.It is an interactive course that stimulates students to explore their own solutions to biomedical challenges.Students experience the entire spectrum of innovative design, from concept inception to prototype design. The course challenges students to learn about the current state of the art, explore technical need for current challenges, and brainstorm new solutions with members of the medical community.This first semester is dedicated to understanding the current state of the art, and formulation of ideas and design teams.The two fundamental canons of the first semester are self-assembly and self-selection.The second semester is dedicated to the actual development of the prototype.The three main components of the second semester are design, critical review and a medical technology commercialization guest lecture series.Students are encouraged to participate in national and local design and business competitions throughout the year.Successful designs compete to represent the University of Michigan in a national design competition by the end of the second semester.

Course Information
Course Number/ID: 
BiomedE599
Course Length (number of weeks): 
28
Course Delivery Mode: 
In-Class
Average Number of Enrolled Students: 
Between 10 and 30 students
Course Level: 
Graduate
Course Development & Delivery
Course Contributors: 

InstructorAileen Huang-Saad, Ph.D.Self-Assessment ConsultantBrian TolleThe TolleGroupClinical SpeakersPeter Higgins, M.D., Ph.D.Assistant Professor in GastroenterologyJon Sekiya, M.D.Associate ProfessorMedSportDepartment of Orthopaedic SurgeryDavid Humes, M.D.Professor in NephrologyDepartment of Internal MedicineParag Patil, M.D., Ph.D.Assistant Professor in NeurosurgeryRichard Raymond, Ph.D.Research Specialist LeadDepartment of AnesthesiologySteven Bolling, M.D., ProfessorDepartment of SurgeryDirector, Mitral Valve ClinicCharles Boyd, M.D., M.B.A., F.A.C.S.Medical DirectorBoyd Gillard Institute of Aesthetic and Dermatologic SurgeryFrank Anderson, M.D., M.P.H.Clinical Assistant ProfessorDepartment of Obstetrics and GynecologyWilliam Roberts, M.D.Assistant Professor of UrologyFrank Pagani, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of SurgeryDirector, Adult Heart Transplantation & Artificial Devices Program

Course Development: 

BiomedE599 is a graduate level design course that allows students to explore the innovation value chain in the context of biomedical engineering and in the safety of the classroom.This experience provides students with the necessary skill sets to become innovative and adaptive learners beyond the University environment as they go on to approach new challenges in their research and professional careers.The fundamental difference between BiomedE599 and traditional capstone design classes are that it (a) is a two semester course, as opposed to one, (b) is focused on graduate student design, as opposed to undergraduate design, (c) projects are student selected, as opposed to sponsor driven, and (d) group learning is emphasized within design teams and the class itself.The purpose of the two semester series is to allow students to be part of the ideation phase, which is often not included in an undergraduate one semester course.The focus on graduate students is intended to increase the technical depth of the design projects and their potential for commercialization.The innovation value chain is commonly described as a series of stages from idea creation to commercialization.The innovation value chain can be described as four, interdependent stages: 1) the ideation process (basic research and conception); 2) project selection (the decision to invest); 3) product development; and 4) commercialization (bringing the product or service to market and adapting it to customer demands).This course is a two semester class that primarily focuses on the first three phases of the innovation value chain, with ideation and project selection in Semester 1: Idea Incubator and product development in Semester 2: Design.Students spend the first semester meeting with members of the University of Michigan medical community to discuss current clinical challenges.Students brainstorm with the medical faculty and each other about potential solutions to these clinical challenges, and then propose team design projects to be completed during the second semester.Students are educated on commercialization aspects of development through a guest lecture series during the Design Phase, where speakers address commercialization topics including affordable design, ethics, intellectual property, product development, regulatory consideration and entrepreneurship.

Course Delivery: 

There are 3 fundamental canons and 2 types of team experiences.The 3 canons are self-assembly, -selection, and -awareness.This generates a culture that cultivates the highest probability of success for students.The idea is that students are most successful if they can self-assemble and self-select into a project.Self-assembly promotes comfort amongst the team, while self-selection promotes buy-in and motivation.In the 2nd semester, students explore the influence of self-awareness.Students participate in a workshop to learn about behavior (dominance/influence/steadiness/conscientiousness) and how to effectively communicate with different people.Students learn about their own behavioral characteristics and share this information with their teammates to encourage more effective communication.The 2 team experiences are the class itself and design teams. Students are often inhibited by the fear of self-generated projects.Thus, during the 1st semester, students are instructed that they have joined a newly defined technology incubator.It is the class’ responsibility to identify the technologies that should be pursued.Each week, after brainstorming with medical faculty, the class generates a “Class Concept Design Wiki.” In this Sakai wiki, students work together to generate a group document that identifies problems discussed in class and potential solutions.This collaborative exercise increases the students’ involvement in learning.In each wiki, students challenge each other’s ideas and quantify the general concepts discussed in class. The clinical faculty also has access to the wiki and can offer feedback to the students through the Sakai Discussion Thread.At the end of the 1st semester, students have 10 concept designs that were generated by the collective, decreasing the barrier students usually encounter when tasked with developing their individual ideas.Students then break into teams and select a project to develop.The whole-class team experience continues throughout the second semester.Students participate in weekly design reviews and are asked to present current status and challenges while offering feedback to the other teams. These reviews are meant as a supportive forum of joint problem solving and shared learning.As in industry, companies diversify portfolios to mitigate risk.Here, students are taught to support all of the teams, increasing the probability of a success.

