7/5/2023 Bethan Owen
Bruno Suarez is a bioengineering grad student with a twist: he’s one of the first students to be accepted into the Department of Bioengineering’s MS in Biomedical Image Computing (MS in BIC) degree program. We sat down with Bruno to discuss his experience in this exciting new program and his goals for the future.
Written by Bethan Owen
Bruno Suarez is a bioengineering grad student with a twist: he’s one of the first students to be accepted into the Department of Bioengineering’s MS in Biomedical Image Computing (MS in BIC) degree program. This program, which launched in 2022, gives students the technical knowledge and hands-on experience they need to join the rapidly growing computational medical imaging field.
We sat down with Bruno to discuss his experience in this exciting new program and his goals for the future.
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Why did you choose the BIC program?
I started in the imaging and sensing track as a bioengineering undergrad at Illinois. After taking BIOE 380, which is a general introduction to imaging systems and different modalities, I was looking for ways to get into that field, because it really resonated with me. And that's when I found the MS in BIC program. It was a very natural progression.
Another reason BIC appealed to me is that I think it's the next big step in healthcare - the scope is endless. The foundation of medicine now is using imaging to look inside the body, and BIC is a fantastic tool that's enabled modern medicine in general. Being able to work on that to make those systems better, and to aid in medical care in such an important area, is really fulfilling.
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How would you describe your experience so far?
It's been great! I’ve been very satisfied with the course material, and I’ve learned a lot. The homework is very much geared to real scenarios that we could experience in the work field, which has been nice. It feels cohesive; all the classes work together to prepare you for real world tasks and applications of the imaging field.
- What are some of the skills you’ve developed?
The MS in BIC program is versatile in that you get the machine learning and AI background as well as medical imaging. It's geared towards imaging, but that's not the only thing you can use it for. Even though I’ve only done machine learning and AI coursework on imaging-related topics, I've learned enough to be able to broadly apply these techniques to different tasks.
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Who would you recommend this program to?
I'd recommend this program to any student, bioengineering or not, with a math-based background who’s interested in the world of biomedical imaging. Keep in mind that the world of biomedical imaging is deeper than you would think - it’s not just x-rays and MRI. It can be any scientific setting where we take images to understand something. It could even be microscopy or fluorescence imaging. Anything that produces an image, you'll be able to use the tools that you learned in this program.
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What are your goals for the future?
This summer I'm working at Carle Foundation Hospital in an internship that I actually got through connections with the MS in BIC program. So that's also a nice part of it: these classes give you connections.
Further in the future I'm thinking about going into industry, but I've always been interested in research as well. So I'm kind of split, but that's what I like about the program; you'll be able to use the skills you’ve learned in either field.
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