Inaugural class of WVU biomedical engineers to present senior projects

Stories | WVU Today | West Virginia University

Working in three teams, West
Virginia University’s inaugural biomedical engineering class has developed an intraocular lens characterization,
software that is about 90 percent accurate in diagnosing lung disease from the
sound of a patient’s cough and formulated a printable ink for use in creating
the next generation of flexible electrodes for brain recording and stimulation.

Sixteen students in all will showcase their work in an open
house, led by chief engineers Meg Neely (Morgantown) and Erin
Midkiff (Winfield), Ryan Mezan (Weirton) and Melanie Hott (Augusta). The four
are also students in WVU’s Honors College.

Working with Alcon, a global company that specializes in
eye care products, Neely, Midkiff and their team will showcase their system for
intraocular lens—or IOL—characterization.

“We developed a rotating fixture that can hold and image 4
IOLs,” said Midkiff. “The image processing code we developed can immediately
characterize and identify the specific features of the different IOL types.”

Midkiff, who hopes to one day manage a medical device product
development team, gained insight into the wide variety of opportunities open to
biomedical engineers.

“Through my senior
design experience as a chief engineer, I gained valuable leadership and
teamwork skills as well as industry experience through frequent conversations
with our client, Alcon,” she added.

Neely concurred
noting that after she completes her master’s degree in the discipline at Boston
University, she plans on working in the medical devices and development
industry.

“This project has really helped me to find my passion and
work toward my next steps in my career in this field,” Neely said. Other members of their team include Drew
Arnett from Fairmont; Christopher Peters from South Riding, Virginia; Adam Palmer
from Ravenswood; and Bill Monaghan, from Vanderbilt, Pennsylvania.

Working with the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health, Mezan and his team developed
software that was about 90 percent accurate in ...

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