UC Irvine Graduate Student Shares his Undergraduate STEM Summer Program Experience and More

For the past five summers, the Institute has hosted a total of 42 talented undergraduate college students for the Accelerating Careers in Engineering and Science (ACES) program and its predecessor Pathways to Biophotonics and Biomedical Engineering (PBBE) program. This University of California (UC) Office of the President supported Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) partner program introduces high-achieving, underrepresented undergraduate students to the possibilities of graduate education and to UC Irvine graduate programs in the fields of biomedical engineering, biophotonics and related science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines.

Chris Johnson, a former ACES program participant, is in his third year as a graduate student in the UC Irvine Department of Biomedical Engineering. He shares his ACES experience, impactful research as a UC Irvine graduate student and future career aspirations.

How did you connect with UC Irvine?
As an undergrad at Hampton University, I participated in two UC Irvine internships. The first was after my freshman year. I helped with a pilot study, gathering data to help apply for a grant. I really enjoyed the first internship, so I decided to come for a second time.

I was in UC Irvine Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Anatomy & Neurobiology and Bioengineering David Reinkensmeyer’s lab and he does stroke rehabilitation. I helped develop the thumb, index and middle fingers of a hand exoskeleton, which looked like an Ironman hand.

The second summer, I did a stand-alone project, rebuilding a haptic device. When I arrived, the device was in pieces. I reconstructed it and the device worked successfully before I left.

What did you think about those two projects?
The projects were very interesting. Some of the work was difficult. As an undergrad, I studied electrical engineering. For the projects, I had to do some mechanical engineering work. It was definitely a challenge because I hadn’t taken some of the classes that would have helped. Fortunately, I was surrounded by helpful people.

Was this the first time that the exoskeleton was built?
It was Quentin Sanders’ project to build a hand exoskeleton for stroke patients. He was a graduate student in Professor Reinkensmeyer’s lab. Quentin worked on the index and middle fingers, and I created designs and prototypes for the thumb to attach the exoskeleton.

That must have been rewarding to build something to help stroke patients. How did you become interested in this area?
I did robotics in middle school and high school and loved it. During my senior year of high school, my grandfather suffered from a stroke. Once he had a stroke, I thought about what I could do to help. I asked myself questions: “What are my interests?” “What can I find to help him?”

It was interesting because during my first UC Irvine internship, I met Institute Director at the time, Bruce Tromberg. I shared my interests and he suggested that I connect with Dr. Reinkensmeyer. Dr. Tromberg told me about Dr. Reinkensmeyer’s work in stroke rehabilitation and he thought the two of us would get along. The rest is history.

When you returned to your undergrad program, how did you hear about the ACES program?
At the time, ACES was the PBBE program. Hampton University was an HBCU ACES program partner. Hampton University School of Engineering & Technology Assistant Dean for Research Raymond Samuel collaborated with Dr. Tromberg and Institute Associate Director Sari Mahon. As an undergrad, I worked in Dr. Samuel’s lab and he suggested that I apply to ACES. I hadn’t done research and I didn’t know that it was an option after graduating from undergrad. I really liked the program and my interest in conducting research stuck.

What did you think when you returned to UC Irvine to participate in the ACES program?
Quentin Sanders was a great graduate mentor. He introduced me to a lot of UC Irvine faculty and staff. It was almost as if I had a mini-network, so I didn’t feel like I was alone on an island.

Also, Quentin and I are from the same hometown in Maryland. We connected because of our backgrounds and now we’re the best of friends.

What was your experience like in the ACES program?
My experience in ACES was great. We lived on campus 7 with students from other programs. Many different majors were represented – from history to psychology. I called it “the melting pot.” It was interesting to hear about the interests of others and all the research going on at UC Irvine.

What made you decide to apply to graduate school at UC Irvine?
Between the two internships and ACES, I had already been on campus and knew that I wanted to join Dr. Reinkensmeyer’s lab. I also wanted to explore other options in the UC system, so I applied to a couple of UC schools.

