PREM
Biomedical Engineering Outreach
A major emphasis of the Center for Biomedical Engineering is outreach to females and underrepresented minorities. Under a program funded by the National Science Foundation's "Partnership for Research and Education in Biomaterials" (PREM), UNM partners with Albuquerque Public Schools (APS), Southwestern Polytechnical Institute (SIPI) and Harvard University. This 5-year, $2.5 million effort is intended to attract girls and minorities to careers in engineering, and to stimulate interest in science and technology. CBME faculty bring hands-on biomaterials activities to APS 5th-grade classrooms, and they enable high school students to work in UNM's labs as summer research interns. Also, collaborative research is conducted by Harvard University with UNM's PREM-affiliated students and faculty. An important feature of these collaborations is the summer internship program under which UNM students reside in Boston and work at Harvard. Students for these program are recruited through APS, SIPI and UNM.
Current PREM research activities include:
1. Smart materials for tissues: a collaboration between UNM Professors Heather Canavan, Julia Fulghum, & Harvard Professor David J. Mooney
2. Emulsions for high-throughput DNA sequencing: a collaboration between UNM Professors Dimiter Petsev, Jeremy Edwards, & Harvard Professor David A. Weitz
3. High performance materials for low-cost diagnostics: a collaboration between UNM Professors Gabriel López, Plamen Atanassov, & Harvard Professor George M. Whitesides
Media coverage of PREM outreach to high school and middle school students:
Albuquerque Tribune, November 15, 2007.
Albuquerque Journal, December 5, 2006.
