Graduate student Nishamathi Kumaraswamy placed 3rd in the poster collegiate contest at the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Annual Conference, held in Baltimore, MD from October 24–26.
Nishamathi Kumaraswamy
Graduate student Nishamathi Kumaraswamy placed 3rd in the poster collegiate contest at the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Annual Conference, held in Baltimore, MD from October 24–26.
Kumaraswamy, who is working with Professor Mia Markey in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Krishnaswamy Ravi-Chandar in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, was awarded a partial travel grant for her abstract titled Full Field Biaxial Skin Characterization Using a Custom Built Bulge Test Device.
Kumaraswamy's research is focused on breast skin mechanical properties. Depending on where it's located on the body, skin behaves differently. Kumaraswamy has developed a testing device that will enable her to find the material parameters for breast skin, which is necessary for further computational breast modeling.
With over 6,000 students and professionals on the guest list, six graduate students and 14 undergraduate students from The University of Texas at Austin chapter were invited to attend the conference.
The competition's first prize was won by Jenny Knipe, a chemical engineering graduate student working with Professor Nicholas Peppas for her paper on Biodegradable Microencapsulated Nanogel System for the Oral Delivery of siRNA.
Cristina Amorim, Chief Sustainability Officer of Life Technologies, and Lynn A. Dugle, Vice President of Raytheon Company, were the keynote speakers. Participants attended mega sessions designed to bring listeners up to speed on cutting-edge innovations in a large-crowd setting. Students and professionals also attended a career fair with over 250 employers maximizing their network opportunities.
SWE is a not-for-profit educational and service organization, founded in 1950. Their main goal is to empower women to succeed and advance in the field of engineering and to be recognized for their life-changing contributions in a male-dominated industry.
