Quantitative Physiology Art Fair Celebrates Creativity and Engineering
Teams presented their works to four judges, who then selected the top projects.
U-M BME recently hosted its first-ever Quantitative Physiology Art Fair, an event that celebrated the merging of creativity and engineering. Students developed a diverse array of imaginative projects, reflecting a rich tapestry of artistic expression grounded in scientific accuracy.
Teams presented their works to four judges, who then selected the top projects. The first-place piece, “A Heart, Painting and a heart painting,” was a multimedia display that incorporated an interactive component, in addition to a more traditional painting. One feature of this presentation involved people using syringes and tubing to squirt paint from a 3D printed heart model onto a splatter sheet below to simulate blood flowing through veins and arteries into and out of the heart. The award for second place was a tie between two equally impressive teams: “Urine Trouble” and the Crochet Human Body. The inventive board game, “Digest-opoly,” secured the third spot and showcased a blend of humor to convey physiological facts.
Maria Coronel, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, noted her goals in coordinating this event. “Hosting an event like this seemed like the perfect marriage of creativity and science,” she said. “I wanted to spotlight how our students can think outside of the traditional engineering skills they bring to their classes to produce innovative projects that are capable of reinforcing important concepts.”
The fair provided a forum for students to develop projects that artistically represented organ systems and physiological processes. The criterion for success was not only creativity, but also the accurate incorporation of factual physiological information.
One project featuring crocheted organs affixed to a posterboard outlining the human body provided a visualization of how the organs look, as well as their placement and connection to each other as systems. Additionally, this team developed informative note cards to accompany the organs, offering visitors more details into each organ’s function and importance.
The third-place winner, Digest-opoly, conceived by junior Chase Gibson, cleverly fused the classic Monopoly game format with the intricacies of the digestive system. Game characters depicted food particles (i.e. chyme) journeying through the digestive tract, and the board was color-coded to reflect various digestive organs. Gibson’s enthusiasm for board games translated into a detailed playing surface, and he even sought the input of his art student roommate for advice on production techniques.
“Urine Trouble” captivated audiences with a multimedia presentation that explained the renal system via a catchy song. This dynamic team went a step further by creating an engaging music video, learning Garage Band and other computer editing software with the help of friends. The team also performed a live rendition of the song, providing a memorable educational experience.
Liam Gakodi, a member of the first-place team, summed up the sentiments shared with many of his classmates. “I love projects like these because they encourage students to use the concepts we have learned in interesting new ways,” he said. Senior Hera Akmal added that it “was nice exercising a different part of the brain with a more creative focus compared with the way we typically study for biomedical engineering classes.”
Other notable projects included a color-coded animation tracing blood flow through the heart, a handcrafted ceramic kidney with painted veins and arteries enhanced by colored tubes to simulate blood flow, and a 3D-printed model illustrating the hierarchy of muscles.
The judging panel, comprised of Clara Christopherson, an undergraduate from the Stamps School of Art & Design; Carly Lowe, a woodshop technician in the School of Art and Architecture; Alex Piotrowski-Daspit, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering and Internal Medicine – Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division; and Krista Sheneman, an MFA graduate from the Stamps School of Art & Design; were impressed with the students’ projects. “This is a great way to conclude the semester with something creative,” noted Dr. Piotrowski-Daspit. “This activity is a way to increase student understanding of the concepts reflected through a lens of creativity.”
“The students clearly researched the information and even developed a target audience for their art,” Sheneman added. “They took abstract concepts and brought them to life.”
“The presentations were excellent and the students clearly understood the lessons,” Lowe echoed. “They were engaged with the explanations and the goals of the projects, and did an effective job of melding their artwork with useful memory tools to convey the facts to others.”
Christopherson admired the ingenuity and open-mindedness of the engineering students. “They exhibited creativity in taking everyday themes to explore different approaches,” she said.
The Quantitative Physiology Art Fair was an opportunity to showcase student talent. By encouraging the teams to venture beyond the conventional realms of biomedical engineering and embrace their artistic sides, the event fostered a richer, more integrative understanding of physiology. There are plans to make this a regular component in the class syllabus.