Student Activities, Community and Awards
Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES)
The undergraduate students in the Department of Biomedical Engineering organize an active local chapter of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). This student BMES chapter has been actively involved in interacting with the faculty of the Department regarding curriculum developments and improvements, and organizes a barbeque party each semester, where students socialize with faculty, as well as with each other.
The BMES chapter also interacts with the other local BMES chapters in the New York City area, such as the BMES chapter of the City College of New York's (CCNY) Department of Biomedical Engineering. In the past two years, the BMES chapters from Columbia and CCNY have actively participated in the annual BME Affair organized by the two departments. Students are encouraged to participate and to be proactive in the BMES activities to gain a broader understanding of biomedical engineering fields, establish leadership skills, and participate in the academic process of the Department.
Some of our students are also active in the Columbia chapter of IEEE BME. Interested students should contact Professor Lance Kam (), the BMES adviser, for more information.
Graduate Biomedical Engineering (GraBME)
GraBME is an organization of graduate students in the Biomedical Engineering Department. Its goals are to enhance the social and academic lives of students and to serve as advocates for graduate student needs in the department. GraBME hosts a variety of social events throughout the year, including happy hours, barbeques, movie nights, holiday potlucks, and beach and ski trips. GraBME also organizes departmental teams for Columbia intramural athletics, including the fall 2007 co-ed football champions! In April 2007, GraBME hosted its first annual graduate student conference, during which students from the three departmental tracks had an opportunity to share their research with one another. The organization also serves as a link between graduate students and the faculty, conducting student surveys to understand student needs and presenting those results to faculty during their monthly meetings. GraBME welcomes all BME graduate students to participate, and is open to any programming suggestions! For more information, please contact Melissa Simon ().
Annual departmental social events include:
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| Mohonk Mountain House |
Graduate and faculty picnic: At Mohonk Mountain House
Holiday party: Because it’s the holidays!
Senior dinner: Celebrating our graduating class
Awards
The Department of Biomedical Engineering offers the Richard Skalak Award in Biomedical Engineering and the Robert E. and Claire S. Reiss Graduate Prize in Biomedical Engineering to graduating seniors each year.
The Richard Skalak Award was founded in recognition of the pioneering contributions of late Professor Richard Skalak to the development of the Biomedical Engineering program at Columbia University. Dr. Skalak was an inspirational teacher and scholar who taught students and colleagues to appreciate the value of broad interactions between engineering and medicine, particularly in the fields of cardiovascular mechanics, tissue engineering, and orthopedics. The Richard Skalak Prize is awarded annually to a senior Biomedical Engineering student who exemplifies the qualities of outstanding engineering scholarship and breadth of scientific curiosity, which form the basis for life-long learning and discovery.
Recipients of the Richard Skalak Award:
- 1999 David Lee
- 1999 Peter Kung
- 2000 Mitchel Seruya
- 2001 Ahmad Reza Sedaghat
- 2002 Chun Fai Ng
- 2003 Nitin Ohri
- 2004 Jeremy Lewi
- 2005 Christina Hei Mun Fan
- 2006 Richard Shin
- 2007 Erin George
The Robert E. and Claire S. Reiss Prize in Biomedical Engineering is given to the graduating seniors in Biomedical Engineering judged by the faculty of the program most likely to contribute substantially to the field. Dr. Reiss received his Ph.D. from the Engineering School of Columbia University, and was the founder of InterVentional Technologies Inc.
Recipients of the Robert E. and Claire S. Reiss Prize:
- 1998 Robert Leon Mauck
- 1999 Silvia Marinache
- 2000 Ravi Shankar
- 2000 Erica Takai
- 2001 Bryte Jason Moa-Anderson
- 2001 Kenneth Wayman Ng
- 2002 Louis Young Lee
- 2003 Kathie Lynn Dionisio
- 2003 Rachel Gail Handwerger
- 2004 Cheng Qi Qi
- 2005 Lawrence David
- 2006 Zopf Christoper (Chemical Engineering)
- 2006 Meghan Elizabeth Jewitt
- 2006 Barry Wohl
- 2007 Daniel Okin (Chemical Engineering)
- 2007 Jing Meghan Shan
- 2007 Natalie Leong
See also Campus Life at
http://www.engineering.columbia.edu/bulletin/campus/