News
Department of Biomedical Engineering

The big wheel will turn, but the hamsters will be humans instead. Students in RIT’s Engineering House built a Human Hamster Wheel, and instead of running in circles, as the cliché goes, their 7-foot wheel will produce electricity. Open to children and adults, the wheel will be one of many interactive exhibits featured at this year’s Imagine RIT: Creativity and Innovation Festival on April 27.  

RIT honored researchers who served as principal investigators on active awards in fiscal year 2018 at an April 11 reception. Also recognized were the 20 recipients of Seed Funding Awards and 12 new inductees in RIT’s PI Millionaires. 

Meet Cesar Borges, a fifth-year biomedical engineering student, and Kalie Lazarou, an industrial and systems engineering student, who are part of a team working on the Overcomer, an assistive device that helps children with physical disabilities have a more inclusive playground experience.

A multidisciplinary contingent of RIT faculty, students and alumni is creating awareness and innovative design solutions to improve the quality of medical care and education for some of the most vulnerable in Central America.

RIT’s College of Liberal Arts honored student achievement in writing on Friday with the presentation of more than a dozen writing awards for essays varying from sanctuary cities, how democracies can withstand outside meddling, and the excavation, preservation and reconstruction of a London theater where Shakespearian plays debuted.

Iris Rivero, an engineering professor at RIT, has found that compatible combinations of polymers and biomaterials can be successfully used to fabricate “scaffolds,” 3D-printed structures that signal the body to begin its own tissue regrowth. This research moves a step closer to the possibility of “smart,” 3D-printed bone, skin and cartilage tissue replacement.

With 1 million new cases of congestive heart failure diagnosed each year, a revolutionary product is making it easier for hospitals to monitor patients with the condition in the comfort of their own homes.  

Researchers at RIT and URMC developed a new digital stethoscope that combines precision sensors, electrocardiogram technology and machine learning applications into one piece of equipment to better detect heart ailments and problems that might occur with an implanted heart pump.

Meet Sean Bellefeuille, a third-year biomedical engineering major and founding president of BioPrint, which explores 3D technologies in the medical field.

Meet James McGee and Kerri Zalba, two members of a student start-up company that uses wearable technology to help children on the autism spectrum.

Rochester Institute of Technology students and faculty from various disciplines put their creative problem-solving skills to good use earlier this month. Working collaboratively, they examined challenges faced by client organizations and then presented conceptual solutions to them during a two-day event.

Research being done at RIT to refine lab-on-chip devices—highly sophisticated laboratories on microchips—will provide more detailed and timely information to detect diseases such as cancer.