Amherst, Massachusetts, United States
Ciara Little is pursuing their Ph.D. in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Ciara is a Spaulding Smith Fellow and a recipient of the UMass Dean’s First Year and GEM fellowships. They earned their BS in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University in 2021. During this time their work focused on human-centered design, robotics, material testing, and sustainable engineering. At UMass, their work focuses on understanding and improving the complex environmental, engineered, and human systems underlying access to safe, reliable drinking water, prioritizing underserved communities. Their current research topics include improving water access and equity under intermittent water supply (IWS) conditions, water system characterization and typology, and sensor-facilitated predictive maintenance. Their broader research interests include sustainability, decision-making (under deep uncertainty), and adaptive system design. In addition to research, they actively support efforts to increase representation and inclusion in STEM. They are working with a team of interdepartmental peers to establish a graduate-specific NSBE group on campus.
Contributed to the continued development of an assistive orthosis for stroke patients • Contributed to the development of modular custom forearm braces • Develped a novel finger-based attachment methods • Retrofitted prior splint design for the novel attachment method • Collaborated with clinical partners to conduct patient-centered iterative prototyping
Evaluated materials using a variety of testing methods and analyzed the resulting data Processed samples and analyzed data for the Citizen Water Quality Testing (CWQT) program Contributed to data collection and analysis on the effectiveness of bio swells for the Bronx field site Investigated the heat dependency of viscoelasticity (high-temperature creep) on steel bridge wires. •Reviewed relevant literature and explored material properties through experimentation •Presented original research at the Columbia Engineering Undergraduate Research Symposium
Conducting image and data analysis on the mechanical behavior of biological specimen to investigate the roles of stress and strain in fetus development
Managed a team of six to ten employees to organize service for 18 buildings and address customer concerns