Six students from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University notched seven awards, including two first-place finishes, for their research presentations at the university’s annual Student Research Week (SRW) event.
Undergraduate students Sarah Chaudhri, Shannon Ingram, Zachary Lawson and Rebecca Sehnert and graduate students Grace Fletcher and Scott Herting all were recognized for their respective research projects at the three-day competition that highlights research occurring at Texas A&M in which students play an active role.
Formed in 1994 as a one-day poster event, SRW is in its 19th year. Each year SRW enables hundreds of students from both the graduate and undergraduate levels to present their research in the form of oral or poster presentations. Not only does the event showcase student research at Texas A&M, SRW honors excellence in research, giving a huge value booster to a student's career.
Fletcher, who is advised by Professor Duncan Maitland, earned top honors in the oral competition for graduate students in the subject area of “Medicine, Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience.” She presented her research on the development of biostable shape memory polymer foams for use in embolization devices.
Another of Maitland’s students, Herting, was honored at the event with the Vice President of Research: Excellence in Research Award in the graduate category.
In the undergraduate poster competition for “Medicine, Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience, ” Ingram, who is advised by Assistant Professor Michael Moreno, earned top honors for her poster detailing the degenerative effects of mild to moderate blast-induced traumatic brain injury. Ingram also was honored with the Sigma Xi Interdisciplinary Award at the event.
In that same subject area, the team of Chaudhri and Lawson – also working with Moreno – received second-place honors for its research poster detailing the development of a novel 3-D printed total knee replacement technology.
In the subject area of “Engineering and Architecture” Sehnert, who is advised by Associate Professor Melissa Grunlan, was recognized with a second-place finish for her presentation that focused on the development of a tissue engineering scaffold based on synthetic polymers to heal damage of osteochondral tissues in the knee and in other joints.
SRW enables students, faculty and the community to see the depth and breadth of research conducted at Texas A&M. SRW events include expert panels, resource tables, presentations by industrial partners, research symposiums, and keynote addresses from esteemed speakers. In addition to these sessions, students have the opportunity to volunteer during the week and support their peers by attending any of the poster or oral presentation sessions. Graduate students who volunteer to serve as judges gain immensely from this valuable experience. SRW is a premiere program of the Graduate and Professional Student Council and is the largest event that the council organizes.
About the Department of Biomedical Engineering
Committed to solving the world’s greatest health problems through the exploration of new ideas, integrated research and innovation, the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M is producing the next generation of biomedical engineers, developing new technologies and new jobs, and achieving revolutionary advancements for the future of health care. The department has unique strengths in regenerative engineering, medical augmentation, molecular diagnostics/theranostics, tele-health, and precision medicine, and its faculty members are internationally recognized with collaborative relationships that span engineering, physical and natural sciences, medicine and veterinary sciences.