[{"id":1608,"date":"2026-05-04T13:15:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T13:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1608"},"modified":"2026-05-04T13:15:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T13:15:39","slug":"tracheotomy-device-and-the-amazing-story-behind-it-inspires-vcu-engineering-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/05\/04\/tracheotomy-device-and-the-amazing-story-behind-it-inspires-vcu-engineering-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracheotomy device \u2013 and the amazing story behind it \u2013 inspires VCU engineering students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The annual Capstone Design Expo highlights how College of Engineering seniors focus on real-world impact.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Leila Ugincius<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One horrific night in 2019 could have left Kathy Crockett dead and her husband arrested. Instead, it led her to invent a potentially lifesaving device \u2013 and Virginia Commonwealth University students are helping build it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 30 years ago, Crockett was intubated for surgery with a tube that was too large, and it scarred the inside of her airway. Since then, she has had more than 30 procedures to alleviate the damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All it took on that fateful night in 2019 was for Crockett to simply roll over in bed in her Chester home. That subtle movement dislodged mucus in her throat, which blocked her airway. She frantically gestured for help to her husband, who finally grabbed the closest instrument on hand \u2014 a dull pocketknife \u2014 and desperately tried to open an airway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was too much scar tissue to get through, but he finally managed to create a tiny pinhole \u2014 too small for a tube, but just enough for Crockett to take a couple of breaths before passing out. Amazingly, when the paramedics\u2019 wheeled stretcher hit a small rock on the path outside her home, that oh-so-subtle shift cleared her airway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crockett was able to exonerate her husband for stabbing her in the throat, but she spent two weeks in the hospital. One day, the idea for an Autoinjecetor Tracheotomy Device<\/a> came to her \u2013 a product that senses the correct insertion point and releases a scalpel and breathing tube into the patient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI started writing down and scribbling on a piece of paper,\u201d Crockett said. \u201cI think it was really God that led me to this because it came within five minutes and I had it. \u2026 The fact that, because of a stupid rock in my yard, I\u2019m here. This is bigger than me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
The components that will release the loaded spring and fire the apparatus, next to a model of the anatomy of the cricothyroid membrane. (Enterprise Marketing and Communications)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The AutoTrach was one of the prototypes at this year\u2019s VCU College of Engineering Capstone Design Expo<\/a>, which highlights work of undergraduate seniors. Held April 24 at the Stuart C. Siegel Center, the annual event showcased more than 100 student projects and presentations, the result of more than eight months of work among students, project partners and faculty advisors. The prototypes and inventions focused on solutions that could have a lasting impact on society and humankind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crockett initially gave Johns Hopkins University \u2013 where she has been treated several times over the years \u2013 first dibs on the device, but since she had already patented it, it wasn\u2019t eligible for the university\u2019s program. She then brought it to VCU Engineering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After hearing Crockett\u2019s story, Department of Biomedical Engineering chair Rebecca Heise<\/a>, Ph.D., was very interested, having had prior experience working with Boston Scientific and VCU Health clinicians on bronchoscopy and related airway devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis project seemed like an offshoot of that prior experience with an important and impactful potential,\u201d said Heise, who served as faculty advisor. \u201cI am excited to see where the project goes as the prototype progresses towards a full lifesaving device.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lily Hardy-McGurty was drawn to work on AutoTrach because of those lifesaving capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought that this was super interesting because there\u2019s nothing really like it on the market,\u201d said Hardy-McGurty, who plans to take a gap year to work in a hospital before studying to become a physician\u2019s assistant. \u201cAnd I thought it had a lot of potential. And I thought it could definitely save lives. And that\u2019s what I\u2019m in this field for right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Team member Taj Sangha, who plans to attend medical school after a gap year, also was grateful for the chance to work on such a worthwhile project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to work in emergency medicine, and this is probably the closest thing you can find to that,\u201d he said. \u201cSomeone who\u2019s on the site, addressing a patient who\u2019s injured or choking on something, it\u2019s an emergency situation. There\u2019s a lot of adrenaline, a lot of things going on, and everything needs to be precise. So I like the whole concept of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
VCU biomedical engineering students Taj Sangha (left), Lily Hardy-McGurty and Abi Maina were drawn to work on the automatic tracheostomy device project in part for its potential lifesaving impact. (Enterprise Marketing and Communications)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The cubelike device has sensors to detect the insertion point. One button releases a spring that fires the scalpel, and another pushes a blade to have the spring fire and release the endotracheal tube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe started from a pretty bare bones patent,\u201d said Abi Maina, who rounded out the student team. \u201cWe had to work from the ground up as a result of our own efforts to be able to figure out what we wanted to accomplish internally. With our initial device, we wanted it to be sensor-guided, mechanically actuated, and possess both visual and audio cues to note or to inform users of how to deploy the device.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of that sounded great in theory, she said, but it was really ambitious. For the sake of time, the team focused on just the internal mechanical mechanisms. They \u2013 and Crockett \u2013 hope that next year\u2019s seniors will want to continue the project in their Capstone Design work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just hope this \u2026 carries through to fruition because I think it\u2019ll be a big thing for the world, everywhere. I just really hope that we can get it done,\u201d Crockett said. \u201cFaced with having to push a button or slice the throat is a hell of a choice. And I don\u2019t want my husband or my family or anybody\u2019s family to have to go through that again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to Capstone Design coursework, the expo featured products from Vertically Integrated Projects<\/a> teams. The VIP program provides undergraduate students the opportunity to participate in multiyear, multidisciplinary, team-based projects under the guidance of faculty and graduate students in their areas of expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a list of award recipients from the 2026 Capstone Design Expo, visit this webpage<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Originally posted on VCU News: https:\/\/news.vcu.edu\/article\/tracheotomy-device–and-the-amazing-story-behind-it–inspires-vcu-engineering-students<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VCU engineering students developed a sensor-guided automatic tracheotomy prototype inspired by Kathy Crockett\u2019s harrowing survival story, aiming to provide a safer, more precise emergency airway solution for life-threatening situations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1609,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,13,1127],"tags":[117,1151,758],"class_list":["post-1608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bme","category-students","category-ugrad","tag-capstone","tag-hm","tag-vertically-integrated-projects"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1606,"date":"2026-05-04T12:53:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1606"},"modified":"2026-05-04T12:53:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:53:59","slug":"icu-device-for-fecal-management-finds-industrial-partner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/05\/04\/icu-device-for-fecal-management-finds-industrial-partner\/","title":{"rendered":"ICU device for fecal management finds industrial partner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Testing has started at VCU Medical Center on an innovation designed by a former VCU Health nurse and a College of Engineering researcher.