{"517341":{"#nid":"517341","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Bio\u0027s Best and Brightest visit Tech","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EMichael Hunckler worked in biomechanics labs when he was an undergraduate at Notre Dame, but he\u2019s shifting his focus toward cell mechanics, which is why he was among the 113 students visiting the Georgia Institute of Technology, where the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience and the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering hosted some of the nation\u2019s top recruits.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s hard to pass up an opportunity like this, the reputation of Georgia Tech speaks for itself,\u201d says Hunckler, who is considering Tech\u2019s Bioengineering (BioE) Ph.D. program.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EHunckler was one of 40 students who are interested in pursuing a graduate degree in the interdisciplinary BioE program, checking out the Petit Institute and Georgia Tech during the recruitment event on March 11.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EMeanwhile, at the same time, the Coulter Department (a combined department of Georgia Tech and Emory University) hosted 73 students who are interested in pursuing a graduate degree in biomedical engineering (BME). Students like Cara Nunez from the University of Rhode Island.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cI like the interdisciplinary approach here, because I have a wide range of interests,\u201d says Nunez, whose undergraduate majors at Rhode Island are bioengineering and Spanish. \u201cI feel like Georgia Tech would give me an opportunity to explore different areas and tie it together in a project that is specific to me.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EIt was a collection of young, big brains that you might expect at two of the nation\u2019s most respected graduate programs. BioE\u2019s interdisciplinary students come from eight different home schools at Georgia Tech, most of which are ranked in the top 10 by \u003Cem\u003EU.S. News \u0026amp; World Report\u003C\/em\u003E, including the No. 2 ranked Coulter Department.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cHow do you build a strong class of graduate students? Well, it starts with recruitment,\u201d says Shannon Barker, director of graduate training for the Coulter Department, who is especially interested in attracting future leaders in their field, \u201cthose rare students who have outstanding technical and analytical potential, while at the same time, possess well-developed communication skills and professional attitudes.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThis was a record-setting affair for both the BioE and BME programs in terms of sheer size.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cIt was the largest recruitment event BioE has ever had,\u201d says Laura Paige, academic advisor for the BioE program. It was the same thing for BME \u2013 this was the largest number of recruits they\u2019ve hosted.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EIn spite of the bigger crowd, Paige says BioE faculty still maintained the program\u2019s individual touch when it comes to recruitment.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cOne student commented that they did not expect one-on-one interviews with faculty, that she was one of 10 in a group with the faculty at other schools she visited,\u201d says Paige, who organized the BioE event with five of the program\u2019s eight home schools: (mechanical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, chemical and biomolecular engineering, materials science and engineering, and BME).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EIn addition to meeting one-on-one with faculty, the BioE recruits had a chance to grill a panel of current BioE grad students, who answered questions on everything from the academic load, to housing and quality of life issues. The BME recruits received the same kind of student-to-student inside skinny, which is critical, says Shannon O. Sullivan, because for many students, particularly those on a Ph.D. track, this is a five or six-year commitment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cWe show them labs and we introduce them to professors and tell them they can get a great education here, like they can at many of the schools they applied to. But we also ask them if they can imagine coming here and building a life,\u201d says Sullivan, the Coulter Department\u2019s graduate program manager, who organized a three-day BME event \u2013 the largest ever for BME \u2013 that included visits to both Emory and Georgia Tech (and a fancy dinner at the Fox Theater, as well as visits to different Atlanta hotspots with current BME grad students).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cWe\u2019ve orchestrated this event to emphasize both the intellectual side as well as the interpersonal side of Georgia Tech and Atlanta,\u201d Sullivan says. \u201cThis is about creating a community.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EAnd it took a community of 50 student volunteers to pull it off, led by Aline Yonezawa, a second-year BME grad student in the lab of Michael Davis. Yonezawa remembers when she was being courted by the Coulter Department, and used that as inspiration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cMy recruitment experience was a deciding factor for my graduate school decision,\u201d she says. \u201cI remember being impressed by all the faculty. But what really stood out to me was how friendly and collaborative everyone seemed to be.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EIn that spirit, the two programs \u2013 BioE and BME \u2013 collaborated for the week\u2019s climactic event on Friday, a research poster session that brought all 113 students and a large number of faculty together in the Petit Institute atrium.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cCoordinating the events was a wonderful change this year,\u201d Barker says. \u201cThese two programs are so important and complement each other well.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECONTACT:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cbr class=\u0022Apple-interchange-newline\u0022 \/\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Record number of graduate student recruits hosted by Petit Institute and Coulter Department"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ERecord number of graduate student recruits hosted by Petit Institute and Coulter Department\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Record number of graduate student recruits hosted by Petit Institute and Coulter Department"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2016-03-24 16:14:19","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:09","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-03-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-03-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"517291":{"id":"517291","type":"image","title":"BioE Recruitment","body":null,"created":"1458923959","gmt_created":"2016-03-25 16:39:19","changed":"1475895282","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:42","alt":"BioE Recruitment","file":{"fid":"205168","name":"atrium_crowd.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/atrium_crowd_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/atrium_crowd_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3449143,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/atrium_crowd_0.jpg?itok=lYEV5WPB"}},"517301":{"id":"517301","type":"image","title":"Bob G.","body":null,"created":"1458923959","gmt_created":"2016-03-25 16:39:19","changed":"1475895282","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:42","alt":"Bob G.","file":{"fid":"205169","name":"bobg.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bobg_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bobg_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3552951,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bobg_0.jpg?itok=HvzqOVPp"}},"517321":{"id":"517321","type":"image","title":"BME recruits","body":null,"created":"1458923959","gmt_created":"2016-03-25 16:39:19","changed":"1475895282","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:42","alt":"BME recruits","file":{"fid":"205171","name":"caitlin_and_cara.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/caitlin_and_cara_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/caitlin_and_cara_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2757068,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/caitlin_and_cara_0.jpg?itok=48_-V6jH"}},"517331":{"id":"517331","type":"image","title":"BioE and BME students","body":null,"created":"1458923959","gmt_created":"2016-03-25 16:39:19","changed":"1475895282","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:42","alt":"BioE and BME students","file":{"fid":"205172","name":"michael_and_juline_copy.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/michael_and_juline_copy_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/michael_and_juline_copy_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1248719,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/michael_and_juline_copy_0.jpg?itok=eWfXri2h"}},"517311":{"id":"517311","type":"image","title":"Garcia and class","body":null,"created":"1458923959","gmt_created":"2016-03-25 16:39:19","changed":"1475895282","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:42","alt":"Garcia and class","file":{"fid":"205170","name":"garcia_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/garcia_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/garcia_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2768714,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/garcia_0_0.jpg?itok=bfjSxcwO"}}},"media_ids":["517291","517301","517321","517331","517311"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"171852","name":"go_bioE"},{"id":"1808","name":"graduate students"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cbr class=\u0022Apple-interchange-newline\u0022 \/\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jerrygrillo1960@gmail.com"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}