Department of Biomedical Engineering
Department Overview
The Biomedical Engineering (BME) Department is leading the State in biomedical engineering education. FIU is the only university in the Florida State University System (SUS) with the full slate of programs (BS (accredited), MS, BS/MS and PhD) in BME. It is also the only Biomedical Engineering department in the nation offering BS degrees at a public Minority Serving Institution. The department is endowed with $11 million from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, the Ware Foundation and the State of Florida. One of the strengths of the growing BME department is its enhanced alignment with the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. With the recruitment and appointment of a new chair in January 2011 the department expects to begin a new phase of growth and development.
Department Highlights
2010-2011 saw new faculty appointments, promotions and professional and community recognition of the faculty.
Ranu Jung, PhD joined the faculty in January 2011 as Chairman and Professor. She also holds the Wallace H. Coulter Eminent Scholars Chair in Biomedical Engineering and was awarded the “New Florida Boost Award” by the State of Florida. Dr. Kenneth Horch a leader in neuroprosthetics was appointed as Research Professor. With their arrival the department now has eight tenure/tenure-track faculty members, two full time instructors, one serving as the Undergraduate Advisor and a Research Professor.
Michael Brown. MD, PhD was promoted to ‘Senior Instructor” and also appointed to the College of Medicine admissions committee.
Anthony McGoron, PhD, Interim Chair until December 2010 was elected National President of the Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB) Biomedical Engineering Honor Society. At FIU, he was recognized as a ‘Top Scholar 2011’. Chenzhong Li, PhD was honored and awarded the International Resource Person Award from NDRI, India for his contributions to the “National Training on Nanotechnolgy Workshop”, sponsored by the World Bank and the Indian Government. The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce chose Dr. Anuradha Godavarty as a finalist for the ‘Health Care Heroes Award”,
In 2010-2011, the department graduated the largest number of PhD and undergraduate students in any year. The student headcount and graduation rates in the BS program have risen steadily through 2008 and last year the department had a 20% increase in enrollment.
The BME students are excelling in their achievements. At the Spring commencement, Ana Pinea was selected as a ‘Worlds Ahead” undergraduate student by FIU and named the “Outstanding” undergraduate student by the College while Sarah Erickson was selected as a “Worlds Ahead” graduating doctoral student by FIU and named the “Outstanding PhD student” by the College.
At their national meeting, the AEMB student chapter, under the guidance of Dr. Anthony McGoron, was recognized as the “Outstanding” student chapter in the nation. Student Alicia Fernandez-Fernadez and Dr. McGoron were recognized as the “Outstanding” officer and advisor respectively.
The Department held its first Undergraduate Research Expo and Competition. Eighteen lectures were presented over Fall and Spring by international and national invited experts as part of the scientific WH Coulter Lecture Series supported by the Coulter endowment to the department
Undergraduate laboratory experience for undergraduate students was further enhanced with the purchase of new medical instrumentation hardware for electronic fabrication and additional software licenses for Labview, Solid Works and COSMOL. New laboratory exercises for hands-on-projects were developed.
Mentorship programs at local high-schools (TERRA and Medical Academy of Science and Technology) were launched by Dr. Sharan Ramaswamy.
Research and Funding
The department has decided to cluster its research into three areas: Basic Research in Engineered Tissue Model Systems, Diagnostic Bioimaging and Sensor Systems and Therapeutic and Reparative Neurotechnology. These three areas are served by technological advancements in: Bio-imaging, bio-signal processing and computational modeling, Bio-instrumentation, devices and sensors, Biomaterials and bio-nano technology and Cellular and tissue engineering.
Adding to the Diagnostic Bioimaging focus area was a new National Institutes of Health grant to Drs. McGoron (PI), Huang, Manchanda and Gulec for develop of new PET and SPECT imaging agents. Additionally, the department and faculty partnered with other universities to submit two pre-proposals for the NSF Science and Technology Center program.
Enterpreneurship and industrial partnerships are highly encouraged. Dr. Chenzhong Li was awarded the “Kauffman Professorship 2011”.
New partnerships and collaborative projects were established with OPKO, Inc, BOSE Corp. and CMSI Inc.
2010-11 saw the highest numbers of faculty publications to date in peer-reviewed journals. A new “nanotoxicity assay” developed by Dr. Chenzhong Li was highlighted in the press by nanotechweb.org and FIU filed a patent for this technology.
Fall Term Enrollment
Degrees Awarded
Degrees Awarded BME
Sponsored Research Awards ($Millions)
