WIP: Engineering and Industrial Design Sub-teams for a Multi-disciplinary Biomedical Engineering Design Course
- Conference
- Location
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Virtual On line
- Publication Date
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June 22, 2020
- Start Date
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June 22, 2020
- End Date
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June 26, 2021
- Conference Session
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Design in Biomedical Engineering (Works in Progress) - June 24th
- Tagged Division
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Biomedical Engineering
- Page Count
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10
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--35539
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/35539
- Download Count
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487
Paper Authors
Erica M. Comber Carnegie Mellon University
Erica Comber is a third-year doctorate candidate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, PA. She received her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Delaware in Newark, DE. She is an NSF GRFP fellow conducting her PhD research at CMU on tissue engineering gas exchange channels to fabricate biomimetic, artificial lung devices.
Erica is a recipient of the 2020 American Society of Engineering Education WIED Mara H. Wasburn Early Engineering Educator Grant. Erica has served as a teaching assistant for BME senior design for two years, working under Dr. Conrad Zapanta. Her education research at CMU aims to provide students with a capstone design course that mimics the work dynamic between Biomedical Engineers and Industrial Designers in the medical device industry. She has served as president of CMU’s Graduate Biomedical Engineering Society for one year and as president of an organization entitled, "CMU Women in BME” for two years.
Elisha Anthony Raeker-Jordan Carnegie Mellon University
Elisha A. Raeker-Jordan is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. Mr. Raeker-Jordan received his M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA.
Kalliope Georgette Roberts
Carnegie Mellon University
orcid.org/0000-0003-1035-2918
Kalliope G. Roberts is a PhD candidate studying Cardiopulmonary Biomechanics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. Mrs. Roberts received her M.S. in Biomedical Engineering and B.S. in Materials Science & Engineering with an additional degree in Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Mrs. Roberts has served as a Teaching Assistant for the Biomedical Engineering Design senior capstone course, Introduction to Biomechanics, Cardiovascular Mechanics, and Transport of Materials at Carnegie Mellon University. She also worked for Epic Systems Incorporated as an Implementation Consultant for Electronic Medical Records in Madison, Wisconsin.
Mrs. Roberts's primary area of study for her doctorate degree is extending the lifetime of oxygenator usage in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and incorporating a fully ambulatory system as a bridge to transplant therapy. Mrs. Roberts's research interests extend to mentorship within biomedical engineering and designing programs to instruct and prepare students for surgical research study design and implementation.
Melanie Alexis Loppnow Carnegie Mellon University
Melanie A. Loppnow is a master's student at Carnegie Mellon University (class of 2020), obtaining dual degrees in Engineering and Technology Innovation Management, and Biomedical Engineering. She received her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering with a double major in Computer Sciences from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 2018.
Andrew Hudson Carnegie Mellon University
Andrew received his B.Sc. in Materials Science and Engineering (with an option in Biomedical Engineering) (2014) and his M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering (2015) from Carnegie Mellon University. He is currently a Ph.D. student in Adam Feinberg’s Regenerative Biomaterials and Therapeutics Group and has published research articles in Science, Science Advances, and ACS Biomaterials.
Andrew is a Co-Founder of the CMU-based startup FluidForm which uses the 3D bioprinting technology developed in the Feinberg lab and is an active member in Society for Biomaterials.
Wayne Chung Carnegie Mellon University
Professor Chung is an Associate Professor in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University. Chung's research and work spans medical systems and devices, robot design, consumer, and industrial products. Chung has worked as a design information researcher for the Federal Highway Administration’s Advanced Driver Interface Design and Assessment Project and industrial designer for Sundberg-Ferar. Prior to teaching at Carnegie Mellon, Chung taught in the Department of Industrial, Interior and Visual Communication Design at The Ohio State University, and he served as the interim Director of the Industrial Design Program at Georgia Institute of Technology. Chung also has been published in various design and management journals and proceedings. He is also the author of the book, The Praxis of Product Design in Collaboration with Engineering (Springer Publishing). It is a culmination of applied methods, case studies, and unique views in respect to numerous industry collaborative experiences and studio-based design education.
Conrad M. Zapanta
Carnegie Mellon University
orcid.org/0000-0002-7556-2433
Conrad M. Zapanta is the Associate Department Head of Education and a Teaching Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. Dr. Zapanta received his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the Pennsylvania State University in University Park, PA, and his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (with an option in Biomedical Engineering) from Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Zapanta has served as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Engineering at Hope College in Holland, MI, an Adjunct Professor of Engineering at Austin Community College in Austin, TX, and an Assistant Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering at The Pennsylvania State University in Hershey, PA. He also worked for CarboMedics Inc. in Austin, TX, in the research and development of prosthetic heart valves.
Dr. Zapanta’s primary teaching responsibilities are Biomedical Engineering Laboratory and Design. Additional teaching interests include medical device design education and professional issues in biomedical engineering. Dr. Zapanta’s research interests are in developing medical devices to treat cardiovascular disease, focusing on the areas of cardiac assist devices and prosthetic heart valves.
Dr. Zapanta is an active member in the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society for Engineering Education, and the Biomedical Engineering Society. He is a reviewer for several biomedical engineering journals. Dr. Zapanta also serves as a reviewer for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Cardiovascular Sciences Small Business Special Emphasis Panel and as an ABET Program Evaluator (PEV) for Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering programs.
