Tag: BEHuman

#BEhuman: Ophelia Johnson

#BEHuman (Bioengineering Human) is a series that profiles the academics, researchers and students that make up the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College. Our aim is to give you an insight into the ground-breaking work that takes place in the UK’s leading bioengineering department through the eyes of the fantastic bioengineers that are advancing research frontiers, solving life sciences-related problems and creating future leaders.

 

The next BEhuman to be profiled is Medical Device Design and Entrepreneurship MRes student Ophelia Johnson. Ophelia enjoys weightlifting and is currently working on creating a sensor suit that she can wear to the gym to track the quality of her workouts using muscle activation data.

How did you become a Bioengineer?
Helping people has always been a priority for me. I initially thought I would help change lives by becoming a medical doctor. During a shadowing experience early in my undergraduate career, I observed an orthopaedic surgery and found myself thinking more about ways to make the procedure more efficient than about the procedure itself. Could I develop a system to better organise the tools? Could I find a method for tracking the spread of bacteria to reduce the risk of infection? Could I improve the design of the surgical device to reduce operating time and cost? I realised that the best way for me to address these questions was not as a physician but as a biomedical engineer. After studying biomedical engineering for four years, I graduated with my Bachelor of Science degree and continued on through postgraduate studies.

What is your proudest professional achievement?
As an undergraduate student in the US, I led the Tau Beta Pi (TBP) Engineering Honour Society, a prestigious organisation formed by top-performing engineers. While president of TBP, I organised a partnership between the School of Engineering and a local primary school. Our mission was to expose young, minority students to science and engineering. What made me proud of forming this partnership was walking into the primary school and seeing these bright young faces bubbling with excitement to share what they all learned in our previous session. Not only did they remember the concepts we previously taught them, but also they were also eager to learn more.

What is your proudest personal achievement?
In secondary school, I started a scholarship programme with the intentions of growing it into a larger non-profit foundation that helps students reach their goals. To date, the programme has awarded scholarships to three women who have graduated with degrees in STEM fields, and we have helped five other students gain funding for their education and acceptances into postgraduate programmes.

How has being a woman shaped, influenced and impacted your career?
I am blessed to have a mother who is an engineer and who has been a mentor and role model for me. She has not only taught me the importance of perseverance but also the importance of helping other young women navigate the challenges I have overcome. Now, I am motivated to achieve greater heights in my career so that I can continue to give back and make a positive impact in more lives.

How has being a part of the Department of Bioengineering shaped your career?
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Department of Bioengineering. I am completing an MRes in Medical Device Design and Entrepreneurship. The independent nature of my course, combined with the excellent mentorship and entrepreneurship lectures/case studies, provided a clearer understanding of what it means to be an entrepreneur in the medical technology sector. The business knowledge and hands-on experience I’ve gained over this past year fortified my plans to start my own med-tech company in the future.

What piece of advice would you give a 17-year-old girl that is thinking about studying Bioengineering?
Nothing can stop you if you don’t limit yourself. Continue to believe that all things are possible. This is the kind of thinking that leads to innovation. And don’t be afraid to ask questions—always ask questions, and you’ll continue to learn.

 

#BEhuman: Amna Askari

#BEHuman (Bioengineering Human) is a series that profiles the academics, researchers and students that make up the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College. Our aim is to give you an insight into the ground-breaking work that takes place in the UK’s leading bioengineering department through the eyes of the fantastic bioengineers that are advancing research frontiers, solving life sciences-related problems and creating future leaders.

 

The next BEhuman to be profiled is Amna Askari, a fourth-year undergraduate student on our Biomedical Engineering (MEng) course. Amna is also a singer-songwriter and performs at gigs and open mic events. Amna also performed at this year’s Imperial Festival.

How did you become a Bioengineer?
Quite randomly actually. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and hence was adamant on going to the US for university. When I didn’t get into the schools of my choice, I was left with my UK options (I went to high school in Pakistan). I had selected ‘Natural Sciences’ as my course of choice as it had the most versatility but Imperial was the only place that didn’t offer it. I had recently volunteered at a Cancer Ward and visited their Molecular Biology lab, which inspired me to pick ‘Biotechnology’ as my course choice at Imperial. However, around a month before receiving my A level grades, I researched more into the course and realised it was quite narrow and didn’t involve any Maths. After link hopping and opening several tabs, I stumbled upon the Bioengineering page on the Imperial website which immediately reeled me in. It seemed to have a theoretical introduction to everything, had a decent practical side to it and involved Maths too. I got a great vibe and decided to email the department and change my course choice- 4 years later I feel like it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.

