About 25 students shared research on biomedical topics from contact lenses to cancer Friday at UF’s first Biomaterials Day.
Guest speakers offered insight into getting new products on the market, and undergraduate and graduate students presented research project posters in the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom.
Materials science and engineering senior Stefany Holguin won $100 for best undergraduate poster, and biomedical engineering graduate student Matthew Carstens won $100 in the graduate category.
The day was funded mainly by a $5,000 grant from the national Society of Biomaterials, said Evelyn Bracho-Sanchez, a 23-year-old biomedical engineering senior who helped organize the event.
Keynote speaker Larry Hench founded the biomaterials specialization at UF, said Society of Biomaterials faculty adviser Anthony Brennan. Hench invented Bioglass and is a UF professor.
Biomedical engineering graduate student Jamal Lewis, 27, presented his research on developing a vaccine to prevent Type I diabetes. He said starting his own company is his ultimate goal.
