Spotlight Stories
Oct 26, 2023
A Culture of Ambition and Determination
With a goal of earning a PhD, Melissa Scanlon, E’24, bioengineering and biochemistry, has had three research co-ops in the areas of cell biology and cellular engineering, and also studied abroad for semester at Mahidol University in Thailand.
Oct 20, 2023
Sherman Center Venture Co-op: Mukki Gill
Mukki Gill, a mechanical engineering and history major, is on a venture co-op at the Sherman Center for Engineering Entrepreneurship Education. In this Q&A she describes her experience and hope to invent a medical device for epilepsy.
Oct 13, 2023
PhD Spotlight: Suzanne Stasiak, PhD’23, Bioengineering
Suzanne Stasiak earned a PhD in bioengineering with a research focus on airway smooth muscle mechanics and interactions with the extracellular matrix in the context of understanding the development of asthma. She published a first-author paper in Science Advances in August 2020, and in 2021, was awarded the Northeastern University College of Engineering Outstanding Graduate Student Award.
Oct 13, 2023
PhD Spotlight: Yu Yin, PhD’23, Computer Engineering
Yu Yin’s, PhD’23, computer engineering, research interests broadly include visual synthesis and understanding, multimodality fusion, and transfer learning. She has more than two dozen peer-reviewed papers. Yin received the NSF I-Corps grant in 2022 and the Northeastern University Dissertation Completion Fellowship in 2023. She also worked at Microsoft and Zillow as a research intern. Yin is now at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Engineering as an assistant professor of computer and data sciences.
Oct 12, 2023
PhD Spotlight: Xiaoyu “Criss” Zhang, PhD’23, Mechanical Engineering
Xiaoyu “Criss” Zhang, PhD’23, mechanical engineering, focused research to understand and tailor magnetofunctional materials. He applied novel materials processing approaches to alter local atomic environments and structures at scales from Ångstrom-level to microscale to tailor magnetofunctionality. Zhang contributed to 14 peer-reviewed journal publications, including nine published contributions, with three as first-author, and five manuscripts in preparation. He continued as a postdoctoral researcher.
Oct 12, 2023
PhD Spotlight: Razan Al Lawati, PhD’23, Industrial Engineering
Razan Al Lawati, PhD’23, industrial engineering, conducted research focusing on using stochastic optimization in various ways to develop decision-making tools for systems that deal with uncertainty. She developed a novel framework and her entrepreneurial drive led her to found a solar consulting firm in Oman. Her research contributions were published in the Journal of Applied Energy.
Oct 12, 2023
PhD Spotlight: Mireia Perera-González, PhD’23, Bioengineering
Mireia Perera-González’s, PhD’23, bioengineering, research has focused on developing and optimizing dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods for evaluating bioresponsive contrast agents. She has presented her work at international conferences, culminating in three first-author publications, two of which are currently under submission. Following graduation, Perera-González took a role as technical sales engineer/application scientist at Swabian Instruments USA.
Oct 12, 2023
PhD Spotlight: Jason Derks, PhD’22, Bioengineering
Jason Derks’ PhD’22, bioengineering, research focused on developing new methods for high throughput proteomics and using them for quantifying the proteomes of single nuclei from macrophage cells responding to bacterial antigens. He developed technology he would call “plexDIA,” which he published in Nature Biotechnology in 2022.