It began much like a rock band or a startup company: with a handful of true believers gathered in a small, dingy space who were willing to work tirelessly for a future filled with both promise and uncertainty.

This was the scene in 1979 when UAB founded the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME). The department consisted of four professors and a staff technician toiling together in Cudworth Building’s windowless basement.

“It was a truly terrible space,” recalls Linda Lucas, Ph.D., UAB’s first Ph.D. graduate in biomedical engineering who went on to serve as the BME department’s chair, the School of Engineering’s dean, and UAB provost. “I had to paint my office. Since there were no windows, I painted it a bright yellow.”

Read more: Road to the Top Five: Department of Biomedical Engineering Celebrates 40 years of dramatic growth

On Wednesday, December 4, the Department of Biomedical Engineering welcomed students, faculty, staff, leadership and friends of the department to take part in an event at the Hill Student Center recognizing the first 40 years of BME as an official department at UAB.

Read more: Celebrating Forty Years of Biomedical Engineering at UAB