Helping nurture engineering and technology talents in the nation, Virginia State University's Center for Biosystems and Engineering recently brought students to China for the first time to attend the Tenth World Congress on Biosensors.

Run in conjunction with the journal Biosensors & Biolelectronics, the event was held May 14-16 in Shanghai, China.

With 800+ presenters from around the world, the three-day event aimed to be an international platform for the communication and dissemination of ideas between research leaders in this rapidly evolving field.

With themes of growth and sustainability, the congress featured an interactive pre-event workshop on nanobiosensors and presentations on the prospect of the latest science and technology.

The congress is a crucial step in giving CBE undergraduate students more research exposure abroad. The CBE is a research center in the Department of Engineering and Technology as part of its commitment to developing biosensor research at VSU.

Assistant professor Gymama Slaughter is director of the Center for Biosystems and Engineering, which has six undergraduate research associates: Jessica Brigance, Asheli Cherry, Rochelle Harris, Nadine Jerome, Melodie Poarch and Dwayne Waddey.

They research and develop test and evaluation technologies of integrated circuits and conduct in-vitro testing of enzymeand organism-based biosensors.

"Our goal is to . . . see VSU's CBE research around the world. After our research gets mature, we hope more than half the conferences we attend will be held abroad," Slaughter said.

Biosensor research at VSU's Engineering and Technology Department, especially the CBE, is still in the early stages of development. The Department of Engineering and Technology does not have graduate programs, hence no graduate engineering students.

That is why Slaughter initiated the Center for Biosystems and Engineering last year. The CBE includes the best student researchers, but Slaughter said it would take at least two years before one of the students emerges in an international conference competition for best paper or poster.

Bringing Asheli Cherry and Melodie Poarch to Asia, especially Shanghai, China, was an exciting science opportunity for underrepresented undergraduate females to present their research in the field of biosensors and bioelectronics, Slaughter said.

"My experience in Shanghai was truly amazing. The lectures and poster presentations . . . [have increased] my interest in working with Dr. Slaughter in her research lab on biosensors," Cherry said.

It is a long-term goal for CBE to produce local and talented undergraduate researchers. CBE selects its students from the Department of Engineering and Technology's Trojan Student Practice Company, which establishes for students a basic level of working independently on engineering-based projects.

"It is very important for us to make the CBE research international and give our students more opportunities to present their work with graduate students from around the world. I hope more and more people will join us to support CBE's research efforts," said Dr. Keith Williamson, chair of the Department of Engineering and Technology.

CBE research students were skilled enough to participate in the international conference in China. They presented their research work along with Slaughter.

"The congress helped broaden my knowledge on different aspects of biosensors and how to make them more advanced. The trip was truly a one chance in a lifetime . . . [experience], and I was honored to have the opportunity to attend and participate," Poarch said.