Start the Conversation
Student leaders bring outreach events to historically underserved communities and spark kids’ interest in bioengineering and healthcare.
More than 500 students from across the Seattle area hit the University of Washington’s Alaska Airlines Arena in March. They took part in the annual Sound Careers in Healthcare event, arriving from middle and high schools that have been historically underexposed to college and career opportunities. The students rotated through live, hands-on demonstrations of healthcare jobs and experiences.
Undergraduates Liam Knudsen and Naomi Nam represented UW Bioengineering at the career fair.
“The students are interested in healthcare, but they might not have a lot of understanding of engineering when they walk in. It can be very hard to imagine what a bioengineer does, so we just want to get them interested and start the conversation,” Nam said. She is a BS/MS student and a member of Professor Cole DeForest’s research group.
Nam and Knudsen are co-chairs for outreach of the UW Biomedical Engineering Society chapter. They have presented at many of these events throughout their studies, helping younger students understand the interdisciplinary nature of bioengineering, the ways it improves lives, and the variety of paths people take after graduating with a bioengineering degree.
“Programs like these and the incredibly talented students who run them are an integral part of the promise we make to the state. Naomi and Liam are already leaders, and they are already helping us build the next generation of bioengineers and encouraging first-generation student access to a UW education,” said Department Chair Princess Imoukhuede.
The students participating in Sound Careers in Healthcare swaddled baby dolls, learned how to draw blood, and even intubated simulated patients. Knudsen and Nam’s station, meanwhile, focused on medtech. They demonstrated a point-of-care ultrasound device and a robotic arm that visitors controlled using electrodes attached to their own arms.
“It’s our job to spark their curiosity,” Knudsen said. He conducts research with Professor Ashleigh Theberge in the Department of Chemistry and will start a PhD in the Department of Mechanical Engineering this fall, focusing on flexible electronics for sensors and wearable devices.
“When the questions start coming, you know you’re making an impact.”
Outreach events have made an impact in Knudsen and Nam’s lives as well. “I was going to focus on industry, but I discovered my love of teaching,” Knudsen said. “[Outreach] has driven my aspiration to be a professor.”
Sound Careers in Healthcare is co-hosted by the Healthcare Industry Leadership Table, Washington Alliance for Better Schools, and UW’s Center for Workforce Inclusion & Healthcare System Equity.
