Bioengineering– (l-r) Avon CEO Sheri McCoy ’80, Hon. ’13, Dr. Qinguo Fan, and Dean Robert Peck participate in the September 22, 2014 ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new Research and Teaching Bioengineering Suite on the UMassD campus.
materials, military fibers, and engineered composites. A new program was born, and the first undergraduate students enrolled in the fall of 2011. Danielle McDowell ’15, a former emergency medical technician, was one of those students. “The Bioengineering program at UMass Dartmouth was appealing for many reasons, but most importantly it offered small class sizes with fantastic professors and great opportunities for hands-on learning,” said McDowell. “As a bioengineer, I want to make a difference and improve the quality of life for those suffering injuries, illness, and disease. I hope to improve cardiac arrest survival rates and develop interventions and treatments for cardiovascular diseases.”
State-of-the-art labs
Crossing the stage at Commencement this year were 20 graduate and undergraduate students making up the inaugural Bioengineering Class of 2015. These passionate pioneers are now the emissaries of UMass Dartmouth’s innovative academic program.
Innovative and HighImpact Research and Academic Programs
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SUMMER 2015 www.umassd.edu
Bioengineering is the new Textiles
Although it’s a young major, Bioengineering traces its lineage back 100 years to UMassD’s textile roots. From textiles to materials science to bioengineering, the academic program has shifted and innovated from largescale manufacturing training to research, development, and high-tech engineering. The merging of biology and engineering has developed hundreds of innovations, including artificial organs, prosthetics and laser surgery. The U.S. Department of Labor forecasts Biomedical Engineering will continue to grow —citing an aging population and a growing focus on health issues driving new and improved medical devices and pharmaceutical products. UMass Dartmouth recognized that faculty expertise in textiles and materials science also informed research in bioengineering, biological materials, biomedical
In 2014, $1.5 million was invested to create the new Research and Teaching Bioengineering Suite in the Textile Building. The labs support learning and discovery at the intersection of engineering, the life sciences, and medicine. Sheri McCoy ’80, Hon. ’13, CEO of Avon, Inc., was an early supporter of the Bioengineering Program. She reviewed curriculum and department strategy, identified technology experts for input, and participated in the opening of the new labs.
Hands-on training
“Bioengineering at UMass Dartmouth has both medical and non-medical applications,” said Associate Professor Tracie Ferreira, one of the program’s original bioengineering faculty. “Students can choose their area of interest. Many students like the electronic, mechanical type of applications like devices and prosthetics; others love working with cells and tissues and modifying living systems. “For instance, Professor Christopher Brigham is creating biocompatible plastics from seafood waste products.” The research, she explained, makes use of shells we don’t eat. “We can use that material to grow a bacteria that produces a biofriendly plastic, which can be used for biodegradable products like cups and plates, and we can use a different combination of that same material from the bacteria to make sutures or bandage material. This helps the environment and healthcare!” Jacqueline Tran ’15, worked on her honors thesis and capstone project with Ferreira. “I studied the effects of electrotherapy on cut zebrafish