Mar 25, 2022

The Bettendorf Community Schools Foundation is proud to announce the 2022 Visiting Science Scholar – Josh Schirm, Biomedical Engineer, BHS Class of 2011. The Visiting Science Scholar program highlights role models for high school students thinking of entering a career in the fields of science, technology, engineering and/or math.

Schirm will be presenting to and visiting with Bettendorf High School students on Friday, April 1. On Saturday, April 2, he will be featured at the Bett STEM Expo at Bettendorf Middle School 11 am - 2 pm.

Schirm is a biomedical engineer in Coralville, IA where he has worked in several different roles at a company called VIDA – a company focused on imaging and AI-based analysis of lung disease. He attended elementary school at Grant Wood and continued in Bettendorf schools until graduating in 2011. He majored in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Iowa and is currently pursuing further education in the MBA program at Iowa.

Schirm joined VIDA as a student in 2012 when the company had ~20 employees and has seen the company grow to over 70 since. He has held roles leading imaging operations, scaling teams and processes to service more than 100 clinical sites around the world, and business development, growing and developing VIDA’s robust biopharma/clinical trials network.

Today, Schirm leads VIDA’s clinical development team, leading a team of experts in the fields of respiratory science and imaging to identify, develop, and validate imaging biomarkers in, and around, the human lung.

The BCSF Visiting Scholar Program was started through a sizable donation to the Bettendorf Community Schools Foundation by a Bettendorf graduate to be used to recognize BHS graduates who have gone on to secure successful careers in a field of science as well as recognize the impact of the late Donald Schaefer, a retired Bettendorf High School science teacher.

The Bettendorf Community Schools Foundation works to enhance the educational opportunities for the students of the Bettendorf Community School District through the development and disbursement of funds. For more information about the Bettendorf Community Schools Foundation, contact Michelle LeMoine, Director of Administration & Outreach (563) 359-3681, ext. 3094.