RACIAL JUSTICE IN ENGINEERING - THE ROAD AHEAD FOR MCKELVEY ENGINEERING - MCKELVEY ENGINEERING
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mck elv e y eng ineer ing
Across Disciplines. Across the World® // spring 2021
Racial justice
in Engineering
The road ahead for
McKelvey Engineering
i n s i d e Neal Patwari 18 // Virtual becomes reality 22 // Libby Allman 26
From the dean //
The Long Road Ahead
I write this letter as we are wrapping up what will be remembered as the most unusual
academic year in living memory. The COVID-19 pandemic, which last spring was a crisis
requiring an immediate response to launch online learning, grew into an ever-present
constraint that impacted teaching, research and all aspects of operations across
the university. For the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters, McKelvey Engineering
needed to embrace new paradigms of teaching and learning, to develop new modes
of managing and sharing research spaces, and to conduct business operations almost
exclusively through remote interactions. In the pages of this issue of Engineering
Momentum, you will read about some of the efforts it took to rise to the occasion.
Given the enormity of the task, one might expect responding to COVID-19 to be the
cover story of this issue of the magazine.
It is not.
Instead, the summer of last year saw the emergence of an awareness of a challenge
that has been with us for centuries and whose destructive power is not amenable to
being controlled by a vaccine. While the most visible event of the summer was the
video-captured death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers, there was a
washu photo
litany of such tragedies and travesties. These incidents energized a Black Lives Matter
Aaron F. Bobick movement that is supported by persons of all backgrounds. Fundamental to the
Dean& James M. McKelvey Professor
conversation is the declaration that these occurrences are neither new nor particularly
afb@wustl.edu
more severe than those experienced by Black members of our community in every
corner of society. There arose a demand that the time for true action has arrived.
That demand for action has made its way to McKelvey. As I mentioned in a short
message released last summer, I was hesitant to simply offer words of sympathy and
understanding. I was concerned that words could ring hollow and believed the school
would need deliberate and sustained action that could, over time, make a difference:
actions that would begin by uncovering some very uncomfortable truths and then
seeking common ground to address them; actions that would identify sources of
toxic climate and eliminate them; actions to inform and education all members of the
McKelvey Engineering community.
This is hard work. It is not work that will be finished this semester, this year or this
Snapshot //
decade. Rather, it is work that will be ongoing. In our cover story, you will read about
some initial efforts along with individuals who are stepping up to help McKelvey
Research in Amit Pathak’s lab focuses
on understanding how normal and establish a sustainable plan to combat systemic racism within our School, our
cancerous cells sense and remember university, and our profession. We have tried to be as forthright as possible in our
varying biomechanical cues present in coverage. You may dispute some of the observations made in the story — that’s ok.
the tissue microenvironment. The image One of the things I have learned in the short time since we have begun this effort in
represents a merge of vimentin (green)
earnest is the deep variation in perspectives among members of our community.
expression in MCF10A breast epithelial
cells monolayer after 72H of cell culture In fact, one of the first important steps in this process is to learn about other people’s
on collagen coated soft polyacrylamide perspectives. I hope this story at least accomplishes that goal.
gel, actin cytoskeleton (red) and cell
nuclei (blue). As always, I welcome your thoughts. And in this matter, maybe more than ever.
Image by Florence Flick Jaecker, a
postdoctoral associate in the Pathak Lab.
spring 2021 // Engineering Momentum 1
In this issue //
THE BUZZ
spring 2021
22 Alumna Patterson
addresses Women
We are McKelvey! & Engineering
dean Engineering alumna Anna
Aaron Bobick Patterson gave the keynote
senior associate dean & BEIJING Alumna address at the Women &
executive editor
Ilic elected Engineering Leadership Society
Nick Benassi to National Summit held March 6. Patterson is
senior writer & editor
Academy of the founder and managing partner
Engineering at Gradient Ventures and oversees
Beth Miller
the fund’s global activities.
Marjia Ilic is a senior
director of communications
& senior designer research scientist
E. Brook Haley at LIDS at MIT and professor emerita of
Electrical & Computer Engineering and
integr ated marketing
Engineering & Public Policy at Carnegie
manager
Mellon University.
Danielle Lacey
communications
specialist
18
McKelvey Engineering alumni and
Suzanne Bremehr Engineering alumnus
admitted graduate students gathered for
digital content manager lunch Friday, Dec. 4 in Beijing.
Bateman elected to
Logan Short National Academy
Inspiring Black Scientists
web developer of Medicine
26
Vince Ruppert The National Academy of Medicine McKelvey Engineering faculty
cover design
New seminar series selected Randall Bateman, MD, for members Princess Imoukhuede
E. Brook Haley his work in discovering the causes of (left) and Alvitta Ottley have been
Alzheimer’s disease, developing the first named among the 1,000 inspiring
contributors
cover story highly specific blood test for Alzheimer’s and Black scientists in America by
Leslie Gibson McCarthy
initiating the first Alzheimer’s prevention trial. Cell Mentor.
Brandie Jefferson
Danielle Lacey
12 // Racial justice in Engineering
Hannah Smith
faculty feature
Engineering Momentum is
McKelvey Engineering
published by the McKelvey School
of Engineering at Washington
in every issue 18 // Neal Patwari
University in St. Louis. Unless
launches new website
1 // From the dean
otherwise noted, articles may student feature The “Education, Engineering & Race” seminar
be reprinted without permission McKelvey Engineering launched
with appropriate credit to
3 // The buzz 22 // Virtual becomes reality series, which began July 30, featured faculty
experts in various aspects of racism and
a redesigned website that offers
the publication, school and a cleaner reading experience
university. 4 // Student news education who presented their research so that
alumni feature and more flexibility for users
participants could better understand practices
correspondence and keeps up with the latest
6 Research news and policies in STEM education and engineering
McKelvey School of Engineering
//
26 // Libby Allman that support systemic racism.
technological standards.
