2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arkansas is the only research-intensive, PhD. granting institution in the state and nearby region. The NSF-funded Biomedical Optics and Imaging REU program (award number EEC #2243953) was initiated in Summer 2023 to primarily recruit students from regional schools with strong undergraduate programs in biology or related areas that lack a graduate program in biomedical engineering. Through this REU site, students were paired with faculty mentors to work on a range of individual, hypothesis-driven projects which apply or develop state-of-the-art biomedical imaging methods and techniques. Students also received a range of lectures on professional development topics, social activities, and the experience culminated in each student submitted an abstract to present at the Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting. To evaluate students’ experience in our REU program, an external evaluator was used to conduct a survey and assessment of what was learned.

In Summer 2023, the first year of the program, seven students (3 female, 4 male) submitted and presented their abstracts at the BMES conference in Seattle, WA. Most students were recruited from a range of regional institutions, with one student attending from Stanford University. Four of these students had 2 semesters or fewer of prior research experience, with two students having never performed independent research at all prior to attending our program. Large majorities of the students (5-6 out of the 7) reported Large or Very Large gains in acquiring new laboratory skills, preparing a scientific poster, and understanding what day-to-day research is like. Additionally, large majorities of >5 students reported they were somewhat or very likely to pursue an advanced graduate degree (MS or PhD) and continue to pursue working in a research lab during the rest of their undergraduate tenure.

Overall, students attending the Biomedical Optics and Imaging REU at the University of Arkansas reported favorable experiences, gained significant specific laboratory and presentation skills in areas crucial to biomedical engineering, and were more likely to attend graduate school following the completion of this program.