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By John Battiston<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What started as an idea during a night shift at a VCU Health intensive care unit is well on its way to hitting the medical device market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skil-Care Corp<\/a>. is working with the VCU College of Engineering\u2019s Casey Grey, Ph.D., to move a fecal management system flow positioning device<\/a> he co-developed toward commercialization. The device, originally conceived by former VCU Health ICU nurse Emma Necessary, is now undergoing small-batch clinical testing at VCU Medical Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to have a partner who has played this game for a long time,\u201d said Grey, a postdoctoral research associate who helped Necessary translate the original bedside concept into a functional prototype. \u201cThe consistent quality of Skil-Care\u2019s products has made us more confident about the results of the clinical trials, which Skil-Care also helped facilitate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FMS device, shaped like a wedge, does more than help patients sit up in bed, which can keep their lungs open and reduce pressure injuries. It also incorporates a nonstick channel that supports the role of gravity in waste elimination. The channel can eliminate backflow as well as leaks while protecting a patient\u2019s skin from caustic fluids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For VCU <\/a>TechTransfer and Ventures<\/a>, the collaboration reflects its core mission: identifying promising university innovations and pairing them with industry partners capable of bringing them to market at scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s unique about this positioning wedge is that it was developed literally at the bedside,\u201d said Thomasine Isler, innovation and industry engagement manager at TechTransfer and Ventures, a division of the VCU Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Necessary shared her idea, it was Isler\u2019s job to vet and develop intellectual property around the technology, then find an industry partner to help take it to market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That search led Isler to Skil-Care, a nearly 50-year-old, family-owned medical products company based outside New York City. Known for its focus on patient safety and comfort, the company maintains domestic manufacturing capabilities that allow for rapid design iteration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur ethos has always been to collaborate with clinicians who are on the front line of health care, whose patients have very specific needs,\u201d said Jonathan Treber, CEO of Skil-Care. \u201cThe FMS device is one of dozens of examples of this \u2013 probably even hundreds \u2013 that we\u2019ve worked on since Day One.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skil-Care\u2019s experience in patient-positioning products made it a natural fit for the FMS device. The innovation is designed to position patients in a way that reduces tubing kinks, leaks and backflow, which are persistent challenges that can lead to discomfort and infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a great combination of patient safety and patient comfort, which is at the crux of our mission as a business,\u201d Treber said. \u201cIt solved an incredibly simple but very important need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After licensing discussions began, Skil-Care worked closely with VCU collaborators to refine the design through multiple iterations, responding directly to clinical feedback from ICU staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to find the best of both worlds: protecting the patient and making it easier for caregivers to install, remove and configure the device,\u201d said John DeVito, Skil-Care\u2019s chief operating officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the small-batch clinical study continues at VCU, Grey, Skil-Care and TechTransfer and Ventures are working in parallel to finalize design, licensing and manufacturing details. Isler notes the contrast between this and other, more transactional industry partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur work with Skil-Care is different \u2013 this is a true back-and-forth,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s what we want our internal researchers to see: If they have an idea, we\u2019re here to help them find the right industry partners to move it forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She continued, \u201cEven if you\u2019re not sure your work is \u2018ready,\u2019 let\u2019s have the conversation. Industry partnerships often start with a simple discussion, and those conversations can ignite long-term relationships that amplify your research and expand its reach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Treber agreed with Isler\u2019s summary of their collaboration on this product: \u201cThis is the first of hopefully many.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Originally posted on VCU News: https:\/\/news.vcu.edu\/article\/fecal-management-system<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VCU and Skil-Care are commercializing a nurse-invented fecal management device. The wedge-shaped tool improves patient positioning to prevent leaks, skin damage, and infections while streamlining intensive care workflows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1607,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1206,1151,1166],"class_list":["post-1606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mne","tag-casey-grey","tag-hm","tag-vcu-techtransfer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1604,"date":"2026-05-04T12:38:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1604"},"modified":"2026-05-04T12:38:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:38:57","slug":"biomedical-engineering-alumni-woon-chow-m-d-ph-d-to-deliver-2026-commencement-address-at-the-vcu-college-of-engineering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/05\/04\/biomedical-engineering-alumni-woon-chow-m-d-ph-d-to-deliver-2026-commencement-address-at-the-vcu-college-of-engineering\/","title":{"rendered":"Biomedical engineering alumni Woon Chow, M.D., Ph.D. to deliver 2026 commencement address at the VCU College of Engineering"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Biomedical engineering alumni Woon Chow, M.D., Ph.D. (B.S.\u201803, B.S.\u201803, Ph.D.\u201911, M.D.\u201911, H.S.\u201915, M.S.\u201924) will deliver the keynote address at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) College of Engineering\u2019s 2026 commencement ceremony. Additional remarks will be delivered by chemical and life science engineering undergraduate Sarah White and biomedical engineering Ph.D. student Sydnie Tran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At more than 500 students, this represents VCU Engineering\u2019s largest class of graduates since its founding 30 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing invited to give the commencement address, especially during this milestone year, is deeply meaningful and humbling for me,\u201d said Chow. \u201cIt feels like yesterday that I sat where these graduates are today and could not have imagined the path ahead. The opportunities I was given, and the many mentors and supporters around me made it all possible. I am truly excited to experience this full-circle moment, celebrate alongside the graduates and encourage them to stay curious, interdisciplinary and committed to making a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chow is a physician\u2011scientist and clinical informatician. He earned dual bachelor’s degrees in biomedical engineering and physics at VCU while completing minors in chemistry, mathematics, electrical engineering and history. As an inaugural member of the Tau Beta Pi Virginia Epsilon Chapter, Chow helped establish the nation\u2019s oldest engineering honor society at VCU. After completing a combined M.D.\/Ph.D. program at VCU, Chow also earned a Master of Health Administration, further expanding his expertise at the intersection of engineering, science, medicine and healthcare leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Board\u2011certified in anatomic pathology, clinical pathology, neuropathology and clinical informatics, Chow currently serves as deputy chief health informatics officer and staff pathologist at the Central Virginia VA Health Care System. In this role, he helps direct one of the most comprehensive health informatics services in the federal system and leads initiatives advancing digital transformation and data\u2011driven care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to his leadership in informatics, Chow maintains a part\u2011time clinical practice as a neuro\u2011 and ophthalmic pathologist at VCU and remains deeply engaged in patient care, research, medical education and mentorship. He also holds faculty roles at the University of Tennessee, the University of California\u2013Riverside and Broward Health in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chow\u2019s support of the VCU College of Engineering also includes a scholarship he and his wife, Sadia Sayeed, M.D. (H.S.\u201916), established in honor of his mentor, Joseph Feher, Ph.D.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeeing our alumni return to inspire VCU engineers as they embark on this new chapter of life is part of what makes our mission of Engineering for Humanity<\/em> possible,\u201d said Azim Eskandarian, D.Sc.