Winners of the 2018 Demetriades - Tsafka - Kokkalis Prizes Announced
07-10-18
The student winners of the 2018 Demetriades - Tsafka - Kokkalis Prizes were announced at the end of this academic year. Claire Bedbrook, advised by Professors Frances H. Arnold and Viviana Gradinaru received the prize in Biotechnology. Her research is in engineering proteins capable of controlling and reading out neural activity to advance neuroscience research. Nicholas Dou, advised by Professor Austin Minnich received the prize in Nanotechnology. Nicholas focuses on developing and characterizing novel nano-architected materials that are exceptionally lightweight, mechanically resilient, and thermally insulating. Xiaoqi Ren, advised by Professor Adam Wierman received the prize in Environmentally Benign Renewable Energy Sources. Xiaoqi’s research is focused on optimization of today's large-scale data centers, including online scheduling, energy usage and sustainability, and new market mechanisms for electricity markets and data clouds. Daniel C. Bowden, advised by Professors Joann M. Stock and Victor Tsai has received the prize in Seismo-Engineering, Prediction, and Protection. Daniel has worked on a range of projects relating to the propagation of seismic waves in the Earth's crust. Colin Cook, advised by Professor Yu-Chong Tai has receive the prize in Entrepreneurship. Colin is working on a phototherapeutic contact lens to treat diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of blindness.
Tags:
honors
MedE
CMS
Demetriades - Tsafka - Kokkalis Prizes
Xiaoqi Ren
Colin Cook
Claire Bedbrook
Daniel Bowden
Nicholas Dou
Glowing Contact Lens Could Prevent A Leading Cause of Blindness
04-23-18
Hundreds of millions of people suffer from diabetes worldwide, putting them at risk for a creeping blindness, or diabetic retinopathy. Existing treatments, though effective, are painful and invasive, involving lasers and injections into the eyeball. Graduate student, Colin Cook working in Professor Yu-Chong Tai’s laboratory has invented a contact lens that when worn during sleep interrupts the process that destroys cells of the retina. He hopes his contact lenses will offer a solution that patients will be more willing to try because the effort involved is minimal, as are the side effects. [Caltech story]
Tags:
research highlights
MedE
Yu-Chong Tai
Colin Cook
Third Place At TigerLaunch
04-18-18
Medical Engineering graduate student, Colin A Cook, has won third place at the 2017-2018 TigerLaunch Finals for his pitch on a phototherapy contact lens he has been developing with his advisor Professor Yu-Chong Tai. TigerLaunch is a national entrepreneurship competition, dedicated to building student founder networks. It is the largest student-run competition of its kind with events in Chicago, NYC, Paris, Seattle, and Princeton. It had over 300 applicants in 2017 and over $30,000 in prizes. Colin learned about the competition and was encouraged to apply while taking Professor Ken Pickar's class E/ME 103: Management of Technology. [ENGenious feature on Colin Cook]
Tags:
honors
MedE
Yu-Chong Tai
Ken Pickar
Colin Cook
