BME-IDEA

Biomedical Engineering Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship Alliance

The Biomedical Engineering Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship Alliance—more commonly referred to as BME-IDEA—was initiated when group of university professors teaching biomedical engineering across the United States realized that they had common interests that were not being met by available conference offerings.

The first BME-IDEA meeting was held in San Francisco in 2003. The alliance has met annually or bi-annually ever since. Paul Yock and Christine Kurihara from Stanford Biodesign played a key role in launching BME-IDEA, and Paul continues to serve on the leadership committee. Faculty from nearly 100 institutions in North America regularly participate.

The goals of the BME-IDEA are to:

• Share experiences and best practices across biomedical engineering programs with regard to teaching innovation, design, technology transfer, and entrepreneurship.
• Discuss objectives, challenges, and opportunities for the advancement of these programs, including industry and academic perspectives.
• Explore the potential for sharing resources and creating community-wide tools to promote innovation in biomedical engineering.

In 2013, BME-IDEA expanded to Europe in response to growing demand for a convening of professors from biomedical engineering programs across the European Union. In 2016,  it expanded further into the Asia-Pacific region. Efforts are now underway to develop programs in Africa and South America.

Visit the BME-IDEA website for more information.