MARISA EGAN // First-year PhD student 

Hometown: Naperville, Illinois

Principal Investigator: Julie Liu, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering 

Research Focus: Develop an in vitro tissue model for drug testing 

PERSONAL STATEMENT

I chose to attend Purdue for several reasons. I talked to a ton of graduate students and faculty when I was deciding which school to attend for my graduate studies. The welcoming and supportive nature of the graduate students and faculty in the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering stood out among other institutions. Academia creates a naturally competitive environment but at Purdue, scholars and faculty look beyond the competitive nature of academia and encourage support of one another’s work. In addition, my research focus allows me to combine two of my research interests — pharmaceuticals and tissue engineering. This cultivates a work environment that I am excited about and provides me access to many resources across several departments.

STATEMENT OF APPRECIATION 

“The Davidson Graduate Support Fund gave me the opportunity to find a project and lab that aligned with my interests in pharmacy and tissue engineering. In addition. It allowed me to find a supportive work environment where I can take classes that positively affect my current and future research progress. 

YEN-CHUN LU // First-year PhD student 

Home Country: Taiwan

Principal Investigators: Can Li, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Xiaoping Bao, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering

Research Focus: Implement applied machine learning tools to model the engineering of stem cells for regenera­tive medicine

PERSONAL STATEMENT

The rapidly developing field of machine learning holds promise for so many disciplines. Applying machine learning for the betterment of human medicine by mod­eling biological experiments to generate stem cells for immunotherapy and regenerative medicine is extremely rewarding. It’s exciting to know that my work can help speed up the trial and error process for bench scientists. Purdue’s strong relationships with industry partners enables greater progress in translating scientific break­throughs from academia to the public sector. I hope to continue working in biomedical engineering and make my own contributions to the field. I’m grateful for the mentorship of Professor Li and Professor Bao who sup­port my pursuit of interesting and rigorous research. 

STATEMENT OF APPRECIATION

“The Davidson Graduate Support Fund has made it possible for me to pursue my PhD at Purdue. The generosity has allowed me to fully immerse myself in my academic pursuits and wholeheartedly devote myself to the pursuit of knowledge and research.”

ANDREW MARQUARDT // First-year PhD student 

Hometown: Western Springs, Illinois

Principal Investigator: Brett Savoie, Charles Davidson Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering

Research Focus: Use nongradient optimization computational techniques to develop polymer structures useful for recycled material and photoelectronic applications 

PERSONAL STATEMENT

I develop computational methods for optimization of organ­ic structures’ properties necessary for creating a recyclable polymer material with the goal of replacing the abundance of current polymer materials that contribute to landfills and green­house gas release. I collaborate with experimental researchers in the Dou Group to make these materials a reality. Choosing to pursue my PhD at Purdue was an easy decision considering the fantastic mentors, resources, collaboration opportunities and overall professional and social support here. Within this program, I’m learning from some of the preeminent chemical engineering experts in the world while I complete a project with exciting potential to revolutionize the way in which mankind consumes plastic materials.

STATEMENT OF APPRECIATION 

“I am grateful to the Davidson School Graduate Support Fund for enabling me to attend Purdue and pursue this project with such noteworthy potential impacts. I am confident this generosity will play a significant role in my professional and personal development towards excellence in all I do.”