What is your proudest professional achievement?
Probably making ‘Therabuddy’, a prototype for an assistive device that we made as part of the HCARD course in third year. It started off just as an idea, but the four of us worked together to make into something tangible that could potentially be used by stroke patients to optimise their recovery process. It essentially integrates carrying out resistance band exercises with an electronic interface which includes a video game and a progress growth bar, which can be sent to your therapist/doctor.

What is your proudest personal achievement?
I think learning how to filter the noise and listen to myself. This may sound cheesy or silly, but it really used to hold me back. I used to be very influenced by how other people felt, what they thought, or what I assumed they thought based on what they said. Over these four years at university, I’ve really learnt how to shut that off and confidently follow my own intuition. It’s obviously not perfect but by implementing this in even the littlest of things, one starts feeling a lot more in control and everything seems possible.

How has being a woman shaped, influenced and impacted your career?
I think that being a woman has allowed me to develop empathy and patience, which have been quite useful when dealing with people on the professional side of things or networking. Also, the fact that women are thought to be taken not as seriously as men in technical fields really pushed me to go the extra mile in proving myself or getting better at technical tasks – even the most basic ones like fixing or assembling something completely on my own without scrambling to get my brother, father, the ‘electrician’, or another guy to help me.

How has being a part of the Department of Bioengineering shaped your career?
I don’t think I would’ve been as happy at Imperial if I wasn’t part of the Bioengineering Department. It really made me feel like I had somewhere to go in times of distress, happiness, boredom, and sadness – all of it. Everyone is so supportive and is always willing to listen/share your excitement when you’ve come up with something cool or read something interesting. The research topics are so incredibly fascinating and multifaceted that you learn something great from everyone that you talk to in the department. Therefore, I have been quite confident in approaching various different kinds of companies and job opportunities, ranging from a Neuroscience PhD to Consulting. Also, every time someone asks me what I do and I say Bioengineering, their reaction is always something along the lines of “Oh Wow” or “That must be tough”, so it by default has given me a head start in most interactions.

What piece of advice would you give a 17-year-old girl that is thinking about studying Bioengineering?
It’s an epic field – super interesting and loads of job prospects so good call! Make sure you do your research about what actually happens in the Bioengineering world and how you would fit in it. Imagine yourself doing some of the things that Bioengineers do and concentrate on how you feel when you do them. Basically, Google is your best friend and I would tell you to read up as much as you can on the different courses/options/modules offered at Bioengineering departments worldwide – you can start with Imperial because the department here is awesome! You need to be ready to work very hard, and switch quite quickly between different sciences e.g. Physics, Biology, Computing and Math – and in a lot of cases, use all of them at the same time.

#BEHuman: Mohima Ahmed

#BEHuman (Bioengineering Human) is a series that profiles the academics, researchers and students that make up the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College. Our aim is to give you an insight into the ground-breaking work that takes place in the UK’s leading bioengineering department through the eyes of the fantastic bioengineers that are advancing research frontiers, solving life sciences-related problems and creating future leaders.


The next BEHuman to be profiled is Mohima Ahmed, a fourth-year undergraduate student on our Biomedical Engineering (MEng course). Mohima has been recognised for her work with Apps for Good, an open-source technology education movement that partners with schools and learning centres to deliver courses to young people.

How did you become a Bioengineer?
During the summer before year 13, I was still deciding what I wanted to study at university. I was lucky enough to secure a 1-week work experience placement at the Department of Bioengineering at KCL and that’s when the field caught my interest. When I felt like I really became a bioengineer was in my second year of university, where I was a part of a team that designed a squatting apparatus to help Paralympian winner Andrew Mullen train!

What is your proudest professional achievement?
I was named as on of Elle Magazines “30 women under 30” who are changing the world in 2015 alongside the likes of Mhairi Black and Maisie Williams for my work with Apps for Good.

What is your proudest personal achievement?
The last time I undertook any form of strenuous physical activity was probably in year 11 GCSE. Despite this, I managed to climb Mount Snowdon last October for Imperials Charity Week with no training, and casualty free!

How has being a woman shaped, influenced and impacted your career?
Subconsciously, I guess I always had something to prove, and this made me work harder and be more tenacious – no one was going to tell me I couldn’t do something just because I was a girl. I’ve also been fortunate enough to always be surrounded by academic staff who were keen on getting more women involved in STEM, so they helped me in every step of my studies, pushed me to do physics and further maths, even when I wasn’t sure of myself.

How has being a part of the Department of Bioengineering shaped your career?
Studying within our department at Imperial, I realised many things about myself – the first and foremost being that I love collaborative work. There’s nothing more enjoyable than working in a team of like-minded, yet at the same time very diverse, individuals and putting our skills together to create something completely transformative and on set to change the world. Moving forward in my career, I know that’s the kind of place I want to aim for, and to inspire future generations to continue to do so.