Washington University in St. Louis
36 // Faculty news
Campus Box 1163
One Brookings Drive
special feature
38 // School news
St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
30 // Inside McKelvey Hall “I wanted to develop medicines
email 41 Last word The most important work:
// and vaccines. I thought being
engineering@wustl.edu
special feature Creating a vaccine for COVID-19
phone
at Pfizer might give me that
Alumnus Tatenda Shopera went to work as a senior scientist at
314-935-6100 34 // The McKelvey Challenge opportunity”. Pfizer in June 2019. The first case of the novel coronavirus was
website — tat e n d a s h o p e r a reported six months later. Three months after that, he was pulled
engineering.wustl.edu young alumni feature into a COVID project.
As a process scientist, he worked to fine-tune the conditions in
40 // Frank Bergh the environment to ensure the quality and consistency of the final
product, a medicine or a vaccine.
2 Engineering Momentum // engineering.wus tl .edu spring 2021 // Engineering Momentum 3
Student news //
Student-led nonprofit
Nine McKelvey
wins international
Project Covid aims to spread facts about Engineering students
road safety prize
novel coronavirus named inaugural
LFR International,
Chancellor’s Career a nonprofit
During the early days of the COVID-19 the virus and disease from a select
Fellows organization
pandemic, Will Hunter, a junior in the list of credible sources, including
Nine first- and second-year students in the co-founded by a
McKelvey School of Engineering, knew he the Centers for Disease Control and McKelvey School
McKelvey School of Engineering are among
wanted to do something to help. Prevention, the Associated Press of Engineering
the inaugural members of Chancellor Andrew
Hunter understood that misinformation and the World Health Organization. student, was recently
D. Martin’s Career Fellows Program to Eisner
about the virus could spread just as easily The app aggregates information, awarded the Prince
increase career access for WashU students. Michael International Road Safety
as the disease, so when he learned about an including real-time statistics, The program is part of the university’s overall Award by Prince Michael of Kent.
opportunity to build an app to educate users testing center information and effort to increase and support the number of Co-founders Zach Eisner, who
about the novel coronavirus, he took action. news, and localizes the content to first-generation college students and those earned a bachelor’s in biomedical
“There were a lot of rumors spreading, the user’s state. from families with lower incomes. engineering in 2020, and Peter
and we wanted to make sure that we could Serving as the lead product The McKelvey Engineering students Delaney, who earned a bachelor’s in
project’s lead engineer and worked closely are among the 61 students selected for the anthropology from the College of Arts
answer questions, as well as track the manager, Hunter managed the team
with Katie Lund, a junior computer science inaugural class of the Chancellor’s Career & Sciences in 2018, were recognized
spread,” said Hunter, who is majoring in of 12 developers and 10 researchers, many
major, to develop the app’s front end. Giorgio for their work improving emergency
computer science with a second major in of whom had backgrounds in public health, Fellows Program, designed to provide low- students more focused on the pathways and
response, treatment and transfer of
Guttilla, a senior computer engineering income and first-generation students with social networks leading to the world of work
entrepreneurship. medicine or health literacy. Hunter also people injured in traffic accidents.
major, served as the lead mobile app career planning and coaching and funding to and graduate school and to provide similar
Hunter, along with co-founder Satvik brought additional engineering students from Eisner and Delaney are among the
developer, overseeing its user experience cover a summer professional development coaching for post-university life that students youngest recipients of the award in its
Sethi, a recent alumnus of Binghamton WashU onto the project.
and interface. experience. The program is designed to get with more resources have. 33-year history.
University, developed Project Covid, a For example, Michael Ginn, a junior
mobile app that gathers information about computer science major, served as the Written by Danielle Lacey
Student athlete Andrew
New student organization aims to Whitaker juggles life in
build community among LGBTQIA pandemic while giving back
students in STEM Andrew Whitaker has spent his
undergraduate career at Washington
Dean Oken, a master’s student studying University in St. Louis giving back.
data analytics & statistics, decided to bring
A biomedical engineering major in
a chapter of oSTEM, which stands for Out
the McKelvey School of Engineering, he
in Science, Technology, Engineering, and
has danced and played with kids who
Mathematics, to the McKelvey School of
have cerebral palsy so they can put on a
Engineering, a move that was made even
more vital thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. dance recital through Dance CPSR (Cerebral Palsy Sports
He currently serves as the president of the Rehabilitation). “And as a senior on the football team, as a captain
A two-sport athlete in football and track, he has spent
WashU chapter. on the track team, I now feel like if I can inspire
“I had an idea to build a community weekends with kids on the autism spectrum, guiding them
around STEM and LGBT+ representation,” From left, Keya Nagula, oSTEM secretary, and Dean Oken, oSTEM president, through exercises to improve coordination and social skills someone, I should. If I can share my experiences
Oken said. “I saw other groups such as SHPE, plant flowers during an event that will later be given to students during through the Bear Cubs running program. about being Black and get my teammates to look
oSTEM’s May social event.
NSBE and SWE, and, one year prior, Proud An Annika Rodriguez Scholar, he has traveled to at things through a different lens in terms of the
Network came to campus and increased Honduras for a week helping doctors assist patients with
LGBT+ representation at Olin. I thought it was
chapters throughout the country that offers “I knew that I felt passionate about this social injustices going on, I will.”
similar opportunities to LGBT students and idea, and if I was passionate about this idea, basic medical needs through a program called Global
the perfect time to start something.”
Groups such as the Society of Hispanic
their allies who are interested in STEM. there were certainly others who would be Brigades. He also has been involved in the McKelvey — a n d r e w w h i ta k e r
“When like-minded individuals are passionate about it,” Oken said. “I would Takes Responsibility Campaign and WU BLAC.
Engineers (SHPE), the National Society of
put together in a space where they’re more have been happy with four or five interested Yet when Whitaker — who recently was selected as
Black Engineers (NSBE) and the Society of into a project near and dear to this defensive back’s
comfortable, they can achieve more because people, but once I took that step, the interest one of 22 college football players from all three NCAA
Women Engineers (SWE) help members of heart. With the help of the Gephardt Institute for Civic &
they can focus more on the task at hand and was overwhelming.”
groups traditionally underrepresented in divisions for the prestigious Allstate American Football Community Engagement, for which he also serves as a
not have to worry about feeling judged,” The group now claims more than 90
STEM to network and find support among Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team — is asked Bob and Gerry Virgil Civic Scholar, Whitaker spearheaded
Oken said. “oSTEM provides that community members since it began in August 2020.
others with similar experiences. oSTEM is a what, if any, of these experiences had the most meaning a project to send medical supplies to every school
for like-minded people to come together for
national organization with more than 100
professional, activist and social events.”
