Bioengineering 1st Capstone Design
Northeastern Bioengineering is celebrating the efforts and achievements of its first full cohort of Capstone Design students. These pioneers have embraced the challenge of completing a design project over two semesters, starting with a project request from a sponsor (research faculty, individual of the Northeastern community, or industry) and taking it through to a functional prototype. Bioengineering has a rich diversity of projects, ranging from creating engineered cell lines with particular mutations to study acute myeloid leukemia to a mechanical assist device to help an aging caregiver lift a teenager out of a wheelchair by applying no more than 4 pounds of force. A panel of external judges shared thoughtful insights with the students and selected this year's winner: The Microbescope: a low-cost, autonomous portable imaging platform that uses machine learning to detect microbes in drinking water, completed by Siraaj Dhru, Zach Flinkstrom, Benjamin Gincley, Gabriel Goodman, Kyle Miller, and Hannah Worden. Many of these students spent long hours in the Bioengineering Capstone Collaborative, a newly-built prototyping facility in repurposed space in Richards Hall, equipped with state-of-the-art 3D printers and other tools. This hands-on prototyping, along seeking out knowledge beyond what is covered in other coursework, has given the students a sense of pride and ownership over their projects and invaluable engineering experience to propel them into their careers.