Abstract
Introduction: Biomedical engineers today often work with industrial designers (IDs) to understand unmet needs and improve healthcare [1],[2]. In industry, engineer and ID subteams complete tasks together but also independently to generate separate-but-related deliverables [3]. Few university courses offer Biomedical Engineering (BME) students the opportunity to develop solutions with industrial design (ID) students. A previous BME and ID multi-disciplinary capstone course at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) embedded one ID student within each group of engineers, which led to an underutilization of ID skills and a poor representation of the real-world work dynamic. Our aim for the 2019-2020 school year with this course was to address healthcare challenges, while better 1) leveraging ID curriculum (objective 1) and 2) mimicking the communication dynamic of the medical device industry (objective 2).
Materials and Methods: During 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 years, 4 and 6 IDs worked with 50 BME students on 4 and 6 projects, respectively. Team assignments leveraged the Comprehensive Assessment for Team-Member Effectiveness (CATME) system [4],[5]. The 2019-2020 course incorporated ID-centered assignments and restructured each project team to consist of an engineer subteam (3-4 students) and an ID subteam (2 IDs). Subteam communication to distribute work was orchestrated by one student from each discipline. Each ID student was involved with 2-3 projects but acted as the point of contact for one. The course teaches needs exploration and the design process presented in Biodesign: The Process of Innovating Medical Technologies [6]. During the fall semester, project teams identify a need and generate a project timeline and early prototype. In the spring, students produce a fully functional prototype and demonstrate it validates their needs. In pursuit of objective 1, fall 2019 required ID students to lead stakeholder interviews and make concept sketches. In spring 2020, IDs further provide a logo, product-user storyboard, and webpage. Like the previous year, 2019-2020 ends with a poster presentation and a report. CATME peer evaluation data reported whether students believe team members i) possessed related knowledge, skills, and abilities and ii) contributed to deliverables (objective 1). It also rated subteams’ communication relative to 2018-2019’s embedded teams (objective 2). End-of-semester reflections for both years and a fall 2019 survey further characterized the nature of task allocation and communication.
Results and Discussion: Specific to objective 1, fall semester CATME data reported that point differentials between engineers and IDs, where engineers always scored higher, were slightly but not statistically less using the subteam structure (two-sided t-test, α = 0.05) for i) relevant skills and ii) contribution to work scores. The skillset score yielded BME vs ID percent difference of 8.6% in fall 2018 vs. 6.7% in fall 2019. The minor decrease suggests that the subteam vs. embedded designer structure only somewhat better utilized the ID students’ skillsets. The contribution to work score had percent differences of 15.1% in fall 2018 vs 5.0% in fall 2019. Thus, students found that the IDs were able to individually contribute more to the team’s work, but not to a numerically significant extent. Engineer survey responses reported that 86% of engineers believe IDs had at least a slight benefit on the quality of fall deliverables. Specific to objective 2, 90% of engineers reported subteams communicate at least biweekly and 33% at least once/week. IDs recommended for next year that ID students partner-up and take on no more than 2 projects to simplify scheduling. 66.7% of all survey participants viewed the subteam communication dynamic as similar and 33.3% as dissimilar to industry. Most liked interacting with the ID subteam, but some thought IDs did less work were not necessary for the fall. The instructor could decrease ID course units for the fall, but data overall emphasizes IDs should be a part of both semesters.
Conclusions: Data to-date suggests the new deliverables slightly enabled ID students to leverage their curricular training and elevate project quality for the fall semester. Additional ID assignments may be needed or less course units awarded to the ID students to balance the fall workloads between subteams. ID students will likely be limited to two projects in the future to simplify scheduling and allow for a deeper vs. broader understanding of BME work. Most students agreed that the subteam communication dynamic mimics what they have experienced or anticipate they will experience in the medical device industry. Spring 2020 data and follow-up surveys to alumnae will soon offer additional insight. Acknowledgements: Financial support was provided by CMU (Dept. of BME and Undergraduate Research Office) and four companies: Bayer, Biomotivate, Medtronic, and Organoid Therapeutics
References: [1] F. G. Valdivia-Márquez, P. Hernandez-Grageda, G. Durán-Aguilar, and A. Rossa-Sierra, “The Importance of Industrial Design in Medical Devices in the 21st Century,” in Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 2019, vol. 876, pp. 469–474. [2] M. Privitera, “Designing Industrial Design in the Highly Regulated Medical Device Development Process. Defining our valuable contribution towards usability,” Des. J., vol. 20, no. sup1, pp. S2190–S2206, Jul. 2017. [3] B. Moggridge, Designing Interactions. 2007. [4] M. L. Loughry, M. W. Ohland, and D. J. Woehr, “Assessing Teamwork Skills for Assurance of Learning Using CATME Team Tools,” J. Mark. Educ., vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 5–19, Apr. 2014. [5] M. W. Ohland et al., “The Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness: Development of a Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale for Self-and Peer Evaluation.” [6] P. Yock et al., “Biodesign: The Process of Innovating Medical Technologies - Paul G. Yock, Stefanos Zenios, Josh Makower, Todd J. Brinton, Uday N. Kumar, F. T. Jay Watkins, Lyn Denend, Thomas M. Krummel, Christine Q. Kurihara - Google Books.” [Online]. Available: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=OhYlDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Biodesign+:+the+process+of+innovating+medical+technologies&ots=UsRBEPyyqy&sig=JEg085_6KJwamOuiw5G4LxSroaM#v=onepage&q=Biodesign %3A the process of innovating medical technologies&f=false. [Accessed: 25-Jan-2020].
Comber, E. M., & Raeker-Jordan, E. A., & Roberts, K. G., & Loppnow, M. A., & Hudson, A., & Chung, W., & Zapanta, C. M. (2020, June), WIP: Engineering and Industrial Design Sub-teams for a Multi-disciplinary Biomedical Engineering Design Course Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--35539
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