Using a Multidisciplinary Team-Based Challenge to Promote Brainstorming and Prototyping of Medical Devices

Abstract

Abstract – Multidisciplinary teams of engineering and life science students are challenged to remove a foreign object from a child’s ear canal. Each group is provided with a model ear canal and asked to remove objects of different shapes and materials. The experience of iterative problem solving serves to encourage brainstorming and practice the prototyping process, which each team should complete in their over-arching design projects to be successful. Surveys taken from the students before and after the prototype challenge showed they learned more about the brainstorming method they used, but also learned what worked well for other groups. Student feedback indicates that this activity prepared them to be creative and tackle the larger challenge of developing a solution to their own design project as part of the Biomedical Engineering Capstone Design course.