<\/strong><\/a>, the Alice T. and William H. Goodwin Jr. Dean of the College of Engineering. \u201cThat personal transmission of experience from generation to generation is a great motivation for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The VCU College of Engineering will host its graduation celebration for students on Friday, May 8, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The VCU College of Engineering offers innovative undergraduate<\/a> and graduate<\/a> degree programs tailored to meet the demands of the rapidly evolving engineering field. As part of a premier research university, students are given the opportunity to perform real-world research<\/a> in our state-of-the-art facilities as soon as they enroll. Browse videos and recent news to discover how the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University<\/a> prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for the challenges of the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VCU College of Engineering alumnus Woon Chow, M.D., Ph.D., will deliver the 2026 commencement keynote, celebrating the school’s 30th anniversary and its largest graduating class of over 500 students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1829,"featured_media":1605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,30],"tags":[213,214],"class_list":["post-1604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-general-college","tag-commencement","tag-graduation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1829"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1601,"date":"2026-04-29T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1601"},"modified":"2026-04-28T14:26:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T14:26:49","slug":"how-i-found-my-research-grayson-jacey-seeks-to-help-make-important-medicines-more-accessible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/04\/29\/how-i-found-my-research-grayson-jacey-seeks-to-help-make-important-medicines-more-accessible\/","title":{"rendered":"How I found my research: Grayson Jacey seeks to help make important medicines more accessible"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The junior, who says \u2018there is always something new to learn,\u2019 has engaged in research projects at VCU, in private industry and in India and Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Tom Gresham<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How I found my research is an occasional series featuring VCU students sharing their journeys as researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grayson Jacey, a junior at Virginia Commonwealth University, has already enjoyed a rich array of research opportunities during his time as an undergraduate \u2013 and that\u2019s by design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy academic path has been shaped by a strong interest in research,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacey is pursuing a dual degree in chemical and life science engineering in the College of Engineering<\/a> and in chemistry in the College of Humanities and Sciences<\/a>, and he has embraced research opportunities not only within the College of Engineering and the Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs<\/a> at VCU but during two co-op terms with DuPont and while abroad in India and Germany. Most recently, Jacey was awarded a Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship<\/a> to support upcoming summer research at the University of Bonn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VCU News caught up with Jacey to learn about his passion for research and his ongoing work in the catalysis lab of Frank Gupton, Ph.D., Floyd D. Gottwald Jr. Chair in the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering and founder of the Medicines for All Institute<\/a>, which is improving global access to lifesaving medicines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In two sentences, tell us the focus of your research … and why it is important\/impactful for all of us.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

My research at VCU focuses on synthesizing more cost-effective palladium catalysts used in Suzuki cross-coupling, which is an important reaction for medicines like Losartan and Lenacapavir. Palladium costs around $1,600 per troy ounce and contributes significantly to the price of manufacturing these lifesaving drugs, so finding ways to improve catalyst performance and reduce the amount of palladium needed would make these medicines more affordable to produce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What inspired you to pursue this line of research?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I was drawn to this research because it combined engineering, chemistry and the opportunity to make a practical difference. My dad is a doctor, so I grew up with an appreciation for health care and the role it plays in people\u2019s lives. Even though I never saw myself becoming a doctor, I still wanted to contribute to that field in some way. Over time, I realized I was more interested in the scientific and engineering side of medicine, especially how drugs are developed and made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joining Dr. Gupton\u2019s catalysis lab during my freshman year at VCU gave me that opportunity. Through the lab\u2019s close connection with the Medicines for All Institute, I was able to see how catalysis research can support more efficient pharmaceutical synthesis and improve access to important medicines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tell us about a surprise in your research journey.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A major surprise has been realizing how far one opportunity can take you. When I first joined Dr. Gupton\u2019s catalysis lab, I mainly viewed it as a chance to explore an academic interest. I did not expect that experience to lead to so many other opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After spending about a year in the lab, I was able to leverage that experience into a co-op with DuPont, where I learned how research skills can transfer into a real-world setting. From there, I was also able to pursue international research experiences in India and in Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What surprised me most is that beginning with one specific interest ended up helping me build a much wider range of technical, professional and personal skills than I ever expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Grayson Jacey\u2019s research journey began with a specific academic interest and led to a much wider range of technical, professional and personal skills than he ever expected. (Dean Hoffmeyer, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tell us about an obstacle or challenge you had to overcome in your work.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One challenge I faced was during a summer REU (the National Science Foundation\u2019s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program<\/a>) in Dr. Gupton\u2019s catalysis lab, when I was designing a reactor to test a newly developed catalyst. I spent hours running experiments and trying to optimize the system, but after multiple runs, I still did not see the data I was hoping for. That was frustrating, especially because I had invested so much time into the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I realized that research is not only about getting positive results. It is also about learning what does not work, and sometimes proving the null hypothesis. Although the original results were disappointing, I learned a great deal from the process, and I am now applying that reactor design experience to a different project with much more confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there a memorable partnership or lesson you’ve embraced along the way?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One memorable lesson is the value of learning from experienced mentors. Throughout my undergraduate experience, I have been fortunate to work with mentors who challenged me and helped me grow. In particular, Simon Friedrich, the Ph.D. student I work with in the catalysis lab, has taught me a great deal about research, troubleshooting and approaching problems. As an undergraduate researcher, that mindset has helped me grow more quickly by learning from others\u2019 experience instead of only from my own mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you find fulfilling about the research process?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

