Idea generation in biomedical engineering courses using Design Heuristics

ABSTRACT

With increasing demand for improved medical equipment and healthcare, next-generation biomedical engineers need strong design skills. Equipping biomedical engineering students with tools for idea generation and development can increase student design success. Design Heuristics are an ideation tool developed through empirical studies of product designs. While identified in the mechanical engineering space, Design Heuristics may be applicable in biomedical engineering design. In our study, we implemented a Design Heuristics session during upper-level undergraduate and first-year graduate biomedical engineering design courses. We examined the applicability of Design Heuristics within individual and team concept generation contexts. The findings demonstrated that biomedical engineering students were able to use Design Heuristics to generate multiple concepts, and that initial concepts produced using Design Heuristics were carried over into final team design. The results support the applicability of Design Heuristics to student idea generation in biomedical engineering design.

KEYWORDS:

• Word
• biomedical engineering
• design
• Design Heuristics
• idea generation

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Varghese Vadakumcherry and Sheyenne Harris for their contribution in managing the data for this project. We would like to acknowledge the help of the course instructors who agreed to include this research project in their classes, and the students who allowed us to study their work. This project is supported by the University of Michigan MCubed project (ID:869) and National Science Foundation Grant #1322552. Jin Woo Lee is supported by the NIH’s Microfluidics in the Biomedical Sciences Training Program: NIH NIBIB T32 EB005582.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Jin Woo Lee is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. His research focuses on studying novice and expert behaviours in design and developing design tools to support education.

Anastasia Ostrowski is a graduate student in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan, conducting research with the Daly Design and Engineering Education Research Group. Her undergraduate degree is in Biomedical Engineering focusing on electrical engineering. Her current research focuses on understanding how engineering students in biomedical engineering engage in the design process.

Shanna R. Daly is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. She has a B.E. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Dayton (2003) and a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University (2008). Her research focuses on strategies for design innovations through divergent and convergent thinking as well as through deep needs and community assessments using design ethnography, and translating those strategies to design tools and education. She teaches design and entrepreneurship courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, focusing on front-end design processes.

Aileen Huang-Saad is faculty in Engineering Education and Biomedical Engineering. Previously, Aileen was the Associate Director for Academics in the Center for Entrepreneurship and was responsible for building the Program in Entrepreneurship for UM undergraduates, co-developing the masters level entrepreneurship programme, and launching the biomedical engineering graduate design programme. Aileen has received a number of awards for her teaching, including the Thomas M. Sawyer, Jr. Teaching Award, the UM ASEE Outstanding Professor Award and the Teaching with Sakai Innovation Award. Prior to joining the University of Michigan faculty, she worked in the private sector gaining experience in biotech, defense, and medical device testing at large companies and start-ups. Aileen’s current research areas include entrepreneurship engineering education, impact and engaged learning. Aileen has a Bachelor’s of Science in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a Doctorate of Philosophy from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Aileen is also a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Beta Sigma Gamma.

Colleen M. Seifert is an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan. She received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Science and psychology at Yale University. She was an ASEE postdoctoral fellow at the University of California – San Diego and the Navy Personnel Research Development Center. Her research interests centre on learning, memory, and creativity.

ORCID

Jin Woo Lee http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5387-1668

Additional information

Funding

This project is supported by the University of Michigan MCubed project (ID:869) and National Science Foundation Grant #1322552. Jin Woo Lee is supported by the NIH’s Microfluidics in the Biomedical Sciences Training Program: NIH NIBIB T32 EB005582.