Loftin balances school and work with starting her own regenerative medicine business

Senior Madeline Loftin has taken her college education to the next level by starting a business, developing her entrepreneurial skills alongside her engineering ones.

Growing up, Loftin said she wanted to be a doctor but didn’t feel medical school was a good fit. When she realized biomedical engineering combined science and engineering, she immediately made it her first choice. In her first year, Loftin was a member of the Engineering Academies, which meant for her freshman year she took her math and science classes at Blinn College and general engineering courses at Texas A&M.

“When I first started, I was so upset because it felt like I wasn’t really an A&M student. But I was wrong. You’re still part of the school,” Loftin said. “Once I got into it, it really helped me transition from high school to college with smaller classes at Blinn. Even if you’re not an academies student or Blinn TEAM, I would recommend Blinn to anybody who has concerns about their transition for math and science.”

Loftin received her bachelor's degree in May 2019 and, as part of the fast-track program, will receive her master’s degree by May 2020 from Texas A&M. Afterward, she plans to continue her cardiovascular and pulmonary bypass education to become a perfusionist.

“During open heart surgery, your heart can’t beat while the surgeon is operating on it, so they hook you up to a bypass machine that controls your respiration, your blood gases, your blood flow and other important vitals that ensure the patient remains stable,” Loftin said. “There’s an expert clinician controlling all of that, and that’s what I’d like to do.”

Along with school, Loftin also works for the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station as the student work for the New Ventures Competition, an annual event aimed at promoting the commercialization of emerging technology.

Becoming a business owner

On top of school, a job and extracurricular activities, Loftin has found time to found a business with the help of Startup Aggieland and a few fellow biomedical engineers. The business focuses on regenerative medicine treatments. 

While looking for resources to help the team, Loftin came across Startup Aggieland in the McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship.

“It’s been amazing. They have so many resources that students can use. There are mentors and experts available, and it’s all free,” Loftin said. “You can tell they care about working with us. It’s been an immense help and really fascinating just to see the connections in industry, science, math and how they mix with the business.”

Loftin is on the materials track in biomedical engineering, and two classes that stood out to her in her junior year where response to biomedical devices and drug delivery. She said it was interesting to learn about how medical devices and chemicals mix with the body, knowledge she’s now able to apply to her business.

Advice

For students with an idea and looking for ways to get their own business launched, Loftin offered some advice. She said they should not be afraid to put themselves out there.

“Of course be smart and research, but don’t be afraid to ask for help. We weren’t going to sit there and stumble across a business plan on our own. We asked around and did research to look for resources,” Loftin said. “A lot of help so far has been from faculty. Resources are out there. You might get some no’s but you’ll also get a lot of yes’s.”