Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering

Congratulations to BME undergraduate student Kaitlin Simons on earning Academic All-Big Ten honors for the third consecutive year!

Simons, a diver on the Purdue University Swimming and Diving team, was among the 45 Purdue Engineering students who received the accolade during the 2025-2026 school year.

🦴 What makes a bone strong — and what makes it more likely to fracture?

Purdue BME Assistant Professor Rachel Surowiec has received an NSF CAREER Award to investigate how water within bone tissue influences bone strength and fracture risk.

While bone mineral density is commonly used to assess fracture risk, Surowiec’s research explores another important piece of the puzzle: matrix-bound water, which is closely associated with collagen and helps bone withstand everyday forces.

Her team will combine advanced imaging, spectroscopy, experimental mechanics, artificial intelligence and computational modeling to better understand how changes in bone tissue affect its ability to resist fracture — with the goal of developing more accurate ways to predict when and where bone may fail.

The award also creates new opportunities for undergraduate students through a remote research program focused on biomedical imaging, data analysis and computational modeling, helping broaden access to hands-on research experiences.

Congratulations, Rachel, on this prestigious recognition and on advancing our understanding of bone health while preparing the next generation of biomedical engineers! 👏

🚨 What if we could watch cancer evolve in real time?

That’s the bold question behind a new Blue Sky research project led by Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor Leopold Green.

Green is one of two Purdue Engineering faculty selected as winners of the second annual Blue Sky competition, which supports high-risk, high-reward ideas that have the potential to transform how we address major societal challenges.

His project — “Sentinel Nanopore Arrays for Single-Amino-Acid-Resolved Proteomics and Real-Time Cancer Digital Twins” — brings together nanotechnology, biological semiconductors, AI and digital twins to create a new generation of biosensors capable of continuously monitoring disease biomarkers in real time.

The vision? Tiny “sentinel” chips that could detect molecular signals of cancer progression and immune response as they happen, feeding that information into digital models of tumors. Ultimately, the technology could lead to deployable devices, such as a wearable patch, that help clinicians detect disease earlier, personalize treatment and monitor how cancer changes over time.

“The Blue Sky award is transformative for my lab,” Green said, “because it funds the integration unifying DNA nanotechnology, cell-free expression, semiconductor interfaces and computational digital twins into a single coherent platform.”

This is what blue-sky thinking looks like: pursuing ideas that may be too early or unconventional for traditional funding — but could change what’s possible in biomedical engineering.

🔬 Congratulations, Leo!

What did you do this summer?

For Weldon students Mihika Desai and Kathryn "Katie" Kabat, it meant learning from spine surgeons, participating in a cadaver lab and seeing firsthand how medical devices improve patient care.

As Quality Management & Regulatory Affairs co-ops with ACE Medical Company, the students attended the 35th and final Cleveland Spine Review, where they observed advanced spine procedures, handled specialized surgical instruments and gained hands-on experience that connected engineering with clinical practice.
Experiences like these show how Purdue biomedical engineering students are preparing to make an impact in the medical device industry—one innovation at a time.

Read more about their summer experience.

Leading the revolution of healthcare. From medical challenges to engineering solutions. That’s my giant leap.

The Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering proudly celebrates the promotion of Sandy May to Lead Graduate Program Administrative Assistant.

We're hiring! 📢

Join the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering as an Associate Laboratory Operations Specialist at our Indianapolis location.

If you're passionate about hands-on learning, laboratory operations, makerspaces, prototyping, 3D printing, and helping students bring innovative ideas to life, we'd love to hear from you.

Help support the next generation of biomedical engineers by creating safe, collaborative, and cutting-edge learning environments.

Apply today and become part of the Purdue BME team! https://bit.ly/4buro3G

The Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering proudly celebrates the promotion of Darcy Allen to Lead Academic Advisor.

Congratulations to two Weldon student startup teams for earning top honors in Purdue's 2026 New Venture Challenge!

🏆 echoSURE Inc. took 1st Place and the Crowd Favorite Award, earning $22,500 to advance a medical device that improves the safety of pediatric feeding tube placement.

🥈 VitaWave Tech Inc. earned 2nd Place and $15,000 for its innovative cuffless, in-ear blood pressure monitoring technology.

These awards recognize the innovation, entrepreneurship and patient-centered solutions being developed by Weldon students as they move technologies from the lab toward real-world healthcare impact.