Collegiate Times

The School of Biomedical Engineering and Science, a joint endeavor between Virginia Tech and Wake Forest University School of Medicine, has brought in more than $4 million in new grants, the most in its history.

The idea for SBES came from Virginia Tech?s Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science, a multi-disciplinary institute that promotes developing high growth opportunities within the engineering and physical science departments at the university.

?We are thrilled to have (Wake Forest) as an affiliate of ICTAS,? said Roderick Hall, term director of ICTAS.

?Their performance is indicative of the phenomenal growth level that we need to see in areas in which we have made investments in the research enterprise. This group received $4 million of new awards last year. It takes a while for these investments to pay dividends, but when they do the momentum really begins to build.?

Elaine Scott mechanical engineering professor and director of the Center for Biomedical Engineering at Tech was part of the initiative to join Tech and Wake Forest for the center.

Scott said that the decision to join forces was based on both institutions seeking to strengthen their programs related to biomedical engineering.

?Virginia Tech lacked a medical school and Wake Forest lacked an engineering college and a veterinary program,? Scott said. ?We both had what each other needed, and so we decided to team up and try to work together.?

The point of the venture is to combine the strength of Wake Forest?s School of Medicine with the Virginia Tech College of Engineering and the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and the school is uniquely structured to facilitate interaction among engineers, scientists and clinicians, Scott said.

?Wake Forest provided a superb medical school and we provided an excellent college of engineering along with an outstanding college of veterinary medicine,? Scott said.

She said the opportunity to work together provided a way to capitalize on resources within both institutions and avoid duplication.

?The big advantage of our Wake Forest Medical School collaboration is that we will be connected to research and development at the clinical level and (will be) much closer to the patient,? Grant said. ?Wake Forest?s advantage is that they have access to research engineering faculty that can participate in their research and supply much needed quantitative perspective. Ultimately the collaboration can only help both (universities).?

The educational mission of SBES is to provide M.S. and Ph.D. graduate degrees in biomedical engineering. These degree programs are designed to promote and facilitate unique collaborative interactions between both faculty and students at Virginia Tech?s College of Engineering, the Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine , and the WFU School of Medicine.

The program is also a way to advance more research opportunities. A recent example of SBES? success is the newly funded CIREN Center, a collaborative effort between the Division of Surgical Sciences at Wake Forest?s Medical Center and the Center for Injury Biomechanics at Tech, Scott said.

She said students may take classes on either campus or via distance learning while residing on their home campus in either Blacksburg or Winston-Salem. The primary research areas are in imaging, biomechanics, tissue engineering and medical physics.

Scott was the first director for SBES but left the position in fall 2005. Grant is now an intern filling the position since Sept. 9. SBES will recruit a full-time director for the 2006-2007 academic year.

?SBES is a unique venture that is designed to fully capitalize on the strengths of two outstanding institutions. The willingness of people at both institutions to work together towards the greater good has been fantastic,? Scott said. ?With this type of attitude, great things can and will be accomplished.?