An industry perspective on senior biomedical engineering design courses

Most senior design courses involve lectures covering the various aspects of the typical product development cycle followed by the selection of a design project from one of several areas of biomedical engineering (BME). This article summarizes a four-year relationship between Datex-Ohmeda, Vanderbilt University [the senior design course and VaNTH (Vanderbilt University; Northwestern University; the University of Texas at Austin; and Health, Science and Technology at Harvard/MIT) Engineering Research Center (www.vanth.org) programs], and the cooperative (co-op) and summer internship programs with Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin. The involvement of industry in the senior design curriculum has been beneficial to students, the university, and industry. Datex-Ohmeda has successfully accomplished its goals in working closely with the universities. The company has provided a guest lecturer, projects for the seniors to work on, equipment, and input to the curriculum via the Biomedical Engineering Industrial Board and the VaNTH Engineering Research Council. Datex-Ohmeda has gained input on research projects and the opportunity to look at potential employees.