About Us
We lead to the theme of our NRT initiative: “NRT-Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier: NSF Traineeship in the Sustainable Development of Smart Medical Devices.”
Our Vision
The vision of the proposed NSF Traineeship in the Sustainable Development of Smart Medical Devices is to provide a comprehensive, transformative training opportunity for a future generation of engineers interested in the emerging interdisciplinary field of sustainable healthcare and medical technology. The possibilities for developing systems that address the sustainable healthcare needs of society are now being realized. Yet, although healthcare and medical technology are inherently interdisciplinary, there are no integrated graduate STEM training opportunities in the fields of medical device science and design. The traineeship initiative that we are proposing will thus result in new paradigms for training engineers, starting with a clear understanding of patient and healthcare provider needs, leading to novel technological solutions in contrast to current technology-first approaches. By focusing on clinic-centered research, new solutions for some of the global challenges we face in healthcare can translate to new products and innovations, allowing for more comprehensive, sustainable, and innovative market solutions.
Curriculum
Smart Medical Devices
Manufacturing of medical devices should adopt a low-carbon approach, such as additive manufacturing, solution processing, and low-temperature processing, and are, therefore, more environmentally benign than conventional microelectronics towards large-scale manufacturing deployment. There is strong industrial interest in replacing conventional electronics, made using energy-demanding processes and harsh chemicals, with hybrid electronics. End-of-life disposal of used devices should be responsibly dealt with from the initial design stage. If the device is designed to be disposable and disassembly-friendly, the materials and device structure should allow easy recycling or impose minimal environmental impact when disposed of in landfills and enable reusing certain parts.
Sustainable Design
To sustain the growth of healthcare technology, a talent pipeline that continuously provides a qualified workforce is critical. As healthcare technology is an interdisciplinary subject, conventional curriculum structures and rigid course selection confined within specified majors do little to help prepare engineers and innovators for the future of diverse healthcare technologies. The national priorities highlight the importance of smart healthcare, yet there is a lack of integrated STEM training in this area. More importantly, the existing programs must consider the importance of sustainable design, biodegradable materials, and environmentally-friendly reliable manufacturing when developing medical devices and associated systems. Effective training in these areas in new workforces will provide better medical devices with enhanced performance to the healthcare sectors and medical communities while lowering overall medical costs and waste management. We propose to meet this need through our initiative – the sustainable development of smart medical devices in training a diverse group of STEM graduate students at Georgia Tech.
Technology and Human Value
Healthcare and medical devices are meant to be mass-deployable technologies applied in human life. An accompanying problem is the environmental impact such a prevalent technology may produce. The future healthcare technology should, at a minimum, not exacerbate the problem, and even better if it can ameliorate it. The core of our training program will build upon the existing structure of the graduate program at Georgia Tech, which includes the disciplines of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, Industrial Design, Interactive Computing, Biological Sciences, and Public Policy, and expand the core to include biomaterials, additive manufacturing, and sustainable design principles. Many of our faculty in these disciplines currently address research problems related to healthcare technology. While we have several PI-to-PI collaborations, graduate students associated with these collaborations are trained individually, resulting in major differences in their academic training.
Entrepreneurship
We will offer an opportunity for training in entrepreneurship. Atlanta has seen recent investments focused on growing the medical startup community, as seen through incubator programs such as Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI), NeuroLaunch Incubator, and Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) Medical Device Incubator programs. Capitalizing on these resources, our NRT trainees who have an interest in entrepreneurship will be supported, based on their interdisciplinary project immersion course, to participate in various Georgia Tech student incubator programs already in existence (e.g., Flashpoint and Startup Gauntlet) during their 2nd summer in the program.
