Bio Association attends the second annual joint Biomedical Engineering Symposium

BIO ASSOCIATION ATTENDS THE SECOND  ANNUAL  JOINT  UND-NDSU 
BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING  SYMPOSIUM AT UND’S MEMORIAL UNION ON OCTOBER 22, 2018
On Monday, October 22, 2018, there was held the Second Annual Joint UND-NDSU Biomedical Engineering Symposium in the Memorial Union on the Campus of the University of North Dakota. The Symposium provided  new  opportunities  to  broaden relationships  leading  to  the  development  of  BME  collaborative/competitive  research projects  and  proposals  that  require  interdisciplinary  participation,  specially  from  industry.
Pictured is Dr. Kouhyar Tavakolian, the director for Biomedical Engineering Research Complex (BERC) at UND and one of the sponsors for this Symposium. Kouhyar’s particular interest are in biological signal processing, biomedical instrumentation and noninvasive cardiology technologies he has published more than a hundred journal, conference proceedings, patents and book chapters in these fields. It was his idea to bring the two Universities together in this Symposium to explore synergies they may have in the Engineering Biomedical area.
Dr.’s Benjamin and Amanda Brooks also attended the seminar. The Dr.’s Brooks' current research interests lie in developing: 1) antimicrobial biomaterial surfaces via a variety of molecular and chemical techniques as well as development of novel controlled antibiotic release strategies to combat the emerging problem of antibiotic drug resistance, 2) combination hemocompatible, antimicrobial biomaterial surface coating, and 3) novel combination polymers for advanced drug delivery.
A highlight of the conference was a panel discussion, featuring Chuck  Kummeth,  Bio-TechneCorp.; Nathan  Grenz,  Medtronic; Andy  R.  Thoreson,  MayoClinic;  Jim  Albrecht,  ComDel  Innovation; and Mark Basson, Associate Dean for Research and Development at the UND Medical School. These gentlemen discussed how the two Universities could work together and also with the industry and how this could provide new opportunities for both Universities to broaden relationships leading to the development of  BME  collaborative/competitive  research projects  that  require  interdisciplinary  participation,  specially  from  industry.
As pictured at left the meeting was well attended by students and staff of both Universities. And the Bioscience Association was present to encourage these co-operations and to help these innovators and entrepreneurs achieve their goals. This is what industry and biotechnology need to do. Come together, work together to create a new Industry in North Dakota that will provide opportunities for our students and faculty.