West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States
Results-driven biomedical engineering specializing in structure-property relationships and polymer engineering principles to design the next generation of materials. Researcher with 5+ years’ experience in designing, testing, and analyzing materials utilizing industry standards and custom-developed protocols. Managed cross-disciplinary collaborations to develop innovative solutions to material challenges. Combined skilled project management and award-winning leadership to deliver on project goals.
I am a Biomedical Engineering Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Texas at Austin in the Cosgriff-Hernandez Lab. I study polymer engineering principles and techniques for applications in the development of synthetic heart valves to improve durability/biocompatibility, small diameter synthetic vascular grafts to mitigate the development of intimal hyperplasia, and pediatric vaginal stents to improve post neovaginal creation outcomes. I utilize electrospinning, hydrogel coatings, and emulsion templating for the fabrication. I perform FTIR, GPC, degradation analysis, SEM, mechanical assessments, and more for the characterization and investigation of our materials.
Provided assistant and guidance in a lab setting to students studying Anatomy and Physiology I & II.
As a tutor my job was to create an environment that would allow students to obtain success by reducing their stress and helping them gain confidence in not only themselves, but also in their knowledge of the concepts we were going over. I used an online medium (Adobe Connect) to effectively communicate concepts by using microphones, text, and diagrams to further the students knowledge and aid them in working through problems.