Course Self-Assessment
Communication & Collaboration Self-Assessment: 
Excellent
Communication & Collaboration Evidence: 

This course is team based on two levels. Students are act as a class team and individual design teams. All students collaborate using the online wiki to develop 10 concept design documents.Wiki evolution depends on the students and their collaboration.This year, students used the wiki as a dynamic forum for brainstorming, critiquing proposed technology, and voting on potential solutions.At the conclusion of the 1st semester, student groups formed into design teams to pursue 1 of the 10 designs.The course is also designed to be dynamic and responsive to student input.Students are surveyed weekly to get feedback with regard to class format, class discussions, and guest speaker effectiveness.Feedback is implemented real time to meet the needs of the current students.Most communication with the students is through Sakai.While the traditional tools are used consistently to communicate with the students, the discussion thread is leveraged to increase interactive discussion.Students are encouraged to use it to ask questions of the professor, query their fellow students for ideas and teaming, and ask questions of the guest lecturers.This year, this forum was actively used to form the individual design teams.

Learning Material Self-Assessment: 
Excellent
Learning Material Evidence: 

The entire course is made to be as transparent as possible to the students.All of the goals and expectations of the course are clearly delineated in the course syllabus.Students are told on the first day of class that each decision made with regard to the class is done for a reason and are free to question any and every detail.During the first semester, students brainstorm clinical solutions with guest faculty from the University of Michigan Hospital.Every effort is made to ensure that students are prepared for these sessions.Two to three scientific articles are posted for each speaker and assigned as pre-class readings.Students can access these articles on line through the Sakai site.Students are also required to submit at least 5 questions regarding each publication to ensure that there will be an active discussion during class.No judgment is made with regard to the technical depth of the questions.The aim is to provide a supportive environment that allows all members to explore each subject.Additional information is made available to the students through the Sakai site, including supplementary readings, important university resources and on-line resources.

Learning Outcomes & Assessment Self-Assessment: 
Excellent
Learning Outcomes & Assessment Evidence: 

Critical thinking and problem solving are at the core of this class. Students work on real-world problems and critical review skills.Students critically review other teams and offer support/resources to inspire mutual value creation.All students provide written and verbal feedback at weekly design presentations.Verbal feedback is given in real time.Students also have a template for written feedback.This is for students that find it easier to express views in written form or may feel reluctant to express thoughts or challenge others in the open forum.All written feedback is scanned and distributed to the class through Sakai.All teams are more successful with the support of the collective.Instructor feedback is given privately after each deliverable is met.This offers students a sense of privacy, allowing them to work on specific objectives without feeling singled out in the class.Students also participate in a self-awareness exercise at the beginning of the second semester.This behavioral exercise allows students to reflect on their own preferred behaviors when working in teams, and those of their classmates. This maximizes the effectiveness of the teams.

Course Look & Feel, Web Usability Self-Assessment: 
Excellent
Course Look & Feel, Web Usability Evidence: 

The course is supported by two web tools – the course Sakai site and a publically available course website (www.umich.edu/~aileenhs/bmegraddesign).The Sakai site is meant for class specific material and includes the brainstorming wiki’s discussed above.Due to intellectual property issues, this information cannot be made publically available.At the same time, information regarding the class and relevant resources are of value to other students and faculty.Thus, a publically available site has been generated to promote the class, and relevant resources, such as competitions, student groups, and local entrepreneurial resources.

Learner Support Self-Assessment: 
Excellent
Learner Support Evidence: 

The internal class site includes an extensive list of web-based resources as well as on-campus resources. The vast size of University Michigan makes things difficult for even faculty and students to navigate, thus every effort has been made to pool all course relevant resources together on this site.This information is dynamic and continually updated as a result of student needs as well as input.At the end of the semester, one of the final deliverables is a list of resources specific to the individual projects such that these resources can be pooled and made available to future classes.

Teaching Innovation
Teaching Innovation: 

BiomedE599 was designed to be an embedded innovation experience-students learn to innovate, while the instructor innovates around the students.The instructor uses student feedback to implement new ideas and opportunities throughout the year. Sakai is critical in this dynamic course evolution. For example:Feedback:In the 1st semester this year, students met with different UM clinical faculty.Students used this time to brainstorm with the faculty with regard to clinical state of the art and challenges.While these opportunities were critical, as with any class time, time is limited.Sakai maintained communication outside of the classroom, enabling constant momentum in idea generation.Faculty observed idea generation on-line and provided feedback through email and the discussion thread.Students also could offer feedback regarding the class through weekly Sakai surveys.This information was used to change brainstorming sessions as the semester evolved. This immediate feedback was critical in engaging the students.By seeing their own ideas incorporated into the class, they were more likely to focus on the class and the goals.Brainstorming:Each week, students worked to generate a class concept wiki.Students were told that:“The point of the wiki is to document results of the previous brainstorming session, including, but not limited to, a description of the technologies discussed, advantages and disadvantages, problems that need to be solved, and potential solutions.”The evolution of the wiki is a result of the collective mind set.By providing students with the opportunity to drive the process, the results were remarkable.This year, students used the wiki to brainstorm new ideas, challenge proposed solutions, and even vote on the most likely viable solutions.By the end of the 10th wiki, the students converged on a specific format and unique method for brainstorming on-line.Teaming:Students also used Sakai to form teams.During the 1st semester, students observed contributions of their peers during class and during wiki formation.Through these observations and discussion threads posted to the Sakai course site, students could identify other students with similar interests, objectives, and work ethics.Sakai is critical in making students more active in the entire learning process which in effect generates a greater interest in the class and motivation.Real time evolution with student input strengthens the relationship between the instructor and students.

Optional (screenshots, links)
Related Links: 
BiomedE 599 Web Page