Six New Partners Join VaNTH Bioengineering ERC

The Vanderbilt-Northwestern-Texas-Harvard/MIT Engineering Research Center (VaNTH) for Bioengineering Educational Technologies has signed six new business and industry partners to help the Center develop innovative and effective education and training programs in bioengineering.

The new industrial partners to help in the enterprise include:
Nova Bionics Inc., a Nashville-based company that makes microelectronic semiconductor products for health care and medical research clients, will help the Center financially and will provide internships for Vanderbilt bioengineering students. The company will also consult with Center researchers on course content.
N•Tara , based in Johnson City, Tenn., produces digital video, 3D animation and interactive programming for advanced-learning and corporate communications. The company will create computer models to help students visualize principles and techniques used in biomechanics and biotechnology. The company will also make a financial contribution to the Center.
DigiScript Inc., which records, archives and presents conferences and workshops for clients to access through the Internet, CD-ROM recordings, and printed material, has agreed to make a monetary donation to the Center as well as to record and archive Center workshops, seminars and conferences. The company is based in Franklin, Tenn.
Smith & Nephew will also make a donation and will provide student internships as well as consultation on coursework for the Center. The Memphis-based manufacturer of orthopedic devices is part of the international firm Smith & Nephew, which provides a range of medical devices in orthopedics, endoscopy, advanced wound management, and rehabilitation.
Datex-Ohmeda, a manufacturer of anesthesia-delivery systems based in Madison, Wisc., will donate equipment and discounted textbooks to the Center and will provide consultation on coursework. The company is a division of medical-technology firm Instrumentarium Corporation of Helsinki, Finland.
Abbott Laboratories will give the Center financial support and will provide student internships. The Abbott Park, Illinois-based company produces pharmaceutical and health care products.

The new industrial partners join original partner National Instruments of Austin, Tex. National Instruments is providing LabVIEW software, which is widely used in engineering research, production and education.

“Our industrial partners are an integral part of the Center’s mission,” says Jerry C. Collins, the Center’s industrial liaison and Research Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering. “Bioengineering students need real-world experience, and our partners’ financial support and consultation on the coursework we’re developing help us ensure that the new educational materials will provide students the knowledge and skills they will need in their future careers.”

The Center was founded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 1999 to provide the courses and educational resources in physics, mathematics, engineering science and biology that bioengineers need to keep pace with the bioengineering field’s rapid evolution. The Center focuses on integrating and synthesizing the knowledge base as well as developing effective educational materials to teach the complex range of skills and understanding required.