Written by Danielle Lacey for him, he responds, “Whatever I’m doing now.” district in the St. Louis area.
What began as an internship last year has turned
Written by Leslie Gibson McCarthy
4 Engineering Momentum // engineering.wus tl .edu spring 2021 // Engineering Momentum 5
Research news //
Researchers devise Fine-tuning device
new method to get lead Imoukhuede named performance with swarms
Modeling can help balance economy,
COVID-19
AIMBE Fellow
health during pandemic out of filters, better of swimming cells
Princess
Using mathematical modeling, new interdisciplinary research measure amount in Imoukhuede, Mark Meacham, assistant professor of
mechanical engineering & materials science,
from the lab of Arye Nehorai, the Eugene & Martha Lohman tap water associate
professor of used Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a single-cell
Professor of Electrical Engineering, determines the best course
Researchers in biomedical green alga that swims with two cilia, or whip-like
of action when it comes to walking the line between economic
the McKelvey engineering has structures, to test the efficacy of bulk acoustic
stability and the best possible health outcomes. been named
School of wave devices created in his lab. These devices use
The group — which also includes David Schwartzman, a a fellow of the piezoelectric materials to translate an electrical
business economics doctoral student at Olin Business School, Engineering American Institute for Medical and signal to mechanical vibrations, which then
and Uri Goldsztejn, a doctoral student in biomedical engineering have devised Biological Engineering (AIMBE).
generate ultrasonic standing waves in the fluid-
— published their findings Dec. 22, 2020, in PLOS ONE. a new method According to AIMBE, its College of
filled channel of a device. Meacham and Minji on a Chip Feb. 9 and are featured on the back cover
The model indicates that of the scenarios they consider, that allows them Fellows is limited to the top 2% of
Kim, a doctoral student in his lab, design these of the print journal.
communities could maximize economic productivity and medical and biological engineers.
to extract the lead devices to operate at multiple resonant frequencies “The goal of this work is to use these cells to
minimize disease transmission if, until a vaccine were readily She uses computational models
from these “point-of- to generate strong acoustic waves with maximum characterize the acoustic field, to find resonances
available, seniors mostly remained at home while younger and quantitative measurements to
use” filters, providing a clearer picture of better understand several aspects energy transfer. Efficient operation is critical and to assess field strength, and eventually to
people gradually returned to the workforce.
what’s coming out of the faucet. of vascular signaling. because inefficient devices generate heat that can calibrate device performance using the cells as
And they can do it in less than an hour. She is one of 174 engineers to kill biological cells. our measurement tool,” Meacham said. “We know
Their research was published this receive this honor in 2021. She was It is the first reported work to provide this how much power is put in. The cells give us a way to
Kill switch could keep past summer in the journal Environmental
inducted during a virtual ceremony functionality in real time and for a variety of device evaluate how much of that power is useful.”
March 26.
genetically engineered Science: Water Research & Technology. geometries. Results of the work are published in Lab Written by Beth Miller
bacteria at bay The problem with just collecting a
one-liter sample is that “We don’t know
The USDA has recently awarded Tae how long it was in contact with that lead NSF CAREER Award Zhang seeks ways
Seok Moon, associate professor in the pipe or if it just flowed through quickly. to stop sneaky
Department of Energy, Environmental & Everyone’s water use patterns are
Bai to study dynamic attacks on computer
Chemical Engineering a $498,771 grant different,” said Daniel Giammar, the Walter heterogeneities in hardware
in an effort to develop a “kill-switch” for
genetically engineered bacteria.
E. Browne Professor of Environmental
lithium-ion battery Malicious attacks
Engineering in the Department of Energy, on computer
For this project, Moon will be working Environmental & Chemical Engineering. electrodes hardware and
on a self-destruct mechanism for bacteria A better method would be to collect embedded
Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have
that will be genetically engineered to destroy pathogens in the gut of livestock. Once the the lead from a filter that had been in use systems, such as
revolutionized the way people cloud servers,
bacteria have completed that task in the gut, the switches will turn on and they will kill long enough to provide an accurate picture
live, by enabling transformative smartphones and
themselves. of household water use.
electronic devices, portable Internet-of-Things
Written by Brandie Jefferson Written by Brandie Jefferson devices, are a constant threat. Xuan
power tools and electric vehicles.
‘Silvia’ Zhang, assistant professor
They are popular choices of
of electrical & systems engineer-
energy storage technologies, received a five-year, $503,025 CAREER Award
Additive manufacturing, high-speed
NSF CAREER Award
wherever high energy density, high power from the National Science Foundation.
ing, plans to conduct fundamental
research on building a detec-
imaging focus of Weisensee’s CAREER Award density and system simplicity are required. “We have been focusing on reaction tion framework that would spot
However, elusive safety accidents, especially heterogeneities in batteries because they are these attacks with a nine-month,
Patricia Weisensee, assistant professor dynamics, heat transfer and liquid-solid $300,000 grant from the Air Force
life-threatening fires and explosions, have the birthplace of safety hazards,” Bai said. Here,
of mechanical engineering & materials interactions of droplets and other multi- Research Laboratory and the De-
become a major and urgent concern. Failures the reaction heterogeneity refers to a local hot
science, will look at the effects of additive phase systems, said additive manufacturing fense Advanced Research Projects
of LIBs and other high-energy batteries always spot that has a much higher reaction current Agency (DARPA).
manufacturing process on the material is frequently used to build complex structures
properties of the printed medals with a without having to use screws or welding originate from microscopic heterogeneities, than the neighboring regions. The difference Zhang and Huifeng Zhu, a
five-year, $557,000 CAREER Award from the or to make repairs without having to case which, however, are difficult to be monitored, between the local current density over the hot doctoral student in her lab, recently
National Science Foundation. CAREER awards new pieces. The process uses fewer parts, is analyzed and predicted by existing spots and the apparent current density can received the Best Paper Award from
whether the outcome will be a good quality
become huge, potentially leading to everything the IEEE Asian Hardware Oriented
support junior faculty who model the role of generally lighter in weight and lower in cost or not while it’s printing,” she said. “Because electroanalytical methods.
