[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 208 (Thursday, October 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66735-66737]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-27860]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
National Institutes of Health
Announcement of Requirements and Registration for the NIBIB
DEsign by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) Challenge
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 3719.
AGENCY: National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering,
National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and
Bioengineering (NIBIB) DEBUT Challenge is open to teams of
undergraduate students working on projects that develop innovative
solutions to unmet health and clinical problems. NIBIB's mission is to
improve health by leading the development and accelerating the
application of biomedical technologies. The goals of the DEBUT
Challenge are (1) to provide undergraduate students valuable
experiences such as working in teams, identifying unmet clinical needs,
and designing, building, and debugging solutions for such open-ended
problems; (2) to generate novel, innovative tools to improve health
care, consistent with NIBIB's purpose to support research, training,
dissemination of health information, and other programs with respect to
biomedical imaging and engineering and associated technologies and
modalities with biomedical
[[Page 66736]]
applications; and (3) to highlight and acknowledge the contributions
and accomplishments of undergraduate students.
DATES: The competition begins October 27, 2011.
Submission Period: January 03, 2012, 12:01 a.m. (EST) to May 26,
2012, 11:59 p.m. (EDT).
Judging Period: May 27, 2012, to July 22, 2012.
Winners announced: July 31, 2012, 5 p.m. (EDT).
Award ceremony: October 2012, Biomedical Engineering Society
Conference (exact date to be determined).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Zeynep Erim at (301) 451-4797 or
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Subject of Challenge Competition: The NIBIB
DEBUT Challenge solicits entries that develop innovative solutions to
unmet health and clinical problems under one of the following
categories:
Diagnostic Devices/Methods.
Therapeutic Devices/Methods.
Technology to Aid Underserved Populations and Individuals
with Disabilities.
Eligibility Rules for Participating in the Competition:
1. To be eligible to win a prize under this challenge, each
individual on the Student Team must:
(a) Be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States;
(b) Be an undergraduate student enrolled full-time in an
undergraduate curriculum during the academic year 2011-2012;
(c) Have his/her own active Challenge.gov account that he/she has
created at http://www.challenge.gov;
(d) Form or join a ``Student Team'' with at least two other
individuals who satisfy the criteria in (a), (b), and (c) above for the
purpose of developing an entry for submission to this challenge. While
it is expected that most of the individuals participating in the
competition may be students from biomedical engineering departments,
interdisciplinary teams including students from other fields are
welcome and encouraged;
(e) Acknowledge understanding and acceptance of the DEBUT Challenge
rules by signing the NIBIB DEBUT Challenge Certification Form found at
http://www.nibib.nih.gov/Training/UndergradGrad/DEBUT/Form.pdf. Each
entry must include one NIBIB DEBUT Challenge Certification Form,
completed with dates and the printed names and signatures of each
individual member of the Student Team. Entries that do not provide a
complete Certification Form will be disqualified from the challenge;
(f) Comply with all the requirements under this section; and
(g) Not be a Federal employee acting within the scope of his or her
employment. Federal employees seeking to participate in this challenge
outside the scope of their employment should consult their ethics
official prior to developing a submission.
2. By participating in this challenge, each individual agrees to
abide by all rules of this challenge and the Challenge.gov Terms of
Participation (http://www.challenge.gov/terms).
3. Each entry into this challenge must have been conceived,
designed, and implemented by the Student Team. Student Teams
participating in capstone design projects are especially encouraged to
enter the challenge.
4. Each Student Team may submit one entry into this challenge
through one member of the Student Team appointed to do so by that
Student Team (e.g., the ``captain'' or ``submitting participant'' of
that Student Team).
5. Each entry into this challenge must describe an original
biomedical engineering project that falls into one of the following 3
categories:
(a) Diagnostic Devices/Methods
e.g., sensors, imaging devices, imaging agents, telehealth,
clinical laboratory diagnostics;
(b) Therapeutic Devices/Methods
e.g., implants, biomaterials, surgical tools, tissue engineering,
drug and gene delivery;
(c) Technology to Aid Underserved Populations and Individuals with
Disabilities
e.g., point-of-care technologies, devices/methods to address health
disparities, m-health, aids for individuals with disabilities (see
http://www.ada.gov/pubs/adastatute08.htm#12102 for a definition of
``disability'').
The examples under the different categories above are provided for
illustration but not limitation. It is possible for an entry to fit
into more than one category. In such instances, Student Teams should
choose the category to which the entry is most closely related.
6. Each entry must comply with Section 508 standards that require
Federal agencies' electronic and information technology be accessible
to people with disabilities, http://www.section508.gov/.
7. Each individual on the Student Team must be 13 years of age or
older. Individuals who are younger than 18 must have their parent or
legal guardian complete the Parental Consent Form found at http://www.challenge.gov/parental_consent_form.pdf.