Overall, what drew me to UC Irvine was my previous experience and that I had a network. Quentin and former Assistant Dean of the Office of Access and Inclusion Sharnnia Artis were my biggest influences to continue my education and attend graduate school.

I was thankful for the people in the Engineering Department and those in the Engineering program who looked like me. Those in my network shared that this was a good place to grow and pursue a degree.

How did you pick the field of biomedical engineering?
At first, I was interested in mechanical engineering. Dr. Reinkensmeyer suggested biomedical engineering instead. He recommended the field not only because of my electrical engineering background, but because he knew that I was interested in doing clinical work. It was the perfect combination for graduate school and my future career.

Now that you are in graduate school, what are your career aspirations?
Right now, I’m doing stroke rehabilitation. I’m focused on improving ankle function, specifically ankle sensation and movement for walking. When someone has a stroke, one side of the body is affected. Depending on the severity of the stroke, it may be difficult for someone to independently complete their activities of daily living (ADL). Examples of ADLs are getting dressed, getting in and out of a chair, walking, etc. For these examples, it is important that ankles function properly. It may be difficult for them to walk without an assistive device, such as an ankle foot orthosis because of foot drop. Foot drop is muscle weakness that makes it difficult to lift the front part of the foot. This can cause them to trip and fall, so what I focus on is proprioception.

Proprioception is your body’s awareness in space. Some people call it your “sixth sense.” Patients need this awareness to know the position of their ankle.

When I arrived at UC Irvine as a graduate student in June 2019, I told Dr. Reinkensmeyer that I wanted to build a robot. I designed AMPD, or Ankle Measuring Proprioception Device, from the ground up. In February 2020, I finished building AMPD and within a month, it was and is still being used to assess ankles.

I watched the process from the beginning to the end – from the design, to the build and now to watch stroke patients interface with the device. The feedback that patients provided was extremely helpful. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

Now, I’m building a second robot. In the future, maybe I’ll build another robot for the clinic or launch a company to commercialize the robots that I build.

How is it going building the second robot?
The design of the second robot is going really well and the CAD, or online software, is about 95 percent complete. I tried to take what I learned from building the first robot and applied it to this second version.

The biggest thing that I learned from building AMPD was time management and setting realistic goals. It took me a lot longer to build the robot than I had anticipated. It was extremely challenging and I worked a lot of late nights.

In the upcoming weeks, I will be meeting with the physical therapists who I work closely with to ask for their
feedback. It’s important to get their input because they’re going to operate the machine.

I need to know: What is good? What is bad? The dos and don’ts of the device.

I’ve learned to make things as simple as possible. Complexity is great, but it has to be user friendly, or it will not get used.

Another question that the therapists have asked: “Chris, is it safe?” Safety is the biggest thing. It doesn’t matter if the device helps people. If it’s not safe, then it won’t be used.

Right now, the device is solely for stroke patients, but it has the potential to help many people. People with ankle injuries, including athletes and dancers could benefit – among others.

What do you want to do in the future?
I am considering academia versus industry. I like conducting research that interests me, rather than what a company prefers, and I like to teach. I am a graduate mentor for ACES and I mentor a couple of undergrad students. I get a lot of fulfillment out of watching students’ progress. It makes me smile. I suppose it sounds like I am leaning towards academia.

Would you recommend ACES to other students and if so, what advice would you give students?
I would definitely recommend ACES. The advice that I would give is not to be afraid to try new things. Even if you had one experience or heard about the experience of others, you should try it for yourself. You don’t want to question “what if” later.

How is your grandfather doing? Has he tried the robot?
He’s doing good. He lives in Virginia, so he hasn’t tried the robot. I wish I could transport the machine. Maybe one day. He’s doing good though.

Read the full article in LASER Magazine.

The grant will galvanize the team’s medical imaging technology research.

by Lori Brandt, UCI Samueli School of Engineering

Nov. 8, 2022 – UCI biomedical engineering Professor Emeritus Bruce Tromberg has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest distinctions awarded to professionals in the medical sciences, health care and public health. He is one of 90 new U.S.-based members and 10 international members announced by the academy last month.

