National Inventors Hall of Fame School students Camryn Woodley (center) and Mar Lin
with Bing Yu, UA assistant professor of biomedical engineering, at BEST Medicine 2013.
Which works better: Spray, stick or lotion sunscreen?
Can a pen be engineered to reduce hand fatigue?
How can you make a kitchen table super clean?
These are some of the questions that aspiring scientists in grades 6-12 will examine at the Bridging Engineering, Science & Technology (BEST) Medicine engineering fair Saturday, March 22, at the National Inventors Hall of Fame School in Akron.
Presented by The University of Akron, the event attracts students interested in exploring biomedical engineering. The BEST Medicine fair draws students from throughout Ohio and one from Tennessee this year, and is supported by the Akron Community Foundation, the Burton D. Morgan Foundation and several other organizations.
"The event is all about encouraging students to solve real-world interdisciplinary problems," says event director Brian Davis, professor and chair of the UA Department of Biomedical Engineering.
The students come prepared to present logical arguments for their innovations. They apply mathematics to real-world challenges and, in the process, learn how to test concepts and improve their ideas for medical devices.
Davis explains that the fair gives students an opportunity to strengthen their vocabularies in science, engineering and medicine, and to share their concepts with leaders in medical-device research and development.
"BEST Medicine provides a forum for these students to articulate their discoveries to seasoned medical researchers and device engineers," Davis says. "Through these interactions, students develop skills in public speaking as well as in a variety of technical areas."
Media contact: Denise Henry, 330-972-6477 or henryd@uakron.edu.