REU Site: Engineering for Healthcare

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This REU Site: Engineering for Healthcare at the University of Florida (UF), will involve a diverse cohort of students in convergent research and curricula focused on critical engineering challenges in healthcare. In 2013, the healthcare industry in the United States was 17.7% of gross domestic product; this is expected to grow over the next decade or more. This proposal focuses on the cross-disciplinary impact of engineering research on the healthcare field. The research to be conducted by REU Participants falls into one of three categories: (i) engineered and manufactured surfaces and devices for health applications, (ii) engineering advances for medical treatment, and (iii) modeling of healthcare relevant materials and processes. The University of Florida is an ideal location for a NSF REU Site with this intellectual focus, as strong partnerships currently exist between the UF Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, UF Health Shands Hospital (along with related medical institutes such as the McKnight Brain Institute), and the Veterinary School - all co-located on the same university campus.REU Participants will gain foundational skills through training workshops on the scientific method, and via hands-on research activities. REU Participants will gain an awareness of how traditional engineering principles can be extended to address modern engineering problems in the healthcare field and in society. REU participants will (i) engage in high-impact research in partnership with engineering faculty and graduate student mentors, (ii) attend workshops dedicated to research practices and communications training, (iii) attend a seminar series where important high-priority challenges in healthcare that require engineering solutions are elucidated through partnerships with clinical faculty or healthcare professionals, and (iv) disseminate their research results through both oral and written communications. Via this REU Site, each cohort of students will gain foundational skills through training workshops on the scientific method, and via hands-on research activities. REU participants will gain an awareness of how traditional engineering principles can be extended to address modern engineering problems in the healthcare field and in society. Finally, REU participants will improve their oral and written communication skills through symposium-style presentations and written project reports. Because of this training, REU Participants will be better prepared to succeed in their current undergraduate curriculum and be better prepared to make a positive impact upon entering industry or graduate school.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.