BioEHSC™ 2022
BioEHSC™ Competition Chairs: Reet Mishra (Senior Chair), Patrick Young (External Relations Chair)
Prize/Giveaway Development
The 2022 BioEHSC™ marked the return to an in-person iteration of the competition for the first time in three years! This year saw 46 registered teams from 23 high schools from the Bay Area, San Diego, and even South Korea! Dr. Vivenne Ming, co-founder and executive chair of think-tank incubator Socos Labs, gave the keynote speech at the opening ceremony. There were various in-person events that enabled competitors to engage more effectively with both fellow peers as well as Berkeley undergraduates, including lab tours, an assistive technology workshop with EnableTech, a hydrogels workshop with Bioprinting, and even an Arduino workshop led by BioEHS’s own Projects committee! Furthermore, experienced undergraduate and graduate students led research panels for competitors and talks for parents about the UC Berkeley student experience. Exploring the fields of biological and medical engineering, competitors presented their final work to judges from both academic and industry backgrounds affiliated with UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco, UCLA, MIT, University of Pennsylvania, Agriplex Genomics, Amyris, Ceevra, Deciduous Therapeutics, Felix Biotechnologies, and more on Saturday, April 2nd, 2022.
BioEHSC™ 2021
BioEHSC™ Competition Chairs: Jason Zhang (Senior Chair), Reet Mishra (Junior Chair), John Guan (External Relations Chair)
Advisors & Committee:
The 2021 BioEHSC™ saw over 50 registered teams from 31 distinct high schools for our second successful virtual competition. A critical goal for this iteration was to encourage the participation of students from underrepresented backgrounds, as well as simulate as close to an in-person symposium as possible. From as close as the Bay Area to as far out as South Korea, this year’s teams and mentors have braved all the challenges of the pandemic to develop some of the most innovative and impactful projects. Exploring two major categories: biological engineering and medical engineering, competitors presented their final work through Zoom and Gather.Town to panels of industry professionals, academic faculty, and researchers on Saturday, April 10th, 2021.
BioEHSC™ 2020
BioEHSC Competition Chairs: Nicholas Nolan (Senior Chair), Jason Zhang (Junior Chair), Daniel Yang & Nikhil Gupta (External Relations Chairs)
Advisors & Committee:
As the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic coincided with the 2020 BioEHSC™, our top priority was to maintain participant safety; as such, this year’s competition successfully shifted to a digital platform. 39 teams from 26 distinct high schools competed, the largest number of participating high schools yet, yielding a bright and diverse cohort of competitors. With their mentors, teams explored their biological and medical engineering ideas. On Saturday, April 4th, teams presented the culmination of their work at the digital symposium to judges composed of faculty, researchers, and industry representatives.
BioEHSC™ 2019
BioEHSC Competition Chairs: Victoria Lee (Senior Chair), Nicholas Nolan (Junior Chair)
Advisors & Committee:
The 2019 BioEHSC™ saw over 50 registered teams from 23 distinct high schools from the Bay Area and as far as Nevada. This competition group was by far the largest, and focused heavily on its outreach to underprivileged communities; the results were remarkably thorough, and the teams' seven weeks of labor were rewarded in their presentations at the final symposium on Saturday, April 6. It also saw more community involvement with judges affiliated with UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco, Bolt Threads, Berkeley Lawrence National Labs, Amyris, Venture Capital Groups, Stanford, MIT, Kaiser Permanente, and more ! Presentations were split between the topics of biological and medical engineering.
BioEHSC™ 2018
BioEHSC Competition Chairs: Nicholas Jeffreys (Senior Chair), Victoria Lee (Junior Chair)
Advisors & Committee:
The 2018 BioEHSC™ iteration sought and achieved greater diversification of its competing class, particularly to underprivileged communities, with 35 registered teams from 16 schools. Both new and old competitors alike saw the fruition of their labor on April 7, 2018, when they presented their research design projects to panels of industry professionals and academic researchers, broadly partitioned into categories of biological and medical engineering.
