stanfordbioe

[stanfordbioe]

Stanford Bioengineering Bootcamp: Sixth day

There were two lectures in the morning: one on biomechanics by Dr. Gabriel Sanchez, and another on DNA sequencing and synthesis by Dr. Joseph Shih. Dr. Sanchez explained the work he is doing right now, including his studies on sarcomere length and new measuring tools. Dr. Shih first introduced the concepts behind DNA sequencing and synthesis, pointing out the rapid growth of this technology. He then led the students in a debate about whether or not the sequences of pathogens should be publicly accessible on the Internet. 

Lunch was provided, and we then gathered in a larger room, preparing our prototypes and presentations. Each group had about 12 minutes to present, followed by 3 minutes of question-and-response time. 

Every group had put together a research paper detailing the process of researching, coming up with new concepts, and prototyping them. After all the presentations, each student received a certificate and a bound copy of all of our research papers. 

Here's a picture of our group:

That marked the end of the six-week bioengineering bootcamp at Stanford! I'm so glad to have been part of this new program, and I've definitely learned a lot from this experience. It has led to new opportunities, and I've been able to meet so many fantastic people. I wish next year's students luck!

[stanfordbioe]

Stanford Bioengineering Bootcamp: Fifth day

In the morning, we heard a lecture on metabolic engineering from Kunal Mehta and Midori Greenwood-Goodwin, who explained how they could engineer organisms such as E. coli and cyanobacteria to produce products like fuel. The students were given charts of metabolic pathways, and we did a small side lab. 

Dr. Thomas Uchida from the neuromuscular biomechanics laboratory then introduced his team's work with different biomechanical models. He showed the students projects involving vehicle dynamics and control systems. 

After lunch, students met with their mentors, and our group went to the PRL (Product Realization Laboratory). We finished building our prototype. Here I'm standing with our liposome-building device (without the front acrylic panel attached). 

Our model was a completely look-alike prototype, simply demonstrating how the process of encapsulating liposomes would function. We named the device LiPort (for "LIposome transPORT"), and it worked by double emulsion. The drugs would be dissolved in a water solution, which would come in through the top by a dripping mechanism. Then each drop (which would contain a set amount of medicine) would fall into a stream of oil running from the first side tube. The next side tube would add an oil and ligand mixture, and the ligands would be attached to the individual droplets because of hydrophobic-hydrophilic interactions. Finally, the droplets would travel into a tube of water, which would encapsulate the entire thing, creating a liposome. Of course, were this to be implemented in the human body, oil and water would be replaced with other fluids that would function through hydrophobic-hydrophilic means. 

We finished early and used the pink foam cutter generously: 

Other groups worked on prototypes of different devices; here is a picture of what the CT group was making:

This was our second to last session; over the next week, students will be working on our final presentations, which will be 15 minutes each, as well as writing a research paper about our work and our findings.

[stanfordbioe]

Stanford Bioengineering Bootcamp: Fourth day

The lecture of the day was by Dr. Sandra Lee, who presented her work in bioethics. She talked about the general principles behind bioethics as well as several specific cases, such as the Tuskegee Syphilis study. 

After lunch, the students worked on a bioethics case study called the "XYZ Controversy," [click here for link] dealing with the XYY syndrome study at the Boston Hospital for Women. We looked at several questions and had small group and class discussions.

Each project group then continued planning and working on presentations; our group moved to the Stanford Product Realization Lab to continue prototyping our liposome-building device.

After doing a few rough sketches, we started collecting materials and constructing the wooden structure that would be the foundation of our prototype. 

For fun, we used the "Pink Foam Cutter," aptly named for its ability to cut pink foam (and only pink foam). I made a small Sherlock Holmes, dedicated to my eternal love for the detective. 

We also used the laser cutter in the lab to cut precise holes into the side of our structure– I never realized that the laser cutter actually produces a flame while working!

Here's our prototype so far– hopefully we'll finish it next week and it'll actually start looking like a real device! (Yes, that is Sherlock sitting inside)

I really want to thank this program for all that I've learned and gained from this experience so far! Through the bootcamp, I met the chair of Stanford's bioengineering department, Professor Norbert Pelc, and I am now working as an intern in one of his project teams. The entire team has been so supportive, and I am learning so many new things, like writing scripts on MatLab to run simulations of strokes during CT scans. 