What piece of advice would you give a 17-year-old girl that is thinking about studying Bioengineering?
If you’re still unsure of exactly what it is you want to do, Bioengineering is great because we learn a little bit of everything, and then get the chance to further specialise halfway into the degree. We’re the Jack (or Jacqueline!) of all trades. When you do start, make no mistake, it will be hard. But you’re not finding it difficult because you’re a woman or because you’re unintelligent, you’re finding it difficult because everyone else is – yes even that one student who asks mind boggling questions every single lecture. But with determination and a great support system from your course mates and academic staff, it does get better, and perhaps even fun!

 

#BEhuman: Dr Claire Higgins

#BEHuman (Bioengineering Human) is a series that profiles the academics, researchers and students that make up the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College. Our aim is to give you an insight into the ground-breaking work that takes place in the UK’s leading bioengineering department through the eyes of the fantastic bioengineers that are advancing research frontiers, solving life sciences-related problems and creating future leaders.

As it was International Women in Engineering Day on the 23rd June, our focus has been on celebrating the achievements of our outstanding female bioengineers.

 

 

Today’s BEhuman is Dr Claire Higgins, a lecturer who has been a part of the department since 2014. Dr Higgins’s research group aim to understand mechanisms of tissue development and regeneration, both in normal conditions and in response to disease or injury. In her spare time, Dr Higgins enjoys pottery.

How did you become a Bioengineer?
I am a biologist by training, however, I like the top down approach that engineers use in research as it increases the possibility of having translational impact. I applied for a faculty position in the Department of Bioengineering as it meant I would have to step outside of my comfort zone, and I thought this challenge would result in me doing more innovative research.

What is your proudest professional achievement?
Becoming a probationed academic in the Department of Bioengineering

What is your proudest personal achievement?
Being happily married to a very supportive husband since 2008.

How has being a woman shaped, influenced and impacted your career?
I don’t know if it has. I feel I have been treated and given opportunities in line with my male peers. While I am positive it is different at other universities, I feel that in the Department of Bioengineering, hard work and a love of science will enable success, regardless of gender.

How has being a part of the Department of Bioengineering shaped your career?
When I arrived in Bioengineering I started talking with clinicians and trying to apply a top-down approach for clinical problems, rather than the bottom up approach, which biologists tend to use. This meant I started approaching the same research questions from a different angle, which I think has given me an edge over others in my field.

What piece of advice would you give a 17-year-old girl that is thinking about studying Bioengineering?
First and foremost study something that you enjoy. Secondly, choose something which will stimulate and challenge you. It is more rewarding to achieve something after working hard for it

#BEhuman: Dr Katerina Kandylaki

#BEHuman (Bioengineering Human) is a series that profiles the academics, researchers and students that make up the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College. Our aim is to give you an insight into the ground-breaking work that takes place in the UK’s leading bioengineering department through the eyes of the fantastic bioengineers that are advancing research frontiers, solving life sciences-related problems and creating future leaders.

As it is International Women in Engineering Day on the 23rd June, our focus this week is on celebrating the achievements of our outstanding female bioengineers.

Today’s BEhuman is Dr Katerina Kandylaki, a Research Associate in Dr Tobias Reichenbach’s group. Dr Kandylaki’s goal is to reveal shared neural principles of language and other cognitive functions, such as social or musical cognition.

How did you become a Bioengineer?
I was offered a post doc position in the Bioengineering Department, given my previous experience with modelling neuroscientific and language data. Even though I have no formal training in Bioengineering in the strict sense, I take a bioengineering approach in the neurobiology of language. To be specific, I engineer the language input, extract linguistic features and use these features to model electrophysiological responses to spoken language during comprehension. This approach is in the intersection of Linguistics, Neuroscience and Engineering and creates a niche within the neuroscientific branch of Bioengineering.

What is your proudest professional achievement?
I am proud for my PhD thesis entitled Put it in Context: the Neurobiology of Language Explored with Controlled Stimuli in Naturalistic Auditory Stories. The main reason I am proud of it is the development of a new paradigm that allows researchers to test linguistic features in their natural context and in auditory comprehension, as opposed to the previous approaches, which studied them in isolated words or sentences, which were presented visually. I am also especially proud of my first author publication in the Journal of Neuroscience entitled: Predicting “When” in Discourse Engages the Human Dorsal Auditory Stream: An fMRI Study Using Naturalistic Stories. I especially like this paper of mine, because it is hypothesis-driven, methodologically solid, and feeds exceptionally well into predictive coding and language processing theories, informed by the inherent anatomy and physiology of the brain.

