Activities to Invigorate a Student Chapter of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society

An IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) student chapter can play an important service role for collegiate biomedical curricula, supporting (a) faculty and administrators as they offer biomedical programs and work to strengthen industry/community relationships, and (b) students as they engage in engineering skill development and seek industry employment, graduate school opportunities, or medical school placement. This paper summarizes recent projects and activities sponsored by the Kansas State University (KSU) Student Chapter of the IEEE EMBS - efforts intended to maintain interest in the student chapter while supporting its service role. Such a role will become more important in upcoming years in light of the increasing demand for biomedical engineers, especially in the Midwest United States, a reality which motivated the inception of a new KSU undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering starting in Fall 2018. The KSU IEEE EMBS student chapter can play a large role in the overall success of this new curriculum, and the projects and activities summarized in this paper are offered as examples to programs that may wish to benefit from an IEEE EMBS student chapter in a similar and meaningful way.