Gordon Center Presents Adventures of an Industrial Physicist

On May 20th, The Gordon Engineering Leadership Center hosted Dr. Jonathan Arenberg for their quarterly forum. The forum took place in the Powell-Focht Bioengineering Building ground floor. Dr. Arenberg gave a wonderful presentation on his work and life experience working in the interesting and ever-expanding field of industrial engineering within the realm of physics.

Each quarter, the Gordon Center brings in professionals within a myriad of industries, such as bioengineering, aerospace, technology, and more, to speak on behalf of their experiences. Many of the visiting speakers hold extensive years of experience within their fields and are able to impart useful knowledge and helpful tips to the audience.

Dr. Arenberg, with years of experience working with optical, space, and laser systems, brought to students words of advice about career decisions, how to advance in a career, understanding the importance of loving what you do, and being unafraid to change career paths should you find something you truly enjoy doing more.

In his presentation, rightly titled "The Adventures of an Industrial Physicist: A Curated Tour," Dr. Arenberg touched upon his educational growth. Dr. Arenberg is a UCLA alumni who was initially interested in physics but found engineering to suit his lifestyle more as he discovered his passion for it via a college internship. As he decided to apply to graduate programs for both physics and engineering, he trusted his gut and made the decision to follow through with engineering school. He claims that this pivotal choice was "the best decision I've ever made as an adult."

He opened up about the true reality that is the engineering workforce, remarking that the beginning assignments may not always be the most fun, but that true satisfaction builds after having gone through those less exciting assignments and job positions. Dr. Arenberg also touched upon the fact that engineering is generally a career path that does not yield immediate satisfaction. Still, despite all of it, he is glad he made the decision and cannot see himself doing anything else with as much passion and dedication.

Touching upon his experience with optical telescopes, helping to create and sell the technologies helping with discoveries of exoplanets, and the ever-expanding future of industrial engineering and physics, he ended the presentation optimistically. As he added in the end, "I look forward to tomorrow's challenges, and look forward to the promise of the skyline."

We invite the local engineering community to join or consider sharing their story at our next forum.

#ILookLikeAnEngineer: Alex Buitimea

As president of UCSD's Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), Alex wants to empower the Hispanic community. He loves soccer and problem-solving, and he also cares deeply for underrepresented regions and hopes to develop technology for education.

Name: Alex Buitimea

Major: Computer Engineering

Estimated graduation date: June 2016

Why did you choose engineering at UC San Diego?

I think primarily in the area I grew up, there’s not many engineers. Not many talked about engineering. I myself didn’t know what engineering was until the last year when I was choosing my major. I knew I was good at math and I knew I liked solving problems, but I didn’t know that what the the meaning of engineering was— solving problems. Obviously, not knowing what path I was going to take but knowing I wanted to something like that, that’s why I ended up choosing it.

I’m very fond of technology, I’m very fond of computers. I was really good at it, I believe, because I was always on my laptop. So pairing the two, I chose computer engineering. I knew this was a good engineering school.

What do you see yourself doing in the future, goals after school?

Many people have been asking me this, especially recruiters. I always tell the same thing: I don’t know. I learn by experience. You know, trying out different things, you get to learn what you’re actually passionate about. I always tell all our members in SHPE, it’s okay not to have a passion, it’s okay if you don’t know your goal, but just by letting yourself try different things, you’re going to find what you’re passionate about and what you think you’re good at and what you should actually keep doing. So I know I want to go into industry because I really like the atmosphere of working with other people, especially where you get to solve problems that are actually going to go into the world and out there, into things people are actually going to purchase. I think I want to go into industry for that same reason. I can start working and teams and put stuff out there.

Do you see yourself with a specific company? Or do you have a dream job, beyond practicality?

