Taiwanese Embassy visits the University of Maryland, tours Fischell Institute

The Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices hosted members of the Taiwanese Embassy, on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, at the University of Maryland.

The visit was an effort to connect the university’s biotechnology and advanced manufacturing personnel with Taiwanee representatives in the hopes of future collaborations. It also offered an opportunity for Taiwanese officials to personally congratulate Chen-Yu Chen, a postdoctoral researcher in Fischell Institute Director Bill Bentley’s lab, on receiving the Outstanding Student Oral Presentation Award at the 2025 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, held in Taiwan, for his presentation "3D-Microprinted Microfluidic Scaffolds and the Rapid Seeding Strategy for Organ-on-a-Chip Applications.”

The visit began in Clark Hall, where Bentley and Chen welcomed the embassy officials Andrea Yi-Shan Yang, deputy representative; Sophie Chou, director of the Education Division; and Tsuan-Yu Lee, administrative officer.

Bentley provided an overview of the Fischell Institute, including its mission and Bob Fischell’s vision and history, while Chen shared background information about his award-winning project, which introduced a method to accelerate the process of integrating cells into 3D-printed microstructures, and conducted a demonstration of it in Bentley’s lab.

“I was very much amazed by the trip to the University of Maryland,” said Yang. “To witness the advanced facilities was not the best part of the trip—it was the collective team effort and spirit that moved my heart, and made the research meaningful. The Fischell Institute not only provides good grounds for academic research, I believe the founder, Bob Fischell, also seeks to nurture the biotech community.”

Chen’s project is a collaboration between the Bentley Lab and the Bioinspired Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory, led by mechanical engineering Associate Professor and Fischell Institute Fellow Ryan Sochol. The team developed two strategies to improve how cells populate 3D-printed structures. Traditionally, this process relies on passive self-assembly, which can take days or weeks. Chen’s method reduces that time to just minutes.

“I believe that, in the future, the integration of micro-3D fabrication and electro-biosensing will have immense potential in drug testing, tissue engineering, and cancer research,” said Chen.

After the lab demonstration, embassy officials visited Sochol’s lab to observe the 3D-printed structures in real time.

"Over the past decade, we've learned that some of the most transformative breakthroughs happen at the intersection of disciplines," Bentley said. "We are incredibly fortunate to work alongside talented researchers like Chen-Yu to push these boundaries forward."

The trip concluded with a visit to President Darryll Pines' office to discuss potential collaborations. One idea involved inviting Taiwanese university students to study at the A. James Clark School of Engineering, where they could learn more about commercializing biomedical devices through the Fischell Institute. The group also explored how interdisciplinary collaboration, such as Chen’s project between two principal investigators’ labs, can lead to innovations that impact human health.

Published March 3, 2025