2013-2014 Student Recognition/Awards

North Carolina A&T State University

  • Ms. Juan Wang gave an oral presentation at The 5th Symposium on Biodegradable Metals, in Indonesia entitled “The role of flow-induced shear stress in biodegradation behaviour of magnesium alloy”. Juan also was lead author on two special supplement abstracts entitled “Biodegradation behavior of magnesium alloy under flow-induced shear stress” and “Nanocrystal iron film prepared using a filtered cathodic vacuum arc for improving biocompatibility of vascular devices presented” published in the European Cells and Materials online journal. Juan also has several other co-author publications.
  • Mr. Leon White was recognized by the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (WHIHBCU) as a 2014 HBCU All-Star. Leon was also lead author on two publications entitled “TiO2 Deposition on AZ31 Magnesium Alloy Using Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation” published in Journal of Nanomaterials, 2013 and “Hardness Enhancement of PEO-treated Mg Alloy for Biodegradable Implants” published in Emerging Materials Research, 2013. Leon also gave two major presentations entitled “Magical Metal” at the National Science Foundation CHANGE THE WORLD: Science and Engineering Careers Fair in Dulles, VA, and “ERC for Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials- Biodegradability & Microfluidics Testbed”. Engineering Better Medicines. Manufacturing for the Grand Challenges in October 2013 in Cary, NC. Finally, Leon had an accepted conference proceeding at the ASME 2013 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition entitled “Mechanical Characteristics of Anodized Magnesium Alloy for Biodegradable Implants” in San Diego.
  • Mr. Christopher Smith successfully defended his PhD Dissertation entitled “Processing and Characterization of Innovative Magnesium Alloys for Biodegradable Orthopaedic Implants”. Chris was also lead author “Cytocompatibility Assessment of MgZnCa Alloys” published in Emerging Materials Research: Magnesium-based Biodegradable Implants in October 2013. Chris also gave a presentation entitled “Cytocompatibility Assessment of Magnesium-based Alloys” at the 2014 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition in San Diego, California, February 2014.

    Christopher Smith has been selected to represent the Graduate School in presenting a poster of his research at the North Carolina Graduate Education Symposium at the State Capitol Building in Raleigh, NC on Wednesday, May 21, 2014. In addition to the poster presentations, there will be meetings with key state legislators. He is one of 2 students selected by NCAT

    Christopher Smith also won the 2014 NCAT College of Engineering Graduate Student Research Poster Competition Ph.D Winner ($500)

    Christopher Smith was awarded the Best Doctoral Dissertation in Mechanical Engineering Department
  • Dr. Svitlana Fialkova was recognized for the Most Published Graduate Student   
  • Mr. Roman Blount gave a presentation at the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges Summit entitled “Biomimetic Scaffolds: Innovative Manufacturing to Address the Need for Engineering Better Medicines” in October 2013, Cary, NC.
  • Mr. Nan Zhao was lead author on three publications entitled “Bioscaffolds development for small-diameter vascular grafts” and “Application of Mg-based Alloys for Cardiovascular Stents” published in the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, as well as “Endothelialization of Novel Magnesium-Rare Earth Alloys with Fluoride and Collagen Coating” published in the International Journal of Molecular Science. Finally, Nan gave a presentation entitled “Effect of rare earth elements on Mg-based alloys as stent materials” at the 2013 southeast and Mid-Atlantic BME Regional Career Conference in Washington DC.

 

University of Pittsburgh

  • Ms. Katie Farraro won the $20,000 1st place prize in the 2014 Randall Family Big Idea Competition in the Healthcare/Life Sciences Division.  She was also awarded 2nd place in the 2014 Wells Student Healthcare Entrepreneurship Competition. Ms. Farraro was the first author of a publication entitled, “Revolutionizing orthopaedic biomaterials: The potential of biodegradable and bioresorbable magnesium-based materials for functional tissue engineering”, published in the Journal of Biomechanics and the second author of an article entitled, “Biomechanical evaluation of the quadriceps tendon autograft for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: A cadaveric study”, published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Katie also served as the Secretary of the Biomedical Engineering Society Graduate Chapter.
  • Mr. Kwang Kim successfully defended his PhD dissertation. Kwang co-authored two articles in the Journal of Biomechanics and the American Journal of Sports Medicine, listed above, and was the first author of an article entitled, “Tensile properties of the medial patellofemoral ligament: The effect of specimen orientation”, published in the Journal of Biomechanics. Kwang also won the best paper award at the International Symposium on Ligaments and Tendons –XIII, held in Arezzo, Italy.
  • Mr. Andrew Brown, Ms. Amy Chaya, and Mr. Da-Tren Chou participated on a team in the inaugural Pittsburgh Health Innovation Case Competition which was awarded 2nd place out of 12 teams. Andrew, Amy, and Da-Tren presented their case to a team of judges which included professionals from several healthcare and life sciences consulting firms in Pittsburgh. Their award for winning second place included a cash prize of $1,000.
  • Mr. Andrew Brown was the first author of a publication entitled, “Effects of External Rotation on Anteroposterior Translations in the Shoulder: A Pilot Study”, in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research and a co-author of an article entitled, “Magnesium ion stimulation of bone marrow stromal cells enhances osteogenic activity, simulating the effect of magnesium alloy degradation”, published in Acta Biomaterialia.  
  • Mr. Da-Tren Chou was listed as the second author of a publication in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A entitled, “ Evaluation of magnesium-yttrium alloy as an extraluminal tracheal stent”, and co-authored an article entitled, “Magnesium alloys as a biomaterial for degradable craniofacial screws”, published in Acta Biomaterialia.
  • Ms. Danielle Minteer served as the president of the University of Pittsburgh BMES Graduate Chapter. Danielle’s team was also a finalist in the inaugural Pittsburgh Health Innovation Case Competition. Danielle was listed as the first author of a review article entitled, “Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells: Biology and potential applications”, published in Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology.
  • Ms. Sarah Henderson published two first author articles. One of her first author publications, entitled, “Magnesium alloys as a biomaterial for degradable craniofacial screws”, was published in Acta Biomaterialia while the other entitled, “Functional analysis of the rabbit temporomandibular joint using dynamic biplane imaging”, was published in the Journal of Biomechanics.
  • Mr. Satish Singh published two first author articles. Both of his first author publications were published in Materials Science and Engineering C: Materials for Biological Applications. They were entitled, “MC3T3-E1 Proliferation and Differentiation on Biphasic Mixtures of Mg Substituted β-Tricalcium Phosphate and Amorphous Calcium Phosphate”, and, “A Study of Strontium Doped Calcium Phosphate Coatings on AZ31”.

University of Cincinnati

  • Mr. Daoli Zhao designed the sensors based on CNT for detecting heavy metal ions and develop the hydrogen sensitive sensors by colormetric method. The detection limit of this novel sensor for heavy metal ions is lower than the WHO and EPA regulation for drinking water. This work was published in Electroanalysis 2014, 26 (3), 488-496.
  • Mr. Chenhao Xu improved the vein stent design and received good results from animal (pig) experiments, which increased the blood flow and degraded after certain time. The stent expansion modeling was made by him for supporting the stent structure design. The effect on blood vessel wall physiology from stent expansion will also be added in short future.
  • Mr. Pravahan Salunke successfully grew and characterized magnesium single crystals. The single crystals have a nobler corrosion potential than polycrystalline magnesium. Polished and etched discs of single crystal magnesium showed a lower weight loss and lower hydrogen evolution rate in vivo. This work has been the basis of a paper sent to the ICET Conference 2014 in India. The magnesium crystals also display a high degree of plasticity a phenomena which is being explored.