Leading by example: Biomedical engineering senior Dylan Berry

“My mother is a biochemist, and my dad is an electrical engineer, so this field sort of merges two very familiar worlds for me,” says the Pecatonica, Illinois, native.

Berry says that while he may have originally seen himself at an R1 university — a designation for universities with the highest level of research — once he investigated the unique research and other undergraduate opportunities at UW-Eau Claire, along with the affordable cost, the school choice was easy.

Now, as he prepares to graduate debt-free, Berry has even more appreciation for finding UW-Eau Claire.

“To have received such a top-notch education, taken part in advanced research at the undergraduate level and be leaving here with no student loans looming over my head is truly amazing,” he says. “I feel very blessed.”

Standout student in university honors

Berry will graduate on May 17 with a bachelor’s in the challenging comprehensive major of biomedical engineering, along with minors in biology and physics. He calls his academic journey “a very packed four years.”

But he did not stop there in pushing himself to strive for excellence, as he also is a graduate of the university's Mark Stephen Cosby Honors College.

According to Dr. Heather Fielding, professor of English and director of the Cosby Honors College, Berry has been not only a talented honors student, but a reliable leader who helped shape unique honors experiences for the entire program.

As a freshman, Feilding says, Berry “single-handedly organized” a new service project for honors — a merit badge workshop for Boy Scouts where honors students taught merit badge courses.

“There are creative ways to earn honors credits at UWEC, in addition to taking designated honors courses,” Berry says. “I chose to do several independent study-type credits. It was fun to combine my interests in creative ways. Scouting was a major part of my life and I’ve been happy to work with the local Scouting community while involving other Blugolds in the process.”

Fielding says Berry worked with a local community member on another project to develop an honors course on leadership that matched groups of students with local nonprofits to complete a semester-long service project.

“This course, which will run this fall for the third time, quickly became one of our most unique and beloved offerings, for the way it gives students real-life, community-based leadership experience,” Fielding says. “Dylan was never just a student in honors — he helped shape the program to create new student opportunities. Honors really would not have been the same without his energy and leadership.”

Taking advantage of opportunities to lead

In addition to university honors, Berry has been an active student in multiple out-of-classroom ventures, including:

• Biomedical Engineering Society, president
• Oaks International member, a campus ministry organization
• Student researcher on four collaborative projects
• Contributor/reviewer on three peer-reviewed publications in BME
• Summer internship with Thermo Fischer Scientific in Illinois

One ongoing lab research project Berry participated in is a collaboration between the kinesiology and biomedical engineering departments, the creation of a prototype for a vibrating glove intended to reduce tremors for Parkinson’s patients. His department mentor was Dr. Marc Mc Ellistrem, professor of materials science and biomedical engineering.

“The basic idea of the gloves is that the vibrations in the fingertips act to disrupt the organization and synchronization of neurons in the brain that, if all firing together, cause the tremors,” Berry says. “Interrupting the ‘wave’ of those signals is the idea behind the functionality of the system and would work to alleviate the tremors and other symptoms.”

Another main goal of the project, Berry says, is to create a product that would be affordable to the average Parkinson’s patient, as existing similar technology is cost-prohibitive to most.

“This project has had a personal element for me; a neighbor in my hometown developed Parkinson’s, so I’ve had extra commitment to this work with him always on my mind as a potential beneficiary of this technology,” Berry says.

In ways like his leadership in honors, Berry showed strong lab leadership and enthusiasm for the project, both much appreciated by Mc Ellistrem.

“Dylan is one of those rare students whose passion is so infectious that everyone feels it,” Mc Ellistrem says. “We all must raise our game to keep up. I was very glad he was involved and impressed with the team's progress under his leadership.”

Hired before graduation

Berry says that his very first role in a BME research lab is likely the reason he now has the good fortune of being hired before graduation.

Early this summer, after what he says is a highly anticipated post-commencement “break,” Berry will begin training in Rochester, Minnesota, with HeartWorks, a medical innovation group dedicated to finding a cure for congenital heart disease in children. Once trained, Berry will work at the Eau Claire location of the company.

“Because I sought out a research opportunity in cell culturing during my first year, it opened the door for me to be considered when HeartWorks was seeking applicants from our program,” Berry says. “I happened to have been the student with the most experience in cell engineering, and that made all the difference.”

Dr. Timothy Nelson, director of innovation for Mayo Clinic Health System-Northwest Wisconsin and a 1998 Blugold graduate, is the CEO of HeartWorks and says he welcomes Berry and other talented BME Blugolds to their team, knowing the breadth of knowledge and experience the program produces.

“As CEO of HeartWorks, I have been impressed with the quality of new hires that have been trained at UWEC,” Nelson says. “The real-world skill set of these students fits perfectly with our needs performing tissue engineering and cell-based manufacturing. We look forward to seeing Dylan maximize his potential in this exciting field.”