Security and Trust Symposium
teacher-scholar through outstanding research, and requires less human labor to construct. additive manufacturing is a fairly complex Peng Bai, assistant professor of energy, from inefficiency to deadly accidents, depending
(AsianHOST) for their paper titled
excellence in education and the integration of However, the quality of the products is process that requires frequent reheating environmental & chemical engineering, has been on the nature of the electrode and the operating “PowerScout: A Security-Oriented
education and research within the context of inconsistent, which has limited its more of the materials, the reheating changes the preparing to better understand the dynamic condition of the battery. Power Delivery Network Modeling
the mission of their organization. widespread use. microstructure, and that influences the Framework for Cross-Domain Side-
heterogeneities in the electrodes of lithium- Written by Brandie Jefferson
Weisensee, whose research focuses “Because metals are not transparent, mechanical properties. We want to learn how Channel Analysis.”
ion and other high-energy batteries, and now
on understanding the interplay of fluid we don’t have ways of being able to tell these influence each other.”
6 Engineering Momentum // engineering.wus tl .edu spring 2021 // Engineering Momentum 7
Research news //
Center for Water New tech can get
Innovation to oxygen, fuel from
Lee seeks to boost speed on cloud platform
NSF CAREER Award showcase, connect
Mars’ salty water
apps with CAREER Award WashU water research
If oxygen and hydrogen could be directly
I-Ting Angelina Lee, assistant professor of coerced out of briny water, that brine
computer science & engineering, plans to electrolysis process would be much less
develop software infrastructure that can improve complicated — and less expensive.
programmer productivity and increase the speed Engineers at the McKelvey School of
of interactive applications running on cloud Engineering have developed a system that
does just that. Their research was published
platforms with a five-year, $500,000 CAREER
in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Award from the National Science Foundation.
Washington University in St. Louis has Sciences (PNAS).
CAREER awards support junior faculty who model
long been a leader in water research Colored light The research team, led by Vijay Ramani, opens
the role of teacher-scholar through outstanding
research, excellence in education and the
with world-class faculty in both the investigated to control the Roma B. and Raymond H. Wittcoff
Distinguished University Professor in the
up the
oceans as
McKelvey School of Engineering and
integration of education and research within the
in the College of Arts & Sciences. irregular heartbeat Department of Energy, Environmental & a viable oxygen
context of the mission of their organization. One- automatically,” Lee said. “Existing task-parallel
third of current McKelvey Engineering faculty have platforms have been demonstrated to work
To bring this research together and noninvasively Chemical Engineering, didn’t simply validate
its brine electrolysis system under typical
and fuel source.”
“Our novel brine electrolyzer
to promote additional collaboration,
received the award. efficiently for high-performance scientific With a four-year, $2.08 million grant from terrestrial conditions; the system was incorporates a lead ruthenate pyrochlore
Zhen (Jason) He, an internationally
Lee studies task parallelism, a parallel applications in practice.” recognized water researcher, will the National Institutes of Health, Chao examined in a simulated Martian atmosphere anode developed by our team in conjunction
programming paradigm designed to program Lee said task parallelism falls short head the newly launched Center for Zhou, associate professor of biomedical at -33 ⁰F (-36 ⁰C). with a platinum on carbon cathode,” Ramani
shared-memory multicore machines. in supporting modern interactive parallel Water Innovation (CWI). engineering, will lead a multi-institutional “Our Martian brine electrolyzer radically said. “These carefully designed components
applications commonly run on cloud platforms, The CWI will facilitate team that will apply optogenetics, a changes the logistical calculus of missions coupled with the optimal use of traditional
“Task parallelism can improve programmer
however, because it is mainly designed to target collaboration among the to Mars and beyond,” said Ramani. “This electrochemical engineering principles has
productivity because it provides high-level technique that uses light to control the
high-performance scientific applications that use university’s water resources from technology is equally useful on Earth where it yielded this high performance.”
language abstractions to allow the programmer to opening and closing of ion channels, to
specific parallel patterns and has throughput as various departments to address help the heart achieve regular beating.
express the logical parallelism of the computation
the main performance criterion. major water quality and water
and let an underlying runtime system to Zhou will collaborate with Abhinav Diwan,
technology research questions.
perform load balancing and synchronization Written by Beth Miller
In addition, its member faculty
MD, professor of medicine, of cell biology Quantum
and physiology and of obstetrics and
will perform educational outreach
gynecology; Jeanne Nerbonne, professor tunneling pushes
to K-12 schools, promote water
The research, from the lab of sustainability to the public, and of medicine and of developmental the limits of
Srikanth Singamaneni, the Lilyan assist area governmental and biology and director of the Center for
Cardiovascular Research; and Kenneth
self-powered
nonprofit organizations in making
& E. Lisle Hughes Professor in the
policies related to water and Schechtman, professor of biostatistics and sensors
Department of Mechanical Engineering
wastewater management. of medicine, all at Washington University
& Materials Sciences, was published M. Green Department of Electrical & Systems
“We expect that this will be School of Medicine. He also will work with
online Jan. 22 in the journal Nature Engineering, was published online Oct. 28,
a bridge to connect WashU water Airong Li, MD, PhD, assistant professor of
Biomedical Engineering. 2020, in the journal Nature Communications.
resources with industry, government neurology at Harvard Medical School, and
In addition to the low cost and The roadblock that inspired this research
agencies and investment
Rudolph Tanzi, the Joseph P. and Rose F. is the threshold effect.
ease of use, these microneedle companies,” said He, professor of
Kennedy Professor of Child Neurology and “Imagine there is an apple hanging from
patches have another advantage energy, environmental & chemical
Mental Retardation at Harvard University Shantanu Chakrabartty’s laboratory has been a tree,” Chakrabartty said. “You can shake the
over blood draws, perhaps the most engineering and a fellow of the
and Massachusetts General Hospital, both working to create sensors that can run on the tree a little bit, but the apple doesn’t fall. You
No more needles important feature for some: “They are International Water Association.