What is your proudest personal achievement?
My proudest personal achievement is that I am a teacher for Margaret Morris Movement (MMM), an athletic and creative training method. I started training in this method during my PhD and have experienced its benefits in my mind, body and soul throughout my PhD studies. I decided to become an MMM teacher, in order to spread the word about it and make people feel the same benefits that I am so grateful for. I am currently running lunchtime classes for PhD students, post doc researchers and the department’s professional and support staff. The classes are free, because my goal is to gain experience in teaching this method and to help people feel mobile, relaxed and energised by counterbalancing the long hours they spend at a desk or microscope with some movement.

How has being a woman shaped, influenced and impacted your career?
I am not sure how being a woman has shaped, influenced or impacted my career. I have always done whatever I wanted and put all my effort into it, without focusing too much on being a woman. This said, I do have to acknowledge that I have had strong female role models such as my grandmother, my mother and my PhD supervisor, who were always an inspiration and encouragement to do my thing and do it properly. To stay focused on my goals and give my best to achieve them.

How has being a part of the Department of Bioengineering shaped your career?
The Department of Bioengineering has offered me the opportunity to work in an extremely interdisciplinary environment; my group includes expertise from physics, mathematics, mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering and computational neuroscience. I think that this is the particular feature and strength of Bioengineering, the fact that the people come from different backgrounds and bring diverse expertise into the field. By thinking together we shade different colours of light onto a focused point and we can achieve a clearer understanding of the human body machine. Working in this department has shaped my thinking into a more global understanding of hearing and comprehension, from the physiological processes of perceiving sound up into the cortical representation of language.

What piece of advice would you give a 17-year-old girl that is thinking about studying Bioengineering?
I would give her my dad’s advice for whenever I doubted myself: “remember that successful people are 10% talent and 90% hard work”. If you are inclined to a job or a subject that gives you a feeling of success and satisfaction, then you should work hard to develop yourself, so that you can create your own successful career path.

#BEhuman: Poppy Oldroyd

#BEHuman (Bioengineering Human) is a series that profiles the academics, researchers and students that make up the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College. Our aim is to give you an insight into the ground-breaking work that takes place in the UK’s leading bioengineering department through the eyes of the fantastic bioengineers that are advancing research frontiers, solving life sciences-related problems and creating future leaders.

As it is International Women in Engineering Day on the 23rd June, our focus this week is on celebrating the achievements of our outstanding female bioengineers.

 

The next BEhuman to be profiled is Poppy Oldroyd, a first-year undergraduate student on our Biomedical Engineering (MEng) course. Poppy is also a keen fencer and a member of the Imperial Fencing Club.

How did you become a Bioengineer?
While I was attending an engineering summer school, a talk was given by Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut. She inspired me, by showing that you can do whatever you dream to do, and to me, engineering is all about turning dreams into reality. During A-levels I struggled to choose between medicine and engineering; bioengineering provided that bridge between the two. So, I researched into bioengineering, discovered the undergraduate course offered by Imperial, and the rest is history!

 

What is your proudest professional achievement?
I was honoured to receive a Diamond Jubilee Scholarship Award sponsored by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, given to only 10 undergraduates each year, from the Institute of Engineering and Technology last December. This award recognises young engineers and their academic achievements.

 

What is your proudest personal achievement?
One of my proudest personal achievements was being able to co-run my local Brownie group, which I attended when I was a younger, after 5 years of volunteering there. This allowed me to give back to the community which gave so much to me, which gave me such a sense of personal achievement. Whether it was working on arts and crafts badge or the scientist badge, I was able to inspire girls of a young age to be whatever they wanted to be.

 

How has being a woman shaped, influenced and impacted your career?
The fact that only 9% engineers are women has definitely encouraged me to prove that women are just as capable as being an engineer as men are. Whenever I used to tell teachers, friends and others that I wanted to study engineering I was often met with a questionable expression. But, this only made me more determined to beat the stereotype and raise the profile of women in engineering.

 

How has being a part of the Department of Bioengineering shaped your career?
I have only been part of this department for just under a year, but I have already had so many doors of opportunity open up for me. The weekly department seminars provide such an insight into the range of careers that bioengineering can lead to.

 

What piece of advice would you give a 17-year-old girl that is thinking about studying Bioengineering?
I would tell her that she is making the right choice! And I would advise her to stick to her guns and not let anyone tell her that she can’t be an engineer. There are many websites and organisations such as WES, Women’s Engineering Society, and WISE, Women in Science and Engineering, which give lots of advice and helpful hints about studying engineering. Finally, I would tell her to visit lots of bioengineering departments at different universities to get a feel of what it would be like to study bioengineering and what it encompasses.