8. Each entry must:
a. Include the following:
Cover letter, on department letterhead, from a faculty
member from the Biomedical Engineering, Bioengineering or similar
department of the institution in which the Student Team members are
enrolled, verifying that the entry was achieved by the named Student
Team that is enrolled full-time in an undergraduate curriculum during
the academic year 2011-2012;
The NIBIB DEBUT Challenge Certification Form (downloadable
from http://www.nibib.nih.gov/Training/UndergradGrad/DEBUT/Form.pdf),
completed with dates and the printed names and signatures of each
individual member of the Student Team;
Project Title;
Team members and affiliations;
Challenge category;
Abstract;
Description of clinical need or problem, including
background and current methods available;
Design, including a discussion of the innovative aspects;
Evidence of a working prototype (results/graphics obtained
with the designed solution);
A completed Parental Consent Form, accessible at http://www.challenge.gov/parental_consent_form.pdf, for each individual on
the Student Team who is under the age of 18.
b. Use Arial font and a font size of at least 11 points.
c. Not exceed 6 pages, including any graphics. Submissions
exceeding 6 pages will not be accepted. An optional 2-minute video
displaying the operation of the device/method may be included. However
the 6-page write-up must be a stand-alone description of the project.
9. NIBIB will claim no rights to intellectual property. Individuals
on the Student Team will retain intellectual property ownership as
applicable arising from their entry. By participating in this
challenge, such individuals grant to NIBIB an irrevocable, paid-up,
royalty-free, nonexclusive worldwide license to post, link to, share,
and display publicly the entry on the Web, in newsletters or pamphlets,
and by other information products. It is the responsibility of the
individuals on the Student Team to obtain any rights necessary to use,
disclose, or reproduce any intellectual property owned by third parties
and incorporated in the entry for all anticipated uses of the entry.
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10. One individual appointed by his/her Student Team (e.g., the
``captain'' or ``submitting participant'') will submit a Student Team's
entry on behalf of the Student Team by following the links and
instructions at http://debut.challenge.gov/ and certify that the entry
meets all the challenge rules.
11. All entries must be submitted by the challenge deadline, May
26, 2012, 11:59 p.m. EDT.
12. Entries must not infringe upon any copyright or any other
rights of any third party.
13. By participating in this challenge, each individual agrees to
assume any and all risks and waive claims against the Federal
Government and its related entities, except in the case of willful
misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or loss of property,
revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential,
arising from participation in this prize challenge, whether the injury,
death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or otherwise.
14. Based on the subject matter of the challenge, the type of work
that it will possibly require, as well as an analysis of the likelihood
of any claims for death, bodily injury, or property damage, or loss
potentially resulting from challenge participation, individuals are not
required to obtain liability insurance or demonstrate financial
responsibility in order to participate in this challenge.
15. By participating in this challenge, each individual agrees to
indemnify the Federal Government against third party claims for damages
arising from or related to challenge activities.
16. An individual shall not be deemed ineligible because the
individual used Federal facilities or consulted with Federal employees
during this challenge if the facilities and employees are made
available to all individuals participating in the challenge on an
equitable basis.
Prize: One winning Student Team will be selected for each of the
three challenge categories. The winning Student Team in each category
will be awarded a $10,000 prize, to be distributed among the members of
the Student Team.
Winning Student Teams will be honored at the NIBIB DEBUT Award
Ceremony during the 2012 Conference of the Biomedical Engineering
Society (BMES) in Atlanta, Georgia, in October 2012. Each winning
Student Team will receive, in addition to the prize, up to $2,000
toward the travel and registration costs for the members of the Student
Team to attend the award ceremony. Winners will need to provide
receipts to document travel expenses for reimbursement purposes in
accordance with NIH policy and applicable laws and regulations (http://oma.od.nih.gov/manualchapters/management/1500/), for example:
--Air travel must be by coach class, unless an alternative is medically
necessary and documented.
--If you choose to drive to the meeting instead of taking a common
carrier (airplane, train, or bus), you may be reimbursed at 51 cents
per mile, not to exceed the cost of common carrier.
--Limousine/taxi reimbursements are provided to and from airports as
well as to and from meetings. Receipts are required whenever a fare
exceeds $75 per trip.
--Per diem rates include lodging and meals and incidental expenses
(M&IE). Reimbursement for these varies by city. The first meeting of
BMES at which the award ceremony will be held will be in October 2012
in Atlanta.
The current allowable room rate is $132 and the M&IE is $56. For
future years, the lodging and M&IE for the host city will be posted on
the NIBIB Web site.
Reimbursement rates are subject to change. Updates will be posted
on the NIBIB Web site at http://www.nibib.nih.gov/Training/UndergradGrad/DEBUT.
Basis Upon Which Winner Will Be Selected:
The winning entry in each category of the challenge will be
selected based on the following criteria:
Significance of the problem addressed--Does the entry
address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in
clinical care or research?
Impact on potential users and clinical care--How likely is
it that the entry will exert a sustained, powerful influence on the
problem and medical field addressed?
Innovative design (creativity and originality of
concept)--Does the entry utilize novel theoretical concepts, approaches
or methodologies, or instrumentation?
Working prototype that implements the design concept and
produces targeted results--Has evidence been provided (in the form of
results, graphs, photographs, films, etc.) that a working prototype has
been achieved?
The above four criteria will be weighed equally and will apply to
all challenge categories.
Additional Information: For more information and to submit entries,
visit http://www.debut.challenge.gov/.
The NIBIB prize-approving official will be Roderic Pettigrew, PhD,
M.D., Director, NIBIB. Prizes will be paid using electronic funds
transfer and may be subject to Federal income taxes. NIH will comply
with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) withholding and reporting
requirements, where applicable.
Dated: October 21, 2011.
James M. Anderson,
Director, Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic
Initiatives, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 2011-27860 Filed 10-26-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P