Introducing the BIE
Funded by a 5-year NIH grant, the Biodesign Immersion Experience (BIE) is an 8-week summer program for UC Berkeley juniors and seniors that prepares bioengineers to bridge engineering innovation and unmet clinical needs.
Conceived and led by Professor Amy Herr, the 2016 BIE will put 8 students through an intensive training to identify areas where bioengineering invention is needed. With stipends funded by the NIH, the students are trained in needs-finding skills, take short hands-on workshops in biomedical technology, visit over a dozen different clinical and technology sites, and do pre-visit research on the diseases treated and standards of care at each site. During visits the students have rare, up-close access to observe and question experts and practitioners.
“I think I had this mentality that everything has already been done, and I wondered what I could contribute,” said 2014 participant Derek Liu. “In this program you hear from clinicians and see some tools that are years behind in technology. I realized that this is what I can change.”