It always brings me back to where I grew up. In the San Fernando Valley, there’s not many opportunities. You rarely hear about engineering. Schools are not that great. But one thing that technology does for them is it provides them new opportunities to teach in different ways. It also encourages students to pursue STEM, so I knew my freshman year, I wanted to pursue computer engineering more on the side of building technology for education, such as building smart boards, things like that. Building devices that actually help students learn better, so I think I want to follow that path. I know Microsoft and Google are doing big things along that path. If I can be involved with a company that has that kind of sector or project for education, I think I’ll follow that.

If you weren’t in engineering, what do you think you’d be doing?

I honestly don’t know what I’d be doing other than engineering. I really like solving problems, and that’s exactly what engineering is. If I were to do something else, I’d probably be a contractor. Throughout high school, I worked with my dad in demolition, so I would work at job sites, demolishing houses and bringing metals apart. His dream has always been to have his own company, and he’s been doing this for the past four years. I’ve been helping him. In the situation he’s in right now, he can’t be the owner or manager so he’s always asking me if I’d be willing to do it. After all these years helping, I think I would do that, being a contractor.

What are three interesting facts about you?

1) My passion for turning technology to education. I respect working with other people on teams, and I respect their ideas and strengths as well. That’s one of the reasons I chose to be the president of our [SHPE] chapter. I was going to be working with eleven other students to move that chapter forward.

2) Respecting people and working on teams.

3) Definitely stamina. I played soccer in high school and now on an intramural team. It’s definitely stamina to move forward. Even if you’re discouraged with not getting a certain internship or a certain research position or doing well in class, if you just get up and keep on trying, at the end of the day, you’re going to end up on the other side. That’s something that I’m very fortunate to see in myself, that I have that stamina to keep going.

Would you say you have a favorite quote along those lines? Or something you live by?

I always like to work with teams. One thing I always stay is “If you could do something in under two minutes, just do it now.” At one of my internships, one of my co-workers would always lived by that. It just clicked with me. Why wait? Keep moving forward.

Also, if you could say you can do things differently and say that you’re working hard...Working hard is not enough. It’s working smart, making sure that the amount of time you’re putting in is smart. Make the right decision about how you’re spending time.

Hobbies?

I like spending time with my friends and I play soccer on the weekends. I’ve been playing soccer for twelve years, the first seven years I played defense and the past five years I’ve played right midfielder. I also play video games, and that’s weird because I played no video games until my third year of college. I have an xbox, but I also play League of Legends.

What does this campaign mean to you? Any specific opinions?

Primarily, the campaign also falls under our [SHPE’s] objective, which is to empower the Hispanic community to realize its fullest potential. All STEM majors. Everything is possible just by putting your mind to it and making sure that you don’t tell yourself that you can’t do something if you’re very passionate. Just because you don’t have the same opportunities as everyone else, it doesn’t mean that you can’t be successful. We make sure that people don’t think that way. There are people in your community that will help you be successful. I think that also falls under the campaign. No matter what people think or what you think of yourself or what you can’t do, other people may see it differently and believe in you. Know that you can be an engineer, that you can be successful.

I grew up in a social justice community. It was good and bad. I grew up with my principal as also my life mentor. He was very passionate about how anything is possible. I put my own spin to it, by empowering the community with STEM. Making sure that we go into STEM fields, that we go in and explore and solve problems. I’m actually taking a course in ethnics and work. You’d be surprised how much diversity helps with solving problems and how having a diverse team— not necessarily just a matter of being Hispanic or black. Having people who think differently will actually help you solve a problem much better than having people who all think the same.

von Liebig I-Corps Program Expands and Continues At Full Speed

Each quarter, the von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center’s I-Corps program continues at full speed, connecting students with the Center’s business and technology mentors and helping teams get ready to launch their products into the marketplace. During the 2014-2015 academic school year, the program had over 60 applicants express interest. 31 teams completed Phase I, offered in the Fall and Winter, and 25 teams completed Phase II, offered in the Winter and Spring. After graduating the von Liebig I-Corps program, two teams from the 2014-2015 cohort were accepted into the National I-Corps Program in Washington D.C., while others demonstrated their skills by competing in campus-wide, statewide and national competitions and taking home cash prizes and awards.

