The partnership with Cleveland Clinic that inspired real solutions

BME animal lab

When an innovative partnership with a world-renowned hospital meets an engineering program intent on creating real-world experiences, creative solutions abound. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold last spring, engineering students across the globe were faced with the possibility of losing summer internships and other hands-on experiences. That’s where the Biomedical Engineering Alliance between Case Western Reserve University and our neighbors and partners, Cleveland Clinic, stepped in. 

The alliance launched a Virtual Summer Internship program, in which more than 500 students from engineering programs across the country participated. The goal: work in teams to develop, design and test solutions to address the need for enhanced-use masks, particularly on college campuses.

Among the CWRU students to take part was sophomore biomedical engineering student Isabella Zayas. 

“This internship was the perfect way for me to connect with other students around the country on a design project and learn more about the awesome research being done in my own community as a Case [Western Reserve] student,” she says.

Read more and see what the students designed.

Solutions ranged from more comfortable masks, a rapid mask sterilizing system and interactive, web-based training courses about the role mask-wearing plays in stopping the spread of COVID-19 and more.

At CWRU, nothing will stand in the way of you getting real experience in your field.