"The harder I work, the luckier I am"

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"The harder I work, the luckier I am"

IBBME's student-led Scientific Day 2012 promotes professionalization

9 May, 2012

In these times of economic uncertainty, students like Catalina Estrada , a Doctoral Candidate of IBBME's Biomedical Engineering program in her last year of study, are keeping a close eye on their future prospects—an issue that the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) decided to tackle head on during their annual Scientific Day event this year, held at Hart House.

"I've been worried about my job prospects," Estrada confessed outside of this year's inaugural Career Fair. “With the state of the economy I wanted to know what’s out there,” she added, while noting that she was "pleasantly surprised" at what she discovered.

A student-led endeavor since 1984 that showcases IBBME student research, this year's Scientific Day offered multiple professional development possibilities geared towards answering those very concerns. By including industry partners and networks to each aspect of the day's events, co-organizers Maneesha Rajora (MASc candidate) and Leo Chou (PhD candidate) stepped up professionalization at the event, allowing students to think about where they want to position themselves—both before and after graduation.

Industry participants such as Huron Technologies, Interface Biologics Inc., and more presented career options during the morning career fair, while not-for profit organizations Mitacs the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), and UofT's Innovations and Partnerships Office provided information on the salary-matching grants, internships, and directed job posting sites they extend to graduating students. Mitacs and OCE, in particular, have developed mentoring programs to help students translate their intellectual properties into marketable products post-graduation. The Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM), an affiliate of U of T, also posted multiple job openings at their booth.

Image of Career Fair booths

For other students, direction, more than employment, was the real issue.“Where do we go from here?” wondered Rana Attalla , a 4 ^thyear undergraduate visiting student from Ryerson’s recently established Biomedical Engineering program.

Keynote speaker Leonard Pinchuk offered some suggestions. During his Tuesday May 8 ^thpresentation, "Entrepreneurship in the Biomedical Devices Field," Pinchuk, the inventor of several of the most widely used and successful biomedical devices in the world, walked students through the process of starting a biomedical devices company—complete with figures and examples of contract clauses.

The poster and oral presentations sessions, which boasted an unpredecented 110 abstracts, provided yet another outlet for students to professionalize and network with industry peers: all four of the research themes were judged by a total of 19 industry judges as well as Faculty. "Best Poster" winner in the "Nanotechnology, Molecular Imaging, and Systems Biology" theme, Carl Walkey was "honoured" to be judged by the day's other keynote speaker, Ralph DaCosta , Cancer Care Research Chair in Cancer Imaging at the Ontario Cancer Institute (UHN) and Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics at U of T. "It was a little intimidating at first, but he's very approachable and engaging," Walkey noted, although he struggled to "stay focused on talking about my own work, rather than getting [DaCosta's] perspective on his own work."

Yet if Scientific Day treated students to a broader understanding of their possible career paths, they dazzled their peers and industry in turn. During his oral presentation, Alphonsus Ng , a 3 ^rdyear doctoral student in Biomedical Engineering, presented on his and fellow doctoral student Ryan Fobel's invention: a digital microfluidics device that helps researchers in their lab manipulate miniscule amounts of liquid. Fobel and Ng have already partnered with industry to design a lab-ready prototype of the impressive device.

"The trainees and faculty have a phenomenal support network here," remarked Professor Paul Santerre , IBBME's Director, at the end of Pinchuk's talk. "Milk it for all its worth." It was advice that the 300-plus attendants of this annual event took to heart—and may rapidly translate into solid career success.

Read more on IBBME's programs .

Image of Scientific Day 2012 Poster Session - 1

BEST POSTERS:

Engineering in a Clinical Setting

Honorable Mention: SAMEER ZAHEER

Winner: ADEEL ALAM

Nanotechnology, Molecular Imaging and Systems Biology

Winner: CARL WALKEY

Neural, Sensory Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering

Honorable Mention: ERIC WAN

Winner: SABA MOGHIMI

Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine:

Honorable Mention: AMIR MANBACHI

Winner: YASAMAN DELAVIZ

BEST ORAL PRESENTATION:

Winner: LYNDIA WU (Undergraduate student)

Congratulations to all of this year's Scientific Day winners!

Image of Scientific Day 2012 Poster Session - 2

University of Toronto Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering

"The harder I work, the luckier I am"

IBBME's student-led Scientific Day 2012 promotes professionalization