Where Engineering Meets Medicine

Medical research at an engineering school? You bet! Professors at VCU's Engineering School are engaged in cutting-edge research that could improve the health and quality of life of millions.

Mention the word "engineer," and most people think of guys in white shirts and geeky glasses building skyscrapers, configuring factory equipment or, occasionally, doing something exotic like designing NASA spacecraft.

In the popular imagination, engineers work with "things" like machines and computers, not with "people." But the stereotype is startlingly out of date: Some of the most exciting applications of the engineering discipline today are in the life sciences.

"Nowhere is the contribution of engineering to medicine more evident than at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Engineering, which shares VCU's broader commitment to inter-disciplinary study of the life sciences. Working at the crossroads between different departmental disciplines, VCU professors are pursuing exciting research that could improve the lives of millions.

Take, for example, the work of Gary L. Bowlin, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. In a process similar to that used for spinning cotton candy, he uses electro-spinning technology to fabricate nano-scale fibers for tissue engineering. As the microscopic fibers agglomerate, they create a visible fabric, much like cotton candy but not as sticky. By spinning the material onto a mandrel, he can create any shape he wants.

Bowlin has found that by generating certain compounds found naturally in the body - collagen, fibrinogen and elastin - he can create materials that interact with human tissues in ways that synthetic materials cannot. Fibrinogen, found in the blood stream, forms clots in cuts and wounds. He can spin the material into sheets like a bandage that can not only help stop bleeding but create a cellular-level superstructure that accelerates the regeneration and healing of tissue.

The fibrinogen research is closest to commercialization, Bowlin says. It may not be long before medics are packing fibrinogen bandages in their emergency kits. Meanwhile, he's electro-spinning collagen "fabric" that he hopes will bind to damaged knee cartilage or spinal discs and repair tissue that physicians have no other option now but to surgically remove. Success at generating cartilage tissue would change the lives of millions of Americans with sore knees and aching backs.

Thirdly, Bowlin is electro-spinning collagen with the aim of repairing blood vessels. Blood vessels are more complex in structure and function than the other tissues because they must be flexible yet accommodate high pressures. "To date we've built structures that look like blood vessels," he says, "but we need to determine if they act like blood vessels." The ultimate goal, which could change the lives of millions of Americans with heart disease: "We're after the holy grail of coronary bypass grafts."

Faculty at the VCU School of Engineering enjoy a tremendous advantage over their peers at other schools by virtue of their opportunity to interact with a nationally recognized medical school and the nation's fourth-largest, university-based medical center, says Engineering Dean Robert Mattauch. It's rare for engineering and medical schools to enjoy such close ties, he says, even when they're part of the same university. But VCU's leadership, from President Eugene Trani and the board of visitors on down, sees the future of research for the next 20 to 30 years being oriented to the life sciences, he says. More


Droning On

VCU Engineering students win flying competition for unmanned aerial vehicles.

A group of Computer Engineering students from Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Engineering have captured the top prize in an international unmanned aircraft competition, besting several institutions with more established aerospace engineering programs.

The Student Unmanned Aerial Vehicle competition took place at Webster Field in St. Inigoes, Md., an annex of the Patuxent River Naval Air Test Center, headquarters for the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).

VCU seniors Abhishek Handa, Jeffrey Quinones, Kevin Van and Brittiany Wynn entered a radio-controlled plane: a former U.S. Army target drone fashioned to resemble a Soviet-era MIG 27 fighter.
It was donated by the Aviation Advanced Technology Directorate at Ft. Eustis and modified by the students to fly to preprogrammed coordinates using the Global Positioning System. (University News Services, July 7, 2004; Mike Frontiero) More

VCU Students featured in dcmilitary.com profile. More


Summer Numbers, Summer Fun

VCU sponsors Bioinformatics and Bioengineering Summer Institute; Students Work in Tissue Engineering Lab.

