BME students visit the Jacobs Institute

Five biomedical engineering students—from freshman to senior year—went to visit the Jacobs Institute and UB’s Toshiba Stroke and Vascular Research Center (TSVRC). The students watched a pre-recorded procedure and also worked on the Jacobs Institute’s Mentice medical simulator. The Jacobs Institute has a unique partnership where a biomedical engineer employed by CUBRC—a research, development, and testing systems integration company here in Buffalo—spends most of her time at our facility. She interacted with the students, showing them how to use the medical simulator, and also discussing her career path as a fellow biomedical engineering student.

In addition to time spent at the Jacobs Institute, the students took a short trip from the fifth floor to the eighth floor, to the UB Toshiba Stroke and Vascular Research Center to see Dr. Ciprian Ionita, UB Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He arranged for the students to perform interventional surgery on 3D printed models of vessels, using catheters, wires, and X-ray imaging. Each student had a chance to try navigating the wire into the 3D printed aneurysm model. The students found it challenging and exciting, one noting, “I just learned more in the last 20 minutes than I ever would have just listening in class.” The day represented a unique opportunity for college students to have hands-on, experiential learning at a UB and a non-UB facility they might not otherwise visit. The day opened the door for future educational opportunities for the biomedical engineering students to come to the Jacobs Institute at TSVRC.