College of Engineering awards TRACER grants to four up-and-coming graduate students
Four graduate students in the Purdue University College of Engineering have been selected for grants of up to $7,500 to travel to national and international labs, broaden their research networks and collaborate with world-class experts at renowned institutions.
The TRAvel for CollaborativE Research (TRACER) Grant is awarded to advanced PhD students and postdoctoral scholars who are on a promising trajectory for a future career as a faculty member at a top university. The program reimburses travel expenses, which include transportation, lodging and per diem while traveling to and from the host lab.
Phani “Saketh” Dasika
Phani “Saketh” Dasika is a PhD student from India who works under Pablo Zavattieri, the Jerry M. and Lynda T. Engelhardt Professor in Civil Engineering. Dasika will travel to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in March to research nano-architected materials with tailored mechanical properties inspired by biological systems. Dasika will collaborate with Carolos Portela, the Robert N. Noyce Career Development Professor at MIT.
“From a research perspective, I’m most excited about learning from nature’s designs. Throughout my PhD, I’ve been fascinated by the mechanics of natural organisms — studying everything from the self-healing properties of feather shafts to the acoustic tuning of mosquito antennae and the bulletproof resilience of mantis shrimp appendages,” Dasika said. “On a personal level, I’m looking forward to exploring new places and balancing research with adventure.”
Adrian Gentry
Adrian Gentry is a PhD student from Bedford, Indiana, who works under Kerrie Douglas, an associate professor of engineering education. Gentry will travel to University College London in February to research how professional skills are currently being integrated into UCL's foundation engineering curriculum and the impact on engineering students' professional development. Gentry will work with John Mitchell, the head of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering and co-director of the Centre for Engineering Education at UCL.
“I am so excited to conduct research at an international institution,” Gentry said. “I feel like this opportunity will provide me with the experience I need to be a competitive candidate and a strong international collaborator.”
Sayeh Jalali Dowlatshahi
Sayeh Jalali Dowlatshahi is a PhD candidate from Iran who works under Jacqueline Linnes, the Marta E. Gross Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering. Dowlatshahi will travel to the University of California, Los Angeles in the summer to work on engineering highly sensitive vertical flow immunoassays for multiplex detection with minimal sample volume, and deep learning-assisted image processing and result interpretation. Dowlatshahi will work with Dino Di Carlo, chair of UCLA’s bioengineering department, and Aydogan Ozcan, Chancellor’s Professor and HHMI Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at UCLA.
“I believe this experience will not only teach me invaluable skills applicable to my research but will also be the start of lasting collaborations between our lab and theirs,” Dowlatshahi said. “Additionally, it will expand my network of mentors and prepare me for the next steps in becoming a successful independent tenure-track faculty.”
Yue Jiang
Yue Jiang is a PhD student from China who is advised by Ana Maria Estrada Gomez, an assistant professor in the Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering.
Jiang will travel to the Georgia Institute of Technology in January to research adaptive sampling strategies for online monitoring in distributed manufacturing systems, focusing on computational resource constraints and inter-agent collaboration. He will collaborate with Xiaochen Xian, an assistant professor in the H. Milton School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech.
“On the research side, I am thrilled about the opportunity to explore innovative approaches to real-time data modeling for modern manufacturing systems, working alongside a diverse and talented group of scholars,” Jiang said. “Personally, I am excited to connect with other researchers and experience the academic environment at Georgia Tech.”