Bioengineering has really become a great passion of mine– I'm also trying to learn more about synthetic biology, which is such an interesting field. Drew Endy, one of the pioneers in synthetic bio, also teaches at Stanford– I hope I can meet him sometime! 

[stanfordbioe]

Stanford Bioengineering Bootcamp: Third day

The Stanford-Brown iGEM presented the lecture for the day, and we started by going to a different building and conducting a wet lab. All the students took their own DNA and ran a PCR, then used gel electrophoresis to view the results– the goal of the project was to find out how high (theoretically) our alcohol tolerance was. 

After lunch, we met up in the Li Ka Shing Center again, and the iGEM members presented some of their own work, and introduced the students to iGEM. For me, this has been one of the most interesting lectures, because I really want to get involved with synthetic biology, and I'm thinking about starting an iGEM team for our high school next year. 

We then met up with our mentors and continued working on building the initial proposals for our devices.

My group finished designing our device, a liposome-building machine, and we moved to the Stanford Product Realization Lab to start prototyping.

In the lab, we looked at the different materials available and started planning what we would need to prototype LiPort, the name of our device. We also drew a large scale image of what LiPort would look like and how it would function.

[stanfordbioe]

Stanford Bioengineering Bootcamp: Second day

We started off the day with a lecture on neuroengineering by Shrivats Iyer and Holly Liske from the optogenetics lab in the department of bioengineering. They're doing some really amazing projects that have the potential to change the way we see the brain. 

We broke for lunch, then came back and went through PRL (lab safety) training at the Stanford Product Realization Lab. We're going to be able to use the lab to build prototypes of our projects. They have a 3D printer, power tools (though we're not going to use them), laser cutters, tons of materials, and pretty much anything you would want to build a model with. 

After completing training, we walked back to the Li Ka Shing Center, and we started working on our projects with our mentors.

Our project idea is to build a device that produces liposomes with different ligands that will bind to specific organs and facilitate targeted drug delivery. We might also write a software program on the side that will allow the medicine to be monitored throughout the body. 

We started putting together a presentation for our proposal, and we even came up with a name for our product: LiPort. 

There's also a great view from our room!

[stanfordbioe]

Stanford Bioengineering Bootcamp: First day

Hi! My name is Katherine Liu, and I'm a rising senior at Los Altos High School. I am part of a new program at Stanford that introduces high school students to bioengineering– BioE bootcamp. Some background about myself: I love biotechnology and medicine, and I'm also extremely interested in design. My favorite topic is Sherlock Holmes, and my favorite hobby is talking to new people. But enough about myself.

Last Wednesday, July 3, was the start of the bootcamp. The program allows students to explore the different aspects of bioengineering through various lectures by professors and professionals, as well as to write a research paper and prototype a medical device. I've always been interested in biotechnology, so it seemed like the perfect fit. The program, called "Bioengineering Bootcamp," was organized by several students from Stanford University and is being sponsored by the bioengineering department. 

The first session of the program was a really positive experience– finding my way to the new building was a bit difficult, but once I got there, everything was organized really well. All the students (around 20 to 30) received binders and composition notebooks for our project logs, and we started the day off with introductions from the students who started the program (both undergraduates and graduate students at Stanford). 

Professor Norbert Pelc, the chair of the bioengineering department, gave a lecture about the department itself at Stanford, as well as in-depth details about biomedical imaging, his own specialty. 

After students were given some background about the projects that we will be working on for the next two months, students were allowed to rank project subjects according to preference. Lunch was provided and students were able to talk with each other as well as with the instructors. 

When lunch ended, we had another short lecture by one of the graduate students, who introduced us to the prototyping process that will be our objective for the projects. We separated into several groups and went through the process with a simple example about improving lab goggles. Other students from Stanford also came in as mentors. It was a fun activity, and we were... pretty creative: 

After that, we had to get into our more serious projects, and we were assigned to our project teams! They ranged from topics like Surgery to Orthopedics. I received the topic Drug Delivery, my first choice, and my group had 4 people. 

For the rest of the day, we were encouraged to start brainstorming about possible products we could create (we would have access to workshops and labs in the second or third week). Our group went through our needs statement and did some background research, and we connected through Facebook so we could have more discussions outside of the bootcamp. 

First day: went well!