A World Without Biomedical Engineers
Turning Funding Cuts Into a Campaign Congress Can't Ignore
Membership + Advocacy · Technical AssociationsClient: Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES)
No pacemakers keeping hearts beating. No prosthetics restoring independence. No early cancer detection saving lives. That's the world BMES set out to make impossible to ignore. Instead of explaining what biomedical engineering is, this public awareness campaign made the case by subtraction: showing Congress exactly what would happen if funding disappears.
Federal research funding cuts could have put the biomedical engineering field on the defensive. BMES saw an opening instead.
BMES's Executive Director wanted something with lasting public impact — not a press release that disappears in a news cycle, but a foundation strong enough to work toward a bigger ambition: a national day of recognition for biomedical engineering. His staff didn't have the bandwidth to build it on top of their day-to-day work. An embedded engagement with MKMcGowan Studios solved both problems at once: a national-caliber campaign without pulling anyone off their core job.
BMES ran two campaigns with one shared target: make cutting biomedical engineering's funding politically costly, now and in the future.
Establishing a national day of recognition — a permanent, official mark of the field's value — was the long game. So we had to present proof that the field is critical to American health, wellbeing and global competitiveness that would outlast any budget fight.
Pipeline to Progress built that case from inside the membership, arming members with proof points like $2.56 returned per $1 of federal research funding and $94.58B in economic activity generated.
American Health Discovery built the same case externally for the public and policymakers. The campaign, which required foundational branding and positioning work, collected 250 stories for America's 250th birthday that show what's at stake in human terms: patient stories, research breakthroughs and product innovations. These doubled as the constituent voice behind the congressional push.
Campaign Strategy & Messaging
Digital Campaign Hub Development
Member Storytelling & Testimonial Development
Congressional & Policy Advocacy Support
Alliance & Partnership Development
Board & Stakeholder Communication
Conference Activation
Student Member Engagement
"I LOVE this 'A World Without Biomedical Engineering' effort. This is the first email I've received from BMES in ten years that has gotten me legit excited and clicking a link to join. Well done!" — BMES member
The bottom line: members turned into advocates, students became a long-term retention bet, and the board stayed engaged — all without BMES adding a single hire.
Members started advocating for themselves. The campaign gave them a rallying cry — language and proof points they could use to make the case for the impact of their work and colleagues. That momentum carried to students too. And the board stayed engaged throughout, not just at a one-time sign-off.
The bigger ambition behind it is still in motion: the push for a national day of recognition is in progress, built on the proof points, the congressional resolution draft and the constituent stories collected along the way.
That momentum is already visible beyond BMES, too: USA TODAY selected the broader America 250 effort BMES is part of for its documentary series spotlighting organizations that have shaped the country's past, present and future.