Aggie researchers traveled to San Diego Oct. 8-12 to give 49 research presentations at the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) 2025 Annual Meeting. Faculty, staff and students from the Texas A&M University Department of Biomedical Engineering used the opportunity to present research, network with experts across numerous fields, and recruit new student researchers.
Nearly 6,000 attendees from all sectors of biomedical engineering gathered to view scientific presentations on subjects ranging from the biomechanics of helmet design and head impact mitigation to the use of machine learning and drug delivery. While many conferences focus solely on a single biomedical field, the BMES annual meeting features presentations from every research area. This broad view of biomedical engineering offers attendees the opportunity to make connections outside of their regular field.
"Researchers can get siloed in their immediate area of expertise," said Dr. Luke Timmins, an associate biomedical engineering professor who co-chaired the biomechanics track of presentations. "I'm very comfortable working in the vascular biomechanics area. However, it's refreshing to be exposed to new domains and see the potential impact our research efforts can make. Attending a large, multidisciplinary conference like BMES enables me to engage with fields that I usually do not encounter within my usual community.”
These unique opportunities extend beyond professors and high-level researchers. The enormous scope allowed students – from graduate level searching for Ph.D. programs to high schoolers considering the field – to see all that biomedical engineering has to offer.
"Students get to explore the vast world of biomedical engineering,” Timmins said. “That's something you don't get at a focused conference. I make a concerted effort to connect personally with these students, many of whom are attending their first scientific conference, and build relationships to help them realize they can develop as scientists and engineers. Maybe, they can join my research group in the future."
Texas A&M junior biomedical engineering student Davis Johnson took full advantage of the opportunity. He was able to attend due to a science and communications-based grant from the USDA-funded Science Influencers program. He hoped to make connections and learn about potential graduate programs in bioprinting, a niche biomedical research field that uses 3-D printing technologies with living materials to construct tissues and, potentially, organs. Johnson is specifically interested in research focused on replicating the structure of the human kidney.
Not only did he discover more programs dedicated to bioprinting, but he was able to make a personal connection with a faculty member at his top choice of program who is working on exactly the kidney structure replication that interests him.
“Attending the conference may have changed the next six years of my life,” Johnson said. “The professors were so enthusiastic and willing to speak to me. I’ve read so many of their papers, so it was shocking to see them in person.”
The most surreal moment of Johnson’s experience came when he met Dr. Adam W. Feinberg, principal investigator of Carnegie Mellon University’s Regenerative Biomaterials and Therapeutics Group.
“There’s four big names in the bioprinting realm, and he’s one of them,” Johnson said. “We had a great, 20-minute-long discussion, and he even invited me to a social event hosted by his department. I got to meet a lot of interesting people, and none of them were closed off.”
The opportunities even extend to students who haven't begun higher education. Due to the recent addition of the BMES high school poster session, high school students have the opportunity to present research projects at BMES, exposing these fledgling biomedical engineers to industry professionals and world-class researchers.
"There was a student who was only 17, and she's presenting at an academic conference," Timmins said. "Seeing that is inspiring. When I was 17, I was selling snow cones for $4.50 an hour."
Aggie researchers are already preparing for the BMES 2026 Annual Meeting in Orlando. Johnson encourages students to seize the opportunity.
"Put yourself out there and be as extroverted as possible," he said. "Understand that everyone you meet is equally as passionate as you are. Seeing that and knowing that they're here to help is really cool."