Our academic year is off to a great start. Our students, faculty, and staff are living up to the theme of our strategic plan: We Innovate For The Public Good. We know that the future of health care, for example, will integrate advanced technologies including artificial intelligence, robotics, and advanced med-tech innovations into clinical practice.

On October 24, we officially launched our B.S.-M.D. program, a partnership between the A. James Clark School of Engineering; the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences; and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. This unique initiative focuses on preparing engineers, data scientists, mathematicians, and computer scientists for a career in medicine. Students will earn their B.S. degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park with guaranteed admission into the School of Medicine. At our October kickoff, we met the extraordinary students in the first B.S.-M.D. class, ones who have already founded non-profits, worked as EMTs, and more. They will harness these technologies to improve the treatment and lives of future patients.

Our innovations do not stop there:

• Five bioengineering faculty will work at the Edward and Jennifer St. John Center for Translational Engineering and Medicine in Baltimore to create medical breakthroughs that translate to clinical practice.
• We have a new state-supported partnership to deliver medical supplies and prescriptions by drone to our Eastern Shore communities.
• We are excited to see our RoboScout team compete in the DARPA Triage Challenge with autonomous robotic dogs and drones to help triage injured individuals in search and rescue missions.
• We are also excited to see the development of new sprayable hydrogels for drug delivery applications and recent awards by our faculty pursuing research in our women's health initiative.

We look forward to continuing to innovate for the public good.