Meeting Minutes, 3/12/08

Meeting Minutes
Neuroengineering Training Grant
3/12/08

Attendance: Heather Benz, Nasir Bhanpuri, Suneil Hosmane, Luke Johnson, Joseph Lin, Laura Malone, Nitish Thakor, Aaron Wong

Prospective Students Visits
L. Johnson created a flier describing NETI, to be distributed to prospective students coming to visit Hopkins. N. Thakor will try to put in an announcement/brief verbal introduction to NETI if it can be squeezed into the program, otherwise NETI students are asked to spread the word informally during meal times.

Publications
If you have not already done so, please remember to send a copy of all publications and conference posters to S. Hosmane.

NETI Projects Update
Note, all projects now have dedicated folders in the neuroengineering gmail account google documents list. All project heads are suggested to make use of these folders to facilitate dissemination of project information. A brief update of current ongoing projects is below:

Curriculum: C. Smith’s document detailing the curriculum has been revised, in the format of suggested courses to be more helpful when selecting classes to take. This will soon be posted on the website, possibly with links to individual course websites.

NETI student profiles: L. Johnson has created google documents in the neuroengineering gmail account to keep student profiles updated. Each person should develop and update their own documents, one containing information for the NETI website and one a more detailed progress
report.

NETI website: S. Hosmane is now in charge of the website, and will meet with A. Cassidy to transfer management responsibilities of updating the site.
Faculty Symposia: It has been suggested to hold one symposium at the end of August prior to the start of classes, and a second one at the end of the fall semester to facilitate the selection of rotation advisors.

Rotations website: S. Hosmane is working to draft a letter soliciting rotation projects to be compiled on a website dedicated to helping incoming students find rotations. The aim is to have this developed by early Fall.

Job Blog: A counter will be added to the job blog website by N. Bhanpuri. Also, there is some thought to collaborate with Aditya Polsani to increase postings and readership on the site.

Conference List: A. Wong is working to update the list of available conferences and workshops and is currently waiting for replies of any conferences not included in a preliminary list. He has already posted a draft of his list in the neuroengineering google documents in his project folder.

Presentation of NETI at a Conference: H. Benz is looking at upcoming conferences for good dates and for sessions that may welcome a poster about NETI. She will work on updating the old NETI poster originally created by N. Bhanpuri.

Essay Contest: Modifications have been made to the application form. Some preliminary efforts have been made to contact high schools, with the intent of holding the contest this semester with a May 10th deadline. The latest contest forms will be posted in the neuroengineering google documents folder, with plans to update the website as well. It has been suggested that the essay contest prizes include, apart from a monetary prize, an opportunity to meet with professors or see some of the labs at Hopkins.

Industry/Clinical Fair: Initial efforts have been made to contact those in charge of the Hopkins Career Fair and the BME design day, with responses pending.

Summer School Program: Efforts have been made to collaborate with Hopkins Engineering Innovations program (http://engineering-innovations.jhu.edu/), which runs a 2 week summer course for high school students. The current intent is to develop a one-day module to be inserted in the program. A suggested topic will be emailed out by J. Lin; any other ideas regarding possible topic suggestions are welcome.

NETI Meeting Minutes, 2/27/08

Meeting Minutes
Neuroengineering Training Grant
2/27/08

Attendance: Heather Benz, Nasir Bhanpuri, Natan Davidovics, Suneil Hosmane, Alan Huang, Luke Johnson, Joseph Lin, Laura Malone, Rezina Siddique, Nitish Thakor, Aaron Wong

NETI Projects
Administrative and initiative projects were distributed, with the suggestion that most people focus on the administrative tasks and perhaps a few members focus primarily on the larger projects, which might run on a year-long or longer time scale. All primary volunteers are asked to email L. Johnson a short write-up discussing the specific task(s) they are undertaking, what it will entail, and a projected timeline to complete the project. Projects and collaborators are listed below (heads are in bold).

