Gaining STEAM: STEM + ART Exhibit Makes Health Sciences Debut

Continuing a compelling partnership that began in 2021, professors Nobuho Nagasawa, Department of Art, and Mei Lin (Ete) Chan, Department of Biomedical Engineering, presented the fourth iteration of “STEM + Art = STEAM” on April 14, a project designed to showcase the intersection of art and science at Stony Brook. 

This event bridged Stony Brook’s University and Health Sciences Center (HSC) campuses, hosted by the HSC Library. The exhibit also featured collaborative work between Occupational Therapy (OT) and Biomedical Engineering (BME) students. As in the past, students were tasked with crafting a story in which a physical trauma was offered a solution.

“My project, ‘Burn Scars,’ addressed the phenomenon of acid attacks in India,” said Mehak Gill ’25, economics. “There are arranged marriages and if women show any resistance to that there’s an attitude that ‘if I can’t be with you, then you can’t be with anyone else.’ It’s an erasing of their beauty. I wanted to show it in a way where acid burn victims can recover and still have their own beauty. It may not be their face, but it’s from within.” 

Gill developed the character of “Amara,” who lost her eyes in an acid attack. BME student Jessica Zheng helped create prosthetic eyes.

Another display called “Venus” told the story of a woman who loved and worked with plants who lost two fingers in an accident, only to discover her fingers had been replaced with Venus flytraps. Ella Benzekri, Studio Art ’28, imagined the story and worked with BME students Ananya Acharya ’28 and Sophia Zamudio ’27 to bring the project to fruition.

“Ella imagined the persona behind the art and casted the hand, and Sophia and I used 3D design software and printing to bring Ella’s vision to life,” said Acharya. “We designed and printed the two Venus flytraps that are growing from Amara’s hand. The collaboration was a great opportunity to work with students from other disciplines as well as a chance to hone my 3D design skills for more practical uses down the line.”

“When I think about my life in the academic space, we often just look at these verticals and academic disciplines. But we don’t do the horizontal very well,” said Rick Gatteau, vice president for student affairs at Stony Brook. “This is a great example of partnership and collaboration.” 

Gatteau said that interdisciplinary work is among the most important work being done on campus, and it’s often the hardest. 

“You are not only working collaboratively together, but also bringing the diversity of thought and ideas from your own discipline into the space to create a better outcome,” he said. “You each bring your own expertise to the table and put those ideas together that I think it speaks to what higher education is all about and why we value this experiential education that has become such a critical part of the curriculum of college and universities. I don’t think anyone does it better than Stony Brook.”

“I’m thrilled that we’re able to exhibit such amazing work here,” said Jessica Koos, director of the Health Sciences Library. “This event is particularly meaningful for us in the library as we work to expand our offerings in terms of an innovation space in the future. We’re working to create a space that further encourages this kind of work.”

This exhibition also showcased work done with Occupational Therapy, a program Chan has worked extensively with since 2021 with Blanche Leeman, clinical assistant professor, Stony Brook School of Health Professions. The work is supported by a Presidential Mini Grant called “Use of 3D Printing Technology to Enable those with Physical Limitations to Participate Equally in Meaningful Occupations.”

“We started up the OT Technology Club with the support of the BME students,” said Hannah Mercier, assistant professor in the occupational therapy program in the Stony Brook School of Health Professions. “They didn’t need to have too much expertise at first. But over time we realized that if you want to see the process, the OT students brought a lot to it. Today we’re proud to showcase that process.”

Mercier said the OT students do assessment and design and sometimes even fabricate an initial prototype out of thermoplastics. 

“Then we have support from the BME students for 3D printing, which is perfect for going through multiple iterations,” she added.

In addition to working on “Venus,” Acharya was also part of a team tasked with designing and printing something that could help a patient brush his teeth using an electric toothbrush without help from a caregiver. 

“We ended up coming up with a sort of hand clip that can go onto the patient’s hand, and it also attaches to the toothbrush,” said Acharya, who had design help from fellow BME students Zamudio, Aayan Rahman ‘27 and Steven Yakubov ’28. “It went through a couple of iterations, and through these iterations we were able to come up with a better design. This was a great opportunity to get some hands-on experience with actually designing something from scratch and making a difference in someone’s life.”

“When I first started this project, I didn’t think I could assign it to a foundation-level class — students who had never taken drawing or sculpture before,” said Nagasawa. “But the success we’ve had made me want to bring this project to foundation students. It proves that when students have a vision and a clear concept, they can truly collaborate — and anything is possible. This approach might even work with preschool or elementary school students. I’m incredibly proud of these students and the work they’ve presented today.” 

“Fostering experiential learning is my passion,” said Chan. “I’m excited that our BME program can work with not only the Department of Art but also with the School of Health Professions, opening more doors to work with our community partners such as Self-Initiated Independent Living Options (SILOs) and many organizations that care for people with various disabilities or rehabilitation needs. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, students experience the challenges and required soft and technical skills to work effectively with people with different backgrounds and professional training. It’s extremely valuable for developing their long-term career readiness”

To support this collaboration and other ongoing and future experiential learning projects for students: https://tinyurl.com/supportvipbear

— Robert Emproto