FIU Biomedical Engineering

On July 30th, we celebrated the BME Summer 2026 Senior Design Expo, and what a day it was! 👏

Eleven BME Senior Design teams took the stage to present the innovative solutions they spent months designing and developing, impressing a panel of industry judges with their creativity, technical expertise and professionalism.

The excitement continued during the Poster Competition, where each team had the opportunity to showcase their work, answer questions and discuss the impact of their projects with attendees.

The event concluded with an awards ceremony recognizing outstanding achievements in the oral presentations and poster competition, as well as exceptional leadership and collaboration.

Congratulations to all of our seniors on reaching this milestone, and thank you to our faculty, mentors, staff, sponsors and judges for making this semester’s expo such a memorable success.

👉 Swipe to the end to meet this semester’s winners!

Come join us next Thursday, July 30, for BME’s Senior Design Expo Summer 2026! Come see and support 11 teams as they present their capstone projects in front of judges. July 30 | 8:00AM | EC 2300
See schedule details below:

EC 2300
8:00am-8:20am - Introduction & Welcome Remarks
8:20am-12:00pm - Oral presentations:
Team 1 - 8:20am
Team 2 - 8:40am
Team 3 – 9:00am
Team 4 - 9:20am
Team 5 - 9:40am
Team 6 – 10:00am
Team 7 - 10:20am
Team 8 - 10:40am
Team 9 – 11:00am
Team 10 - 11:20am
Team 11 - 11:40am

Panther Pit
12:00pm-1:00pm - Lunch
1:00-2:15pm - Poster Competition

EC 2300
2:45pm-3:00pm Congratulatory Message & Montage
3:00-3:30pm - Awards Ceremony & Closing Remarks

Valentina Dargam, Ph.D., receives American Heart Association Career Development

Early career FIU Biomedical Engineering faculty member Valentina Dargam, Ph.D., has received a three-year, $231,000 Career Development Award from the American Heart Association to advance research on using heart sound features to identify bicuspid aortic valves and calcification.

The award will support work aimed at improving the early detection of cardiovascular disease through innovative analysis of heart sounds.

The project is led by Dargam with mentorship from Josh Hutcheson, Ph.D., principal mentor, alongside Christian Poellabauer, Ph.D., and Tom Nguyen, M.D., of Baptist Health. Together, the team is working to translate this research toward future clinical applications.

"I'm honored to receive this award as I begin my academic career at FIU," said Dargam. "This milestone reflects the mentorship and support I've received from colleagues at FIU and Baptist Health, and I'm excited for the work it will enable in advancing early detection of cardiovascular disease."

Congratulations to Valentina and the entire research team.

Learn more about the research behind this award:
https://news.fiu.edu/2026/taking-it-to-heart

SAVE THE DATE for BME’s Summer 2026 Senior Design Expo.

Come and show your support for the 11 teams of graduating seniors that will be presenting their capstone projects, for which they created and prototyped a solution for unmet biomedical needs.
July 30 | 8:00 AM - 3:30 PM | EC 2300


Should you need an ADA accommodation to participate in a University event, program, or activity or need to request materials in an accessible format, please contact FIU’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) at 305-348-2785 or [email protected]. All requests for ADA accommodation or accessible materials for this event must be submitted to OCR at least seven (7) business days prior to the event.

The em dash has become one of the most recognizable signs of AI-generated writing. But why do models like ChatGPT keep using it?

FIU AI researcher Mustafa Ocal explains how AI predicts language, why em dashes appear so often in high-quality training data and whether avoiding them changes the way AI writes.

FIU Knight Foundation School of Computing
Read the full story:
https://news.fiu.edu/2026/why-does-ai-use-so-many-em-dashes-an-expert-explains?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=news_promotion&utm_term=College+of+Engineering+and+Computing

🧠 Exploring the fundamentals of AI and machine learning at FIU BME!

Yesterday, students, faculty and researchers gathered at MMC for “AI & ML Essentials,” a session led by Simone Innocente, a visiting scholar in the lab of Jessica Ramella-Roman, Ph.D., within FIU Biomedical Engineering. The presentation introduced key concepts behind artificial intelligence and machine learning, covering learning paradigms, classic algorithms and the machine learning pipeline.

From supervised learning to neural networks, attendees gained a practical overview of the tools and techniques that are increasingly shaping scientific research and innovation.

Thank you to Simone for sharing his expertise and representing FIU BME, and to everyone who joined us for an engaging discussion on the foundations of AI and ML.

🧠 Inspiring the next generation of scientists!

On May 28, FIU Biomedical Engineering partnered with Campbell Drive Middle School for a neuroscience outreach event hosted as a satellite session of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping’s Brain Mappers of Tomorrow initiative.

Led by three FIU undergraduate students under the supervision of Kangjoo Lee, Ph.D., the session featured interactive activities that introduced 7th and 8th grade students to how the brain learns, remembers and experiences the world around us.

The students were engaged, curious and full of great questions—and our FIU volunteers left inspired to continue making an impact through STEM outreach.

We look forward to growing this initiative in the years ahead!

Advancing innovation through collaboration 🤝

On May 8, FIU and Baptist Health South Florida hosted two interdisciplinary mini-workshops focused on cardiovascular research, neurotechnology, and improving patient care through collaborative innovation.

Held at Baptist Health’s Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute and FIU’s Innovation Complex 1, these workshops brought together researchers, clinicians, and leaders from both institutions to explore new opportunities in:
🔹 Collaborative research
🔹 Federal grant development
🔹 Clinician mentorship within FIU BME
🔹 Joint research centers
🔹 Innovation in aortic stenosis diagnosis and management

We are proud to continue building partnerships that advance research, foster innovation and create meaningful impact across South Florida and beyond.

A new era for FIU Engineering & Computing begins now.

Today marks the official start of Dean Jack Puleo’s tenure leading our college, and the beginning of an exciting new chapter defined by bold vision, innovation and impact.

With gratitude for his commitment to lead FIU Engineering & Computing into its next era, we look ahead with confidence and excitement for what’s possible under his leadership.

Grounded in discovery, driven by innovation and focused on translating research into groundbreaking solutions, his vision will help shape the future while elevating excellence across our college and beyond.

The work ahead matters, and together, we are ready to lead.

Read Dean Puleo’s message from the Office of the Dean:
https://cec.fiu.edu/about/office-of-the-dean/index.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=news_promotion&utm_term=College+of+Engineering+and+Computing