 <\/em>There is always something new to learn. I especially enjoy being able to take concepts from my chemical engineering coursework and apply them in a hands-on way through experiments. One of my favorite experiences was using a CSTR (continuously stirred-tank reactor) because we had learned about designing those kinds of reactors in class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What advice would you offer undergrads to kick-start their own research journeys?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ask and to be direct. A lot of opportunities begin with a simple conversation or email. When I was first looking for research experience, I reached out to professors whose work interested me and made an effort to speak with them directly. That is how I eventually connected with Dr. Gupton and joined his lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You do not need to have everything figured out before you begin. The most important step is being willing to ask and take initiative. One of my mentors once told me, \u201cThe best time to weed a garden was yesterday. The second best time is now.\u201d I think the same is true for research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Originally posted on VCU News: https:\/\/news.vcu.edu\/article\/how-i-found-my-research-grayson-jacey-seeks-to-help-make-important-medicines-more-accessible<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The junior, who says \u2018there is always something new to learn,\u2019 has engaged in research projects at VCU, in private industry and in India and Germany.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1602,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,13,1127],"tags":[9,1151,8,1147],"class_list":["post-1601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clse","category-students","category-ugrad","tag-b-frank-gupton","tag-hm","tag-medicines-for-all","tag-reu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1595,"date":"2026-04-28T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1595"},"modified":"2026-05-04T12:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:58:08","slug":"graduating-seniors-share-how-clubs-helped-build-community-and-create-opportunity-at-the-vcu-college-of-engineering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/04\/28\/graduating-seniors-share-how-clubs-helped-build-community-and-create-opportunity-at-the-vcu-college-of-engineering\/","title":{"rendered":"Graduating seniors share how clubs helped build community and create opportunity at the VCU College of Engineering"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Allura Zahradnick<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Student organizations play a major role in shaping the undergraduate experience at Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) College of Engineering. For students in biomedical engineering, that experience goes beyond the classroom, offering opportunities to connect, grow and engage within a supportive community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizations such as the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) provide students with opportunities to take on leadership roles, participate in research and attend national conferences. This semester several students who have been actively involved in these organizations are preparing to graduate. Their experiences highlight a common theme: Getting involved makes a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jessica Nguyen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Jessica Nguyen, BMES was always part of the plan. She came into college already wanting to get involved after hearing about the organization from her cousin, a VCU biomedical engineering alum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a commuter student, BMES became more than just a club, it became a way to stay connected to the department and the people in it. Her involvement quickly evolved into leadership. Serving first as secretary and later as president, Nguyen helped rebuild the chapter after a period of inactivity, learning how to run an organization while shaping what it could become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That work came to life through one of her most meaningful accomplishments \u2013organizing the first Mid- Atlantic BMES Undergraduate Research Symposium. What began as a small idea grew into a multi-university event, bringing together students from all across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt felt like we were creating something bigger than just a single event,\u201d Nguyen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through BMES, Nguyen built strong relationships with faculty and peers, gaining mentorship and research experience that ultimately helped guide her decision to pursue a Ph.D in biomedical engineering. Her time in BMES wasn\u2019t just about participation, it was about building something that will continue long after she graduates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jade Rasberry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Involvement started with a search for belonging for Jade Rasberry. Coming from a predominantly white area, she entered VCU looking for a space where she could feel supported and understood as an engineering student. That search led her to the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was searching for a community,\u201d Rasberry said. \u201cI was in a new city, and around so much culture that I didn’t know where to start.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through NSBE, she found exactly that and more, building a network of peers, mentors and professionals who shared similar experiences and goals. That sense of belonging became the foundation for her growth, not just as a student, but as a leader. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, she took on multiple roles within the organization, eventually serving as chapter president. Rasberry\u2019s leadership focused on outreach, mentorship and creating opportunities for others to feel the same sense of connection she found early on. Her involvement also opened unexpected doors, from connecting with international NSBE chapters to mentoring high school students across the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing involved matters,\u201d she said. \u201cYou never know where it might lead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now preparing to graduate, she plans to pursue a career in cardiac device manufacturing or sales, bringing with her the confidence, leadership and sense of purpose she developed through NSBE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Smridhi Madan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smridhi Madan\u2019s introduction to BMES came during the College of Engineering club fair her freshman year. What caught Madan\u2019s attention initially turned into something much bigger, a leadership journey that helped shape her entire college experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting as treasurer, then vice president and now president, Madan has been deeply involved in expanding the organization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of my biggest takeaways has been realizing the type of leader I can be,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through her time in BMES, Madan focused on creating opportunities for others. One of her proudest accomplishments was making it possible for more students, not just executive board members, to attend the BMES national conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her involvement also opened doors beyond the organization. Through BMES, she built relationships with faculty that led to research opportunities, including working in the lab of Rebecca Heise, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/a>, department chair and Inez Caudill, Jr. Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. She later collaborated with peers on an independent project that resulted in a provisional patent for a medical device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond academics the experience was just as personal. From late nights studying to traveling for conferences, BMES created a space where friendships and professional growth happened side by side. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was one of the first times I truly felt like I belonged in biomedical engineering,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduation, Madan plans to work in biotech product development before pursuing medical school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than a Club<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Creating spaces where students can find community, develop leadership skills and explore what’s possible in their field is a common thread among those who become involved in student organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From presenting research on a national stage to building lifelong friendships or discovering new career paths, at VCU, getting involved isn\u2019t just encouraged, it’s essential. And for these graduating students, it’s been one of the most defining parts of their college experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The Department of Biomedical Engineering provides undergraduate<\/a> and graduate<\/a> students with the opportunity to perform real-world research<\/a> as soon as they enroll. From delving into the intricacies of cell migration in cancer research to exploring tissue engineering in menisci, tendons and ligaments, our students pursue a diverse range of cutting-edge research topics. Browse videos and recent news from the Department of Biomedical Engineering<\/a> to discover how the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for the challenges of the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Graduating seniors at VCU\u2019s College of Engineering share how leadership roles in organizations like BMES and NSBE fostered community, provided research opportunities, and built essential foundations for their future careers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1600,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,13,1127],"tags":[1220,79,37,1221],"class_list":["post-1595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bme","category-students","category-ugrad","tag-biomedical-engineering-society","tag-national-society-of-black-engineers","tag-rebecca-heise","tag-student-organizations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1593,"date":"2026-04-24T15:36:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1593"},"modified":"2026-04-24T15:36:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:36:33","slug":"meet-seven-of-the-nearly-500-vcu-students-who-presented-their-research-this-week-at-a-prestigious-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/04\/24\/meet-seven-of-the-nearly-500-vcu-students-who-presented-their-research-this-week-at-a-prestigious-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet seven of the nearly 500 VCU students who presented their research this week at a prestigious conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Undergrads from a range of disciplines explain their research, what attracted them to it and what participating in the National Conference on Undergraduate Research meant to them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By William Lineberry<\/a>
