Student Briefs - April 2011
PhD candidate Denise Conti (right) with advisor Sandro da Rocha, associate professor of chemical engineering, at the Wayne State University 2011 Graduate Exhibition.
Denise Conti, a chemical engineering and materials science PhD candidate, won first place in the Physical Sciences, Engineering and Mathematics category at Wayne State's 2011 Graduate Exhibition. Conti presented on "Propellant-based inhalers for the non-invasive delivery of genes to the lungs," the result of her first two years of PhD research. Conti's work shows how it is possible to formulate genes (DNA, in this specific study) for oral inhalation to the lung. A possible application of this research is treatment of pulmonary disorders, such as lung cancer, asthma and cystic fibrosis. Once Conti receives her PhD, she hopes to land a post-doctorate position, pursuing the area of polymer science.
Na Zhu, a mechanical engineering PhD candidate, has been selected to receive the 2011 American Tinnitus Association Student Grant Award. Traditionally, ATA awards go to medical schools and this is the first time it is going to an engineering school. Zhu will receive $10,000 in funding for her project "Development of an Innovative, 3D Computer Aided Diagnostic System for Tinnitus." Zhu, whose research concentration is in acoustics and vibrations, works in collaboration with the WSU School of Medicine.
Aishwarya Sankar, a senior in industrial and systems engineering, has received the Greater Detroit Chapter of the Institute of Industrial Engineers' Irv Otis Scholarship, which recognizes outstanding industrial engineering students within the IIE Greater Detroit Chapter. Sankar was selected for the scholarship in recognition of her leadership in both her academic program and in the IIE chapter.
Sankar has been an active member of the Wayne State IIE Chapter since 2009 and this year she is secretary. She is the Engineering Student Faculty Board Representative for the Society of Women Engineers and is also a part of the ISE Department's Operational Management Leadership Program (OMLP). Through this program, Sankar has received a scholarship and also gained internship experiences. This summer she will be interning at Ford Motor Company in the department of Manufacturing and Quality Control.
Electrical and computer engineering graduate students Liang Huang, Arpit Mittal, Vimlesh Shukla and Prem Sivakumar will be competing in the RESNA (Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America) 2011 Student Design Competition with their project "Wireless Wayfinding System for Training and Job Coaching Support for Workers with Cognitive Impairments" June 5-8 in Toronto, Canada.
The team's abstract for the project explains, "Indoor wayfinding is a problem for many individuals with cognitive impairments. The system has been tested on janitorial carts in an office wing of the Jewish Vocational Services (JVS), Southfield, Michigan. JVS is a NISH affiliated agency that provides vocational training for workers with cognitive impairments. The system would enable JVS to effectively train its clients and improve on-site worker efficiencies by allowing a supervisor to monitor his/her own team and provide individualized task prompting to workers."
You can watch the video they submitted for the conference here.