The Center is excited to see the I-Corps program expand and very proud of their teams and all that they have accomplished. The von Liebig I-Corps program is modeled after the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps program, with two phases for teams to develop their business models. To offer flexibility and more mentoring to their students, the Center allows the accepted teams to decide whether they want to continue onto Phase II after completing Phase I of the program.

The von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center gladly welcomes UC San Diego students, staff and alums to apply to participate as a Phase I team in its the I-Corps program in the fall and join our network of mentors and entrepreneurs. While the hard work does not end here, we know it won’t be long until this cohort’s projects and ideas hit the market. Until then, we’ll let you take a peek at what many of our teams have been working on.

The Cocoon Cam team and mentor
Dennis Abremski completed the National
I-Corps Program in Washington, D.C.

Wearless Tech Inc., Intraocular Pressure Sensor, AMDepot, HeatSeq, Meego, Wastelights, Gyroscopic Ocean Wave Energy Converter (GOWEC), PlasmaCaps, 3D Organ on a Chip, EMERES: Cyber System for Structural Health Monitoring, Data Intelligence, Enzyme Diagnostics, MuDetect, Pressure Sensitive Touchscreen, Open Topography, SciCrunch and FRET Biosensors became experts at developing business models and are well-equipped with customer insight, mentor advice and industry connections to aid them in their next steps forward. These teams have completed the both phases of the program for a combined sixteen weeks of instruction and mentoring.

Team members Pavan Kumar Pavagada Nagaraja, Sivakumar Nattamai and Rubi Sanchez founded Wearless Tech Inc,. a company that further developed their project Cocoon Cam: Wearless Smart Baby Monitor in the I-Corps program with mentor Dennis Abremski, VP of SoCal EED, Inc. Cocoon Cam is a wearless (non-contact), network-connected baby monitor designed for parents looking for a simple, secure way to monitor their newborns. The device uses machine vision to measure heart and respiratory rate and infrared sensors to detect skin temperature. After completing the von Liebig I-Corps Program, the team went on to complete the National I-Corps Program in Washington, D.C.

Oculux team took 2nd place at this year's Entrepreneur Challenge,
AMDepot (not pictured) took home 4th place.

Mechanical Engineering graduate students Alex Phan, Yung Seo and Ben Suen of the Oculux (formerly Intraocular Pressure Sensor) team developed a novel implantable pressure sensor that allows continuous monitoring and enables physicians to personalize treatment plans for patients and better preserve their vision. The team explained that glaucoma is an incurable eye disease that affects 60 million people worldwide, and the lack of frequent eye pressure measurement prevents successful treatments and increase in total blindness. Oculux took home second prize at Entrepreneur Challenge this year and was also recently accepted into the Fall 2016 Cohort of the National I-Corps Program.

Mechanical engineer Wangzhong Sheng and nanoengineer Viet Anh Nguyen Huu of AMDepot developed a drug delivery vehicle that releases therapeutic amounts through a single injection of a depot that is activated by biologically benign flashes of light. AMDepot’s method reduces the frequency of injections needed, as well as allows noninvasively controlled dosing. AMDepot explained that the estimated global healthcare cost for eye-related diseases is well over $250 billion and that one of the most severe diseases, the wet-form of age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) affects 2 million Americans and can lead to severe and sudden loss of vision. The current treatment for AMD requires monthly or bi-monthly injections of drugs into the eye, which can lead to complications with each injection. AMDepot also took home fourth prize at this year's Entrepreneur Challenge.

HeatSeq team members Dustin Fraley and Stephanie Fraley developed an integrative technology that allows for rapid, automated, and highly accurate DNA profiling from a single precious clinical sample. “We are developing this technology for use in personalized medicine, where there is a need for more comprehensive molecular analysis of DNA for profiling diseases and drug efficiency,” wrote the team members.