experts in human and fruit fly genetics. least amount of energy. His lab has been so suc- have to give it enough of a tug to shake the
entirely pain-free,” Singamaneni said. Initially, research at CWI will
The team will use the light beams on cessful at building smaller and more efficient apple loose.” That tug is akin to a threshold
focus on sustainable wastewater
Finding a biomarker using these sensors that they’ve run into a roadblock in the energy. “It’s the minimal amount of energy
management, safe drinking water the fruit flies at different developmental
Engineers at the McKelvey School of Engineering microneedle patches is similar to form of a fundamental law of physics. needed to move an electron over a barrier.” If
and the nexus of agriculture and stages, from larvae to adult. The motiva-
have developed a microneedle patch that can blood testing. But instead of using a solution Sometimes, however, when you hit what you cannot move the electron over the barrier,
water, all critical needs in research tion behind the work is to investigate an
be applied to the skin, capture a biomarker to find and quantify the biomarker in blood, appears to be an impenetrable roadblock, you cannot create current.
and practice, and strengths of option for pacemakers, which control the
of interest and, thanks to its unprecedented the microneedles directly capture it from the you just have to turn to quantum physics and But naturally occurring quantum
WashU faculty. The center aims to heart rate in patients with rhythm irregu-
liquid that surrounds our cells in skin. Once tunnel through it. That’s what Chakrabartty mechanical phenomenon move electrons
sensitivity, allow clinicians to detect its presence. demonstrate the strength of the larities, but also affect surrounding tissues
the biomarkers have been captured, they’re and other researchers at the McKelvey School across barriers all the time. The research team
The technology is low cost, easy for a university’s researchers, create and require periodic invasive surgery to
detected in the same way — using fluorescence of Engineering did. took advantage of this to build a self-powered
clinician or patients themselves to use, and it opportunities for collaborative
replace the batteries. The development of these self-powered device that, with a small initial energy input,
could eliminate the need for a trip to the hospital to indicate their presence and quantity. proposals to federal funding agencies
Written by Beth Miller quantum sensors from the lab of Chakrabartty, can run on its own for more than a year.
just for a blood draw. and to attract attention from
Written by Brandie Jefferson the Clifford W. Murphy Professor in the Preston
potential industrial members. Written by Brandie Jefferson
8 Engineering Momentum // engineering.wus tl .edu spring 2021 // Engineering Momentum 9
NSF CAREER Award
Chan Zuckerberg Solved: The mystery of toxic Yang named 2020
Deep learning
Initiative names two fracking byproducts AAAS fellow
investigated to
WashU groups Frontiers Lan Yang is
improve imaging Research from the lab the Edwin H.
of Imaging grantees of Kimberly Parker, & Florence
techniques assistant professor G. Skinner
Fluorine found as possible in the Department of Professor in
the Preston
Energy, Environmental
substitute for lithium in & Chemical Engineering,
M. Green
Department
rechargeable batteries shows that underground of Electrical & Systems
presence of halogen Engineering. AAAS is honoring
Materials scientists have found a potential cyclability — that is they tend to degrade radicals is a key to the her for groundbreaking
alternative for lithium in fluorine, a relatively rapidly with charge-discharge cycles. contributions to the fields of
formation of these
abundant and light element. Interestingly, Washington University researchers photonics, particularly her
halogenated organic pioneering experimental studies
fluoride ion is the mirror opposite of lithium Steven Hartman and Rohan Mishra have
compounds, which are dangerous for human health and on non-Heritian photonics,
ion, having the strongest attraction for adopted a new approach to fluoride-ion
damaging to the environment. optical sensing and light-
electrons, which allows it to easily carry out battery design, identifying two materials When getting an MRI scan, a patient is
The research was published Jan. 15 in the journal matter interactions in optical
Imaging of proteins, cells and tissues is electrochemical reactions. Researchers in which easily gain or lose fluoride ions while told to lie as still as possible because
Environmental Science & Technology. resonators.
critical to understanding health and disease. Japan also are testing fluoride-ion batteries undergoing small structural changes to any movement will create errors in the Many of the high-tech devic-
In December 2020, the Chan Zuckerberg as possible replacements for lithium-ion enable good cyclability. Mishra, assistant “For a long time, we didn’t really know where they were
scans. An engineer at Washington Uni- es we use in our day-to-day lives
Initiative (CZI) announced $2 million in batteries in vehicles. They say these batteries professor of mechanical engineering & coming from,” Parker said. “We knew that they weren’t being are electronic devices — they rely
versity in St. Louis is proposing a novel
funding for research led by faculty at could allow electric vehicles to run 1,000 materials science, said that the new battery put down into the system on purpose. It seemed clear that on the movement of electrons
way to correct errors in MRIs and other
kilometers on a single charge. However, materials are both layered electrides. they were being generated under the ground.” to transmit information. Yang’s
Washington University in St. Louis. The types of images using deep learning.
current fluoride-ion batteries have poor In addition to knowing where they were coming from, research focuses on silicon-
support is part of nearly $32 million in funding Written by Beth Miller Ulugbek Kamilov, assistant profes- chip-based, ultra-high-quality
from CZI to support biomedical imaging researchers had a pretty good reason to suspect halogen
sor of computer science & engineering micro-resonators and their
researchers. radicals — molecules with an unpaired electron — were applications for sensing, lasing,
and of electrical & systems engineering,
Two multidisciplinary groups headed
Pappu, Aerosol particles naturally plans to develop a framework that ulti-
driving the generation of these compounds. nonlinear optics, environmental
by faculty from the McKelvey School of collaborators, form over the open sea Written by Brandie Jefferson monitoring, biomedical research
mately would lead to algorithms to cor- and communication.
Engineering will be homing in on the brain, awarded $7.5 rect these errors and enhance imaging
New results from an
where currently, imaging techniques can million MURI capabilities with a five-year, $486,000
atmospheric study over the
penetrate about the depth of a couple of award eastern North Atlantic CAREER Award from the National Sci- Artificial intelligence, algorithms focus
NSF CAREER Award
human hairs.
Jung-Tsung Shen, associate professor
Rohit Pappu, reveal that tiny aerosol ence Foundation. CAREER awards sup- of Juba’s NSF CAREER Award
the Edwin particles that seed port junior faculty who model the role
in the Preston M. Green Department of H. Murty of teacher-scholar through outstanding Brendan Juba, assistant professor of computer
clouds can form out of
Electrical & Systems Engineering, is principal Professor of
research, excellence in education and science & engineering, will take a closer
Engineering, next-to-nothingness
investigator of a research team with co- the integration of education and re- look at the relationships and generalization
is part of a over the open ocean.
