Author – Jessica Brassard
Hoda Hatoum is an assistant professor in Biomedical Engineering. Brennan Vogl is a graduate student in Hatoum’s research program. Hatoum’s lab studies structural heart biomechanics, cardiovascular flow, and congenital heart defect impacts on blood flow.
Attending conferences is part of #academiclife. Hatoum and Vogl joined colleagues to attend #SB3C2023 in June. The conference connects researchers in biomechanics and bio transport. The Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering & Biotransport Conference, or #SB3C2023, took place in Vail, CO, June 4–8, 2023. The theme of this year’s conference was “Building Interfaces Across Tissues, Disciplines, and Communities.” We asked Hoda Hatoum and graduate student Brennan Vogl to reflect briefly on a conference they attended in June.
Q: Why do you like to attend this meeting in particular?
A (Hoda): The meeting gathers all the researchers in biomechanics (fluids, solids, biotransport, AI, mechanobiology, education) and offers a great opportunity to meet people from different universities and research institutes. It’s an opportunity to attend and interact with speakers and to present our work and get feedback. I consider this meeting to be the most important meeting for our lab.
Q: Were there people you wanted to be sure to meet?
A (Hoda): Yes, absolutely! I wanted to be sure to meet old lab mates, colleagues, and more senior professors. I also wanted to meet with conference organizing committee members, since I am on the 2024 organizing committee.
Q: What are your key takeaways from #SB3C?
A (Brennan): I had the opportunity to attend workshops on some open source software that is unique to our field of research. This was a great opportunity to get one-on-one help with how to use the software and possible ways to implement it into our own work. I also met peers and faculty members to form connections as I consider the future of my career. I observed work and progression from other research groups to see the direction that our field is heading towards.
A (Hoda): It’s a great opportunity to network with other professors and discuss the science, potential collaborations, and grants and get feedback on our research work. I also find this an excellent chance to learn about how to be involved and how to integrate oneself into the field on a more personal level.
Q: What are some key memories as a session and poster presenter?
A (Brennan): I talked with other labs that have work similar to our own and discussed our findings. Often, other labs have a technique that they have developed that can be implemented in our own work, and this opens the path for future collaborations. Our work translates well to a clinical setting so it is always great to show our novel findings and the potential for use in better patient diagnosis and treatment.
Q: What post-conference follow up do you have planned?
A (Hoda): Our research group will share with more senior faculty, communicate with other researchers from outside the United States, and participate in seminars at other institutions.
Q: Do you have any new areas that you’d like to explore based on what you learned at the conference?
A (Hoda): Yes! But we can’t disclose anything quite yet!