Meego team members Delara Fadavi, Aditi Gupta, Ian McNair, Sammie Wang, Oscar Guerrero and Katya Grishna explain that stolen laptops, in the United States alone, account for $2.1 billion in losses annually and that most thefts occur in public places or during travel. The team aims to deter laptop theft through their small, mountable portable device that will sound an alarm when unanticipated motion is detected and notify owners via mobile alert if their Meego has been activated.

The Wastelights team took the hard reality that the world has an abundance of waste, but not enough electricity, and served up a solution. Team members Joyce Sunday and Nitya Timalsina developed their second prototype of a device that eliminates waste by converting it into electricity and biochar. Wastelights’ constructed prototype is able to reliably provide energy and eliminate waste without combustion at low cost and maintenance. During the program, Wastelights was able to generate transnational interest and conduct interviews from abroad.

Oscar Rios and Ardavan Amini of Gyroscopic Ocean Wave Energy Converter (GOWEC) address the need for clean and efficient power generation in a wide range of markets through the development of their wave energy converter that utilizes gyroscopic principles. The team explains: “the world currently uses approximately 15 trillion kWh of electricity per annum, representing just 0.02 percent of the energy contained throughout the world’s oceans.”

Graduate student Rajaram Narayanan and Prabhakar Bandaru, Ph.D. of the PlasmaCaps team designed a powerful energy technology that improves energy density capacitors. PlasmaCaps was accepted into the accelerated National I-Corps program in Washington D.C. and plans to continue improving their design. During the program, the team was mentored by Kai Wenk-Wolff, M.B.A., conducted customers interviews and incorporated feedback into their redesign.

The 3D Organ on a Chip team recognized that too many drugs pass cell based testing on to animal testing and that pharmaceutical companies spend $1-3 billion on each drug when bringing them to market. After conducting 23 customer interviews, team members Aereas Aung, Gaurav Agrawal, Ivneet Bhullar and Han Liang Lim identified a specific market niche and verified a need for their platform to reduce the time and cost of preclinical studies.

Structural Engineering Ph.D. candidate Hamed Ebrahimian presented EMERES: Cyber System for Structural Health Monitoring, his low cost system for rapid health monitoring and damage analysis of offshore platforms. Ebrahimian explained the need for their technology, noting that platform structures age, are expensive and often fail. His automated resident monitoring system would replace inspection process of platform structures, while its mechanic space model is trained to pinpoint damage, location and other detailed information that inspections cannot provide.

Siarhei Vishniakou, Cooper Levy and Conor Riley make up the Pressure Sensitive Touchscreen team who want to expand traditional touchscreens’ limited capabilities. “Most touchscreens can only detect location, and cannot sense how hard the user actually pressed” explained the team. Their product is a touchscreen that can determine the intensity of a user press for music, medical and gaming applications. During the program, the Pressure Sensitive Touchscreen team conducted over 20 customer interviews, saw a great fit in the market and found their biggest competitor.

Augusta Modestino, Ph.D. and Ph.D. candidate Elaine Skowronski make up the Enzyme Diagnostics team that hopes to fill the gap within in vitro diagnostics, so that data can translate from high-throughput volume labs to point of care systems. During their presentation, the team explained that diagnostics are the silent champion of healthcare and that there is a need for better result comparisons for in and out patients.

The Data Intelligence team from UC San Diego’s Math Department created a novel technique for data extraction, allowing users to merge databases and cross reference data for improved predictions. During the program, team members David Meyer, David Rideout, Asif Shakeel gained insight into how and where their product would fit best in the market.  

Matt Walsh and Aric Jonejah, Ph.D. of the MuDetect team created a simplified analysis system that only detects relevant mutations to reduce both cost and supply of clinics and labs. During the program, the team learned how to identify and target customer segments and define their value proposition.

OpenTopography team members Vishu Nandigam and Chris Crosby developed an improved high resolution dataset and software tool for processing data using a cloud hosted solution with web based software and an interactive map interface. Their workflow-based system provides a significantly more efficient solution for distribution and processing of massive datasets.