PIs Lihong Wang from California Institute search within the context of the mission in artificial intelligence and develop new
multi-insti- This “new particle
of Technology and Junichiro Kono from tution team of their organization. algorithms with a five-year, $543,000 CAREER
formation” occurs
Rice University. The team is developing a to receive a highly competitive Kamilov, whose research is in com- Award from the National Science Foundation.
when sunlight reacts with
quantum photonic-dimer laser, a light source 2020 Multidisciplinary Univer- putational imaging, said the demand Juba, who studies algorithms for integrated
sity Research Initiative (MURI)
molecules of trace gases in the
that produces a special class of entangled for more advanced imaging technology learning and reasoning in artificial intelligence,
award from the Department of marine boundary layer, the atmosphere within about
pairs of photons known as photonic dimers. is increasing, leading to the need to said researchers have recognized for a long
Defense. the first mile above Earth’s surface. The findings will
Song Hu, associate professor of biomedi- remove artifacts, noise or other errors, time that relational generalization is necessary
The five-year $7.5 million improve how aerosols and clouds are represented in
cal engineering, will be working with co-PIs grant is shared with three other which cannot be done by hand. That’s for artificial intelligence, but it has been
models that describe Earth’s climate so scientists can
Lan Yang, the Edwin H. & Florence G. Skinner universities and is aimed at where deep learning, which simulates difficult to solve. So far, there have been two “I will take both the learning and planning
understand how the particles — and the processes that
Professor in the Preston M. Green Depart- uncovering the fundamental
human brain functionality by using a types of approaches. problems together — both the data that I would
design principles that will en- control them — might have impacted the planet’s past
ment of Electrical & Systems Engineering, and neural network, comes in. “On one hand, you might have a solution have used for learning and questions I want
able researchers to design and and present and better predict the future.
Adam Kepecs, BJC investigator and professor “In MRI scans, you scan patients that would do the right thing, but you don’t to answer with that data,” he said. “We’ve
engineer novel, synthetic and The research, a collaboration led by principal
of neuroscience and psychiatry in the School membraneless organelles. then feed their images to a neural know how long it will take,” Juba said. “Or you seen in the past that by not having to hand
investigator Jian Wang, professor of energy,
of Medicine. The team is developing a new This research will lead to network to learn the patterns we want may produce something quickly, but it doesn’t off something that is learned to this second
environmental & chemical engineering and director
photoacoustic technology that will enable the ability to control biochemi- to eliminate,” he said. “We then use necessarily have the quality. It’s not known problem of producing a plan or an answer, you
cal pathways and synthesize
of the Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering,
cellular-resolution molecular imaging deep those trained neural networks to fix the how to do both, so our focus is to try to get both can do much better and guarantee that it’s
high-value compounds in yeast was published Jan. 22 in the journal Nature
inside live tissue. errors in subsequent scans.” and to find a feasible method that gives good going to work in some cases.”
cells. Communications.
Written by Brandie Jefferson answers in a reasonable time.” Written by Beth Miller
Written by Brandie Jefferson Written by Beth Miller
10 Engineering Momentum // engineering.wus tl .edu spring 2021 // Engineering Momentum 11
Cover story //
A
Redoubling equity efforts mid the weight of the global pandemic
“It’s not enough to just generally
in 2020 came a renewed and intensified
focus on racial justice in the United be supportive: we have to be
States after numerous unjustified active. Passive support is not the
killings of Black Americans at the hands of white
law enforcement officers, including George Floyd same as active consideration
and Breonna Taylor — six years after Michael Brown and active efforts. Engineering
was killed in Ferguson, Missouri — as well as others
who did not become household names. After Floyd’s has always been a participant
death in May, as thousands of Americans took to the in what other parts of the
streets to express their outrage about the killings,
Washington University in St. Louis Chancellor Andrew
university are leading, but we’ve
D. Martin reaffirmed the university’s commitment to never organized what we’re
support all members of the university’s community
going to do until now.”
Racial justice
and to redouble efforts for equity.
In the McKelvey School of Engineering, Dean Aaron
— Dean Aaron Bobick
F. Bobick also has committed to involving the McKelvey
Engineering community in efforts to achieve racial equity
within the school, as well as supporting racial justice
efforts on campus, in St. Louis and around the world. In As the school’s first director of diversity
in Engineering
the latter half of 2020, Bobick, with support from school initiatives, Imoukhuede will chair the 16-member
leadership, faculty, staff and students, implemented committee and ensure that it engages with the
several new initiatives to address diversity, equity and entire McKelvey community to identify and address
inclusion within the school. DEI issues. The committee’s mission is to exemplify,
“Our 2018 strategic plan wove racial equity goals encourage, facilitate and nurture a culture of inclusive
throughout the various objectives,” Bobick said, “but it excellence at the McKelvey School of Engineering
did not explicitly call out racial equity as a fundamental through the identification and implementation of best
The road ahead for McKelvey Engineering objective in and of itself. This is one of the reasons
that we have been talking about changing things and
practices in recruitment, retention and climate for
students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty and staff of
addressing diversity, equity and inclusion for a long Black, Indigenous and Latinx populations. In addition,
time, but little has changed. This lack of progress Imoukhuede will serve as the school’s liaison to
gives rise to frustration and anger on the part of our the university’s various organizations focused on
Black and people of color members of our community. diversity, equity and inclusion, including the Center
It is telling that it took the violent events of the past for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity; the Academy
summer, and in particular, a video of a Black man being for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; and the Center for
killed by a policeman kneeling on his neck for us to Diversity and Inclusion, as well as connect with the
decide that we have fallen short. Our challenge is to Office of the Provost.