Honors College<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Conference on Undergraduate Research attracted more than 5,000 student researchers from around the country this week \u2013 and nearly 500 of them were from Virginia Commonwealth University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

VCU News spoke with seven of those VCU students on the conference floor and learned about their research and what they thought of the NCUR experience<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth Delcid | Junior | Dance & Choreography, School of the Arts, and Psychology, College of Humanities and Sciences<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Elizabeth Delcid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Project title: <\/strong>Bridging the Gap: Developing Choreographic Skills at the Bates Dance Festival<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you explain your research in three sentences or less?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I attended a dance festival to explore and immerse myself in a collaborative environment with emerging artists and professional artists. I wanted to explore the art form of choreography and the variety of methods that there are to choreography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What drew you to this line of research and why do you think it’s important?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think my background in dance and psychology. As seniors in choreography, we have to create a large project where we create a work. I wanted to get a headstart on that project and how I want to go about it. I also wanted to see the different psychological aspects of how a rehearsal space is constructed and managed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does the experience of being a part of NCUR mean to you as a student-researcher?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It means a lot to me because I think there are a lot of other areas being represented but being able to represent the arts at NCUR is very important to me. In larger research conference environments, arts can sometimes be overlooked while there are a lot of more STEM-focused projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molly Goecker | Senior, Honors College | Biology, College of Humanities and Sciences<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Molly Goecker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Project Title<\/strong>: Psilocybin Treatment for Alcohol Addiction and Reduction of Harm: Implementing Treatment for Low Socioeconomic Status Individuals in the United States<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you explain your research in three sentences or less?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essentially, alcohol use disorder is a really damaging and prevalent issue in the United States. People at a lower socioeconomic status experience disproportionate amounts of harm when they have alcohol use disorder, and psilocybin is potentially an effective treatment method for helping alcohol use disorder. My research seeks to better understand how psilocybin could be used to address the treatment gap in lower socioeconomic groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What drew you to this line of research and why do you think it’s important?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have a personal family history of alcohol use disorder so it\u2019s an important issue to me. And especially considering how little treatment there is available and the amount of harm that comes from alcohol use disorder, I wanted to focus on how to help address that through alternative and underutilized treatment methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does the experience of being a part of NCUR mean to you as a student-researcher?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It means a lot to be able to share my work with people from all over the country. It\u2019s also really exciting it\u2019s at VCU this year, which makes it even more accessible for students like me. I think it really will help with my own personal development and to help me be able to feel like I am sharing my work professionally and hopefully opening doors to my future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayomide Ogunlana | Junior | Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Ayomide Ogunlana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Project title<\/strong>: Socio-Environmental Life Cycle Assessment on Vanadium Production<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you explain your research in three sentences or less?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My project is a life-cycle analysis, which is quantifying the outputs of producing a certain material. My research focuses on cradle-to-gate, which is basically taking the material and processing it. I\u2019m comparing three different pathways for how vanadium is produced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What drew you to this line of research and why do you think it’s important?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My research advisor, Leah Spangler, Ph.D., told me about the project and she allowed me to keep going with it and now it\u2019s something I think is really interesting. I think my research is important because all companies should be thinking about which processes are safest for the planet and which create the least amounts of emissions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does the experience of being a part of NCUR mean to you as a student-researcher?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experience so far has been really nice. I\u2019ve already gotten a few opportunities to talk about my research and network with people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julian Piccone | Sophomore, Honors College | English, College of Humanities and Sciences<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Julian Piccone<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Project title<\/strong>: War on Drugs and the Controlled Substance Act: Racial Disparities and Drug Scheduling in the United States<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you explain your research in three sentences or less?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My research examines why marijuana is a Schedule I drug and how that scheduling has created disparities in enforcement; it is more punishing toward Black Americans. I also found that disparities in states that legalized marijuana were less than in those states where legalization had not occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What drew you to this line of research and why do you think it’s important?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had watched a documentary on the War on Drugs and the LSD era, and I thought it was interesting so that\u2019s where I initially started. I ended up moving away from that because what I found more interesting was the disparities in the system, which are well studied, but it made me more curious as to why marijuana had this labeling as a Schedule I drug. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does the experience of being a part of NCUR mean to you as a student-researcher?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s surprising to be here. I honestly didn\u2019t think that I would be here, but I\u2019m really happy to be here. It\u2019s a confidence boost for sure. If I had not done NCUR, I don\u2019t think I would feel comfortable pursuing other conferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brooke Schofield | Sophomore, Honors College | Biology, College of Humanities and Sciences<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Brooke Schofield<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Project Title: <\/strong>Combat Veterans and Combroid Illness: Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-associated Symptoms through Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you explain your research in three sentences or less?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My research examines Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, which is proven to be effective in treating symptoms associated with brain injury, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What drew you to this line of research and why do you think it’s important?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My dad had multiple traumatic brain injuries when I was growing up. I knew I wanted to pursue a career in medicine, so I looked into treatment options for brain injuries that have not been published as much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does the experience of being a part of NCUR mean to you as a student-researcher?