Columbia Engineering's Doctoral Students Supported by the Blavatnik Fellowship

Ethan Bendau, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Ethan Bendau recently graduated with a degree in physics from the City College of New York after earning his first bachelor’s degree in French from the University of Oregon. His research is in biomedical optics and he completed an honors thesis titled, "Early Detection of Triple Negative Breast Cancer using Multiphoton Spectroscopy and Raman Spectroscopy." He is a recipient of the City College Fellowship for promising undergraduates who aspire to earn a PhD as well as the Dr. Jerry A. Gelbwachs Award, a full tuition scholarship for physics and engineering students. As president of the CCNY Physics Club, he organizes community outreach events to promote science and leadership among local middle and high school students. Ethan is enrolled in the biomedical engineering doctoral program.

John Durel, Department of Biomedical Engineering

John Durel completed his undergraduate studies with the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia. He is interested in research which seeks to characterize diseased and healthy tissue environments for the purpose of designing and deploying novel interventions which harness the inherent behaviors and properties of natural tissue. His previous research has ranged from cancer cell biology to high-throughput microscopy analysis and production of cellular hydrogel constructs. John’s primary nonscientific hobbies include reading, especially historical fiction, and both playing and developing tabletop and electronic games. He is also particularly interested in the general subject of disability-conscious design. John is a doctoral student in the Biomedical Engineering Department.

Erin Louwagie, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Erin Louwagie is studying under the guidance of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. She recently completed her MS in mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. Erin has worked on several research projects, including a device to improve lateral flow assay diagnosis and an assistive robot to help individuals with upper extremity disabilities. In her spare time she enjoys playing the French horn, reading, and traveling.

Sitara Persad, Department of Computer Science

Sitara Persad is a doctoral student in the Department of Computer Science. Born in the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, she was awarded a national scholarship to attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she graduated with a double major in mathematics and computer science, and conducted research in RNA structure biology. Her research interests lie in the intersection of computational biology and machine learning, particularly in Bayesian Inference. In her spare time, she enjoys dancing and playing badminton.

Caleb Tulloss, Department of Electrical Engineering

Caleb has joined Professor Ken Shepard's Bioelectronic Systems Lab as an electrical engineering PhD student. Broadly speaking, his interests include mixed-signal circuit design, implantable devices, and neuroengineering. During his graduate work, he hopes to work on high-resolution neural interface and implantable system design for closed-loop experimentation. Last spring he graduated from Brown University with a BS in electrical engineering and completed an honors thesis on a prototype for untethered primate eye orientation tracking, under the direction of Professor David Borton. Caleb was awarded the Neal B. Mitchell '58 Systems Thinking Project Award for this work. He has served as a teaching assistant for several circuits courses at Brown, and was the president of the Brown IEEE student chapter. In his free time, Caleb enjoys playing classical piano, exploring museums and the outdoors, and designing custom electronics for his bicycle.