Editor’s note: In Engineering Momentum, harness that dissatisfaction and anger into steps that As vice dean, Wagenseil will work with the
we frequently tell you about the
strengths and opportunities in McKelvey
might actually make a difference. Frankly, this is very department chairs to assess and monitor faculty
School of Engineering and the progress hard work, and we should only undertake these efforts mentoring and career development, to develop
toward new goals. We do this because Written by beth miller
if we have the will to establish sustainable approaches faculty leadership training opportunities, and to
we are proud of what we do, and we
to increasing racial equity within our School.” coordinate nominations for faculty awards in support
want you to be proud as well. However,
this story takes a different tack: Here As one of the first steps, in Fall 2020, Bobick of the full range of faculty career progression. She also
we address the challenges we face as a appointed the McKelvey Committee on Diversity, Equity will work with Bobick to coordinate the tenure and
school in addressing diversity, equity and
and Inclusion (DEI) to provide structure and oversight promotion process.
inclusion, as well as where we have fallen
short and how we plan to improve. to the school’s efforts to address these issues. The Wagenseil and Imoukhuede were part of a
committee is chaired by Princess Imoukhuede, associate precursor faculty committee that organized a new
professor of biomedical engineering, with associate chair virtual seminar series, titled Education, Engineering
Jessica Wagenseil, professor of mechanical engineering & Race, that features academic speakers from around
& materials science. Coupled with forming the the country sharing how their research applies to racial
committee, Bobick appointed Imoukhuede the school’s justice in engineering education. Three seminars were
inaugural director of diversity initiatives and Wagenseil held in summer 2020, each followed by moderated
the inaugural vice dean for faculty advancement. breakout discussion groups in which participants
12 Engineering Momentum // engineering.wus tl .edu spring 2021 // Engineering Momentum 13
shared ideas and concerns, many of which were adamant that any DEI efforts we launch be sustainable,
recorded on shared documents for future reference. we are purposely being quite deliberate in developing
Three additional seminars are being held in the spring our strategies and practices. The amount of new work
2021 semester. faculty, staff and students can take on right now is
“We’ve always had a modest effort on diversity, limited, and we want to ensure that all efforts receive
but very little on equity and inclusion,” Bobick said. the investment of time and energy required. Much of
“It’s not enough to just generally be supportive: we what the committee is doing now is preparing us to do
have to be active. Passive support is not the same as the work we need to do.”
active consideration and active efforts. Engineering
has always been a participant in what other parts of
And, he recognizes that these efforts may not be
successful immediately.
“Give it the recognition it
the university are leading, but we’ve never organized “We are trying to adopt best practices, mold deserves, don’t marginalize
what we’re going to do until now.” them to our culture, and mold our culture to some
racial justice in STEM, and
Bobick acknowledges that the challenges of 2020 of those things and see where we are,” he said. “We
have slowed efforts. have reason to believe that by being proactive we can allow faculty to use STEM as
“Because of the pandemic, faculty and students become better than we are, but this does not turn a tool for decreasing racism
are working under extreme circumstances, and around quickly.”
quite frankly, are exhausted,” he said. “Because I am McKelvey Engineering also has committed to and anti-blackness in STEM.”
launch new recruitment efforts for faculty, staff and
students from various racial and ethnic backgrounds — Ebony O. McGee
“I think it’s important for as well as for more women, first-generation and low-
society that we don’t want income students. The School will recruit two new
coming to our school. I want them to feel welcome and of those thousands of black doctoral
faculty members as part of the Danforth Campus-wide
to create elite universities cluster hire of 12 new faculty members researching the
for them to be part of a larger community.” grads? It’s because they didn’t go to top Leading up to 2020:
In conjunction with opening the doors wider, universities like University of Chicago, MIT
that cater only to elite manifestations of race in our society.
McKelvey also said he is committed to increasing or Georgia Tech. If you keep looking at the
» Targeted student
This follows with the desire of James McKelvey recruitment activities and
students. I think we want Jr., who provided the gift to name the school, to open
diversity in the school. same 35 institutions, you’re going to get the
communications
“I think it’s important for society that we don’t same results.”
to have as much diversity McKelvey’s doors to a wider audience.
want to create elite universities that cater only to elite McGee says the STEM retention » Supported student
“I want to see WashU, engineering in particular, but
in thought and age and the institution in general, as a talent magnet and talent
students. I think we want to have as much diversity in messages and marketing need a makeover. organizations such as NSBE,
thought and age and everything as possible.” “STEM will have to find a greater SHPE and others
everything as possible.” creator for St. Louis and the world,” McKelvey said in a
In Fall 2020, 21% of first-year students in McKelvey appreciation for racial justice that goes
2019 interview. “One of the things that motivated me » Building the pipeline
Engineering were Black, Indigenous, or from other beyond considering racial justice in STEM through programs
— Jim McKelvey Jr. to give the gift was the potential to open the doors of
racial or ethnic backgrounds, and 37% are women. a service project,” she said. “It is part of including WUSEF, CS4All
WashU to people who would probably never consider
More than 60% of graduate students are international people’s core research and professional and and Studio: Tesla
students. Among full-time faculty, 25% are women, personal identities. Give it the recognition
» Research, such as bias in
and 50% have international roots. it deserves, don’t marginalize racial justice
artificial intelligence
“I’m often asked why we are not hiring more in STEM, and allow faculty to use STEM
Black faculty,” Bobick said. “Along with every other as a tool for decreasing racism and anti-
Engineering dean, I am desperately trying to hire more blackness in STEM.”
Black and Brown faculty, as well as more women – a McGee’s work promotes an equity ethic, the
challenge more pronounced in Engineering than concept that people in the STEM fields from diverse
other parts of the academy. To do so requires looking groups gravitate toward empathic social causes and
beyond the traditional sources of graduating doctoral racial justice efforts to eliminate disparities both within
candidates and to surface as many applicants of color their STEM field and beyond.
as possible.” “Black, LatinX and Indigenous folks come to
But Ebony O. McGee, an associate professor of their engineering faculty positions with an embedded
diversity and STEM education at Peabody College equity ethic as part of their own racialization and
at Vanderbilt University and author of “Black, experience,” she said. “Maybe it’s because those who
Brown, Bruised: How Racialized STEM Education are seen as smart in STEM in their younger years
Stifles Innovation,” says the pipeline is a broken and are volunteering, speaking and are really engaged
simplistic metaphor when it comes to groups of color. in community, but those things aren’t valued or
“There are enough black faculty for each of the appreciated in STEM. They have to cut off part of their
350 engineering institutions to hire one black faculty professional identities — the part that cares about
member, but 37% of engineering institutions have social, environmental and racial justice, and just do
whitney curtis no black faculty,” she said. “Why don’t they hire one STEM because that’s what’s valued.”
