Communication Training for Students in Multidisciplinary
Research Area of Biomedical Engineering
Shigehiro HASHIMOTO
Professor, Doctor of Engineering, Doctor of Medicine,
Biomedical Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Kogakuin University, Tokyo, 163-8677, Japan
shashimoto@cc.kogakuin.ac.jp
http://www.mech.kogakuin.ac.jp/labs/bio/

ABSTRACT“Biomedical Engineering” makes multidisciplinary researcharea, which includes biology, medicine, engineering and others.
Communication training is important for students, who have apotentialtodevelop“BiomedicalEngineering”.
Communication is not easy in a multidisciplinary research area,because each area has its own background of thinking.
Because each nation has its own background of culture, on theother hand, international communication is not easy, either. A
cross-cultural student program has been designed forcommunication training in the multidisciplinary research area.
Students from a variety of backgrounds of research area andculture have joined in the program. The program works wellfor communication training in the multidisciplinary researcharea of biomedical engineering. Foreign language and digital
data give students chance to study several things: how to makecommunication precisely, how to quote previous data. The
experience in the program helps students not only understandnew idea in the laboratory visit, but also make a presentation in
the international research conference. The program relates toauthor’s several experiences: the student internship abroad, thecross-cultural student camp, multi PhD theses, various
affiliations, and the creation of the interdisciplinary department.
Keywords: Communication Training, Multidisciplinary
Research Area, Biomedical Engineering, Training for Students
and Cross-cultural Program.

1. INTRODUCTION
Communication conveys information. Engineering is research
field to be applied to the society. Preciseness is important forthe communication in engineering to be applied to the society.
Communication is realized through various networks: face toface conversation, letters, drawings, telephones, electricalnetworks.
Misunderstanding often occurs in a multidisciplinary researcharea, because each area has its own background of thinking.
A common base is necessary for communication. Similar
experiences develop the common base. When common rules
are defined, the communication becomes easier. That is thereason why you learn language, mathematics, SI unit, etc.

The biomedical engineering field is multidisciplinary [1-9].
That includes various fields: biology, medicine, pharmacy. In
the field, communication is important between engineering andmedicine.
In an international project, you may experiencemisunderstandings, which depend not only on the language, butalso on the cultural background. In a research project in theinterdisciplinary field, you also experience misunderstandings,
which depend on the methodological backgrounds. In thispoint of view, both international projects and interdisciplinary
projects have the common problem. The problem supplies agood chance for communication training.
Digital culture gives us useful tool of copy. We can easily
access to large amount of previous data through internet.
Student should learn right way to use these tools.
In the present study, a cross-cultural student program has been
designed for communication training in the multidisciplinary
research area.

2. METHODSGroup Activity and Presentation Competition
The annual cross-cultural student program of Biomedical
Engineering in Thailand has been started in 2011 [8, 9]. The
theme was “Oil dispersed over the ocean by an accident of atanker” last year. Students, who participate in the program,divided into several groups. Each group has to make a reporton the theme, and to make a presentation at the final session.
Two days are available to make the report and to prepare for thepresentation.
Students are allowed to use internet to check information.
They can use personal computer to make the report, and to makeslides for presentation.
Laboratory Visit
Several universities have special programs on biomedical
engineering in the world. The author has communicated withseveral coordinators of the programs. Some of them supported
to create a new department of biomedical engineering in Japan
in 2006 [1-7]. Some of them agree to collaborate with ourgroup. Some of them have welcomed our student, andexchanged idea in the annual laboratory visit since 2008 [8, 9].

Presentation in International Research ConferenceStudents have attended the annual international multidisciplinary
research conference, and made the oral presentation since 2004
[8, 9].

3)
4)
5)
6)

Micro Trap for Flowing Cell
Effect of Micro Ridges on Cell Culture
Observation of Biological Cells in Rhombus Parallelepiped
Flow Channel
Finite Element Analysis of Bone Remodeling: Resident'sRidge Formation in Femoral Condyle

3. RESULTSGroup Activity and Presentation Competition
In 2013, fifteen students from Thailand (includes internationalstudents) and ten students from Japan joined in the seminar.
Their backgrounds are mechanical engineering, material science,environmental engineering, science of nursing, dentist,pharmacy, and electronics. In each group students discuss on
the issue, pickup agenda, and adjust the process to make a final
report of the group. Students exchange idea in each group (Fig.
1).

