[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 208 (Thursday, October 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66735-66737]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-27860]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Announcement of Requirements and Registration for the NIBIB 
DEsign by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) Challenge

    Authority:  15 U.S.C. 3719.

AGENCY: National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, 
National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human 
Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and 
Bioengineering (NIBIB) DEBUT Challenge is open to teams of 
undergraduate students working on projects that develop innovative 
solutions to unmet health and clinical problems. NIBIB's mission is to 
improve health by leading the development and accelerating the 
application of biomedical technologies. The goals of the DEBUT 
Challenge are (1) to provide undergraduate students valuable 
experiences such as working in teams, identifying unmet clinical needs, 
and designing, building, and debugging solutions for such open-ended 
problems; (2) to generate novel, innovative tools to improve health 
care, consistent with NIBIB's purpose to support research, training, 
dissemination of health information, and other programs with respect to 
biomedical imaging and engineering and associated technologies and 
modalities with biomedical

[[Page 66736]]

applications; and (3) to highlight and acknowledge the contributions 
and accomplishments of undergraduate students.

DATES: The competition begins October 27, 2011.
    Submission Period: January 03, 2012, 12:01 a.m. (EST) to May 26, 
2012, 11:59 p.m. (EDT).
    Judging Period: May 27, 2012, to July 22, 2012.
    Winners announced: July 31, 2012, 5 p.m. (EDT).
    Award ceremony: October 2012, Biomedical Engineering Society 
Conference (exact date to be determined).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Zeynep Erim at (301) 451-4797 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Subject of Challenge Competition: The NIBIB 
DEBUT Challenge solicits entries that develop innovative solutions to 
unmet health and clinical problems under one of the following 
categories:
     Diagnostic Devices/Methods.
     Therapeutic Devices/Methods.
     Technology to Aid Underserved Populations and Individuals 
with Disabilities.
    Eligibility Rules for Participating in the Competition:
    1. To be eligible to win a prize under this challenge, each 
individual on the Student Team must:
    (a) Be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States;
    (b) Be an undergraduate student enrolled full-time in an 
undergraduate curriculum during the academic year 2011-2012;
    (c) Have his/her own active Challenge.gov account that he/she has 
created at http://www.challenge.gov;
    (d) Form or join a ``Student Team'' with at least two other 
individuals who satisfy the criteria in (a), (b), and (c) above for the 
purpose of developing an entry for submission to this challenge. While 
it is expected that most of the individuals participating in the 
competition may be students from biomedical engineering departments, 
interdisciplinary teams including students from other fields are 
welcome and encouraged;
    (e) Acknowledge understanding and acceptance of the DEBUT Challenge 
rules by signing the NIBIB DEBUT Challenge Certification Form found at 
http://www.nibib.nih.gov/Training/UndergradGrad/DEBUT/Form.pdf. Each 
entry must include one NIBIB DEBUT Challenge Certification Form, 
completed with dates and the printed names and signatures of each 
individual member of the Student Team. Entries that do not provide a 
complete Certification Form will be disqualified from the challenge;
    (f) Comply with all the requirements under this section; and
    (g) Not be a Federal employee acting within the scope of his or her 
employment. Federal employees seeking to participate in this challenge 
outside the scope of their employment should consult their ethics 
official prior to developing a submission.
    2. By participating in this challenge, each individual agrees to 
abide by all rules of this challenge and the Challenge.gov Terms of 
Participation (http://www.challenge.gov/terms).
    3. Each entry into this challenge must have been conceived, 
designed, and implemented by the Student Team. Student Teams 
participating in capstone design projects are especially encouraged to 
enter the challenge.
    4. Each Student Team may submit one entry into this challenge 
through one member of the Student Team appointed to do so by that 
Student Team (e.g., the ``captain'' or ``submitting participant'' of 
that Student Team).
    5. Each entry into this challenge must describe an original 
biomedical engineering project that falls into one of the following 3 
categories:
    (a) Diagnostic Devices/Methods
    e.g., sensors, imaging devices, imaging agents, telehealth, 
clinical laboratory diagnostics;
    (b) Therapeutic Devices/Methods
    e.g., implants, biomaterials, surgical tools, tissue engineering, 
drug and gene delivery;
    (c) Technology to Aid Underserved Populations and Individuals with 
Disabilities
    e.g., point-of-care technologies, devices/methods to address health 
disparities, m-health, aids for individuals with disabilities (see 
http://www.ada.gov/pubs/adastatute08.htm#12102 for a definition of 
``disability'').
    The examples under the different categories above are provided for 
illustration but not limitation. It is possible for an entry to fit 
into more than one category. In such instances, Student Teams should 
choose the category to which the entry is most closely related.
    6. Each entry must comply with Section 508 standards that require 
Federal agencies' electronic and information technology be accessible 
to people with disabilities, http://www.section508.gov/.
    7. Each individual on the Student Team must be 13 years of age or 
older. Individuals who are younger than 18 must have their parent or 
legal guardian complete the Parental Consent Form found at http://www.challenge.gov/parental_consent_form.pdf.
    8. Each entry must:
    a. Include the following:
     Cover letter, on department letterhead, from a faculty 
member from the Biomedical Engineering, Bioengineering or similar 
department of the institution in which the Student Team members are 
enrolled, verifying that the entry was achieved by the named Student 
Team that is enrolled full-time in an undergraduate curriculum during 
the academic year 2011-2012;
     The NIBIB DEBUT Challenge Certification Form (downloadable 
from http://www.nibib.nih.gov/Training/UndergradGrad/DEBUT/Form.pdf), 
completed with dates and the printed names and signatures of each 
individual member of the Student Team;
     Project Title;
     Team members and affiliations;
     Challenge category;
     Abstract;
     Description of clinical need or problem, including 
background and current methods available;
     Design, including a discussion of the innovative aspects;
     Evidence of a working prototype (results/graphics obtained 
with the designed solution);
     A completed Parental Consent Form, accessible at http://www.challenge.gov/parental_consent_form.pdf, for each individual on 
the Student Team who is under the age of 18.
    b. Use Arial font and a font size of at least 11 points.
    c. Not exceed 6 pages, including any graphics. Submissions 
exceeding 6 pages will not be accepted. An optional 2-minute video 
displaying the operation of the device/method may be included. However 
the 6-page write-up must be a stand-alone description of the project.
    9. NIBIB will claim no rights to intellectual property. Individuals 
on the Student Team will retain intellectual property ownership as 
applicable arising from their entry. By participating in this 
challenge, such individuals grant to NIBIB an irrevocable, paid-up, 
royalty-free, nonexclusive worldwide license to post, link to, share, 
and display publicly the entry on the Web, in newsletters or pamphlets, 
and by other information products. It is the responsibility of the 
individuals on the Student Team to obtain any rights necessary to use, 
disclose, or reproduce any intellectual property owned by third parties 
and incorporated in the entry for all anticipated uses of the entry.

