Collaborative Research: RAPD - The BME-IDEA Competition, Assessing Innovative Design in Biomedical Engineering Education

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0602592Besterfield-SacreRecent reports, articles and statements including American Competitiveness Initiative have been addressing innovation and US competitiveness. This project will address the important issue of innovation. The goal of this proposal is to enhance innovation in biomedical engineering and to understand the process of innovation itself. The proposal will focus on the development and validation of a method to measure student design team innovation and to identify the strategies that student teams use to formulate innovative designs. Overall, the integrated approach includes Delphi method for rubric development, conceptual process maps and reflective journaling during the design process, and follow-up student and faculty questioners.The proposal builds on their prior work as well as the prior work of others. The proposal will utilize student groups at the participating universities while also capitalizing on the resources of the BME-IDEA competition. The collaborator universities and the involvement of the NCIIA and the inclusion of the BME-IDEA competition add strong elements to the project.The project addresses an important national issue, innovation related to US competitiveness. The project will provide biomedical educators with an understanding of the process student teams employ during the design process, along with a tool or tools that can measure innovation. The biomedical engineering students will appreciate and understand innovative design earlier in their careers.