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Tong BME Design Awards color logo showing the graphed output from a medical instrument along the bottom and a human head in profile, with veins and arteries leading to highlight in the brain

Tong Biomedical Engineering Design Awards Details

There are two competitions and respective awards in this program:

  1. The Tong BME Design Awards

    All designs will be judged at the end of the spring semester during the BME Design Expo final poster session held on the penultimate Friday of the spring semester, 1 May 2009. The panel will consist of guest entrepreneurs, innovators and biomedical industry leaders. Criteria for prize selection are the following:

    1. Has the team defined the client’s identified clinical/medical/scientific need?
    2. Has the team identified any competing devices/existing intellectual property?
    3. Are the design problem and the proposed solution clear and self explanatory?
    4. Does the design appear to satisfy the client's functional requirements?
    5. Is there evidence of significant technical progress?
    6. Is the prototype skillfully designed and constructed?
    7. Does the prototype work?
    8. Oral presentation: Does the team have a professional demeanor?

    The reception begins at 3:00 PM in the Tong Auditorium. Awards will be announced at 3:30 PM. Each team member of the winning design from each class (BME 201, 301, and 402) will receive:

    • $100 prize check
    • A mounted certificate, and
    • Recognition on the Tong BME Design Awards Plaque in the Engineering Centers Building

    Attendees will be provided:

    • Food and beverages, served from 11 AM to noon and again from 3:00 to 4:30 PM
    • A Tong BME Design Awards T-shirt

    NOTE: Posters will remain up and partially staffed from 2:00 to 3:00 PM to allow for informal viewing by students, faculty, judges, and guests.

  2. The Tong BME Research & Development Follow-on Award

    The objective is to advance the winning project through the University of Wisconsin-Madison commercialization infrastructure, such as I&EDR grants or the W. H. Coulter Translational Research Partnership in Biomedical Engineering. The follow-on prize will include funds and employment for up to two students to further develop their designs in collaboration with a BME faculty member for advancing them towards reaching patients through commercialization.

    Letter of Intent: Entry into this competition requires a brief letter of intent containing the project title and identified personnel, client, and advisor. The letter of intent must be submitted to the program manager (metyler1@wisc.edu) by Friday, 20 March 2009.

    Application:

    • Submission, Review, and Award dates: All application materials must be submitted to the review committee by Sunday, 29 March 2009. Judging will be completed by Thursday, April 2, and the awards announced the same day.

    • Composition: Applications must include a design development proposal written by the student team, and letters of support from the BME Design advisor and the client. Applications may be submitted by any sub-group of members from an existing BME 301 or 402 Design team. In particular, complete proposals should:
      1. Describe the clinical need and potential market for the invention.
      2. Characterize the current status of the prototype design.
      3. Provide specific plans for advancing the design by addressing:
        1. Additional research (literature/laboratory)
        2. Technical development/evolution
        3. Testing and validation (bench and/or clinical)
        4. Specialized materials or services required
        5. Budget for period of support
          1. Salary of 1-2 students through summer or academic year part-time employment at the university under the auspices of a faculty advisor, and,
          2. Up to $1,000 for prototype refinement, including supplies and costs of fabrication and testing.
      4. Explain how the work supported by an award will contribute to commercialization.
      5. Explain how intellectual property will be protected.
    • Letters of support:
      1. The BME faculty member should address:
        1. The intent to advise and mentor the student team on the project.
        2. The merits of the proposed project to move the device beyond a student prototype.
      2. The letter of support by the client should provide:
        1. An explanation of interest in, and availability to co-advise the project,
        2. A brief discussion of the prototype's merits and desire for subsequent development.
        3. A description of resources (intellectual, material, and lab space) that will be made available during the period of support.

    Questions about any part of the program may be directed to the program manager, Mitchell Tyler, at: metyler1@wisc.edu.

    BME Department Chair: Robert Radwin, PhD