Tromberg, director of the NIH National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, is a founding faculty member of UCI’s Department of Biomedical Engineering. A renowned researcher in biophotonics, Tromberg served as director of the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic for more than 15 years. While there, he oversaw the development, application and dissemination of optical technologies in biology and medicine. His work includes pioneering research contributions to the technical fields of biophotonics and biomedical optics.

“I am honored and delighted to be named to the 2022 class of National Academy of Medicine members,” said Tromberg in an announcement published by the NIH NBIB. “I’ve been fortunate to work with so many generous and talented colleagues, both as a professor at the University of California, Irvine for nearly 30 years, and director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at the National Institutes of Health since 2019. It is a constant source of inspiration and pride for me to be part of a community that develops cutting-edge technologies to improve the lives of patients.”

The academy cited Tromberg’s “leadership in biomedical engineering and the NIH Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Technology Initiative (RADx Tech).” At the NIH NBIB, Tromberg helped guide the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic by engaging government, academia, and the research and development innovation/entrepreneurship community to increase SARS-COV-2 test capacity and performance in home, point-of-care and lab settings at unprecedented speed, scale and impact.

Click here to read the full article on the UCI Samueli School of Engineering website.

by Tonya Becerra, UCI Samueli School of Engineering

Oct. 27, 2022 – UCI’s Department of Biomedical Engineering was born on the basketball court. Between dribbles and dunks, the vision of creating a new department, where engineering would merge with medicine and biological sciences for the betterment of human health, began to take shape.

In 1995, avid basketball fans Steven George, then chemical and biochemical engineering and materials science assistant professor, and Bruce Tromberg, then electrical and computer engineering associate professor, met on Sundays at the newly constructed University Hills basketball court for a regular pickup game with other faculty, postdocs, graduate students and occasionally the men’s head basketball coach.

“We chatted in between games about our families, Irvine and also our research programs,” says George. “It quickly became clear that the Beckman Laser Institute (and Medical Clinic), where Bruce’s lab was located, was the focal point for biomedical research on campus. Bruce mentioned there were several medical and doctoral students pursuing their thesis work at the BLI, but there was not an adequate home for the engineering-oriented students. Most of these students chose biophysics/physics or electrical engineering. He thought there might be an opportunity to develop a biomedical engineering program on campus.”

George told Tromberg about the Whitaker Foundation. “This foundation was investing heavily to establish biomedical engineering as a rigorous academic discipline in the form of grants to develop formal academic programs and departments, as well as ‘new/young’ investigator grants,” explains George, whose first extramural grant was from the Whitaker Foundation.

These early conversations at the basketball court occurred around 1995-96. “Without this beautiful new court, we may not have been able to retain Steve George, probably one of UCI’s most impactful ‘basketball plus leadership’ recruits of all time,” says Tromberg, who had come to the BLI as a postdoc in 1988. “BLI urgently needed a main campus partner to expand biophotonics as an academic discipline. Biophotonics and biomedical optics were growing exponentially around the world, driven by remarkable technologic advances and robust commercialization of medical lasers, phototherapies, optical coherence tomography (OCT), laser microscopies/microbeams and endoscopies/minimally invasive surgeries; all core areas pioneered by the BLI. This was vital for attracting and retaining students and faculty. Establishing a BME department was a perfect opportunity, but creating it from scratch required substantial investment.”

Enter Nicolaos “Nick” Alexopoulos, who arrived in summer 1997. He had left UCLA to join UCI as engineering dean and professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and he was integral in launching the BME department.

For Alexopoulos, the motivation was deeply personal. “I had an older and brilliant brother who was an engineer,” he says. “I became an engineer because of him. Unfortunately, he got eye melanoma and lost his eye. Within a year, there was a metastasis in his liver. I recall a visit to a doctor where my brother was told that he just worried too much. Yet the cancer was growing fast. When the doctor finally accepted the fact the tumor was inoperable, it had to be reduced in size. The only way to do it back then was with high levels of heat. So, my brother participated in an experiment, but the technology was too primitive and painful at the time. He did not survive it. This experience reinforced my goal to help educate doctor/engineers and doctor/scientists.”