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think it\u2019s a great way to connect with other students and learn from other students. I\u2019ve just been here for an hour so far, and I\u2019ve already met some peers of mine from other universities who do similar research to me. It\u2019s amazing to see how research connects throughout the entire country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evelyn Squires | Freshman | Honors College, Art Foundation going into Graphic Design, School of the Arts<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Evelyn Squires<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Project title: <\/strong>Missing Depictions of Western Black Africans and Luso-African Ivory Carvings in 16th Century Renaissance Paintings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you explain your research in three sentences or less?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basically, I am arguing that there is a piece of Black History, specifically representations of Western Black Africans in paintings, that have been overlooked in art history. My research combines cultural and historical analysis to examine the paintings and argue that there are more of them out there than previously documented and that to fully understand Black history art scholars need to go back and look at these paintings and their depictions of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What drew you to this line of research and why do you think it’s important?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always been interested in Black history and art history. I am from Mississippi and moved to South Carolina. I grew up around a lot of the Black community but then I would go to western art history courses, and you do not see that demographic reflected in your standardized courses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does the experience of being a part of NCUR mean to you as a student-researcher?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been amazing to be here because I get to see so many people I already know from VCU, but I also get to meet so many new people from all over. I think all the interaction of all the different areas of study is also really interesting and unique to NCUR. It\u2019s great to be able to learn and take from each other. Those intersections between areas of study is where innovative solutions often come from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ovya Sundaram | Freshman | Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Ovya Sundaram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Project title:<\/strong> Impacts of Prosthetic Innovation on Mental Health Empowerment, Embodiment and Psychological Recovery<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you explain your research in three sentences or less?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My research is about different categories of prosthetic design and how they relate to the mental health of those who wear them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What drew you to this line of research and why do you think it’s important?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a biomedical engineering major, I knew that I wanted to do something that had to do with rehabilitation. This idea actually stemmed from my Honors 200 Research Writing course. At that time, I knew I wanted to talk about prosthetics and connect it to psychology because I know some people who have had amputations. Also, to this specific research, I am working with another lab that\u2019s researching prosthetic devices so it kind of helped set the foundation for me to learn more about what I would be researching in that lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does the experience of being a part of NCUR mean to you as a student-researcher?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, it\u2019s not that I get to give out my own findings and what I have learned but also I get to learn about what other students found through their research. I love research. I\u2019m part of two labs right now, and I see myself doing research as a future profession so seeing what others have done opens my perspective on what I could do in the future. It inspires me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Originally posted on VCU News: https:\/\/news.vcu.edu\/article\/vcu-students-at-national-conference-on-undergraduate-research<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly 500 VCU students recently presented diverse projects at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, showcasing innovative work in dance, biology, engineering, and the arts at this prestigious national gathering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1594,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,13,1127],"tags":[1219],"class_list":["post-1593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bme","category-clse","category-students","category-ugrad","tag-national-conference-on-undergraduate-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1591,"date":"2026-04-24T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1591"},"modified":"2026-04-23T18:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:48:08","slug":"undergraduate-claire-maye-accelerates-future-opportunities-through-bachelor-of-arts-in-computer-science-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/04\/24\/undergraduate-claire-maye-accelerates-future-opportunities-through-bachelor-of-arts-in-computer-science-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Undergraduate Claire Maye accelerates future opportunities through Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An early start to master\u2019s education and summer internship for Maye follow B.A. in Computer Science enrollment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Emma Martin<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Claire Maye arrived at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), she didn’t expect to fast-track both her undergraduate and graduate education. Now 19, Maye is graduating a year early with a Bachelor of Arts in computer science and has already begun working towards her accelerated master\u2019s degree in data science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted to move past introductory courses and get to more advanced classes sooner,\u201d Maye said. \u201cThe B.A. made that possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maye initially enrolled as a double major in political science and computer science but found herself searching for a better balance. While she enjoyed both fields, Maye was concerned about the workload. That concern quickly faded as she discovered how the disciplines could complement each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy political science classes felt like a break from coding, and my coding classes felt like a break from all the reading and writing,\u201d Maye said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After learning about the VCU College of Engineering\u2019s B.A. in computer science through a friend, Maye made the switch from the traditional B.S. track. The flexibility of the program allowed her to tailor coursework, focusing on classes relevant to her goals while avoiding requirements that didn\u2019t align with her interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe B.A. ended up being the perfect fit,\u201d she said. \u201cIt gave me everything I needed without taking courses that weren’t as relevant to what I wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That flexibility also opened the door for Maye to begin taking graduate-level courses early, including classes in machine learning and data science. She said the opportunity to start her master\u2019s degree ahead of schedule was a major factor in her decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA master\u2019s helps you stand out and learn more advanced, applicable skills,\u201d Maye said. \u201cIt also opens the door to roles like project management, which I\u2019m really interested in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While she is still exploring her long-term career path, Maye is drawn to roles that combine technical knowledge with human interaction. She is particularly interested in software consulting and hopes to eventually work at the intersection of data science and public policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been a people person,\u201d Maye said. \u201cI want to do something where I can work with others while still using my technical skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This summer, Maye will take another step towards that goal as an IT intern with Rockwell Automation in Milwaukee. She credits her computer science background, along with support from VCU\u2019s Engineering Career Services department and her involvement in the Society of Women Engineers, with helping her secure the opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For students considering a B.A. in computer science, Maye recommends the program for its flexibility and accessibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a great way to add coding skills without committing to a full four-year computer science degree,\u201d Maye said. \u201cThose skills can make you a really strong candidate, no matter what career you end up in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The Department of Computer Science provides undergraduate<\/a> and graduate<\/a> students with the opportunity to perform real-world research<\/a> as soon as they enroll. From designing algorithms to solving complex computing problems to working with cutting-edge AI technology, students gain understanding of many important computing topics. Browse videos and recent news from the Department of Computer Science<\/a> to discover how the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for the challenges of the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VCU student Claire Maye is fast-tracking her career by pursuing a B.A. in Computer Science, allowing her to balance technical skills with political science while beginning an early master\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1592,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,13,1127],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cs","category-students","category-ugrad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1589,"date":"2026-04-22T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1589"},"modified":"2026-04-21T17:28:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:28:39","slug":"father-son-engineering-duo-invents-electricity-generating-shoe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/04\/22\/father-son-engineering-duo-invents-electricity-generating-shoe\/","title":{"rendered":"Father-son engineering duo invents electricity-generating shoe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alongside professor Karla Mossi, Ph.D., and VCU TechTransfer and Ventures, Advaith and Jayasimha Atulasimha have taken steps to bring the location-tracking footwear to market.