2024 Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference; Lake Geneva, Wisconsin; 11-14 June 2024

This award will support the Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference (SB3C); Lake Geneva, Wisconsin; 11-14 June 2024, with a theme of Innovation without Borders: Uniting Ideas, Technologies, and Communities. A hallmark of the SB3C is a focus on elevating research from students and trainees, provide academic and industry related professional development opportunities, enhance mentoring and participation by underrepresented groups, and broaden interaction between academic, government, and industry entities. The 2024 conference venue’s centralized location will provide an opportunity to increase diversity and accessibility to participants. These will be achieved through BS, MS, and PhD Student Paper Competitions, Diversity Travel Awards, networking events for industry members, women, and the LGBTQ+ community, a future faculty poster session, a ‘shark tank’ style technology pitch competition, and a sponsored diversity workshop and mentoring event. To improve accessibility to participants, a Kids Camp will be organized parallel to all scientific sessions and major conference events. The SB3C is a leading bioengineering conference held annually that promotes state-of-the-art research, collaboration, and scientific discourse in bioengineering; showcases research from students and trainees; and provides essential networking and mentoring opportunities across disciplines and levels of seniority. The conference will include plenary speakers, special sessions highlighting innovations from cross-collaborations, and from the integration of data science in biomechanics and mechanobiology with a scientific program in technical areas covered by the conference, including bio-solid mechanics, biofluid mechanics, biotransport, rehabilitation, cell and tissue engineering, and education. The conference will include in person talks, posters, workshops, networking, and social events. The objectives of the conference are: (i) enhance access to bioengineering research and education opportunities, particularly for underrepresented groups (ii) improve interfaces across basic research and translation, including biomechanics, bioengineering, and biotransport; and (iii) develop emerging bioengineering fields with high translational potential. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.