Experiences and lessons learned from the formation of a new IEEE EMBS student chapter

A student chapter of a professional society offers many benefits to faculty and students, as it presents a means whereby students can become engaged with a global community in their areas of training prior to graduation from their local institution. This paper addresses the experiences and lessons learned from the Fall 2005 formation of a student chapter of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) at Kansas State University (KSU). Since KSU does not currently support a formal biomedical engineering program, the overall goal of this endeavor was to establish an organization that could serve as a focal community for both ongoing and future biomedical efforts. Initial chapter activities targeted fund raising and the establishment of project teams whose goal is to design products to aid persons with disabilities. Successes include very rapid growth in numbers of participants, excitement that the students and local community express with regard to the design projects, and the broad diversity, in terms of both gender and area of study, of those participating. Lessons learned center on constitutional issues and the administration of the student design projects.