Undergraduate students from as far away as Missouri and Oregon spent their summer vacations at Virginia Commonwealth University learning about a life of research in the emerging world of bioinformatics and bioengineering.
Sixteen students, predominantly rising juniors, were participants in the Bioinformatics and Bioengineering Summer Institute (BBSI), sponsored by the Center for the Study of Biological Complexity and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at VCU.
Their numbers included two Richmond city high school science teachers who may take their experiences back to the classroom in the fall. An additional 13 students came back for their second summer in residence. The Institute began its second year of operation on June 7, and students will remain in residence through Aug. 13 this year. (University News Services, July 2, 2004, Mike Frontiero) More


Dream it. Think it. Build it.

Engineering school opens machine shop for students to build test models.

Virginia Commonwealth University engineering students and Philip Morris USA officials have unveiled the VCU School of Engineering's new machine shop. The metal and nonmetal fabrication equipment will allow students to build working models of their designs without leaving the School of Engineering.

Mechanical engineering students learn how machines work and how to design and fabricate different components of those machines. Computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing are important components of the mechanical engineering curriculum.
"Together with rapid prototyping machines, the new machine shop will help the students apply and practice what they learn in the classroom," said Dr. Robert J. Mattauch, dean of the School. "It will also better prepare them for the marketplace after graduation with both a thorough understanding of the basics combined with more sophisticated computer aided tools as well."
The gift of eight heavy-duty machines from Philip Morris USA facilities in the Richmond area includes an engine lathe, three vertical milling machines, vertical bandsaw, two drill presses and a surface grinder. They have been installed in the school's High Bay lab and can be used for sophisticated fabrication and milling of metal and other materials. (University News Services, May 14, 2004; Mike Frontiero) More
 
Issue 1, No. 2
October 2004

This newsletter was made possible by a generous grant from PMUSA



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New Chem Engineering Chair Appointed

The School of Engineering has named a Florida State University professor chair of its Chemical Engineering department. Michael H. Peters served as a professor and chair of Florida State's department of chemical and biomedical engineering. He also was a clinical assistant professor in the university's College of Medicine. (University News Services, Aug. 23, 2004; Mike Frontiero) More.


VCU Profs Present Implantable Biochip Research

A prototype device that could save lives of injured soldiers on the battlefield has been presented to scientists and United States military officials by Virginia Commonwealth University chemical engineering professor Anthony Guiseppi-Elie, Sc.D. and, Kevin Ward, M.D., associate professor of Emergency Medicine and Physiology at VCU. (University News Service, May 24, 2004; Mike Frontiero.)

More.

Tait Awarded for Sensor Research

Gregory Tait, an associate professor in electrical engineering, has been accepted into the NASA Faculty Fellowship Program at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. He won the Best Research Presentation Competition for demonstrating a new laser and using fiber optic sensors for testing strain and fatigue in aircraft. (University News Service, Oct. 6, 2004; Anne Buckley.) More.




Dear Friend of VCU Engineering,

I am pleased to report that the School is making concrete strides towards its ambitious goal of joining the ranks of the nation's Top 50 engineering schools.

Completing Phase II of the School on the Monroe Campus Addition will constitute a major leap forward. The Phase II building will provide space for five classrooms, 11 teaching labs and 30 research labs - enough to accommodate an additional 800 students and 40 faculty members. When completed, the new Engineering building will be co-located with the new School of Business building, offering many opportunities to strengthen the inter-disciplinary curricula of both schools. More.




Alumni Board News

 

Welcome to another edition of the EngineeringSchool's e-newsletter. Alumni Board members have been hard at work on behalf of the School. We were on board to personally welcome all new incoming students on August 25th – then came back the next two days to welcome the old students as they began another school year.

 

We held our fall meeting in late September, and then attended a magnificent senior class reception hosted by C.T. Hill, Chairman, President, and CEO of SunTrust Bank, Mid-Atlantic. On October 16th, we'll help with the Open House activities here at the School of Engineering. As I said, we have been busy.   More.