The new Biodesign research group at Insper will be presented to the entire community on December 3rd, at 6 PM, in the Mario Haberfeld Room, on the second floor of the Claudio Haddad Building. The launch marks another step in the consolidation of teaching and research activities in the school's engineering division, which began in 2015 with the admission of the first Undergraduate classes in Mechanical, Mechatronics, and Computing, and in 2022, advanced with the creation of the Advanced Program in Digital Transformation: Management, Operations, and Technology.

 

The Biodesign research group ended up being the choice to continue research in technology and management topics. “In the design of our Undergraduate Programs, we noticed that the connection between engineering and medical fields is very strong in São Paulo,” says Professor Alex Camilli Bottene, who assumed the coordination of the new group. “We have major hospitals, medical schools, and companies in areas associated with medicine, such as image analysis, data analysis, and some medical devices. So, we brought to the undergraduate program the discussion of the integration of the human body, Biology, and Medicine with Engineering. In our faculty, there are professors with experience in medical physics, who gave us the chance to start discussing these subjects.”

 

The motivation spread to the students, who soon had access to the first opportunities for extension projects in biodesign, via the course Final Project – Engineering Capstone. Thus, the proximity of hospitals and health sector companies, many of which are frequent partners of Insper's final projects, was natural. From 2018, when the first final projects started, to 2023, when the research group began to structure, there was already a representative percentage of projects conducted in this connection between engineering and medical and biological issues.

 

The covid-19 pandemic, which began in 2020, was also a significant motivator for these projects, says Bottene. The immediate interest at the time was the production of face shields, but an automotive industry, for instance, wanted to learn how to make ventilators — besides meeting a punctual demand at that moment, the process would be valuable for learning and prospecting the medical devices market. According to Bottene, the professors saw the potential for research in generating products and services in connection with biology.

 

In general, Biodesign research groups in Brazil study topics related to architecture and arts, seeking solutions from observing natural processes — the so-called bioinspiration. Bottene explains that, mainly in English-speaking countries, the term is more associated with projects that connect biology to some theme of discussion. “It seemed more like our style: understanding a problem related to health and biology and seeking methodologies to solve it,” says the professor. “Our Biodesign group was structured to use our engineering experience in developing solutions, that is, creating products and services oriented to a user context. In this case, the context is promoting health sustainably.”

 

The Biodesign group will operate in five research lines, at the intersection of the knowledge that Insper professors already have and that is explored in the courses: digital transformation in health, design methodology, additive manufacturing process (3D printing), production of smart medical devices, and sustainability of health operations. The first three are part of the undergraduate and graduate daily life, supported by the faculty's experience.

 

Meanwhile, the last two lines, although still unexplored in Engineering, have great research potential, Bottene observes. Intelligent medical devices, which monitor the patient within the surgical center, collect real-time data from the service, and produce valuable information for digital transformation. And the sustainability line of health operations analyzes the impact of new intelligent technologies under the environmental, social, and financial triad. “This allows the health system to learn faster from each patient and, from then on, establish more efficient and eventually lower-cost care methods. For Insper, it would open up possibilities for larger projects in the field of public policies,” says Bottene.

 

The launch event is a way to present the Biodesign group's research lines to the internal community, encouraging the participation of new collaborators. Starting in 2025, the group intends to extend its boundaries through the creation of a research unit, which will be open to researchers outside Insper. As funding arises, the school's students can compete for scientific and technological initiation scholarships. The group also invites companies interested in supporting these research lines and health institutions interested in benefiting from the results.

 

It is worth adding that Insper's Mechanical, Mechatronics, and Computing Engineering programs have international accreditation from ABET, a recognition that attests to the quality and adherence of the programs to global standards of excellence in applied sciences, computing, and engineering. This seal highlights the integration of different areas of knowledge, the development of technical and social skills, and the commitment to training professionals prepared to work in innovative technical areas and emerging technologies. The accreditation considers dimensions such as educational objectives, learning outcomes, continuous improvement, curriculum, student body, infrastructure, and institutional support, ensuring that the programs offer high-level education and environments conducive to learning.