We have implemented a jigsaw framework in our biomedical engineering capstone design course by overlaying strategic consideration groups across our design teams. Collaboration in design courses is usually focused within a design team with some peer feedback, but opportunities to work across teams are often limited. The purpose of this teaching tip…

Many authentic BME projects require system integration. This year, before the start of the open-ended Capstone projects, three connected modules were used as an initiative to practice systems integration and thus promote readiness. To this aim, a Do-It-Yourself spectrophotometer/colorimeter was used as the interconnecting theme. In the first two…

Biomedical engineering capstone design courses provide a salient opportunity to discuss ethical considerations in engineering. As technology and society develop and change, new challenges constantly arise related to how society and technology inform each other. In this space, ethical training for engineering students is critically important for…

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic required capstone design course instructors to transition to online learning. Student project teams were denied access to resources needed to construct and test prototypes scheduled to be delivered to project sponsors and clients at the end of the semester. Face-to-face collaboration was replaced with virtual…