14 Engineering Momentum // engineering.wus tl .edu spring 2021 // Engineering Momentum 15
Students call to action Dean Bobick meets
regularly with students
from NSBE, SHPE and
McKelvey Engineering students say there aren’t The call to action written by undergraduate other student groups.
structures within the school that support students students, led by students in the National Association of
of color and are seeking change. In summer 2020, Black Engineers (NSBE), calls for changes that would
two student groups — one comprised of graduate improve the McKelvey Engineering environment for
student groups and one of undergraduate student current and future Black students to feel included,
groups — presented call-to-action statements to the wanted and safe among professors and peers. The
School leadership calling for change. Partly inspired document, titled #McKelveyTakesResponsibility, calls
by social media movements #BlackintheIvory and for six high-level initiatives.
#ShutdownSTEM, these student groups seek to
improve the environment in McKelvey Engineering for
#McKelveyTakesResponsibility:
students from groups traditionally underrepresented
in the STEM fields. » Increase Black and Brown faculty
Dinal Jayasekera, a fourth-year doctoral student
» Develop an Engineering course to address
in biomedical engineering, was one of the leaders of racial inequity and intersectionality
the graduate student group that drafted a 12-page
document outlining actions it wants to see within » Accountability in faculty
the school. » Diversify study abroad options
whitney curtis
Jayasekera said the George Floyd protests last
summer opened his eyes to pervasive systemic » Develop civic engagement courses “If [the dean and chairs] New for 2020-2021:
racism in the United States, but as an and programs
international student, he didn’t feel it
come out in support of » Appointments of Princess
» Implementation and initiatives toward Imoukhuede and Jessica
High-level goals from was his place to bring it up. After a group the future these initiatives, there Wagenseil and forming
graduate students:
of students wrote a call to action to
will be more students and inclusion training for faculty and staff. the McKelvey Committee
on Diversity, Equity and
Chancellor Andrew D. Martin in the spring, Hannah Smith, the In response to the two student-led
» Adopting a zero-tolerance McKelvey graduate students decided to 2020-21 president of willing to help out and call-to-action statements, McKelvey Inclusion (DEI)
policy toward harassment,
discrimination and
present goals they wanted the school to McKelvey Engineering’s voice their concerns and Engineering launched a page on its » Launching the Engineering,
address in a school-specific call to action, NSBE chapter, said the website dedicated to its diversity, Education & Race seminar
unprofessional behavior; he said. students have other point out issues that need equity and inclusion efforts. The page, series
» Reforming personnel In all, 10 graduate students wrote the requests, including having to be addressed.” engineering.wustl.edu/diversity, includes
» Recruiting faculty from
practices to support Black call to action, and 110 additional graduate school administration 11 action items for change, many of which
diverse groups
and others from diverse students and 12 engineering graduate publicly denounce all hate — Dinal Jayasekera are well underway, including appointing
groups traditionally student groups signed on in support. and racism proactively, the committee headed by Imoukhuede » Enhancing the bias
underrepresented in “The school’s strategic plan wasn’t rather than reactively to a particular incident. and Wagenseil; increasing recruitment reporting system
engineering; very transparent about the goals they “They are willing to meet with us, have a the discipline or punishment that faculty received, it efforts for faculty, staff and students from » Resources: engineering.
had met and what was in progress,” conversation with us and listen to what we want, but makes us feel like we aren’t heard.” groups underrepresented in STEM; and
» Cultivating an inclusive wustl.edu/diversity
culture that respects Jayasekera said. “These initiatives weren’t they won’t always implement what we request even if When Smith meets with potential students or continuing the Education, Engineering
individuals for their unique given the attention they deserved because it does seem simple,” said Smith, a senior majoring in speaks on panels for prospective Engineering students, & Race seminar series. Additional action
contributions and expertise; the pandemic took up a lot of their time. applied science in electrical engineering. “I do realize it she is often asked about the climate for Black students items include improving the bias reporting
We want to use the attention that was is a process. Administrative actions are behind closed at WashU. system; improving retention of women and faculty
» Diversifying and innovating
brought to DEI as a result of the Floyd doors, and every day students don’t see the results of “I feel like I am sometimes put in a position of members from groups underrepresented in the STEM
the curriculum.
protests to enact the changes that we, the those negotiations because they are navigating classes being an expert on diversity, equity and inclusion,” fields; and working with the Brown School to develop
students, want to see.” and homework.” she said. “My experience being a woman and Black in new community partnerships.
Jayasekera said more than half of graduate Smith and Jayasekera, along with two other Engineering is an isolating experience — you won’t see “We are all very delighted with the progress
students who answered a survey said they were not students are members of the DEI Committee which a lot of people like me,” she said. “I’m candid about we’ve seen so far,” Jayasekera said. “Many students
comfortable publicly acknowledging support of DEI should provide greater transparency to the student my experiences, but I tell them that college is what you have come forward to voice concerns, and there have
initiatives because they feared backlash. body. make of it, and it’s hard no matter where you go.” been committees created that hopefully will do what
“This drives our point that the dean and the chairs In addition, the group requested a McKelvey Both Jayasekera and Smith said the appointment they were created to do. We hope that we’ve inspired
need to be transparent that they are supportive of this Engineering-specific hate and bias reporting system. of Imoukhuede is a step in the right direction, but they more people to speak out about these topics and
cause,” he said. “If they come out in support of these “When we say something is wrong, we rarely want to see more. Smith said undergraduate students move forward, and we realize there shouldn’t be any
initiatives, there will be more students willing to help hear back, and we don’t hear anything about the would like a full-time staff member who has experience backlash for speaking about these topics that not
out and voice their concerns and point out issues that process,” Smith said. “Survivors welcome information within critical race theory and DEI in general to be just affect them, but the entire WashU and St. Louis
need to be addressed.” about these things, and when we don’t learn about dedicated to racial bias, as well as mandatory diversity community as a whole.”
16 Engineering Momentum // engineering.wus tl .edu spring 2021 // Engineering Momentum 17You can also read
