Stanford’s biodesign program is marking its 15th anniversary with a name change to the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign, according to the Stanford News Report. The name change is to honor venture capitalist Brook Byers MBA ’70.

Since its inception, the center has worked with hundreds of graduate students and nearly 200 fellows. Some of these went on to found over 40 companies. Each year the center selects 12 fellows who typically work in teams of four to develop new medical technologies. These teams will often include a mix of medical doctors and engineers.

The development teams identify a variety of possible medical needs that technology could address before using a variety of criteria such as affordability, business viability and regulatory hurdles before taking action.

The center has also begun working with partners abroad to address health needs in other areas.

Contact Caleb Smith at caleb17 ‘at’ stanford.edu