Global
Innovation
Partnerships

Science serves humanity, transcends boundaries, thrives in diversity

100+ Global Partners, Global Classrooms, Dual Degrees, Seminars and Conversations

Over the years, our faculty and alumni have built long-lasting global bridges and networks with academic and corporate partners who share our ‘life saving solutions’ mission.

The Global Innovation Partnership (GIP) Program leverages and deepens these relationships to enhance and enrich our students’ educational global experiences. Our goal is to deepen these relationships through joint research initiatives, global classrooms, advance dual degrees and other meaningful partnerships that transcend boundaries.

Meet Our Community

Essence of Innovation

"The essence of innovation lies in each individual finding the right team, the right timing and the right resources. This course/workshop taught us how much we can achieve by unifying our forces if we understand the unique milieu for each enterprise, culture and society; and genuinely raised my confidence in the splendor of young minds. Thank you for showing me how I can have a finger in the pie for an upcoming bright future in MedTech."

— Aylin Sendemir

Convergence of Two Legacies

"Prof. Sun founded the Biomedical Engineering and Science Institute. ... we uphold his legacy of academic innovation that spans the globe. When crossed with Wallace H. Coulter’s legacy of ‘science serves humanity’, our faculty and students became beneficiaries of a unique culture of academic innovation... I am but a link in the chain."

— Dr. Banu Onaral

Emerging Challenges Can Be Tackled through Global Innovation Partnership

“Our research focuses on developing sensors and methods to further understand and evaluate brain functions in operational environments. In this line of research, global exchange of expertise, global talent, knowledge and ideas help my students and colleagues address the unmet needs from the field of aviation to healthcare. On-site evaluation of the traumatic brain injury, hemorrhagic shock, personalized and automated opioid delivery are just few examples of these emerging challenges, which can be tackled through global innovation partnership.”

— Dr. Kurtulus Izzetoglu

Great Networking and Opportunities

“The MedTech Innovation course provided me with a great network and opportunities. In addition to the joy of gaining new knowledge and skills, it was very exciting to meet all these great people from the US, China and Turkey”

— Eda Erbil

Tackling Larger Societal and Medical Research

“The understanding of brain functioning in the real world is the next frontier, with potential implications in diverse sectors such as healthcare, education, transportation, manufacturing, entertainment, communication, and everyday life at large. The enormous challenges within brain sciences demand a diverse and broader perspective that transcends borders. Global Innovation Partnerships are needed to begin tackling larger societal and medical research questions of our time, deliver meaningful outcomes to patients and solve mysteries of the brain mechanisms.”

— Dr. Hasan Ayaz

Bringing the World to Our Students

“Global Innovation Partnership Program is a gateway for students to experience and learn how to solve real-world problems working with innovators across displinary and geographical boundaries.”

— Jamie Mak

Diversity Is a Requirement, not a Buzzword

“In creative disciplines like biomedical engineering, diversity is a requirement, not a buzzword. Global collaborations bring together researchers who approach the same problem with the same passion but with very different approaches.”

— Dr. Kara Spiller

Disruptive Innovation

“Challenges call for critical thinking, which in turn leads to the development of disruptive technologies”

— Ozlem Yesil Celiktas

Outstanding Mentorship

“I had an outstanding mentorship inside and outside the classroom. I expanded my network and gained many skills in assessing a technology with critical thinking. I am currently creating a small consulting group with MedTech colleagues to perform different parts of the due diligence process for startup companies.”

— Roze Alzabey

Advice to Startups in the MedTech Workshop

“Your business strategy is a taped up cardboard box, and it has something in it that roughly weighs two pounds. I shake the box and indeed there is something in it. And you are asking me to buy this box for 10 thousand dollars and you claim it is a bargain. When I ask you what it is, you are telling me "just buy it and open the box to see what is in it". I am afraid I cannot buy it with this claim. It is not that I do not trust you but I must understand what I am buying. That is the reason why I am out.”

— Serdar Kiykioglu

Excellent Instructors and Teammates

“Before I enrolled in the MedTech course, I was really nervous since the content is challenging for me because of the language barrier. However, I got a lot of help from excellent instructors and teammates”

— Tianyun Gu

GIP Curricula

MedTech Innovation I & II

MedTech Innovation Course takes students on the global journey from the academic bench to the healthcare trench in Philadelphia, USA, in Shanghai, China and in Istanbul & Ankara in Turkey

Neuroengineering and Neuroergonomics

Neuroengineering and Neuroergonomics Course and Joint Seminar Series with Shanghai Jiao Tong University provides students the opportunity to explore recent advances in monitoring and modulating brain activity in natural settings.

Cell and Immune Engineering I

Cell and Immune Engineering Joint Seminar series with Shanghai Tech University introduces students to frontiers in cell and immune engineering and motivate collaborative research/education opportunities.

MedTech Innovation Workshop

The MedTech Innovation Workshop aims to expose early stage startups, medical technology development and transfer professionals and academics & researchers engaged in translational research to realities of medical technology innovation in a global context.

Brain|Technology Convergence I

The Brain|Technology Convergence I: Cyber-Brain Systems [BTC I] is the first in a series of transdisciplinary ‘collaborative’ courses offered by an international team of scientists and researchers drawn from human-centered and technology-driven disciplines.

International Partners by Country

China Partnerships

The School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems has formed an academic alliance with Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) to create an exchange of research.

Israel Partnerships

We have an inter-institutional memorandum of understanding (MOU) cooperation agreement with the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.

Turkey Partnerships

We are currently exploring opportunities for partnerships with Hacettepe University in: Biomedical Engineering Education and Research, On-line Education through Drexel University Online, Translational Research and Technology Commercialization

United Kingdom Partnerships

Current activities include joint seminars, lectures, hosting and advising graduate students for their thesis work.

India Partnerships

There are several International Graduate Programs in India offering an efficient path towards an MS or PhD degree, as well as undergraduate research opportunities.

Latest Projects and News

Dr. Kara Spiller Launches Binational Journal Club

Dr. Kara Spiller and Professors Aylin Sendemir and Ozlem Yesil-Celiktas from Department of Bioengineering, Ege University in Turkey launched a binational journal club last month with their students in the three labs....

Global Pathways: Adrian Curtin
Dual PhD Drexel—SJTU

Watch Dr. Adrian Curtin’s talk about his dual PhD degree experience with Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Dr. Curtin is the recipient of Drexel’s 2020 Outstanding Dissertation Awards. ...

Andrea Eleazar received Freeman Award and a Gilman Scholarship

Andrea Eleazar, MedTech Innovation II student, received Freeman Award for Study in Asia (Freeman-ASIA) and a Gilman Scholarship

Andrea Eleazar, B.S. in Public Health, is a rising student in MedTech Innovation II - Biologics course. She received both a Freeman Award for Study in Asia (Freeman-ASIA) and a Gilman Scholarship for study at Nanyang Tec...

Bringing the World of MedTech Innovation into a Global Classroom

Science serves humanity, transcends boundaries, and thrives in diversity. With these guiding principles in mind, the Global Innovation Partnership (GIP) program launched the Medical Technology Innovation Course series. This c...

GIP MedTech Innovation Workshop Series Launches

Through the GIP Medical Technology Innovation (MedTech) Workshop, early-stage startups, medical technology development and transfer professionals and academics/researchers engaged in translational research......

Dr. Lin Han Receives the 2021 Kappa Delta Young Investigator Award for the Study of Cartilage Function, Regeneration, and Disease Intervention in Osteoarthritis

Dr. Lin Han, associate professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems (PI), received the 2021 Kappa Delta Young Investigator Award fo...