Biomedical Engineering Center

The Biomedical Engineering Program is located in the new 52,000 square foot Biomedical Engineering Center (BEC). The building was dedicated in May of 2007 and contains the administrative offices for the academic program, faculty offices, classrooms, an animal care facility, research laboratories, and a business incubator. The facility and equipment are valued at over $20M. It is physically adjoined to the Institute for Micromanufacturing, a modern micromechanical miniaturization design and manufacturing facility that compliments the activities conducted in the Biomedical Engineering Building. The program’s research areas include nanoscience, cellular modeling, biotransport, neuroscience, neural engineering, rehabilitation engineering, biomaterials engineering, tissue engineering, biomicro/nanodevices and systems, and drug delivery. Faculty members and students have opportunities to participate in the activities of our Comprehensive Center on Rehabilitation Technology. This Center is located near the main campus and provides assistive technology and training services in the areas of activities of daily living, augmentative and alternative communication, computer access, driver rehabilitation and transportation, rehabilitation engineering, and seating and wheeled mobility.

Center for Biomedical Engineering and Rehabilitation Science

Center for Biomedical Engineering and Rehabilitation Science (CyBERS - 31,000 square feet). These facilities and equipment have an estimated value of $4M. This complex houses classrooms, instructional laboratories, faculty and administrative offices, and research and service laboratories. Recognizing the important function that maintenance and support services play in the activities of the Center, the layout of the building includes spaces for a machine shop, a woodworking shop, an electronics shop, a computer facility, drafting and design rooms, and a media production facility. As the activities of the Program have grown, expansions and renovations have facilitated the development of shops/facilities that are more responsive to the needs of the faculty and staff. Today the space assigned to maintenance and support services exceeds 3,215 square feet. These areas are staffed with full-time employees including a adaptive rehabilitation specialist, an electronic technician, and a media/production specialist. These employees are funded from state funds and other resources available to the Center.

Institute for Micromanufacturing

The Institute for Micromanufacturing central research and development component consists of 41,000 ft2 of laboratory and office space dedicated to meet the research and development needs of academia and industry in the area of miniaturization and micro-manufacturing. Laboratories occupy 20,000 sq. ft. of environmentally controlled workspace, containing 5,000 sq. ft. of modular clean rooms with fully certified class 1000 and class 100 working areas. The laboratory facilities provide a full suite of micro and nanofabrication processing capabilities (e.g., e-beam, X-ray, and optical lithographies, bulk and surface micromachining, ion and laser processing), and measurement and characterization tools (e.g., SEM, AFM/STM, RST, etc.) and a complementary Micromachining Processes Laboratory (diamond, microdrilling/ milling/EDM, laser, etc.). In addition the lab area houses a laboratory-based teaching and training facility, electronics assembly/test laboratory, a hot embossing/ injection molding laboratory, a nine station plating laboratory. Throughout the laboratory facility are offices and smaller labs where guest researchers may reside. Additionally, there is a dedicated area for teaching and training of undergraduate and graduate students, industrial participants, visiting researchers, and IfM faculty and staff.

  Assistive Technology Services Laboratory

The Center for Biomedical Engineering and Rehabilitation Science (CyBERS) operates a comprehensive program in dveloping and applying technology in rehabilitation. This program is funded at the state and national levels and has a national and international reputation. Laboratories serving this program include:

• Rehabilitation Device Information Center

• Driver Assessment

• Seating and Positioning/Mobility

• Augmentative Communication

• Independent Living Skills