The SciCrunch wants to accelerate biomedical research by means of an open access “data ocean.” Team members Anita Bandrowski, Ph.D., Jeffrey Grethe, Ph.D., Maryann Martone, Ph.D. and Andrea de Souza, MBA want to develop a platform that makes data accessible easily findable, interoperable and reusable. Throughout the program, the team conducted customer interviews that helped them identify the market’s segments and customers and analyze its competitors.

The Gordon Engineering Leadership Center's Think Tank on Digital Health

This year, the Gordon Engineering Leadership Center held its annual Think Tank on the Future of Digital Health on Friday May 15th and Saturday May 16th. The goal of the Think Tank was to bring together students, industry professionals, healthcare workers, and faculty to discuss the problems in medicine and how technology can make an impact. This year’s Think Tank was a success with approximately 50 researchers, faculty, industry experts and graduate students in attendance working on current challenges at the intersection of medicine and technology.

CEO of Cambridge Life Sciences, Dr. Cleland Landolt, MD kicked off the event as this year’s keynote speaker. Dr. Landolt’s talk was titled “Digital Diagnostics – Identify the Killer You Never Saw Coming”. His background as a cardiac surgeon and experience in the biotechnology industry gave unique perspective into how new diagnostic technology detecting metabolic indicators could make a significant difference in predicting onset of cardiovascular disease. Dr. Landolt emphasized that while statistics developed via “Big Data” and diagnostics are interesting, focus has to be on making statistics clinically useful and applied in a preventive model of healthcare.

Following Dr. Landolt’s talk, Gioia Messinger, MS, MBA, gave insight on the intersection of engineering and technology commercialization in healthcare. Messinger is a serial entrepreneur, who has served as Chief Judge of Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, Founder/CEO of MedSmart, and participated in the development of the endoscopic PillCam.. In her talk titled “Why Digital Health, Now!”, Messinger introduced the audience to trends in entrepreneurship, funding, and startup companies while highlighting key characteristics of companies that caused them to succeed.

Dr. Jacob Aptekar, PhD, CEO/Co-founder of Helynx, introduced the audience to the world of Electronic Health Records (EHR). In his talk “Data Driven Medicine in the EHR Age”, Dr. Aptekar spoke about how his company utilizes the data available in hospitals to effectively visualize trends that are clinically actionable, making an immediate impact on patients’ lives. Dr. Aptekar also described his journey of how he combined his medical and graduate education at UCLA to start an entrepreneurial venture, giving sound advice to all the students in the audience who were interested in pursuing a startup in the healthcare space.

Dr. Daniel Calac. MD, finished off the morning session with his talk “Hacking the Rez”. Dr. Calac serves as the Chief Medical Officer of the Indian Health Council, where he actively treats the Native American population. As a practicing physician embedded in an underserved community, Dr. Calac educated the participants on the challenges, the mentality, and lack of resources available to these communities. At the same time, he also posed a framework to innovate so that many of the talented participants in the room could develop ideas still being cognizant of the cultural and financial sensitivities.

After lunch, UC San Diego alum Dr. Wilson To, PhD highlighted how to impact patients personally and on a population level in his talk “Innovation Across the Healthcare Spectrum.” Dr. To emphasized how the healthcare system today is ripe for destruction, and explained why the business model of medicine is changing and how do we holistically allocate resources to the right patients and ultimately improve clinical outcomes. Dr. To argued how it is important not only to utilize analytics and data, but also programs that keep the patients engaged with their own health.

Next, Moxie Center for Student Entrepreneurship Executive Director Dr. Jay Kunin, PhD moderated the Future of Digital Health panel consisting of Dr. Cleland Landolt, Dr. Wilson To, and Dr. Rob Matthews, PhD. An experienced engineer, Dr. Matthews has worked in the industry at large companies and startups is currently starting companies focused on health technology. The panel focused on answering questions regarding three different topics: Remote Monitoring, Big Data Analytics, and Lifestyle Medicine.

