Shaneil is a junior in Engineering with an Electrical Power concentration. She is working with Dr. Kim and Dr. Tanaka to develop a better understanding of blood flow in people with sickle cell disease (SCD).  People with sickle cell anemia have abnormal hemoglobin that tends to clump causing red blood cells to adopt a sickle shape and become stiffer. Because almost half of blood is cells (45%), this has a large impact on fluid flow. Shaneil is researching the characteristics of the disease and developing CAD models for normal and sickle shaped red blood cells to support computational fluid dynamics (CFD) research being performed by Dr. Kim.

Andrew is a senior studying mechanical engineering. He is interested in inventing new commercial products and he is using his knowledge of “design form manufacturing” to develop a new device for the outdoor activities market. He is also working with Dr. Yue Hillon in the College of Business to develop the commercial side of the project.

Allison is a first year student at WCU studying nursing.  Her research project is to investigate different types of stents used to keep a lumen open.  The most common application for stents in in blood vessels, in particular within the heart (cardia stents).

Chloe is a junior pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, mechanical concentration and a degree in computer science. She is studying to forces that exist in the knee joint to understand the environmental conditions that articular cartilage experiences during human movement. The goal of this work is to define the normal and shear forces on the cartilage so that new artificial tissue can be developed that will sustain these forces after implantation.

Her first project was to track the movement of mesenchymal stem cells to develop a better understanding of their migration characteristics. Stem cells are used to repair tissue and keep it healthy. This research supports the development of artificial tissue for the repair of articular cartilage found within joints such as the knees, hips, shoulders, and fingers. In October 2024, she presented her research at the biomedical engineering society conference in Baltimore.

Sommer is now junior. Her current project is to understand the diffusion characteristics of fibrous capsules that surround implanted medical devices. Prior to this, she investigated different types of stents used to keep a lumen open.  The most common application for stents in in blood vessels, in particular within the heart (cardiac stents). She also researching the biomechanics of patellar tendon relocation which she will be presenting at the biomedical engineering society conference in October 2024.

In 2022-2023 Sommer, as a first year student in Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology, conducted research with our group. She developed a portion of an irrigation system that will be used to water indoor plants including the electronic detection of soil humidity.  She presented her work at the National Conference for Undergraduate research in Eau Claire Wisconsin.