Administrative Projects
Update the curriculum
C. Smith, N. Bhanpuri
Gather student information; finding a method for ease of updating. Suggestion: use a wiki or google documents
S. Hosmane, H. Benz
NETI website update and maintenance
N. Davidovics
NEWRON newsletter
N. Davidovics
Faculty symposia (clinical, BME core, Mind-Brain, etc.)
L. Johnson, H. Benz
Rotation listing website to facilitate finding potential advisors
S. Hosmane
Update the job blog
N. Bhanpuri
Create and maintain an alumni database (that also includes past trainees who have not yet graduated)
A. Huang
Update and organize a list of Neuroengineering-related conferences and workshops
A. Wong
Plan and organize the NETI Student Summer Seminar
L. Malone
Create a flier advertising NETI, to be included in the visiting students packet in March, and possibly organize an introduction to NETI
up for grabs!
Present NETI at a conference (SFN in DC in the fall, etc.)
H. Benz
Compile a list of fellowships and awards, along with due dates, to be posted on the website
R. Siddique

Larger Projects
Neuroengineering Essay Contest (revise, promote distribution, etc.)
N. Bhanpuri, A. Huang, N. Davidovics
Combined industry/clinical/research fair (perhaps piggy-backed onto the Hopkins Career Fair or BME Design Day)
L. Malone, H. Benz
Plan and run a summer school course about Neuroengineering, involving faculty or student-run lectures, some experiments, and lab visitations, perhaps in conjunction with the Whiting Engineering Innovation summer course or the Hopkins CTY program
J. Lin, A. Wong


Next Meeting
The next NETI meeting will be held in 2 weeks.

Meeting Minutes, 2/4/08

Meeting Minutes
Neuroengineering Training Grant
2/4/08

Attendance: Heather Benz, Nasir Bhanpuri, Natan Davidovics, Suneil Hosmane, Alan Huang, Luke Johnson, Laura Malone, Rezina Siddique, Christopher Smith, Nitish Thakor, Aaron Wong

Training Grant Renewal
The Training Grant goes up for renewal this Spring, and several pieces of information must be collected beforehand (efforts spearheaded by N. Thakor):

• Individual successes and distinguishing achievements
• Alumni achievements
• Facts tables: admissions information, etc.
• Curriculum – a firm curriculum including a core, electives, and tracks must be defined. C. Smith has offered to continue his efforts in this area.
• Cases studies of past and present students, perhaps one from each research area. A. Huang has offered to do a case study on M. Donahue, the first NETI alum who has graduated
• Efforts to increase diversity, which may include increasing awareness and interest in Neuroengineering to high school students and undergrads who may not be exposed to such areas of research (i.e. those not at Hopkins)
• Efforts to increase awareness of ethics and research methodologies
• Obtaining faculty vignettes including an NIH-style biosketch, a picture, and a paragraph about their research

To further distinguish the NETI program, it has been suggested that each person undertake a project which we feel passionate about. Some suggestions include:

• Making (clinical) faculty research more transparent and visible to students, particularly to incoming students seeking rotations (S. Hosmane volunteered for this project).
• Run a Neuroengineering Day to make Neuroengineering more accessible to undergraduates, such as by having a research symposium or poster day
• Set up an Industry/Research Partnership Day, where representatives from industry are invited to come and interact with current students
• Create a (state or national) competition similar to DARPA or the concrete canoe but with a Neuroengineering-related theme
• Plan and run a week-long summer school course about Neuroengineering, perhaps one open to undergrads or high school students
• Start a Neuroengineering Journal (web-based, perhaps)
• Compile a list of fellowships and awards
• Host a reception for Hopkins students and alum at conferences
• Create and execute a structured plan for welcoming incoming students interested in Neuroengineering (both in March and in August)

Other suggestions are welcome as well.

Meeting Minutes 1/23/08

Meeting Minutes
Neuroengineering Training Grant
1/23/08

Attendance: Heather Benz, Nasir Bhanpuri, Luke Johnson, Laura Malone, Aaron Wong

Goals and Initiatives
Prior to the meeting, L. Johnson and N. Bhanpuri met with N. Thakor and developed a list of goals reflective of what was accomplished last year and what the group might want to aim for this year. First was to promote awareness and interest in Neuroengineering (both at Hopkins and on a broader scope), accomplished through such means as the NEWRON newsletter, the Neuroengineering Essay contest, the NETI website, and the Fall Symposium. A second goal was to promote a strong, cohesive group of Neuroengineers at Hopkins, through such events as the Student Summer Seminar. Finally, a third, although lesser goal, was to increase clinical collaborations and translational research occurring at Hopkins. Other related efforts included the Neuroengineering job blog and the NETI blog. At a future meeting, these goals will be revised and clear initiatives formulated, with the aim that everyone contributes to at least one initiative.

Initiative Suggestions
Some ideas to consider for this upcoming year include hosting an event for Engineering Week in February, host a NETI-sponsored recruiting week event for incoming students in March, generate a forum for posting research rotation opportunities for incoming students, and make available peer-reviews of courses and continue to improve the Neuroengineering curriculum.

