Description

This class is the focuses on two major components of biomedical engineering design. First, we walked through clinical need finding, the process of observing health care providers and discovering unmet and articulated needs. Second, during the lab component of the class, we learned some mechanical skills of design such as CAD, ECAD and 3D printing. As a part of the class, we were paired with a health care provider in the Duke Medical Center and began to work on a problem that they had identified as a potential unmet need.

Reflection

• Why did you take this course as part of your certificate pathway?

This course functioned as a BME centered version of some of the major material that I learned throughout my time in the certificate. While very similar to the messages that I learned in the Keystone, such as knowing your customer's "job to be done," Professor Fearis showed how to apply this philosophy of insight informed innovation in medicine. We observed clinicians both in practice on video and then in person to better learn the practice of finding an unmet need. In addition to the lecture portion of the class, the lab part helped teach some important skills of prototyping that are needed to innovate in the MedTech space.

• What are the most important things you learned in this class and why?

My biggest takeaway from this class was learning how important it is to walk in your customers shoes and really find out "what it is like" to be in their position. While this can be difficult in operating rooms or behind closed doors of medicine, it is still extremely important and should be the top priority of innovators.  From a career perspective, this helped to validate my chosen pathway of majoring in BME while hoping to go to medical school. Because of this selected pathway, I hope that I am able to work as a health care provider and know "what its like" to be in that position and use my experience in BME and I&E to make informed innovations.

For the project component of the class. We created a pitch deck for our unmet need of retained sponges in outpatient treatments. I contributed to the overall design and prototyping as well as figures and graphics in the slide show.