BME 434 (Biosensors, BioMEMS, and Nanomedicine) is an upper-level elective course at Western New England University that covers a wide range of topics regarding miniaturization in medical devices. One of the main course topics involves micro-scale sensors and actuators, which are useful for many applications in medicine. After teaching this course several times, it became apparent that students needed a context for learning about the details of these components, such as their fabrication and use. To address this need, a design project was developed to provide students an application-driven context to support the lecture material.

The project utilizes the Grove platform, which is an open-source modular set of tools that is compatible with Arduino microcontrollers. Students are presented with a Grove sensor/actuator and asked to design a medical device prototype that utilizes it. In addition to the technical work, students were also tasked with exploring the clinical relevance and market analysis of the concept created.

As a hook statement, the project was framed as an R&D initiative in a fictitious company (the course instructor served as the CEO). Each student represented an R&D team vying to develop a project to get the greenlight for further investment and development by the company. After the final presentations, the entire class participated in an online poll to determine the project that the company should ultimately pursue.