Grant Funds
Grant money should be spent on such purposes as conferences and workshops, but may also be applied to research-related materials such as books. N. Thakor should be informed of purchases for approval; submit receipts to Allen Strong. Remember that the fiscal year ends in July, so expenditures should be made prior to that time.

Progress Reports
Rather than having to continuously progress reports, a suggestion has been made to keep individual web-based progress reports that can be easily updated by each member as necessary. Thus begins the NETI campaign to go green.

Elections
Elections for new officers will be held at a future meeting.

Meeting Minutes, 10/31/07

Meeting Minutes
Neuroengineering Training Grant
10/31/07

Attendance: Nasir Bhanpuri, Andrew Cassidy, Natan Davidovics, Issel Lim, Aaron Wong

NIBIB Meeting
Representatives from the NIBIB are coming on Nov. 19th. To that end, student presentations must be prepared; they will occur from 11 AM to 12 PM and from 1 PM to 2 PM, with socializing time during the lunch hour in between. I. Lim is working to compile the presentation. A general format for the 2 hours is as follows:

10:45-11:00 – Set up
11:00-11:15 – Overview of NETI
11:15-12:00 – First round of student presentations:
-5 minute presentations: I. Lim, N. Bhanpuri, M. Xu, A. Wong, L. Johnson (maybe after lunch), N. Davidovics
-15 minute presentation: B. Landman
1:00-2:00 – Second round of student presentations
-5 minute presentations: M. Marr, D. Castillo, C. Smith, S. Hosmane, G. Colon, F. Tenore
-15 minute presentation: A. Cassidy

Note that the program will roughly follow the listed order of speakers, and each block will conclude with the long presentation. All speakers giving 5-minute presentations are requested to follow N. Thakor’s 2-slide format, with some small modifications allowed. Emphasis should be on the quality of training and individual successes achieved.

Next Meeting
All members are urgently requested to attend the meeting during the week of Nov. 14, for purposes of practicing the NIBIB presentation and discussing last minute logistics. Send I. Lim your schedules for that week so a meeting time can be coordinated.

Meeting Minutes 10/17/07

Meeting Minutes
Neuroengineering Training Grant
10/17/07

Attendance: Nasir Bhanpuri, Gabriel Colon, Natan Davidovics, Issel Lim, Christopher Smith, Aaron Wong

T-Shirts
There is a possibility of producing Neuroengineering shirts. I. Lim is working on a design; send ideas to her.

Essay Contest
Thus far, no applications have been received. The current deadline for applications is the first week of November; if no applications are submitted this deadline may be extended. The contest has been advertised in a few schools and on Fastweb, but further distribution ideas are welcome.

Website
N. Thakor is interested in introducing a new section of the website where Neuroengineering-related job listings can be posted. A new blog will be generated for job listings, and a link will be included on the Neuroengineering website.

NIBIB Meeting
Representatives from the NIBIB are coming on Nov. 19th. To that end, student presentations must be prepared; they will occur from 11 AM to 12 PM and from 1 PM to 2 PM, with socializing time during the lunch hour in between. S. Hosmane and G. Colon are to be in charge of general logistics; I. Lim will spearhead the effort to compile the presentation. A general format for the 2 hours is as follows:

10:45-11:00 – Set up
11:00-11:30 – Overview of NETI
-NEWRON, Essay Contest, Website/Blog, Mailing Lists, Administrative Meetings
-Conferences, Workshops, Seminars (Clinical Seminar, Student Seminar)
-Classes, Rotations
11:30-12:00 – First round of student presentations
1:00-1:50 – Second round of student presentations
1:50-2:00 – Concluding remarks
-Where we’ve been and where we are heading (future directions)

The general format for student presentations will be about an 8 minute presentation with 5 minutes spent on individual research and 3 minutes discussing the impact the training grant has had personally. Of the roughly 5 slides, one should discuss rotations. Topics to emphasize include clinical relevance (note: key purpose of the training grant is to foster clinical collaborations!), tools being learned/using, and some data/results for illustrative purposes. All NETI members are requested to generate 4-5 slides and summarize any material for the NETI overview by Nov. 7. A practice run will be held Nov. 14 at 12 PM. If you must present at a certain time, please let I. Lim know.

A short summary of this program including names of speakers and their research topics should be produced for distribution at the presentation.

Upcoming Things to Note
Elections should be held soon, as new NETI members will most likely be selected some time around November. Also, progress reports must be written, compiled, and submitted around that time.

Next Meeting
All members are urgently requested to attend the meeting on Nov. 14 at 12 PM on Homewood, for purposes of practicing the NIBIB presentation and discussing last minute logistics.