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Madeline Reinsel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advaith Atulasimha was on a hike with his family a few years ago when he started to worry about getting lost. No one in the group had cell phone reception, and though they turned around before dark, he wondered what could have happened if they hadn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re lost in the middle of the forest, where there\u2019s no cell phone tower, you\u2019re kind of off the grid,\u201d said Advaith, now an eighth-grade student at Moody Middle School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that worry gave Advaith \u2013 who was only 10 years old at the time \u2013 an idea: What if he had a tracker that didn\u2019t need cell service, and that wouldn\u2019t run out of battery?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luckily, he had an important resource to help him do more than just wonder about the question. His father, Jayasimha Atulasimha<\/a>, Ph.D., is a professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering in Virginia Commonwealth University\u2019s College of Engineering<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, the duo has created a prototype of a shoe that generates small amounts of electricity as its wearer walks \u2013 enough to power a small GPS device. The pair sees several uses for the technology beyond tracking down lost hikers: Parents could use the shoes to track their young children, and family members of those with memory loss could keep an eye on their loved ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atulasimha thought that guiding Advaith through the initial research process could be a good learning experience for his son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy vision is to play more of a supportive role, so that he gradually steps into a role where he could integrate and lead the project,\u201d he said. \u201cSo that in the future, whether he works further on this project, or takes up another \u2013 because his interests may change \u2013 he has that basic skillset on research and how he would go about doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Jayasimha Atulasimha typically works on quantum computing research, but he has advised his son Advaith on the shoe\u2019s design alongside Karla Mossi, a colleague in the College of Engineering. (VCU College of Engineering)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He also had an idea for how to get started. Atulasimha introduced Advaith to piezoelectric devices, which create electricity when pressed. And though Atulasimha doesn\u2019t normally work with large piezoelectrics \u2013 he primarily studies nano-scale magnets and their uses in computing \u2013 his colleague Karla Mossi<\/a>, Ph.D., is an expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Atulasimhas and Mossi found that while other researchers had attached piezoelectric devices to shoes in the past, they didn\u2019t generate enough electricity to be useful. But the team didn\u2019t need much electricity \u2013 just enough to power a small GPS device sending out intermittent location updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advaith began to experiment with piezoelectrics with the help of Mossi, a professor and associate chair of mechanical and nuclear engineering at VCU, testing the energy-generating and storing abilities of the devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, Advaith tested several configurations and sizes of the devices to find out how much energy the shoes could produce. But the shoes don\u2019t just need to make energy \u2013 they need to store it as well, in a simple electronics part called a capacitor, which Advaith is learning to solder onto the piezoelectric devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor someone who\u2019s so young, he knows little details \u2013 like is this circuit in series? Is it in parallel?\u201d Mossi said. \u201cI thought it was very good to let him go and let him fly. It is his work, and that\u2019s the impressive part because of his age.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next step is to keep the energy from leaking back out of the capacitor over longer periods of time. Then, the Atulasimhas will add GPS capabilities to the shoes, which should have enough power to send out location information every 15 minutes, alternating between shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And although Advaith has already won an award at the Virginia Junior Academy of Science\u2019s annual science fair, the pair hopes to take their invention further. Last year, they filed an invention disclosure with the help of VCU TechTransfer and Ventures<\/a> that gave them a year to create a prototype of the device. To increase the shoe\u2019s commercial potential, Advaith is hoping to garner interest for the invention from major footwear companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But whatever happens, the father and son agreed, the project will have been a valuable learning experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWorking with both my dad and Dr. Mossi has been really fun,\u201d Advaith said. \u201cI came into this project knowing what a piezoelectric is, but not knowing the technicalities of filing a disclosure and understanding literature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he can take that knowledge \u2013 both of electronics, and of research in general \u2013 into high school next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike any project, it had lots of setbacks,\u201d Advaith said. \u201cBut I tried to find ways to overcome them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Originally posted on VCU News: https:\/\/news.vcu.edu\/article\/electricity-generating-shoes<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Middle schooler Advaith Atulasimha and his father, a VCU engineering professor, have developed a prototype shoe that generates electricity through walking to power GPS trackers for hikers and children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1590,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[128,71,1152,1166],"class_list":["post-1589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mne","tag-jayasimha-atulasimha","tag-karla-mossi","tag-smee","tag-vcu-techtransfer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1583,"date":"2026-04-21T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1583"},"modified":"2026-04-17T16:14:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T16:14:12","slug":"american-nuclear-society-presents-zeyun-wu-ph-d-with-the-untermyer-cisler-reactor-technology-medal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/04\/21\/american-nuclear-society-presents-zeyun-wu-ph-d-with-the-untermyer-cisler-reactor-technology-medal\/","title":{"rendered":"American Nuclear Society presents Zeyun Wu, Ph.D. with the Untermyer & Cisler Reactor Technology Medal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The honor recognizes Wu\u2019s contributions to the development of advanced nuclear reactor designs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improving the reliability and interpretability of computational models used to analyze nuclear reactors earned Zeyun Wu, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/a>, associate professor in the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, the Untermyer & Cisler Reactor Technology Medal. His research bridges fundamental reactor physics with practical reactor engineering applications<\/a> used in the development of advanced reactor designs. Presented by the American Nuclear Society (ANS), the Untermyer & Cisler award honors individuals who have made outstanding scientific, engineering or management contributions to the advancement of nuclear reactor technology, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am truly honored and grateful to receive this recognition from the American Nuclear Society,\u201d said Wu. \u201cThis award reflects the support of my students, collaborators and the outstanding environment within VCU\u2019s Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering and the College of Engineering. I look forward to continuing to advance reactor technologies that will play a key role in the future of nuclear energy. I am especially grateful for the support of my wife and son. Their encouragement and understanding have been invaluable, and this recognition is as much