Taking a chance on ambition

The annual Dowd Fellowship meeting was held on November 14. The 2023 Dowd Fellows presented results of their research, and the four new 2024 Dowd Fellows introduced their projects.

Established in 2001 by Engineering alumnus Philip Dowd (MSE ’63) and his wife, Marsha, The Dowd Engineering Seed Fund supports four ambitious doctoral students whose research areas haven’t previously received funding. The fellowships help students to obtain preliminary data toward receiving future funding for research or entrepreneurial activity.

The Dowds have allowed countless students to pursue research that may otherwise not have been given a chance, and to change the world in the process.”

Burak Ozdoganlar, Professor, Mechanical Engineering

“Since 2001, the Dowd Fellowship has supported 83 Ph.D. students, who completed 710 scientific papers and presentations. The work supported by the Dowd Fellowship has also led to 38 patents and disclosures, as well as $27.1M in follow-on funding. We are grateful to the Dowds for their incredible generosity,” said Burak Ozdoganlar, the director of the Dowd Fellowship program, professor of mechanical engineering, and associate director of the Engineering Research Accelerator. “The Dowds have allowed countless students to pursue research that may otherwise not have been given a chance, and to change the world in the process.”

The funding is available to engineering students in the third or fourth year of their doctoral program, and lasts for one year, covering their full tuition and a monthly stipend. This year’s four Dowd fellows come from three departments and their projects cover a range of areas, from nanostructures applied to fight bacterial infections to using ultrasonic waves to study brain activity.

Jaewon Choi

Lung alveoli-on-a-chip

Jaewon Choi aims to deepen our understanding of how air pollution particulates—such as smoke, diesel, and coal dust—affect health at the molecular and cellular levels. He has found that current research methods, which involve cell cultures interfacing between air and liquid, do not accurately reflect the conditions in human lungs. Together with his advisor, Siyang Zheng, a professor of biomedical engineering and electrical and computer engineering, Choi is developing an organic, porous material on microchips designed to mimic the function of living lung tissue including gas exchange and breathing. In particular, this material is intended to replicate the behavior of alveoli, the numerous tiny sacs in the lungs where oxygen enters the bloodstream. Choi hopes this innovation will enable researchers to further our understanding and develop improved therapies to treat lung damage caused by airborne particulates.

Seonghan Jo

Infection under bioelectric control

Seonghan Jo is a fourth year student in materials science and engineering and is advised by Tzahi Cohen-Karni, professor of biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering. Jo creates materials at the nano-scale (one-billionth of a meter), that are too small to see with most conventional optical microscopes. He particularly focuses on materials that kickstart electrochemical reactions.

He has developed an innovative patch to treat bacterial infections; by using electrochemistry, the patch creates molecules that can destroy bacteria. It also includes a sensor that monitors infections in real-time. This project is important to overcome the limitations of traditional antibiotics, as bacteria develop resistance to these medications.

Yuhyun Lee

DeepFocus

Electrical brain stimulation (EBS) is a method of studying the brain and treating neurological issues such as depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is an invasive procedure, as thin wires called electrodes are implanted into certain parts of the brain, and a pulse generator periodically sends electrical signals to the electrodes so they stimulate the nearby brain cells. Because it involves surgery, EBS can be risky and costly.

Yuhyun Lee, a student in the lab of Pulkit Grover, professor of electrical and computer engineering, has designed a novel “DeepFocus” technique, which is a safer and more efficient way of electrically stimulating deep brain areas. It is minimally invasive to reduce pain and to increase safety.

Lloyd Lobo

Ultrasonic-optical brain imaging

Lloyd Lobo is a student in the laboratory of Maysam Chamanzar, professor of electrical and computer engineering, which focuses on developing new ways to record brain activity, particularly by using light and sound.

Current methods are either invasive, require surgery, or are bulky, with poor resolution. Lobo’s solution uses optical beams, which can show high-resolution information about brain activity but normally cannot penetrate deep brain areas. He shapes these optical beams with sonic, or sound, waves so that they can give information about these deep brain areas. This project would allow doctors to diagnose and treat disorders in real-time and allow researchers to better understand neural pathways and mechanisms.