Alpha Eta Mu Beta, the International Biomedical Engineering Honor Society

The Alpha Eta Mu Beta National Executive Council is excited to announce the 9th year of our Mentoring for INnovative Design Solutions (MINDS) Scholars Program. The MINDS program is an innovative approach that provides students with the opportunity to collaborate and network with peers and mentors across the country, while building necessary engineering design skills, including 3 key considerations that are not usually stressed in coursework projects. The 3 key considerations are (1) market considerations for commercialization (unmet need, size of market, reimbursement potential, etc.), (2) regulatory strategy, and (3) evaluating prospects for intellectual property protection. MINDS Scholars enhance their knowledge of product design, and learn how to effectively communicate with teammates and mentors who are from other schools and organizations using collaborative online tools, which are becoming an increasingly important skill in today’s work environment. The MINDS Scholar Program has received funding from the National Science Foundation since 2016. For more information about the MINDS Scholar Program and information on past participant projects, please visit:  http://alphaetamubeta.org/minds.html

Participation in the MINDS Scholar Program is through a competitive application process that takes place annually. The theme for the 2023-2024 MINDS scholars program is "Biomedical Engineering Design: Impacting the Lives of People with Disabilities". The initial MINDS virtual workshop is a two-hour Zoom event where participants will meet their assigned teams and professional engineering mentors, and which will be scheduled on one day between October 8 and October 16, 2023. The exact date of the Zoom session will be communicated in September. Each team will continue to work on their project for up to six months after the workshop using collaborative tools such as online meetings, document sharing, and group collaboration applications. Alpha Eta Mu Beta will provide additional resources and assistance to help participants and mentors address the design criteria. At the end of the program, teams will present their design online in the form of their choosing, such as presentations for potential investors, webpages, videos for kickstarter campaigns, reports, or other creative outlets; and will celebrate their success with a closing event in April 2024. Depending on the scope and quality of completed projects, teams may be eligible to potentially receive travel support to present their projects at the 2024 BMES conference.

Please note that students do not have to be AEMB or BMES members to participate. We are especially encouraging sophomores and juniors to apply because they will get the most out of the program, but students of all levels are welcome.

Please fill out the application below in its entirety and submit by September 18, 2023. If you have any questions about this application or about the MINDS program, please email us at aemb@alphaetamubeta.org 

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* 1. Please enter your first name

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* 2. Please enter your last name

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* 3. Please enter the name of the university you currently attend or will be attending in Fall 2023

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* 4. In what state or U.S. territory is this University located? If outside the U.S., select "outside the U.S." and enter the country name in the text box that will appear.

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* 5. In what time zone do you live?

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* 6. What is your major?

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* 7. In fall 2023, what program year will you be in?

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* 8. Please enter your email address (one that you check regularly)

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* 9. Personal Statement: Briefly describe your interest in participating in the MINDS program and any related experiences you may have. Discuss which areas of biomedical engineering are of the most interest to you (Limit of 300 words)

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* 10. The theme of this year’s workshop is "Biomedical Engineering Design: Impacting the Lives of People with Disabilities". Please discuss at least one potential idea or project area you would like to work on that fits this theme (Limit of 300 words)

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* 11. What challenges and opportunities do you foresee when participating in long-distance teamwork? (Limit of 100 words)

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* 12. Do you have a disability ? We ask this question to be able to plan ahead for accommodations if needed (for example, for online meeting transcription services), as well as to obtain information on participation of students with disabilities in our program. The information you enter here will only be used for program planning purposes and individual information will be kept private. If you would like to share specifics about the nature of your disability, please do so - but this is optional unless you require specific accommodations. You may simply answer "yes" if that's the extent of what you want to share. If you do not have a disability, please enter "no".

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* 13. Agreement and Signature: By submitting this application and typing my name below, I affirm that the facts set forth in it are true and complete. I understand that I am committing to participating in the initial MINDS program workshop that will be scheduled between October 8 and October 16, 2023.  I also understand that being accepted into the MINDS workshop is a six-month commitment beyond the initial meeting. I understand that I will be working with students and mentors from varying universities and locations throughout this time period, and I will be expected to put forth adequate effort into completion of the team project in order to earn a completion certificate.

Please type your name in the box below as your electronic signature; and then click "done" to submit your application.

Thank you for completing the MINDS Scholar Program application. We expect that notifications regarding program participation will be sent by the end of September.  If you are selected, please respond to any communications in a timely manner to reserve your spot in the program. If you do not respond to eligibility communications within 48 hours, we may proceed to give the spot to another candidate in the waiting list.

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