University of Rochester - Biomedical Engineering

02/17/2026

02/17/2026

Last week, the University of Rochester had a large presence at SPIE , the premier event for lasers, biomedical optics, optoelectronics, and technologies supporting biophotonic, quantum, and vision applications.

Our students performed especially well in the SPIE XR Student Optical Design Challenge, where three of Professor Jannick Rolland’s PhD students—Chi Zhang, Renuka Manjula Narayanan, and Yiwen Fan—were selected finalists. Renuka won second place for her pitch on “Binocular Visual Simulator for Human-Centric Virtual Reality Experience,” a collaborative project with Professor Susana Marcos, and Yiwen Fan won third place for her project on “An Optimization Tool for Designing Large-Scale Metasurfaces with Strong Near-field Coupling for AR/VR,” a collaborative project with professors Daniel Nikolov and Nick Vamivakas. Congratulations!

02/17/2026

🏆 Now Accepting Nominations for 2026 BMES Awards and Fellows

BMES is proud to recognize leaders who are advancing biomedical engineering through research, innovation, and impact.

Award categories include the Robert A. Pritzker Distinguished Lecture Award for 2027, Athanasiou Medal of Excellence in Translational Bioengineering, Wallace H. Coulter Award for Healthcare Innovation, Social Impact Award, Mid Career Award, Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Award, and the Class of 2026 Grade of Fellow.

🗓 Deadline: Tuesday, March 31, 2026 at 11:59PM EST

Submit a nomination today: https://hubs.la/Q043q2vM0

02/16/2026

Calling all BME students 🧬✨
Come hang with BMES this Spring and help us plan some exciting events! Your ideas matter. Be on the lookout for events this semester!

📍 Goergen 110 | ⏰ 2–3 PM, Sunday
📅 GMM dates above

See you there 💫

02/16/2026

Not your typical networking event 👀✨
Come meet students from different engineering disciplines and talk research, industry, and careers in a relaxed, rotating conversation format.

📍 Rettner 307
🗓️ 2/17 | ⏰ 6:30–7:30 PM

Great conversations. New connections. See you there 🤝

02/13/2026

When the pipeline to progress stops flowing, innovation stops. Help BMES spotlight the biomedical engineers securing tomorrow's breakthroughs.

02/10/2026

“The conventional idea has been that the brain needs to somehow discount, or subtract off, the image motion that is produced by eye movements, as this motion has been thought to be a nuisance,” says Greg DeAngelis, George Eastman Professor; professor in the Departments of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Neuroscience, and Biomedical Engineering and the Center for Visual Science; member of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience; and lead author of the new research, published in Nature Communications.

Your eyes don’t just look — they help your brain understand the world in 3D.

New URochester research overturns a long-held belief about vision, showing that the tiny movements our eyes make actually help the brain judge depth and motion, instead of getting in the way.

This discovery could lead to better virtual reality experiences (with less motion sickness) and deeper insight into everyday tasks like reading, recognizing faces, and safely navigating the world around us.

By rethinking a fundamental assumption about how the brain works, this research opens the door to more human-centered visual technologies and a better everyday viewing experience for all of us.

02/02/2026

Applications are now open to serve as a Track Chair for the BMES 2026 Annual Meeting. Track Chairs play a vital role in shaping the technical program, reviewing abstracts, and supporting scientific sessions. This is a prestigious BMES member only opportunity, and early applicants will receive preference.
‼️ Applications close today.
Learn more and apply here 👉 https://hubs.la/Q041j_jC0

02/02/2026