BME department hosts eighth annual symposium

Meghan King | Posted on April 24, 2026
  1. The audience listening to research presentations during the eighth annual BME research symposium
    Jesus Gurrola
    The audience listening to research presentations during the eighth annual BME research symposium
  2. BME Department Head and Professor Tom Royston listens to a student talk about their research during the symposium.
    Jesus Gurrola
    BME Department Head and Professor Tom Royston listens to a student talk about their research during the symposium.
  3. Students discuss research together
    Jesus Gurrola
    Students discuss research together
  4. BME Professor Dieter Klatt checks out one of the many posters at this year's annual BME symposium
    Jesus Gurrola
    BME Professor Dieter Klatt checks out one of the many posters at this year's annual BME symposium
  5. Students present research
    Jesus Gurrola
  6. Award winners show off their certificates at this year's research symposium
    Jesus Gurrola
    Award winners show off their certificates at this year's research symposium

The Richard and Loan Hill Department of Biomedical Engineering and the UIC student chapter of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) held the eighth UIC Biomedical Engineering Research Symposium on April 11.

This year’s keynote speeches were given by UIC College of Engineering Dean and BME Professor Lola Eniola-Adefeso and BME alumnus Regeant Panday, who is now a lead project engineer with Dimension Inx, a startup founded by former UIC Associate Professor Ramille Shah. Panday graduated from UIC with his PhD in biomedical engineering in July 2023.

“This symposium is one of my favorite events of the year because it gives our students a real platform to communicate their science,” said Salman Khetani, BME professor and Robert Uyetani collegiate professor, associate department head and acting associate dean of graduate studies for the College of Engineering. “Seeing the growth in both the research and the presentation skills of our BME community, year after year, is incredibly rewarding.”

BME Department Head and Professor Tom Royston expressed his gratitude for Khetani, for managing everything in preparation for the event, as well as BME faculty and alumni judges. He also expressed his gratitude for BME staff, including Tina Moore and Luk Zientara, and assistants Amy Chou and Lesly Villarreal, who helped prepare for the event and/or worked at the event, student Tomi Oloro, Owen Lally, and Jesus Gurrola, for their help at the event.

Winners from this year’s symposium include:

First Place Elevator Pitch Presentation Undergraduate: Vayun Aryan, Nathan Manabat, Syed Rahman, Tomasz Rysiewicz

Second Place Elevator Pitch Presentation Undergraduate: Anna Carroll, Evalyn Huizar, Hafsa Nasser, Maryam Abdul-Kader, Maryana Zuyeva

First Place Elevator Pitch Presentation Graduate: Amit Hasan Sadhin

Second Place Elevator Pitch Presentation Graduate: Kaitlin Zemanski

Third Place Elevator Pitch Presentation Graduate: Django Allegretti

Fourth Place Elevator Pitch Presentation Graduate: Janette Garcia Campos

First Place Poster Presentation Undergraduate: Vinod Prabhakar

Second Place Poster Presentation Undergraduate: Aanya Roy, Arya Patel, and Saanvi Sethi

First Place Poster Presentation Graduate: Albert K. Dadzie

Second Place Poster Presentation Graduate: Varsha Sreekanth

Third Place Poster Presentation Graduate: Valentina Bussolati

Fourth Place Poster Presentation Graduate: Masrur Arefin Sadhin

Modified on April 24, 2026