Student Life
Get Involved With Student Organizations
Beta Mu Epsilon
Beta Mu Epsilon’s mission is to foster community and personal development through academic endeavors, professional growth, and philanthropic service. The student chapter was established in 2015 and is open to all majors. The chapter has six pillars: biomedical, scholarship, professional, philanthropy, social, and membership. The group hosts many service events for all members, as well as community-building, alumni networking, professional office hours, and internship and resume advice events.
Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES)
BMES is a group of undergraduate and graduate students who are committed to enriching the academic and professional lives of students passionate about Biomedical Engineering. BMES hosts a variety of technical, professional, volunteering, and social events over the course of the year in hopes to expand student’s opportunities! Members of the U-M BMES chapter attend the BMES Conference in each October. The 2025 Annual Conference will be in San Diego.
Graduate Student Council (GSC)
The Mission of the Graduate Student Council is to build community within BME at the graduate level through supporting BME initiatives and to advise the department on graduate student issues including curriculum, recruiting, visibility and placement.
MedLaunch
MedLaunch is a community of students at the University of Michigan passionate about biomedical innovation and entrepreneurship. We develop assistive technologies with local community partners with disabilities in an effort to provide assistance with daily tasks.
Projects range from a variety of skills and interests including computer science, machine learning and AI, robotics, sewing, CAD, and graphic design. Members of our team represent many different career fields such as Engineering, LSA, STAMPS, premedical, and many more as we are open to students from any background. MedLaunch provides hands-on design experiences alongside community partners, empowering students to become innovative thinkers.
M-HEAL
Michigan Health Engineered for All Lives (M-HEAL) is a U-M student organization that fosters interdisciplinary work in global health, design, and entrepreneurship. M-HEAL’s mission is to use education, needs assessment, design innovation, and social entrepreneurship to improve access to health care in underdeveloped communities. We envision a world where every person has access to appropriate, affordable, and high-quality health care.
Michigan Neuroprosthetics Team
Michigan Neuroprosthetics is a student organization that designs cost affordable, accessible, and scalable muscle-controlled prostheses for children, while simultaneously offering students an opportunity to learn through real world project experience. We focus primarily on working with families to build devices customized to their needs, with a secondary aim of increasing global accessibility.
Michigan Synthetic Biology Team
The Michigan Synthetic Biology Team is an entirely student run research and engineering design team in the biological sciences. We develop and execute our own research projects in the area of synthetic biology. Students have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in conducting scientific research, running a laboratory, engineering novel biological systems, fundraising, public outreach, leadership, and working as part of a multidisciplinary team. Every year, the team competes in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) jamboree competition in Paris, France.
Sling Health — Ann Arbor
Sling Health is a student-run group that facilitates bio-engineering design and entrepreneurship on campus. This incubator brings together student teams from various backgrounds to address medical issues and improve healthcare. Teams are made up of health focused students, such as medical, engineering, law, and business students, to bring their expertise to the problems facing healthcare today.
UrBME
UrBME is a student group aimed at providing a community space for students interested in biomedical engineering, medical research and the biotech industry that offers support, resources, and space to learn, connect, and grow.
Quick Links:
- Explore College of Engineering Student Organizations
- Explore Michigan Medicine Student Organizations
- Join a U-M Student Organization
- U-M Units and Programs Resource List
LatinXinBME
In 2022, Carlos Aguilar, associate professor, biomedical engineering, founded a LatinXinBME group. “I founded this group because Hispanic graduate students are now our department’s largest underrepresented minority and I wanted to form a support structure for them,” Dr. Aguilar said. “I wanted to celebrate these students, let them know they have a mentor who looks and speaks like them, and that there are others who share our heritage. We had dinners to meet one another last year and sponsored travel awards for students to present their work at conferences. I was able to obtain funding for this group through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and a fellowship that supports Jesus Castor Macias (our College of Engineering’s first HHMI Gilliam fellow).” HHMI’s Gilliam Program invests in graduate students from populations historically excluded and underrepresented in science so that they are prepared to become scientific leaders.
“Thank you again to Dr. Aguilar for the opportunity and for making the LatinXinBME group possible,” said Carlos Urrego, a PhD student in Professor David Kohn’s lab. “I can’t stress enough how much it has changed my perception of the program and increased my sense of belonging.” Dr. Aguilar said the group is intended to encourage and support Hispanic graduate students. “This year, I hope to achieve a few additional goals, such as building a bank of successful essays for fellowships (it’s my goal to get more Hispanic students winning prestigious fellowships), have practice presentations for students to introduce their work to one another, and, of course, eat!”