Category: Awards

The Michigan Tech Graduate Research Colloquium (GRC) and Annual Banquet 2024 was held on March 27.

Congratulations to the GRC winners.

Oral Presentation

First Place: Natalie Nold
Second Place: Nithin Allwayin
Third Place: Brilynn Janckila

Poster Presentation

First Place: Jessica Czarnecki
Second Place: Cody Tuftee (BME)
Third Place: Victoria Santillan (BME)

Second Place Poster

Drug Eluting Microgels as an Immunomodulatory Corneal Wound
Sealant

Authors: Cody Tuftee, Saad Asim, Gary Hin-Fai Yam, Muhammad Rizwan

Poster Extract

• Corneal damage is one of the leading causes of blindness with less than 1 in 70 victims able to undergo a correctional cornea transplant due to global donor shortages; hence, there is a need to develop synthetic alternatives.
• Sustained delivery of therapeutic molecules to the cornea proves a challenge due to natural defense mechanisms constantly seeking to clear away foreign materials from the eye.
• The proposed corneal wound sealant seeks to provide a platform for multiple immunomodulatory drugs to be released at different rates to regulate cornea repair.

Third Place Poster

Study of Breast Cancer Cells under Biophysical and Metabolic Cues

Authors: Victoria Santillan, Samerender Nagam Hanumantharao, Stephanie Bule, Carolynn Que, Brennan Vogl, Marina Tanasova, Smitha Rao

Poster Extract

• Cancer cell reprogramming is a complex process driven by many factors.
• By culturing cells in 3 dimensional (3D) scaffolds with specific morphologies, we can study how the behavior between cells and protein expression changes.
• We studied how the scaffolds affected cell-cell interactions and cell-matrix interactions, in the presence of the probe.

The GSG 2023 3MT (Three Minute Thesis) competition was held November 9 in the Forestry Atrium.

People’s Choice went to Cody Tuftee (MS student in Biomedical Engineering), including a $100 cash prize.

According to the University of Queensland, founder of the event, the 3MT “cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills”.

Last week, Huskies took their business pitches on the road and won big!

Graduate student Rourke Sylvain (biomedical engineering) and Ali Dabas ‘23 (B.S. Biomedical Engineering) pitched imi (integrated molecular innovations) at the renowned Rice Business Plan Competition. They won $25,000 in prize money for the best pediatric device, sponsored by Southwest National Pediatric Device Innovation Consortium (SWPDC). Sylvain, founder and CEO, and Ali Dabas, co-founder and CTO, pitched a wearable device that revolutionizes health care by eliminating the need for centralized clinical testing. They pitched in two categories. The shorter elevator pitch can be viewed on YouTube.

Congratulations to our student teams! We are proud of your hard work!

By Husky Innovate, Pavlis Honors College.

The Rice Business Plan Competition exists so that student founders pushing to create new possibilities in technology, energy, healthcare and more can surround themselves with a powerful network; learn what it takes to secure investor funding.

Play Integrated Molecular Innovations video

Integrated Molecular Innovations

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The Health Research Institute (HRI) at Michigan Tech is pleased to announce Summer Fellowship awardees for 2023. Congratulations to all recipients!

HRI Summer Fellowship awardees are:

• Alexander Apostle, Chemistry
• Mohanish Chandurkar, Biomedical Engineering
• Catherine Rono, Biological Sciences

HRI Student Fellowships are awarded three times a year. More information can be found on the HRI website.

By the Health Research Institute.

Congrats to Michigan Tech’s New Venture Challenge Competitors!

Central Michigan University (CMU) and Michigan Tech collaborate each year to offer Michigan Tech students a chance to compete in CMU’s New Venture Challenge (NVC). This gala event provides an opportunity for students at both universities to present their new ventures and to network with prospective investors, mentors and partners. Student contestants compete for over $60,000 in prizes and in-kind services.

On Friday (April 21, 2023), two Michigan Tech teams—Bayle Golden, a graduate student in engineering management, and Rourke Sylvain, a graduate student in biomedical engineering—pitched their innovations in the seven-minute pitch category at NVC and won. Congrats go to both teams! NVC awards are as follows:

• Bayle Golden (engineering management) won first place in the Social Mission category and received $10,000. Golden won an additional $10,000 for Best Overall Venture for a total of $20,000!
  • “At STEMPOWER we are working to create an integrative STEM experience for young girls through a physical toy line and online STEM community. We believe that we can change the STEM landscape and empower an entire generation of youth.”
    
• Rourke Sylvain won third place in the High Tech High Growth category, receiving $2,0000. Sylvain’s pitch was “imi (integrated molecular innovations),” an electrochemical biosensor for T4 detection.
  • “imi revolutionizes health care by eliminating the need for centralized clinical testing. We develop bio wearable devices that provide patients the ability to monitor their hormone levels continuously.”