Several students made poster presentation in the international
symposium last year (Fig. 11).

One student designs special machine to collect oil. Somestudents propose biological method to collect the oil. Anotherstudent proposes chemical method to change the material.
Some students evaluate an economical aspect to the proposal.
They were able to translate English to their own native language
at the internet. They easily found data on the internet (Fig. 2).
They made slide with data, which is available on the web side.
Several groups made presentation with slides (Fig. 3). In theslides, they used figures, which they found on the web. In one
group, a member used white board to write figures by himself(Fig. 4).

Fig. 1: Group discussion.

It was the first experience for Japanese students to make a group
activity in English. The evaluation to their English was notvery good, but the presentation of every Japanese student wasunderstandable to Thai students. The figures in the slides
might help for Thai students to understand the outline. The
presentation is good training for the students to explain contents
in the logical order.
The presentation also gave a Japanese student a good
opportunity to express himself to the person of the first meeting.
After the seminar, communication among students continues tothe sightseeing in the traditional places (Figs. 5 & 6). Somestudents keep in touch with the participants by e-mail.
Laboratory VisitIn 2013, ten students visited two universities in Thailand, andfour students visited two universities in USA.

Fig. 2: Slide preparation with internet.

It was not easy for Japanese students to understand the lecture inEnglish (Figs. 7-9).
Several research projects in biomedical engineering wereintroduced to Japanese students. The topic was familiar toJapanese students, because they knew the instruments.
Students exchanged ideas about the experimental system.
Presentation in International Research Conference
Four students made oral presentation last year (Fig. 10).
topics are as follows:
1)
2)

The

Behavior of Cells through Micro Slit
Effect of Mechanical Stimulation on Orientation ofCultured Cell

Fig. 3: Presentation with slides.

Fig. 7: Laboratory visit.
Fig. 4: Presentation with writing on board.

Fig. 5: Cross-cultural student program.

Fig. 8: Laboratory visit.

Fig. 6: Cross-cultural student program.

Fig.9: Laboratory visit.

References help the design in several aspects. They identify
the position of the design in previous things. They show
relation to another thing. They confirm the value. They help
idea to be realized.
Reference should be quoted as that was existed. It should not
be modified at all. It should be the same as the original.
Reference should be listed with enough information forsomeone to seek for the reference. If the information has beenedited several times, the number of edition should also be listed.
Do not quote like the way as telephone game or ear-duster.
References are also effective for new findings, although you
have to be careful for plagiarism.

Fig. 10: Oral presentation in international conference.

Digital Data
Digitized data decrease ambiguity of analog data. Digital data
are easily not only copied, but also modified. Digital data
include not only text, but also figures. The figure made ofdigital data is easily modified: color, brightness, size, rotation,and so on (Figs. 12 & 13).
How should we use the function of copy in the digital culture.
We should copy from original data.
Do not give
misunderstanding. We should identify the source. Addingarrow and scale bar would be allowed.
Although art should be original and creative, science is not art.
The method to transmit the information should be universal. If
the information is described in unique way, the information is
not understandable for another person.
The information should be available to everyone, and attributeto society. For universal communication, mathematics is useful.
A unit has been developed. Description should be logical.

(A)

(B)

Fig. 11: Poster presentation in international conference.

4. DISCUSSION
Reproducibility
Reproducibility is important in the Science field. A result
should be repeatable in the same condition. The result isconfirmed, when the same result is realized with the following
trial. Science is not magic.
The condition should be
disclosed to realize the same result by another trial.
In biology, on the other hand, it is not easy to confirm
repeatability, because the same condition is hardly controlled.
In biology, everything is variable, and never repeats same
situation.
References
Finding is new, and nobody knows before.
course.

