Senior Design Project

The Senior Design Project is a critical component of the BME student experience. It is a capstone or culminating experience for the program and serves as a synthesis point for concepts presented across the BME curriculum. This two-semester sequence (BME 198A and BME 198B) is centered on a design experience wherein students – either individually or in teams – identify a problem or need within the field of biomedical engineering, propose a solution, execute their proposal, and report their results in a professional and scientific manner. Because of the broadly interdisciplinary nature of the biomedical engineering field, students are encouraged to form groups and design teams with senior design students in other departments.

Students are encouraged to begin forming teams and identifying possible project ideas at least the summer before their Senior Year. Students are free to develop their own project ideas from scratch, continue and expand on previous projects and/or competition teams, or apply to join one of the formal Senior Project programs offered by SJSU and the Biomedical Engineering Department (e.g. JABIL Scholars, SJSU-UCSF Shadow a Clinician Program). Projects with industry collaborations, such as those that branch from an internship experience, are encouraged. Regardless of the route(s) students choose to follow, they must identify a BME Faculty member to act as the Technical Advisor for their project. 

The first semester of the Senior Design Project guides students through the development of an NIH-style project proposal that serves as the template for the execution of the project. By the end of the semester, students are expected to have a complete proposal with the following sections:

• Specific Aims Page
• Significance and Innovation
• Approach

These three sections will be developed as separate assignments over the course of the semester, before being finalized as chapters in the Final Proposal. Students are responsible for obtaining input and guidance from their Technical Advisors throughout the development of their proposal. For students working with external programs, such as JABIL Scholars or the UCSF Shadow a Clinician Program, or with industry affiliates, must also obtain approval from these outside stakeholders.

The second semester of the Senior Design Project is primarily dedicated to the completion of all design, prototyping, and testing required for the success of their project. The Senior Project culminates in students presenting their work at the annual Biomedical Engineering Showcase in May, as well as a written report describing the project activities and outcomes.