Outreach
BMES at OSU strives to inspire young people to succeed in their early educational careers. BMES Outreach has been able to impact the Columbus community by collaborating with local middle/high school programs to expose students to biomedical engineering and by coordinating volunteer events and opportunities for its members. If you are interested in collaborating with BMES Outreach, please reach out to our Outreach Co-Chairs: Jinju Kim and Ethan Hessick.
Current Outreach Projects | 2022-2023
This year, we want to continue inspiring the next generation of young engineers by serving the Columbus community. We will be collaborating on events with local schools from relationships developed this past year while also developing relationships with local schools and educational organizations in Columbus. Furthermore, we will expand upon our collaboration this past year with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) to develop more outreach opportunities for aspiring females in the STEM field similar to OSU STEM day from this year. We will also be continuing the clinical and outside volunteer opportunities by updating these opportunities and contacts on the resources tab of the website. Keep a lookout for new outreach events this year by subscribing to our email newsletter and following our Instagram page @osubmes.
Past Outreach Projects
Outreach Projects | 2020-2021
Metro Early College High School Tutoring
BMES members gave back to local high school students through tutoring math and science classes. Topics covered included calculus, biology, chemistry, and physics. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, our tutors could not conduct in-person tutoring sessions. Instead, the chapter adapted the program to support virtual tutoring sessions, utilizing Zoom web meetings to sustain the one-on-one, personalized experience. We also implemented a tutoring-topic request form for the Metro students. Students could fill out the form prior to attending a tutoring session to inform the tutors what concepts or course content they were seeking help with.
Graham Elementary and Middle Schools 8th Grade E-Activity
The OSU chapter continued collaboration with Graham Elementary and Middle Schools (GEMS) to put on a virtual genetic diversity engineering project for 50 8th grade students split over two sessions. Chapter members volunteered their time to help run the event in small groups of 4-5 students with 2 volunteers. An introduction of biomedical engineering was presented to the students through an interactive format. The activity used a coin flip to determine genetic traits of mice, followed by answering questions how the different resulting traits would affect the survival abilities of the mice in different environmental conditions. We worked closely with the coordinating teacher at GEMS to integrate the project into her lesson planning, so that the activity impacted following class days by continued discussion and application of genetic diversity. Real life examples of genetic diversity were introduced to show the impact of their new knowledge, such as in the field of BME: gene editing or targeted gene therapies.
Columbus Metropolitan Library STEM Month - Bone Fixation Challenge
The OSU BMES chapter began communications with the Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) in February to create an asynchronous, virtual engineering design challenge for middle and high school students. The activity was a contribution to the CML’s annual STEM month, hosting various events to engage students in STEM fields. Due to the pandemic, the library was unable to host STEM month in-person, so the OSU BMES chapter worked to modify our design challenge to be accessible online and completed by students at home. Students were introduced to the field of BME and taught basic biomechanical principles, including the anisotropic behavior of bone and methods of mechanical testing. With emphasis on the engineering design process, students were then challenged to use their acquired knowledge to construct a 3-D model of a broken tibia using everyday material and design an adequate fixation device that would provide structural support for their model under applied weight. After the activity, students were shown examples of recent biomechanical research at OSU and innovative biomedical devices in clinical trials, emphasizing the relationship between biomechanical research and healthcare.
View the powerpoint here.
Outreach Projects | 2021-2022
Metro Early College High School Tutoring
BMES members gave back to local high school students through tutoring math and science classes including calculus, biology, chemistry, and physics. We have sustained a six-year relationship with Metro Early College High School, where we continued our weekly schedule in order to have a more continuous, impactful effect on the student’s learning. Overall the Metro students have felt this model helps them feel more comfortable and allows them to get more out of regular tutoring. We also implemented a tutoring-topic request form for the Metro students. Students could fill out the form prior to attending a tutoring session to inform the tutors what concepts or course content they were seeking help with. We have a strong relationship with Metro High School, and will continue our tutoring program with them next year.
Dublin Coffman High School Research Demonstration
BMES Outreach began a new relationship this spring with the Dublin Coffman High School in
preparing an event for their two AP Biology classes. In collaboration with graduate students in
Dr. Natalia Higuita-Castro’s Nanomedicine lab, our chapter organized a research presentation
and associated lab demonstration on genetic therapies and cell transfection techniques through
zoom. The lab demonstration included a recorded demonstration of bulk electroporation, as well
as a live cell counting demonstration. Given that the students had recently learned about bacterial
transformations, the presentation was prepared in a way that connected the students curriculum
with current lab techniques, such as plasmid amplification, and the scope of mammalian cell
transfections. In addition to the live lab demonstration, students were able to visualize cells under
a microscope, before and after trypsinization, and got a preview of common lab equipment used
for cell culture. The event had very positive feedback, and we will be continuing our relations
with this organization in the future.
Columbus Parks and Recreation - Volunteer
BMES Outreach started its first year of organizing and hosting volunteer events for its members. As Outreach requires volunteers for its events naturally, these events are not focused on social engagement and are simply for giving back to the community. Two volunteer events we were able to host this year were through the Columbus Parks and Recreation organization. Our events were park cleanup events, where we walked the length of the park property and picked up any trash and waste and disposed of it properly.
STEMpossible Engineering Stations with SWE
In a partnership event with Ohio State's Society of Women Engineers, BMES hosted a virtual event with a STEM based club called STEMpossible to introduce various engineering fields to young students. Four main engineering practices were discussed: Biomedical, Mechanical, Aerospace, and Civil Engineering. We presented information about each field and the skills used in each, then lead an interactive activity with the club members that related to the engineering field discussed. Students had their own supplies and were able to practice their own engineering skills with individual designs. Final products were shared and obstacles overcome were discussed to relate back to the engineering design process. By introducing different types of engineering to young students, we hoped to spark an interest in pursuing engineering and show that anyone can be an engineer. Find the presentation here