NSF Grant connects NDSU biomedical engineering student with CorVent for full-time research internship

NDSU biomedical engineering graduate student Colten Alme received a National Science Foundation INTERN Supplement award to fund a six-month full-time internship at CorVent Medical.

Since earning his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2025 and beginning his graduate studies, Alme joined Dr. Yan Zhang’s research team in the Biofluids & Flow Diagnostics Laboratory. The BioFlow Lab focuses on experimental fluid dynamics and advanced optical flow diagnostics, with an emphasis on understanding complex, biologically relevant flows, such as how blood flows through the circulatory system.

“Our lab emphasizes student-centered training and career development, and I saw a strong alignment between the respiratory and cardiovascular flow work Colten was doing and the ventilator technology being developed right here in Fargo at CorVent Medical,” Zhang said. “It was a chance to take fundamental research Colten was already engaged in and let him apply it in a clinical-device setting, while building industry experience that most graduate students never get.”

Zhang also serves as Alme’s advisor and is an associate professor of mechanical engineering and principal investigator of the lab.

When applying for the funding, Colten reached out to CorVent Medical to explore a shared interest in the fluid dynamics challenges in respiratory support systems, Zhang said. CorVent Medical designs and manufactures respiratory ventilation solutions.

“He’s spending six months full-time inside a working medical-device research and development operation – seeing how fundamental fluid mechanics becomes a regulated, life-saving product, learning design and testing under real clinical and regulatory constraints and building a professional network in the biomedical industry,” said Zhang.

Alme appreciates that his NDSU education as an undergraduate and graduate student, especially the hands-on project-based learning, prepared him for a smooth transition into lab work and an industry environment.

“That combination of hands-on industry experience layered on top of rigorous graduate research is rare, and it will strengthen both his current thesis work and his career prospects whether he goes into industry or academia,” Zhang said.

With his internship already underway, Alme is looking forward to learning how different teams work as a cohesive unit and how a company approaches problem-solving and product development.

“My research experience up to this point has been entirely in academia, which is a fantastic environment but naturally comes with a different set of priorities and constraints than industry,” Alme said. “Things like regulatory considerations, manufacturing feasibility and market impact play a much larger role in industry research, and I am excited to gain firsthand exposure to how those factors shape the engineering process.”

Alme graduates in May 2027 and is considering pursuing an industry career after finishing his degree.

“It’s honestly one of the things that makes this NSF internship so valuable; it is giving me a real look at what that path looks like before I fully commit,” Alme said. “I have not completely closed the door on going back for a Ph.D. down the road, but I want to experience industry first and see where that takes me.”

Zhang is grateful for the investment NSF and CorVent have made in the next generation of talent in fluid mechanics and biomedical engineering through this partnership.

“This is a great example of the local ecosystem working – an NDSU lab and a Fargo-based company collaborating on technology with national and global health impact, keeping talent and innovation in North Dakota,” Zhang said.