[[Page 66737]]

    10. One individual appointed by his/her Student Team (e.g., the 
``captain'' or ``submitting participant'') will submit a Student Team's 
entry on behalf of the Student Team by following the links and 
instructions at http://debut.challenge.gov/ and certify that the entry 
meets all the challenge rules.
    11. All entries must be submitted by the challenge deadline, May 
26, 2012, 11:59 p.m. EDT.
    12. Entries must not infringe upon any copyright or any other 
rights of any third party.
    13. By participating in this challenge, each individual agrees to 
assume any and all risks and waive claims against the Federal 
Government and its related entities, except in the case of willful 
misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or loss of property, 
revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, 
arising from participation in this prize challenge, whether the injury, 
death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or otherwise.
    14. Based on the subject matter of the challenge, the type of work 
that it will possibly require, as well as an analysis of the likelihood 
of any claims for death, bodily injury, or property damage, or loss 
potentially resulting from challenge participation, individuals are not 
required to obtain liability insurance or demonstrate financial 
responsibility in order to participate in this challenge.
    15. By participating in this challenge, each individual agrees to 
indemnify the Federal Government against third party claims for damages 
arising from or related to challenge activities.
    16. An individual shall not be deemed ineligible because the 
individual used Federal facilities or consulted with Federal employees 
during this challenge if the facilities and employees are made 
available to all individuals participating in the challenge on an 
equitable basis.
    Prize: One winning Student Team will be selected for each of the 
three challenge categories. The winning Student Team in each category 
will be awarded a $10,000 prize, to be distributed among the members of 
the Student Team.
    Winning Student Teams will be honored at the NIBIB DEBUT Award 
Ceremony during the 2012 Conference of the Biomedical Engineering 
Society (BMES) in Atlanta, Georgia, in October 2012. Each winning 
Student Team will receive, in addition to the prize, up to $2,000 
toward the travel and registration costs for the members of the Student 
Team to attend the award ceremony. Winners will need to provide 
receipts to document travel expenses for reimbursement purposes in 
accordance with NIH policy and applicable laws and regulations (http://oma.od.nih.gov/manualchapters/management/1500/), for example:

--Air travel must be by coach class, unless an alternative is medically 
necessary and documented.
--If you choose to drive to the meeting instead of taking a common 
carrier (airplane, train, or bus), you may be reimbursed at 51 cents 
per mile, not to exceed the cost of common carrier.
--Limousine/taxi reimbursements are provided to and from airports as 
well as to and from meetings. Receipts are required whenever a fare 
exceeds $75 per trip.
--Per diem rates include lodging and meals and incidental expenses 
(M&IE). Reimbursement for these varies by city. The first meeting of 
BMES at which the award ceremony will be held will be in October 2012 
in Atlanta.
    The current allowable room rate is $132 and the M&IE is $56. For 
future years, the lodging and M&IE for the host city will be posted on 
the NIBIB Web site.
    Reimbursement rates are subject to change. Updates will be posted 
on the NIBIB Web site at http://www.nibib.nih.gov/Training/UndergradGrad/DEBUT.
    Basis Upon Which Winner Will Be Selected:
    The winning entry in each category of the challenge will be 
selected based on the following criteria:
     Significance of the problem addressed--Does the entry 
address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in 
clinical care or research?
     Impact on potential users and clinical care--How likely is 
it that the entry will exert a sustained, powerful influence on the 
problem and medical field addressed?
     Innovative design (creativity and originality of 
concept)--Does the entry utilize novel theoretical concepts, approaches 
or methodologies, or instrumentation?
     Working prototype that implements the design concept and 
produces targeted results--Has evidence been provided (in the form of 
results, graphs, photographs, films, etc.) that a working prototype has 
been achieved?
    The above four criteria will be weighed equally and will apply to 
all challenge categories.
    Additional Information: For more information and to submit entries, 
visit http://www.debut.challenge.gov/.
    The NIBIB prize-approving official will be Roderic Pettigrew, PhD, 
M.D., Director, NIBIB. Prizes will be paid using electronic funds 
transfer and may be subject to Federal income taxes. NIH will comply 
with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) withholding and reporting 
requirements, where applicable.

    Dated: October 21, 2011.
James M. Anderson,
Director, Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic 
Initiatives, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 2011-27860 Filed 10-26-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P