Thank you to everybody who came out to our first GBM of the semester to attend Jiapu Liang's interesting research presentation titled "Engineering a Translational Biomaterials Platform for Cell-Based Treatment of Type 1 Diabetes". Jiapu is a PhD candidate in the UF Biomedical Engineering Department in the Stabler Research Group. He received his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UF.

Notes and Announcements:

Active Member Status

SFB presented on the implementation of requirements an “active member” status. Active membership would be optional and would include benefits such as eligibility to attend the SFB National Conference and priority for spots on industry tours and industry info sessions. Requirements would include attending at least 4 meetings and 2 events per semester and becoming a member of the SFB National Chapter.  This amendment to the constitution was put to a vote during the meeting.

Biomaterials Days 2018 - Breaking Barriers in Biomaterials Research

Registration is open and free.  Register by February 2nd to guarantee a free T-shirt.  The submission deadline for abstracts is also February 2nd, which includes the poster competition (open to undergraduate and graduate students) and the student talk competition (open to graduate students).  The event will take place on February 23rd, 2018 from 8:00 am - 4:00 pm in the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom and Auditorium.  Volunteers are needed to stuff name tags and promo item bags, along with volunteers for the day of the event.

Volunteer Opportunities

If you are interested in volunteering for any outreach activities (go to tab at top of website: About > Outreach), please fill out the form below and we will send you additional information about getting involved with whichever activities you express interest in.

https://goo.gl/forms/Fyq9MXgLSa7qWy1h2

We have a few opportunities that are currently in need of volunteers:

Girls Place

• After school homework assistance

• Once a month on Thursdays

• First event: February 8th from 3:30-5:00pm (carpool leaving BMS roundabout at 3:10pm)

Hands on Gainesville

• Vertical garden design with Finley Elementary School

• Facilitate once a week during after school program

GatorTrax (with Tau Beta Pi)

• Designing an activity for elementary aged children about biomaterials

• First meeting: March 17th from 10:00am - 12:00pm at the Reitz Union

Cade Museum

• Creatives in residence program

• Need volunteers to be a part of this team

Social Event

Trivia Night - come out on January 24th, 2018 at Gators Dockside to join our SFB team at a game of trivia!  We will arrive at 9:00 pm to get a table, and trivia will start at 9:30 pm!

National Conference 2018 - Atlanta

The program committee has issued a special call for Late Breaking abstracts.  The deadline for submission is February 1st and will be accepted for poster presentation only.  Follow this link to submit: https://2018.biomaterials.org/.  The conference will take place 4/11 - 4/14 in Atlanta, GA.  This is a great opportunity to present student research and network with students and professionals in the biomaterials community.  We encourage our members to attend and are offering to fund several students to attend. Preference will be given to active members who will be presenting at the conference. For more information on the possibility of funding, please see the society's national website or contact our chapter at uflbiomaterials@gmail.com with any questions.