Following the panel, the participants received informational material on these topics in order to form teams and brainstorm potential solutions to the affected areas in healthcare. Great discussions began at this point and were continued the following day.

Nursing Innovation Leader at Kaiser Permanente Dr. Dan Weberg, PhD, RN finished off Friday with his talk titled “Imaging Care Anywhere: Future of Healthcare Technology.” Dr. Weberg focused on innovation within Kaiser Permanente and how emerging technology is evaluated and tested in clinical situations. As the final speaker of the day, he gave key advice for product developers on how to integrate within the healthcare system, keeping in mind the electronic systems and the workflow.

Gordon Engineering Leadership Center Executive Director Dr. Ebonee Williams PhD and von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center Executive Director Dr. Rosibel Ochoa PhD welcomed participants back on Saturday with a quick recap of Friday’s talks and an introduction of the day’s first speaker, Dr. Erik Viirre, MD, PhD. A UCSD Professor and Director of the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, Dr. Viirre gave a phenomenal overview of the XPRIZE competitions and in particular how people can be empowered to change healthcare. He emphasized how the competition evaluates the devices not only based on functionality but also consumer appeal and understandability.

Next up, Dr. Royan Kamyar, MD, MBA, CEO of OWaves, explained his insight into the intersection of lifestyle medicine and entrepreneurship in this talk “New Vitals Signs and Opportunities in Mobile Health”. He emphasized how lifestyle changes including diet, exercise, sleep, meditation, and social connections are essential to living healthy. Dr. Kamyar now wants to empower patients with his app-based company OWaves which offers a method to track the time spent in various lifestyle facets.

After Dr. Kamyar’s talk, the participants split into three groups in order to tackling the issues in remote monitoring, big data analytics, and lifestyle medicine. The group focusing on lifestyle medicine came up with an idea to create a financially or academically motivated incentive system within university targeted at both undergraduate and graduate students. The Big Data Analytics team came up with a solution to use analytics to triage students with mental health issues in university settings. The remote monitoring group presented a solution to use a single lead EKG to monitor patients at risk for health failure. Dr. Mike Krupp, PhD, a Business and Technology Advisor to the von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center, moderated the presentations.

Dr. Todd Coleman, PhD, Associate Professor of Bioengineering finished the day off with his talk titled “Three Paintbrushes.” Dr. Coleman spoke about utilizing technology, analytics, and medicine together to make a real-world impact. He focuses on wearable, unobtrusive technologies paired with clever machine learning algorithms as well as direct patient engagement in underserved communities.

Overall, the event had great speaker and participant engagement and fulfilled its goal of sharing different industries’ perspectives on healthcare.

Article by Neil Gandhi

Moxie Center Awards $20K to Students at the 2015 Zahn Prize Competition

This year, the Moxie Center for Student Entrepreneurship was able to double the total amount of cash prizes for student teams at its annual Zahn Prize Competition. The 2015 Zahn Prize Competition was held at The Basement, UCSD’s newest entrepreneurial space, and the Moxie Center awarded a total of $20,000 in cash prizes to seven students, Ganesh Elie of Slithr, Josh Cohen of Tranio, Eric Suen of Aqua Design Innovations, Inc., Joy Sampoonachot and John Chou of Cocoon Cam and Deepak Atyam and Alex Finch of Tri-D Dynamics.

Moxie Center Executive Director Dr. Jay Kunin introduced the competition’s three judges, Dr. Martha Dennis, Mike Krenn, and Jeff Draa, who are experts in building startups and securing venture funding. The judges had their work cut out for them as the competition had 12 participating teams from the Moxie Center and only five prizes to award. The new Moxie teams and the veteran Moxie teams competed in two separate divisions for their presentations; Division I for the new teams had an allocated $5,000 budget, while Division II had the remaining $15,000. After the presentations, the judges had only 20 minutes to make their final decisions.