Driven by the loss of his brother, Alexopoulos envisioned forming a BME department, “I immediately started the process, but the school was small and some faculty opposed it because they needed resources to grow their own departments. Nevertheless, I proceeded slowly and got the agreement and help from the dean of the medical school at that time, Dr. Tom Cesario, and colleagues at the Beckman Laser Institute.”

George says, “In 1997, there were only four departments and approximately 60 faculty, but the economy was starting to pick up and there were significant growth opportunities on the entire campus, including the school of engineering. During the 1997-98 academic year, I approached Nick about the Whitaker Foundation, and the opportunities they presented for establishing biomedical engineering programs/departments.

“I distinctly remember telling him, ‘I think we can be competitive for their smaller award – the Special Opportunity Award’ (approximately $1 million over three years). Nick did not hesitate: ‘Steve, what is their biggest award, and what would it take to get it?’ That changed my entire thinking about what might be possible. I said, ‘Well, there is the Development Award, but that award has only been given to a small number of campuses willing to invest like six to 10 new faculty lines and commit to forming a department.’ He said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

George and Alexopoulos were concerned about a junior faculty member leading the project and decided the BLI would need to play a guiding role. Tromberg introduced George to BLI Director Michael Berns. “Michael was keen on the idea and had the leadership skills to be the principal investigator on the application,” recalls George. “The problem was that he was not an engineer by training and really knew nothing about planning an undergraduate program in BME – a requirement of the Development Award. Michael and Bruce developed the research focus areas (photonics, computation and microfabrication/MEMS), and I developed the undergraduate and graduate programs. Nick committed something like six to eight new faculty lines and space in the school of engineering. We also cobbled together an early External Advisory Board that included William J. Link.”

In 1998, the Whitaker Foundation granted a $3-million Development Award to form the Center for Biomedical Engineering. “I am pretty sure we shocked the BME world at the time,” says George. “We were clearly the least ‘developed’ program that had ever received the Development Award, and our success was due to a combination of many features. But I think future potential, including the local biomedical device sector in Orange County, played a major role.”

Alexopoulos was also drawn to the immense potential of Orange County’s biomedical field. “Orange County was like a Silicon Valley but for biomedical technology companies,” he says. “I visited just about all of them (big and small) and asked them for their help and participation. They helped create the department by talking to the chancellor and administration, and by giving money to UCI and the school of engineering. Their support was also critical.”

One of the early industry supporters was Link and his wife, Marsha, who later donated $1.5 million to establish the William J. Link Endowed Chair in Biomedical Engineering in 2001. Link is a successful medical device entrepreneur and venture capitalist, whose companies have included Chiron Vision, American Medical Optics and Versant Ventures. “When I look through my engineering rose-colored glasses at recent medical advances, I see talented engineers who have discovered unique solutions for health problems,” said Link in 2002. “Marsha and I thought, ‘What better way to help than to contribute to a university we’re fond of and a field that we’ve benefited from immensely?’ It’s helped us do well and do good.”

“In the first year (1999), we recruited several new faculty and began the long process of establishing a new department and new undergraduate program,” recalls George. “Progress was good, but about halfway through the first year, Michael Berns had a recurrence of an illness that would not allow him to continue to lead the program.” With the support of Alexopoulos and Tromberg, George became the new principal investigator and eventually the founding chair, serving from 2002 to 2009.

In 2000, the BME graduate program launched. In 2002, the Center for Biomedical Engineering officially transformed into the Department of Biomedical Engineering, including two undergraduate degree programs and an expanded graduate program offering master’s degrees and doctorates.
“By the end of the Development Award in 2004, we had a critical mass of new faculty (six to eight), and the only existing faculty who moved to the new department were myself (50%), Bruce (50%), and Michael (50%),” says George.

