Chippewa Valley Times

Seven student groups collaborated with University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire faculty and Mayo Clinic Health System mentors during the 2024-25 academic year to tackle healthcare challenges. These projects focused on product development, process improvement, and artificial intelligence integration.

The initiative was supported by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Workforce Innovation Grant, which enabled students to engage in prototype development from understanding customer experiences to ideation and prototyping. Dr. Michael Carney, interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, emphasized the importance of turning clinical ideas into potential intellectual property: “Just as importantly, the teams were able to take seven clinical ideas — ideas that would otherwise sit idle — and take the first step toward generating intellectual property and turning the ideas into reality.”

Dr. Carmen Manning, dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences and co-primary investigator for the WEDC grant, highlighted the collaboration's success: “We brought together clinicians and staff from Mayo Clinic Health System, UW-Eau Claire faculty and our students, and the results were extraordinary.”

Dr. Ron Thacker from Mayo Clinic Health System-Eau Claire praised the students' creativity: “Their creativity, dedication and problem-solving skills really shone through, producing some outstanding results.” Ian Nie, a first-year student involved in one project noted his appreciation for being valued by professionals: “I was in awe that physicians and administrators cared about what we had to say.”

One project led by Dr. Rahul Gomes aimed at automating prescription refill processes using AI solutions to improve efficiency in primary care settings. Gomes remarked on interdisciplinary collaboration: “We had students from several disciplines working together.” Team member Mykle Buhrow shared her learning experience: “I learned the importance of perseverance — things don’t always go as planned.”

Another team worked on developing a fascia closure device under Thacker’s mentorship. Kyle Doppler from this team expressed enthusiasm for contributing to surgical innovation: “This is an experience that reinforces my passion for driving innovation in healthcare.”

A third group addressed wheelchair management issues at Mayo Clinic Health System with guidance from Drs. Ozgur Kabadurmus and Frances Hawes. Kabadurmus explained their approach: “Our group’s diverse backgrounds helped us effectively tackle the challenges of indoor and outdoor tracking.” Student Sara Lacoursiere described her participation as "an incredible opportunity."