Conference: 49th Northeast Bioengineering Conference

东北生物工程会议（NEBEC）是美国生物医学工程（BME）竞技场中持续时间最长的两个会议之一。德雷克塞尔大学生物医学工程，科学和健康系统学院将于2023年3月30日至4月1日举办第49届NEBEC。NEBEC历来是一个以学生为中心的会议。这一传统将继续为本科生和研究生提供机会，介绍他们的工作。本科生设计竞赛之后将举行职业博览会，为生物医学工程师提供潜在职业道路的信息和联系方式。会议的总主题是“增强生物医学工程的多样性”。在5个主题领域确定了主旨发言人和会议主席：（1）细胞外基质，（2）儿科工程，（3）免疫工程，（4）神经成像和神经工效学，以及（5）生物计算。 计划为代表性不足群体的高中生开展活动，并将举行一次圆桌讨论会，讨论如何努力增加大学和工业的多样性。本次会议将使各级学生接触到生物医学工程的前沿研究，培养他们在生物医学工程研究和创新方面追求职业生涯的兴趣，并提供与同行和各自领域领导者建立联系的机会。 该奖项支持第49届东北生物工程会议，该地区拥有超过71个生物医学工程项目。 会议为生物医学工程领域的本科生和研究生研究人员提供了一个独特的机会，向广大观众展示他们的研究。 从历史上看，60 - 75%的参与者是学生，超过60%的平台演示文稿是由学员提供的。 第49届会议将有超过200个海报会议，其中33%的演讲是高级设计项目。 预计将有450多名与会者现场出席会议，并有更多的与会者以虚拟方式出席会议，收到了270多份摘要。 第49届会议的一个新特点是通过接触费城地区为代表性不足的少数民族服务的高中，努力促进生物医学工程领域的多元化参与。参与的高中生将与当前的BME学生互动，帮助他们设想自己在教育中迈出这一步，他们将从最近的毕业生那里听到他们可以获得的职业道路。我们的目标是鼓励他们追求STEM职业。 关于努力增加东北部BME项目多样性的圆桌讨论预计将产生一份白皮书，描述所确定的成功和挑战，该白皮书将分发给全国BME项目主席。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

The Northeast Bioengineering Conference (NEBEC) is one of the two longest continually running conferences in the United States in the arena of biomedical engineering (BME). Drexel University’s School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems will host the 49th NEBEC March 30 – April 1, 2023. The NEBEC has historically been a student-centered conference. This tradition will be continued by providing opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to present their work. An undergraduate design competition will be followed by a career fair offering information and contacts for potential career paths for biomedical engineers. The overall theme of the conference will be “Enhancing Diversity in Biomedical Engineering.” Keynote speakers and session chairs were identified in 5 themed areas: (1) Extracellular Matrix, (2) Pediatric Engineering, (3) Immune Engineering, (4) Neuroimaging and Neuroergonomics, and (5) Biological Computing. Activities are planned for high school students from under-represented groups and a round-table discussion will be held on efforts to increase diversity at universities and industry. This conference will expose students at all levels to leading edge research in biomedical engineering, foster interest in pursuing careers in biomedical engineering research and innovation, and provide networking opportunities with peers and with leaders in their fields. This award supports the 49th Northeast Bioengineering Conference, a region that is home to over 71 biomedical engineering programs. The conference provides a unique opportunity for undergraduate and graduate student researchers in the field of biomedical engineering to present their research to a broad audience. Historically, 60 75% of the participants are students and over 60% of the platform presentations are given by trainees. The 49th Conference will feature over 200 poster sessions, of which 33% of the presentations are Senior Design Projects. Over 270 abstracts were received from the expected on site attendance of more than 450 participants, with additional participants attending virtually. A new feature of the 49th conference is the inclusion of efforts to promote diverse participation in the field of biomedical engineering by reaching out to high schools serving under-represented minorities in the Philadelphia region. The participating high school students will get to interact with current BME students to help them envision themselves taking that step in their education, and they will hear from recent graduates about the career paths available to them. The goal is to encourage them to pursue STEM careers. The roundtable discussion of efforts to increase diversity in BME programs in the Northeast is expected to generate a whitepaper describing successes and challenges identified that will be distributed to BME program chairs nationally.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.