William “Bill” Tang joined the faculty in 2002 and served as acting department chair from 2005 to 2006 and again from 2009 to 2010. He was also the school’s first associate dean for research from 2008 to 2013. Tang recalls: “My fondest memories are always the precious moments in the annual department retreats. We not only talked about the reviews and future plans of the department, but also took some time to promote friendship among the faculty. There was one time when quite a few of us brought our musical talents to entertain everyone. One of us actually played regularly in a local establishment. That must be my fondest memory of the department.”

Looking forward, Tang says, “I hope the department continues to excel in all that we do – research, teaching and service. I also hope that at the same time, we continue to grow in our diversity and collegial relationships.”

Part of the growing diversity was the arrival of Michelle Khine, BME’s first female faculty member in 2009. She was drawn to “the stellar microfabrication/ microfluidics folks here.” Khine says, “It was amazing how many leaders in the field were at UCI. Plus, the weather here sure beats the other places I was considering.”

Her experience turned into more than just fair-weather friends. “I was overwhelmed by how supportive and great this department is,” says Khine. “Enrico Gratton graciously opened his lab up to me and my students – so before my lab was even set up, we had published a paper together. Everyone was so great and collaborative that they quickly became a second family to me. In fact, the Elliots (Hui and Botvinick) are like brothers to me. Elliot Botvinick officiated both my wedding and my mom’s funeral. I’ve always felt appreciated, heard, supported and respected (which is not typical of my experience being a woman engineer!). This department is very special with amazing people. Now, I am so proud of the women we’ve recruited over the years.”

In 2002, Abraham “Abe” Lee was recruited for the newly established California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (CALIT2). When he arrived, he was offered the choice of which engineering department to join. “At the time, there was a Center for Biomedical Engineering but no department,” he recalls. “I jumped at the opportunity, knowing that a department would be started soon.”

Lee served as department chair from 2010 to 2019. He notes, “The early days were precious in the sense of a having a mission to build something special. BME at UCI essentially started from scratch, and we were able to put our stamp on what type of department we were building and what type of impact we were envisioning. This sense of the collective sum being much greater than the individual parts was empowering and enthralling, motivating us to do what was best for developing the overall department and not just be concerned with one’s own career. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“We also sensed the community’s support, especially coming from the stakeholders in the BME industry who were cheering us on to succeed. The students were also proud to be the first graduates of this nascent department, and many are now leaders in different sectors of the BME ecosystem (research, corporate, healthcare). Over the years, we could start to see the fruits of our endeavors, as BME at UCI is not just a novelty and curiosity, but a recognized and established program that is among the best in the nation.”

Although the basketball court was the seeding ground, the Whitaker Development Award was the overwhelming force that drove department formation forward, according to Tromberg. “What Whitaker did uniquely was create a culture that inspired our senior campus leaders who embraced the BME opportunity at a critical moment early in their UCI careers. They responded to the high level of expectations set by Whitaker leadership during multiple site visits. This had a huge and lasting impact that energized our faculty, students, administration and the Orange County region. Twenty years later, this legacy carries on with a remarkable return on investment for UCI and the national BME community.”

Today, the UCI BME department has evolved with 33 faculty, dozens of professional researchers, 136 graduate students and over 500 undergraduates. The focus areas for the master’s degree and doctoral programs include three technology areas of biomedical photonics/optoelectronics, biomedical nano- and microscale systems/fabrication, and biomedical computation/modeling. BME faculty garner extramural grants with expenditures topping $30 million annually.

“The UCI BME’s mission statement is Inspiring Engineering Minds to Advance Human Health,” says Lee. “I hope UCI BME never loses sight of what it set out to be, a department that focuses on the human aspect, to educate engineers who want to use their skills to better their fellow human beings. We built BME based on a community effort, and we should continue to serve the community that made it possible. The humble beginnings beg for a humble attitude toward the success and acclaim that we are garnering.”

Click here to read the full article on the UCI Samueli School of Engineering website.