Grant: Collaborative Research and Training Experience

The goal of the CREATE program is to train and prepare 21st century biomedical engineers for the challenges of their academic and industrial jobs and provide them with the tools to become leaders in the field. This will be accomplished with an integrated programme crossing from the undergraduate to the postdoctoral level. Key components of the program include experiential learning on the undergraduate level, the possibility for accelerated training from the undergraduate to the Master's degree, and multi-disciplinary training and exposure to leading national and international academic and industrial partners for trainees across all levels. Program components include three different routes on the graduate level aimed at preparing future academic, entrepreneurial or clinical leaders in the field of biomedical engineering. The program is led by 11 world renowned scientists in the areas of musculoskeletal health, orthopaedics, cardiovascular engineering, imaging and biomedical modeling from five different faculties at the University of Calgary. The lead team has extensive experiences in technology development, collaborations with industrial and academic partners and in founding of biotechnology companies. The training grant is supported by top priority strategic goals of the University of Calgary and associated faculties, and strategic diversification plans of the province of Alberta. It directly addresses the lack of qualified, multi-disciplinary biomedical engineers in a highly technological field that is expanding at an unprecedented rate and will require many more professionals than are presently produced in Canada.