BioEHSC™ 2017
BioEHSC Competition Chairs: Sean Kitayama (Senior Chair), Nicholas Jeffreys (Junior Chair)
Advisors & Committee:
The 2017 BioEHSC™ reflected an increasing interest in the bioengineering field, growing even larger than its predecessors--with almost 170 students in attendance, the competition was bursting with talent and innovative ideas. Competitors began planning in late February, developing an engineering solution to a problem in either Medical or Biological Engineering, and presented their hypothesized designs at the final symposium on Saturday, April 1, 2017.
BioEHSC™ 2016
BioEHSC Competition Chair: Rohan Thakur
Committee:
Key Advisers:
BioEHSC™ expanded once again in its third year to reach 110 students from nine high schools around the Bay Area. A critical outreach goal was to extend participation to students from underprivileged backgrounds. Research projects began in late February and were judged at the final symposium on Saturday, April 9, 2016 at Stanley Hall on the UC Berkeley campus. Exploring two distinct subfields of bioengineering: synthetic biology and biomedical devices, competitors created 22 individual projects, a selection of which is listed below:
- Genetically modifying the TAS2R38 gene in Brussels sprouts with CRISPR technology
- Using nanotechnology to combat antihistamine overdose
- Using CRISPR/Cas9 to edit the genome of mosquitos by inserting a gene sequence specific for the Zika antibody
- Catheter port system with lymph node casin to treat lymphedema
- Addressing infectious E. coli through quorum sensing repression
- Detection of peanut allergens utilizing commercially available glucose meters
- Internal braces and antifibrinolytics on scoliosis treatment
- pH sensitive hydrogels for efficient drug delivery for GERD
- Treatment of Chagas Disease through enzymatic inhibitors and antibodies delivered with transformed E. coli
- Eliminating hemagloblastomas from von Hippel-Lindau Syndrome via synthetic gene circuits
- Dosage control of Measles antigen in Musa Cavendishii as an edible vaccine
- Designing ambient noise-cancelling programmable hearing aids
- Optimizing production of renewable butanol biofuel from waste through genetically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae
- Using virtual reality and neurofeedback to treat depression
- Smartinsulin: an innovative treatment approach for juvenile disease
Below are pictures from the event:
BioEHSC™ 2015
BioEHSC Chair: Arjun K. Aditham (Bioengineering ‘15)
Committee:
Key Advisers:
BioEHSC™ 2015 was our second year of the competition. We expanded to nearly 80 students in 15 teams from Albany, Harker, Logan, Lowell and Saint Francis High Schools.
Research began in February and the symposium was held on Saturday, April 4, 2015. Competitors explored two subfields of bioengineering - synthetic biology and biomedical devices. Below is a selection of projects that students proposed for the competition:
- Using 3D printing to create patient-specific livers for transplantation
- Combating freshwater human parasites via biosynthesized anti-parasitics
- Treating Drug Resistant bacteria with engineering bacterial vectors
- Using engineered yeast for rapid, low cost detection of Ebola
- Mitigating radiation damage from medical imaging by targeted antioxidant delivery
- Genetically modifying potato plants to combat iron deficiencies
- Development of novel polymers to prevent surgical infection
- A wearable diagnostic to detect heart attacks
- Engineered bacteria to improve hydrogen production for fuel cells
There were 15 distinct projects in 2015.
Below are pictures from the event:
BioEHSC™ 2014
Co-Founders:
BioEHSC™ 2014 was our inaugural competition, and attracted around 50 students in 11 teams from Albany, Berkeley, Lowell, and Lynbrook High Schools.
Research began in early March, and the symposium was held on Sunday, April 19, 2014. Competitors explored two subfields of bioengineering - synthetic biology and biomedical devices. Below is a selection of projects that students proposed for the competition:
- Treating Vitamin A deficiency through engineering gut bacteria
- Engineering yeast to target and treat gastrointestinal illnesses
- Glucose sensing watch
- Treating Alzheimer’s with retrovirus approaches
- Bioabsorbable heart stents
- Mask-type breathing filters
There were a total of 11 distinct projects in 2014.
Furthermore, here are some pictures of the day of the event: