BMEGC General Meeting 3-14-07
12pm – 1pm, Union 3202
General
 The point of representation from each lab at general BMEGC meetings was raised
o There was a discussion on making attendance at meetings mandatory, or having at least one
representative from each lab present
 Nominations are being collected today
o If anyone has a specific interest in a position, please speak to the current chair, and read the position
descriptions sent out in email
o Once all nominations are in, we will contact all those who are nominated to let them know and give them
the chance to accept or reject the nomination.
o A list of those people running will then be sent out to all the graduate students.
o Elections will be held at the April meeting.
 We will use a trickle-down theory of voting if you are nominated for more than one position.
 Doctoral Student Yearly Review due March 23rd to the office of graduate education.
o If you didn’t get one, check with Lorrie or email Dennis Gornic.
o If you were accepted as master’s student, you need to fill out advancement paperwork for PhD track
before the end of the month.
o If you added the masters to your PhD, check with Lorrie & the registrar to make sure they keep your
account open.
 Faculty Candidates
o Dr. Ashok Ramasubramanian is visiting today and tomorrow. His research area is biomechanics of soft
tissues, grown, remodeling and morphogenesis; biomechanics of blood vessel formation, etc.
 His lecture will be today at 1:30pm in DCC 337. All graduate students should attend, schedule
permitting.
o We will be having another faculty candidate visiting March 29-30th. His name is Dr. Yu Chen, and his
research interests are very similar to those of Dr. Intes.
 We are looking for volunteers to take him to lunch on Thursday the 29th from noon to 1pm.
 Dara Missan & Karen Ellison have volunteered. Anyone else interested contact Mary Beth
Mulrane.
 BME Senior Design Project presentations will be held on May 4th. All graduate students should try to attend.
Communications Chair
 Our website is now linked to the department’s website.
o Go to the BME Department website, the link is off of the Grad tab.
Service Chair
 Project for spring semester
o Rolling for Autism
 The date is set for Sunday, April 15th at Bomber’s.
 Glenn is looking for volunteers to help visit local businesses inquiring whether they would like to
donate money or a raffle prize to the cause. (sandeg2@rpi.edu)
 Each Lab will be in charge of collecting local donations (i.e. items to raffle, monetary
donations, etc). Look for an email with more information.
Social Chair
 Winter Invitational bowling winners
o Team Ledet won the team trophy with an average score of 122 over 24 games with 8 bowlers
o Team Thompson came in a close second with an average score of 109 over 20 games with 7 bowlers
o Karen Ellison took home the Top Women’s Game trophy with a score of 154
o Dr. Ledet took home the Top Men’s Game trophy with a score of 172
 Upcoming Events:
o This coming Saturday, March 17th come on out to the Albany St. Patrick’s Day Parade! Parade starts at
2pm, talk to Karen if you’re interested in carpooling
o GM Wednesday (March 28th) Movie/Games Night in the grad lounge

o Spring invitational bowling: April 23rd at Uncle Sam Lanes.
o May 5th Cinco de Mayo Party at Angela’s house
o May 16th Kickball Game Championship
This coming Friday is the Baby Shower for Dr. Vashishth & his wife. If you haven’t already, sign the card and give
money to Colleen or Mary Beth if you’re interested in contributing.
Ongoing Projects
 Logo / T-shirts
o Aaron Weymouth is working on final draft of proposed departmental logo
 Angela will work on getting approval from the department & school.
o T-shirt design and prices are finalized. They will be a deep royal blue shirt with the white BME logo on
the front. Short sleeve shirts will be $12 and long sleeve will be $16.
 Angela will send an email to faculty asking to announce shirt sales this week.
 Please sign up for a class to sell shirts at (before/after the class). We will pre-order the shirts next
week to cover the costs of making the shirts.
 Goal is to pre-order enough shirts by March 23, so we can have the shirts in time to sell at
accepted students day.
 Angela will also have Lorrie send out an email to the undergraduates.
 Look for an email with order forms & class schedules.
 Budget
o We will present a new budget by the end of fiscal year (June 30th).
Departmental Requests/Achievements
 REMINDER: BME Advisory Council request for participants
o April 13th 8:30am and/or 12-1:30pm Union 3202
o Networking event with many people from industry and academia, to discuss the current and future state
of the BME department at RPI.
o All graduate students are strongly encouraged to attend. More information to follow.
 Accepted Student’s Day is Saturday April 14th. We need volunteers to show the labs/give presentations. This
can include recruiting your undergrad URPs.
o One person from each lab (grad or undergrad)
Registering for Classes for Next Semester
 Registration starts soon, so we have provided a list of the classes that will be offered next semester on the
newsletter.
o Of particular interest are two new classes being offered by Dr. Spilker and Dr. Ledet:
 Dr. Spilker will be offering a 4XXX level class entitled Biomedical Modeling. He will be sending
Mary Beth a course description by the end of the week which she will forward onto the grad list.
 Dr. Ledet will be offering a 4XXX/6XXX entitled Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research.
The course description was discussed at the meeting by Dr. Ledet and will be available for
distribution shortly.
 The course will be co-taught with surgeons from Albany Med to cover each aspect of NIH
funding (~6-8 topics). TWR 9-10am
 If you are interested in taking this class, register early, the class will be capped at 40
students (grad & undergrad).
o Mary Beth will be sending out an email to gauge interest in Biomedical Modeling, Clinical Orthopaedics &
Related Research, and Biomechanics of Hard Tissues to see about the possibility of adding an additional
course to be taught by Dr. Corr in the fall.
Monthly Meetings & Luncheon Dates
 Next BMEGC meeting: April 4th , 12pm Union 3202
 Next BMEGC luncheon: Next week March 21st, 12pm Union 3202 (bring your own lunch).