(C)

(D)

(E)

(F)

It is original, of

Design is created by someone, so that design has a previous
origin, elsewhere. Design should be related to references, even
if it is created through revolution.

Fig. 12: Modification of digital data: original (A), bigger size(B), ratio changed (C), color (D), brightness (E), rotation (F).

(A)Grammatical check is not enough. Preciseness is necessary.
Nuance is not necessary. Technical term is important. Eachfield has rule for expression. Author has better to follow therule. Author may copy the expression in the same special fieldof study.
The note of experiment is important: it is precise record ofprotocol for oneself to memory for the next experiment.

(B)

Recently, we have a lot of tools for communication. Although
the e-mail system is very convenient for communication,communication on face to face has more information than digital
signals: movement, atmosphere, and many expressions.
Letters can reveal feeling by handwriting. A telephone cangive a tone of the voice. A handshake tells temperature, andthe force of the muscle. Paying attention to the background isimportant for communication training. You may be surprised ifsome language systems do not have a term, which means“Reflection”. The culture might be positive.
At the beginning, students tend to pay attention to the language
itself. After the seminar, students found: "it is easy to find therule, but difficult to understand the background".
“Biomedical Engineering” is a multidisciplinary field of study,
which relates to engineering and medicine [2].

(C)

When I was a student, I experienced a technical internship in theinstitute of artificial heart in Free University Berlin. The
research project of the artificial heart had been supported bycollaboration between engineering and medicine.
The
experience gave me international sense and interdisciplinary
sense, simultaneously.
I myself joined the cross cultural student camp every year, since
I was nineteen years old. I experienced a lot of difficulties tocommunicate with students of different field of study, and ofdifferent background of culture.
I found different disciplines, when I take examinations formultiple PhD theses: one for medicine and the other forengineering. The research in the field of biology is based on
individuality and time dependent, so that statistical processing isindispensable. The research in the field of engineering is basedon homogenization, so that the experimental condition should becontrolled. The referee of medicine requested number ofexperiment with keeping the protocol, although the referee ofengineering requested the sophisticated condition of theexperiment.

Fig. 13: Modification of digital data: original (A), ratio changed(B), contrast changed (C), additional arrow and scale bar (C).

Foreign Language
In one’s own native language, communication is easier. Alarge amount of vocabulary can be used. In the nativelanguage, people feels nuance. The same background allows
using abbreviations.
It is not good for preciseness ofcommunication. Be careful at symbols, which have different
meaning according to its background.
It is not easy for foreigner to create original sentence in English.
It is good training for logical expression.

I also found different disciplines, when my affiliation changed:
school of medicine, electronics, biomedical engineering andmechanical engineering. Each special field of study develops
Each
own discipline including the style of education.
discipline has one’s own technical terms. For example,“control” means “comparison” in medicine and “regulation” inengineering, respectively.
Creating the first department of “Biomedical Engineering(including bachelor, master, and PhD courses)” in Japan was a
big challenge (Fig. 11). I created a new concept for theinterdisciplinary department [1-7].
The multidisciplinary field makes students learn several things:
logical thinking, and flexibility without prejudice.
The
common background of “Biomedical Engineering” helps themfind a way of thinking.
The shocking experience of the cross cultural seminar makes
students notice “It is important to understand the background of
thinking to learn the multidisciplinary field of study”. Most ofstudents continue their research activity to the post graduate
course.

5. CONCLUSION
A cross-cultural student program has been designed forcommunication training in the multidisciplinary research area.
Students from a variety of backgrounds of research area andculture have joined in the program. The program works wellfor communication training in the multidisciplinary researcharea of biomedical engineering. The experience in the program
helps students not only understand new idea in the laboratory
visit, but also make a presentation in the international research
conference.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Author is thankful to Dr. Mana Sriyudthsak of ChulalongkornUniversity, Dr. Jackrit Suthakorn of Mahidol University, Prof.
Robert A. Linsenmeier of Northwestern University, to Prof.
Richard L. Magin of University of Illinois at Chicago, forcollaboration to our project.

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