Congratulations to our Husky Innovate student teams for all their hard work! We are proud of your perseverance and determination to take your ideas to the next level. Your solutions have the potential to make a positive impact for so many.

In preparing for the NVC, the students participated in a number of Husky Innovate workshops and prep sessions. Thank you to the Husky Innovate Teaching Team and the MTEC SmartZone, specifically Jason Mack and Patrick Visser, for their guidance to our teams. A special thanks to Michigan Tech alum Joe Corso ’77 (B.S. Electrical Engineering) for coaching our students and sharing his time and entrepreneurial expertise.

Thanks go to Jim Baker, associate vice president for research administration, and Len Switzer, associate director of partnerships for Enterprise and Senior Design, who attended NVC to support teams, represent Tech and build connections. Thanks to our Husky Innovate sponsors: the Pavlis Honors College, the Office of Innovation and Commercialization, and the College of Business, for their commitment to our students. Lastly, thank you to CMU and our host Julie Messing, director of the Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship, for the warm welcome and continued partnership.

By Husky Innovate, Pavlis Honors College.

Michigan Tech Entrepreneurs Pitch Off-Site This Week

Two Michigan Tech student teams will pitch their innovations at offsite pitch competitions this week. Jordan Craven will pitch Sizelogic at TCNewTech and Rourke Sylvain and Ali Dabas will pitch imi at the prestigious Rice Business Plan Competition. Best of luck to both teams!

Jordan Craven is the founder and CEO of Sizeologic. Sizelogic is committed to improving the online clothing retail industry by providing a comprehensive solution that makes it easier for customers to find clothes that fit them perfectly. Craven is in her fourth year of studying management in information systems and computer science at Michigan Tech. View her TCNewTech collegiate pitch tomorrow (May 9).

The TCNewTech University Pitch Showdown is part of the Northern Michigan Startup Week, a weeklong celebration of entrepreneurship, innovation and the startup community in Northern Michigan.

Rourke Sylvain, founder and CEO of imi (integrated molecular innovations), and Ali Dabas, imi’s co-founder and CTO, are pitching a biowearable device that revolutionizes healthcare by eliminating the need for centralized clinical testing. Their device will provide patients with the ability to monitor their hormone levels continuously.

Sylvain is currently completing an M.S. in biomedical engineering and an M.S. in data science and is transitioning into the Ph.D. program for biomedical engineering at Michigan Tech. Dabas completed a B.S. in biomedical engineering (’23) and has an associate’s degree in math and science.

At the Rice Business Plan Competition, they will present their elevator pitch on May 11 at 6 p.m. and participate in the live finals 15-minute pitch on May 13 at 12 p.m., both of which can be watched on YouTube or at the Rice Business Plan Competition website.

By Husky Innovate, Pavlis Honors College.

Related

• Rourke Sylvain To Pitch at Rice Business Plan Competition
• Rourke Sylvain Places at Michigan Collegiate Startup Challenge
• Huskies Pitch Innovation at Northern MI Startup Week
• Rourke Sylvain Pitches a TCNewTech University Idea
• Michigan Tech Teams Win at CMU’s 10th Annual New Venture Challenge
• Sylvain and Dabas Place at CMU New Venture Challenge 2022

The Graduate Research Colloquium 2022 was held March 29 and 30. Graduate Student Government (GSG) would like to thank everyone who made the event possible. Over the two days, we had 50 poster presentations and 49 oral presentations.

The winners are as follows:

Poster Presentations

• Third Place: Mohanish Chandurkar (Biomedical Engineering), “Shear stress sensing on endothelial cells using traction force microscopy (TFM)”
• Second Place (tie): Laura Schaerer, “Division of Labor in Polyethylene Terephthalate Degrading Microbial Consortia”
• Second Place (tie): Brennan Vogl (Biomedical Engineering), “Effect of aortic curvature on bioprosthetic aortic valve performance”
• First Place: Arslan Amer, “Selenoprotein Sepp1 Determines Cysteine Dependence in Pancreatic Cancer”

Oral Presentations

Due to an unlikely four-way tie, we have decided to present the awards to our top four presenters in no particular order:

• Arslan Amer, “Selenium and Cysteine in Pancreatic Cancer Therapy”
• Fatemeh Razaviamri (Biomedical Engineering), “Moisture-Activated Antiviral Coating based on Mussel Adhesive Chemistry”
• Rishi Babu, “Study of a source rich region to understand the origin of PeVatrons”
• Isaac Wedig, “A Practical Application of Blood Flow Restriction Exercise”

A hearty congratulations to all the winners at this year’s colloquium. GSG would like to thank everyone — presenters, judges, volunteers and GSG supporters — for making this a great event!

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By Graduate Student Government.