Dr. Marc Zupan, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, was an advisor to the team that won 1st prize at the 2019 bmeidea competition for "ASTEK".

"Astek" focuses on rapid detection of bacterial presence in blood, in combination with antibiotic susceptibility, is essential in treatment of bloodstream bacterial infections. ASTEK is a device that identifies both bacterial presence and sensitivity to antibiotics in less than one hour. The approach relies on the isolation of bacteria from whole blood using a mosquito inspired microfluidic device, with subsequent visualization of the viable bacteria using fluorescent indicator. The result is quantified using a customized fluorimeter and the results are displayed on a user-friendly graphical user interface.

The team Members are:
Mustafa Al-Adhami
David Burgenson
Benjamin Punshon-Smith

The Collaborators are:

Dr. Govind Rao, Faculty Advisor

Dr. Yordan Kostov, Advisor

Dr. Alan Cross, Clinical Mentor
Dr. Marcus Zupan, Advisor
Dr. Charles Montague, Business Mentor
Dr. David Fink, Business Mentor
Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship
The Center for Advanced Sensor Technology