Engineering | Biomedical | Undergraduate studies

Engineering Convocation

This what Prof. James Duncan said at the 2005 Commencement Engineering Convocation:

Parents, friends, colleagues,

A few words to our graduating BME seniors:

It seems such a short four years ago that I was welcoming most of you as Freshman (or even pre-Frosh during Bulldog days). You, the Biomedical Engineering Class of 2005, were special in many ways and it was my (and our faculty's) pleasure and privilege to get to know each of you.

you were the first class to take courses in Tissue Engineering from Professor Lavik and among the first to get some first-hand knowledge of a variety of Bioimaging strategies during lab courses with Professors Lawrence Staib and Fahmeed Hyder.

While you each of you, both men and women, have significant personal strengths, I think that it is important to take note in this year of much turmoil at a certain sister institution to the North that seems to struggle with such issues that a full 75% of you graduating in this Engineering major are women !

We now congratulate each of you:

Vandana Balakrishnan,
B.S. Biomedical Engineering
Berkeley College.
Senior Project: Mineralized Electrospun Polymer Fabric as Scaffolds to support tissue growth. Advisers: Prof. Mark Saltzman and Prof. Solbrig.
Yale activities: Biomedical Engineering Society, Students for Organ Donation; many activities in publishing, including: Yale Daily News, Berkeley Bishop, and Yale Herald.

Postgrad plans: "Will take a year off before going to medical school. Looking for clinical research associate positions (Research Assistant at Stanford?)."

Tami Bang,
B.S. Biomedical Engineering, With Distinction
Timothy Dwight College
Senior Project: A quantitative Hydrogel Approach to the properties of a Poly-L-lysine poly-ethylene glycol hydrogel. Adviser: Prof. Erin Lavik.

At Yale: "I was president of the Yale Climbing Club and president of the Yale Chapter of Tau Beta Pi."

Postgrad plans: "I plan to pursue a non-thesis master degree for a year, while applying to medical school."

Chriselle Crisotomo,
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering
Jonathan Edwards College:
Senior Project: Drug-Eluting Coronary Artery Stents. Adviser: Prof. Mark Saltzman.

At Yale: "I was a member of KASAMA the Filipino club at Yale and played the violin in the Saybrook Orchestra."

Postgrad plans: "After graduation I will be moving back to San Francisco, California. Over the summer I will be traveling in Spain, Germany, and perhaps the Philippines, continuing my studies of the languages of those countries, before beginning work in the biotech industry of the Bay Area.

Jose Cruz,
Branford College
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering
Senior Project: MR Imaging Studies. Advisers: Prof. Constable and Prof. Rothman.

Vanessa Everding,
Trumbull College
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, With Distinction
Senior Project: Effect of Active and Passive Trunk Stiffness on Postural Control. Adviser: Prof. Jacek Cholewicki.

At Yale: "I was a member of the Varsity Women's Cross Country and Track & Field teams, the Student Taskforce for Environmental Protection (STEP), and Grandparents for Yalies."

Postgrad plans: "I will be entering an MS/PhD program in Biomedical Engineering at Case Western University in Cleveland."

John Nash Hale,
B.S. n Biomedical Engineering, With Distinction
Pierson College
Senior Project: Photopolymerized Hydrogels. Adviser: Prof. Erin Lavik.

At Yale: "I was Bacchus (President) of The Society of Orpheus and Bacchus, a cappella group; Captain of the Yale Muay Thai (pronounced: Moy Tie) Kickboxing Club; Yale Surf Club."

Postgrad plans: "I will be working as an analyst in Boston for Morgan Stanley Investment Banking in the Tech-focused group. The job is a two year position.

Nnaemeka Idigo,
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering
Jonathan Edwards.
Senior Project: Working with Hydrogels. Adviser: Prof. Erin Lavik.

At Yale: "I participated in the Yale Club Soccer (2003/2004), Yale Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (Vice President 2004/2005), Yale African Students Association, Intramural Basketball, soccer, and volleyball."

Postgrad plans: "I plan to enroll in a post-bac program, where I shall complete my prerequisite courses for medical school (I intend to enroll in med school in the Fall of 2007). Intern with a neurosurgeon in California for a year.

Melissa Jeffries,
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering
Morse College
Senior Project: Optimization of Poly (lactide-co-glyolide) microparticles for sustained release of Cidofovir in Controlling human papillomavirus infections." Adviser: Prof. mark Saltzman and Prof. Shen.

At Yale: "Part of STARS program (Science, Technology and Research Scholars); business production manager for the Yale Daily News, and started a jewelry business called "Turquoise Sands Jewelry" (www.turquoisesands.com)."

Postgrad: "After Graduation will return home to Los Angeles to look for a research position in a Biotechnology company before pursuing graduate work in Biomedical Engineering."

Maya Kotas,
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, With Distinction
Allan Bromley Prize in Biomedical Engineering.
Berkeley College.
Senior Project: Microsphere-mediated delivery of OVA antigen to dendritic cells. Adviser: Prof. Mark  Saltzman.

At Yale: "I've played in the Yale Symphony Orchestra and in chamber music groups (including the Saybrook and Berkeley College Orchestras), volunteered at the Yale-New Haven Hospital, helped run BMES at Yale with Melissa, and coordinated a bilingual tutoring program at Prince/Welch elementary. I've also worked in Dr. Saltzman's lab since the summer of 2003, and last summer went to Tanzania to work on malaria vector control."

Postgrad plans: "I'm joining the MD/PhD dual degree program at Yale medical school next year."

Olivia Kwak,
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering
Calhoun College:
Senior Project: A Restraining Device Infant Lumbar Punctures. Adviser: Prof. Jacek Cholewicki.

At Yale: "I was a  board member in the Korean-American Students of Yale and was active in the Yale Korean-American Mentorship Program. I also studied abroad at University College London my junior year."

Postgrad plans: "I will be working in a boutique investment research firm in NYC in their healthcare/biomedical group.

Waenyod Wongtrangan,
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, joint major in Economics, With Distinction
Timothy Dwight College
Senior Project: Controlled Release of Gd-DTPA from cardiovascular grafts for improved vascular wall Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Prof. Mark Saltzman.

At Yale: YDN business, Biomedical Engineering Society, Tissue engineering research in the Saltzman lab, Thai Club.

Postgrad plans: "I will be working at Citadel Investment Group, a hedge fund in Chicago."

Naomita Yadav,
Morse College
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, joint major in Psychology, With Distinction
Senior Project: Negative BOLD Signals in the Hippocampus during Relational Memory Tasks. Adviser: Prof.  Constable)

At Yale: "During my time at Yale I've been involved in theater, especially the children's theater and the eating disorders counseling group on campus. I also love writing and have taken seminars on fiction writing for almost two years."

Postgrad plans: "I'm going to be working for the next couple of years in consulting and then hope to go on to law school."

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Last modified: June 1, 2005. (ev)

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