Division I winners Slithr and Trainio impressed the judges with their designs for a customizable electric longboard and an athlete training device respectively. After attaching Slithr’s base unit to their longboard, users can control the speed and acceleration of their vehicle with a wireless controller. The team is now currently working on their Delta prototype before launching a kickstarter. On the other hand, Trainio is developing their SpeedTrain device that will enable athletes and coaches to improve their speed and train smarter. The device connects with your smartphone and users can access the recorded information, workout analysis and  training suggestions through their mobile application.

Division II participants were also faced with tough competition. In the end, Aqua Design Innovations, Inc., Cocoon Cam and Tri D Dynamics ended up taking the prizes. The founders of Aqua Design Innovations, Inc. (ADI) designed a desktop ecosystem with an aquaponics filter. Their design for their EcoQube is already on its second iteration and recently ended their kickstarter with over $370,000 in backer support. Cocoon Cam, a Computer Science and Engineering-based startup, aims to improve health and activity monitoring systems for infants. By using computer vision, wireless hardware and video analytics technology, the camera will be able to transmit and record live respiration rate, heart rate, temperature, sound and video of a baby without requiring the baby to wear an activity tracker. Tri D Dynamics is another impressive student startup that made UC San Diego the first university in the world to successfully design, print and test a metal 3D printed rocket engine. Both Cocoon Cam and Tri D Dynamics have participated in the von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center's NSF Innovation Corps program.

Congratulations again to the students and teams who participated!

Gordon Center Think Tank: The Future of Digital Health

Every year, the Gordon Engineering Leadership Center packs a room full of innovators to brainstorm the implications and uses of an emerging aspect of engineering. In the past, the Think Tank has drawn academics, innovators, and professionals from all industries to gather and collectively brainstorm on topics such as cyber security, cloud computing, automotive and avionic systems engineering, and the energy crisis. For their sixth annual Think Tank, the Gordon Center presents “The Future of Digital Health” and invites you to learn about how the use of technology can revolutionize healthcare on May 15 and 16.

The event welcomes those who want to participate in an engaging space and explore both the opportunities and the challenges of integrating technology with health care. Some confirmed speakers include Director of Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE Erik Viirre, President/CEO of Cambridge Life Science Strategies Cleland Landolt, Director of Nursing Innovation - Kaiser Permanente Dan Weberg, Senior Manager of Global Technologies and UCSD Alum Wilson To, CEO/Founder of Linked Objects Gioia Messinger, and our very own Bioengineering Associate Professor Todd Coleman.

Gordon Engineering Leadership Center Executive Director
Dr. Ebonee Williams pictured right and Program
Coordinator Kara Fukumoto Bayani pictured left.

“I am beyond thrilled to see the level of innovation, dedication, and creativity of this year’s speakers,” said Gordon Center Executive Director Dr. Ebonee Williams. “and expect innovative solutions from the talented participants.”

Neil Gandhi, Gordon Fellow and Bioengineering Class of 2014 graduate, coordinated this year’s Think Tank on digital health with guidance from Dr. Williams and Gordon Center Program Coordinator Kara Fukumoto Bayani.

Gandhi explained that from improving data analysis to diagnosis, technology will have a sure impact on healthcare. He explained that digital health is about applying what we know how to do with mobile devices, connectivity and big data analytics to improve access to our health care system.

“This Think Tank will be looking at how digital health is a game changer, looking at how it relates bringing healthcare to all communities globally,” said Gandhi. “New wireless devices paired with smart computing is enabling better patient care, but there are still challenges in integrating technology into the clinic and changing the way we already do things.”

A group of participants from 2013's Think Tank
on Cyber Security

And the Think Tank will challenge participants to think of those solutions to translate new technologies into hospitals and medical practice. Participants will be able to share ideas through collaborative activities during the one and a half day event.

“The Think Tank has always been an engaging space for all. It’s an excellent opportunity for people to network, but also get inspired by an interdisciplinary topic with exponential growth potential,” Dr. Williams said.

Find out more information about this year’s Think Tank and registration information here.