U-M BME: Biomedical Engineering

University of Michigan Department of Biomedical Engineering (U-M BME) welcomes Kenneth Bader, Ph.D., to our faculty. His research program is rooted in physics, driven by biomedical needs, and closely aligned with one of U-M’s signature areas of innovation: histotripsy.

Dr. Bader has focused his career on therapeutic ultrasound, acoustic cavitation and the development of non- and minimally invasive approaches to treating diseases that remain difficult to address with standard interventions. At U-M, he will become part of the growing Histotripsy Center, where he plans to continue advancing applications of histotripsy while asking deeper questions about the biological effects of treatment.

Read more: https://bme.umich.edu/2026/08/21/kenneth-bader-joins-u-m-bme-in-the-histotripsy-center/

U-M's Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) student chapter has grown into a wide-reaching hub for professional development, technical training, outreach, and social connection among BME students. BMES’s most consistently popular programming centers on hands-on skill building—workshops designed to help students add practical tools to their coursework, labs, and resumes. Read more: https://bme.umich.edu/2026/08/21/bmes-at-michigan-building-skills-and-fostering-community/

For biomedical engineering students, the right community can shape everything from study habits to career confidence. At U-M, Beta Mu Epsilon (ΒΜΕ) brings together a growing network of BME students and peers in related majors through mentorship, service and hands-on engineering-focused programming.

Read more: https://bme.umich.edu/2026/08/20/beta-mu-epsilon-fosters-professionalism-mentorship-service-and-design-among-michigan-bme-students/

Thank you to everyone who helped at and attended the August 13 BME Welcome Back Summer Picnic! Faculty, staff, postdocs and students enjoyed a relaxing afternoon of fellowship and food. We’re excited about starting the new academic year in just a couple of weeks!

Join BME faculty, staff, postdocs and students for today’s BME annual Welcome Back Summer Picnic. Bring your families and pets down for an afternoon of fun, fellowship and food.

A new University of Michigan Biomedical Engineering study is helping researchers better understand a complex question in colon cancer treatment: What happens when cancer drugs, cancer cells and gastrointestinal bacteria all interact at once?

Led by Annie Badenoch, a U-M Bioinformatics Ph.D. student and first author on the study, and Sriram Chandrasekaran, Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, the research uses machine learning to predict whether drug combinations will be effective against colon cancer, and whether specific microbes in the GI tract may strengthen or weaken those treatments. The team collaborated with the lab of Jiahe Li, Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering.

Read more: https://bme.umich.edu/2026/08/13/machine-learning-platform-predicts-how-microbes-may-influence-colon-cancer-drug-response/

Friday is Day Two of our Engineering in Cardiovascular Medicine Workshop. More than 160 people have registered to attend over the course of the event. This workshop is co-sponsored by U-M BME, U-M’s Frankel Cardiovascular Center, and U-M Cardiac Surgery, with additional participation and support from the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Cellular Metamaterials (CELL-MET), and is a part of the annual BME Summer Workshops @ Michigan series. Today's keynote speakers were Christopher Chen and Igor Efimov. Elazer Edelman and Naomi Chesler headlined yesterday's keynotes. There also was a whole new roster of poster presentations today at lunch. Thank you to everyone who organized and attended the workshop.

The Engineering in Cardiovascular Medicine Workshop, happening today and tomorrow in Ann Arbor, features keynote speakers Christopher Chen, M.D., Ph.D.; Naomi Chesler, Ph.D.; Elazer Edelman, MD, Ph.D.; and Igor Efimov, Ph.D. More than 150 people have registered to attend over the course of the two days.

This session is co-sponsored by U-M BME, U-M’s Frankel Cardiovascular Center, and U-M Cardiac Surgery, with additional participation and support from the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Cellular Metamaterials (CELL-MET), and is a part of the annual BME Summer Workshops @ Michigan series. We welcome everyone to this informative event, which highlights a variety of speakers and poster presentations.

U-M BME is preparing to help launch a new pathway for graduate learners who want to build advanced artificial intelligence skills and apply them directly to biomedical engineering.

Applications are now open for the upcoming Master of Engineering (M. Eng) in Artificial Intelligence Engineering with a concentration in Biomedical Engineering. This degree program is designed for engineers, scientists, and technical professionals seeking rigorous, practice-oriented training at the intersection of AI, machine learning, and biomedical innovation.

The program is expected to be offered in both online and residential formats, increasing access for recent graduates and working professionals who want to continue advancing their careers without relocating or leaving the workforce.

The 30-credit degree is part of a broader Michigan Engineering initiative that unites multiple engineering disciplines around a shared goal: training engineers to develop, adapt, and apply AI-based tools within complex engineering systems. For students in the Biomedical Engineering concentration, that means learning to use AI in areas such as biomedical imaging, neural engineering, signal processing, data-driven modeling, systems biology, and biomedical decision-making.

The start term for the MEng program is Fall 2027, with a stackable Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence Engineering planned to begin in Winter 2027. Please see this page to apply: https://www.applyweb.com/umengin/index.ftl

Research from the laboratory of Alex Piotrowski-Daspit, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Internal Medicine – Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, is featured in a year-long Michigan Medicine display in the McNamara Terminal at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

Part of the display highlights cystic fibrosis research and includes images of polymeric nanoparticles in human precision cut lung slices taken by Piotrowski-Daspit lab BME graduate student Owen Kelly. Check out the multimedia exhibit while traveling!