theirs as it is mine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working at the intersection of several traditionally separate areas, Wu connects high-fidelity physics modeling with system-level behavior, which is increasingly important for next-generation nuclear technologies. He is also involved in developing benchmark problems and community tools that help standardize and validate reactor analysis methods, enabling broader adoption across academia, national laboratories and industry. Wu\u2019s work ranges from computational methods to neutron transport, uncertainty quantification, and reactor safety analysis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This medal recognizes Dr. Wu’s substantial contributions to the field of engineering, particularly in the development of new nuclear reactor technology. It highlights that the nuclear engineering program at VCU is progressively concentrating on advanced reactor designs and computational modeling, thus preparing students for careers in nuclear power engineering,” said Nuclear Program Director Gennady Miloshevsky, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than developing methods in isolation, Wu\u2019s approach directly addresses real-world engineering challenges associated with nuclear data uncertainties, reactor safety margins, and complex multiphysics interactions. His research delivers results that can be trusted and used in decision-making, ensuring modern reactor technologies can be designed and evaluated with greater confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering provides undergraduate<\/a> and graduate<\/a> students with the opportunity to perform real-world research<\/a> as soon as they enroll. Formed from a partnership with Dominion Energy, the department provides a foundation in nuclear energy, allowing students to choose their educational path with advanced coursework in either mechanical or nuclear engineering. Access to industry tools, like the Nuclear Reactor Simulator Laboratory<\/a>, grounds education in practical instruction. Browse videos and recent news from the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering<\/a> to discover how the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for the challenges of the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The American Nuclear Society awarded Zeyun Wu, Ph.D., the Untermyer & Cisler Medal for his work on advanced reactor computational models. His research enhances the reliability and safety of modern nuclear energy technologies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1829,"featured_media":1584,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[165,6,748],"tags":[857,129,1152,102],"class_list":["post-1583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-awards","category-mne","category-nuclear","tag-american-nuclear-society","tag-gennady-miloshevsky","tag-smee","tag-zeyun-wu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1829"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1585,"date":"2026-04-20T15:30:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1585"},"modified":"2026-04-20T15:30:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:30:32","slug":"american-institute-for-medical-and-biological-engineering-inducts-two-vcu-engineers-to-its-college-of-fellows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/04\/20\/american-institute-for-medical-and-biological-engineering-inducts-two-vcu-engineers-to-its-college-of-fellows\/","title":{"rendered":"American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering inducts two VCU engineers to its College of Fellows"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From left: Arvind Agarwal, Ph.D., and John Speich, Ph.D.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arvind Agarwal, Ph.D., and John Speich, Ph.D., were honored for research ranging from biomaterials to bladder biomechanics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For their contributions to medicine, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) inducted Arvind Agarwal, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/a>, professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering, and John Speich, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/a>, professor in the Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering, to its College of Fellows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am proud of the innovative work of Drs. Agarwal and Speich, and consider us at VCU Engineering very fortunate to have them as colleagues, educators and mentors,\u201d said Azim Eskandarian, D.Sc.<\/strong><\/a>, the Alice T. and William H. Goodwin Jr. Dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) College of Engineering. \u201cSolving the challenging problems of modern engineering requires expertise from many disciplines, and this kind of collaborative work is something we consider essential at the College of Engineering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agarwal pioneered new regenerative medicine technologies through the development of plasma-sprayed hydroxyapatite\u2013carbon nanotube coatings. These coatings, tailored for orthopedic implants, improve osseointegration and mechanical durability. He was also a key investigator in the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Cellular Metamaterials (Cell Met)<\/a>. Agarwal led the Integrated Engineering Goal 3, focusing on the development, establishment and application of advanced cutting-edge tools and methods to test and validate engineered cardiac tissues against established gold standards and broader scientific literature. This collaborative work resulted in critical metrics used for process standardization.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am deeply honored and humbled to be elected as a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering,\u201d Agarwal said. \u201cMy journey began in materials science and engineering, particularly in coatings, and gradually evolved toward understanding the mechanical behavior of biomaterials. This transition has allowed me to explore a broad spectrum, from nanocomposite orthopedic coatings to softer, complex systems such as scaffolds, cells and biological tissues. It is especially meaningful to see this interdisciplinary path recognized by AIMBE, and I remain committed to advancing materials-driven solutions that impact human health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speich made significant contributions in the field of bladder biomechanics and urodynamics that are important steps forward in the understanding and diagnosis of overactive bladder (OAB). His collaboration with Paul Ratz, Ph.D., from the VCU School of Medicine was the first to show that the preload and active length-tension relationships in detrusor (bladder) smooth muscle are acutely regulated, leading to an editorial in the Journal of Applied Physiology noting the research\u2019s significance. Speich\u2019s recent NIH-funded work with the Dorothy A. Pauley Department of Urology and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology involves using near infrared spectroscopy to quantify neuroexcitation and hemodynamics during bladder filling<\/a>, with a goal of non-invasively identifying phenotypes based on the source of OAB as the brain, bladder or both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am truly honored to be elected as an AIMBE Fellow. My accomplishments with the VCU MechanoUrology Lab would not have been possible without Dr. Paul Ratz, who introduced me to bladder research, along with the other leaders of our team, Dr. Adam Klausner and Dr. Linda Burkett, our many collaborators at VCU and around the world, and the dozens of talented trainees that have contributed to our research over the past two decades,\u201d Speich said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to medical and biological engineers, comprising the top two percent of engineers in these fields. College membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering and medicine research, practice or education. Inductees also lead the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of medical and biological engineering or developing\/implementing innovative approaches to bioengineering education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering provides undergraduate<\/a> and graduate<\/a> students with the opportunity to perform real-world research<\/a> as soon as they enroll. From applying material science to additive manufacturing techniques to optimizing coolant systems for nuclear reactors and more, students gain understanding of many important engineering topics. Browse videos and recent news from the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering<\/a> to discover how the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for the challenges of the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VCU engineers Arvind Agarwal, Ph.D. and John Speich, Ph.D. have been inducted into the AIMBE College of Fellows for their groundbreaking research in biomaterials and bladder biomechanics, honoring their contributions to medical innovation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1829,"featured_media":1587,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[165,6],"tags":[1217,1218,1193,25,1151,27],"class_list":["post-1585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-awards","category-mne","tag-aimbe","tag-american-institute-for-medical-and-biological-engineering","tag-arvind-agarwal","tag-azim-eskandarian","tag-hm","tag-john-speich"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1829"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]