VOLUME VII ISSUE 2 OCT 2012 PIONEER.GATECH.EDU
PREHEALTH
SPOTLIGHT
CAREER
The pathway towards becoming a doctor demystified
Graduate student, Warren Grey, on his experiences of discovering his career perspectives through unconventional means
Brian Srinkanchana on the development of WorkReadyGrad, providing students opportunities beyond Tech
Pioneer THE WALLACE H. COULTER DEPARTMENT At Georgia Tech and Emory University
Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Ajit P. Yoganathan From the Bench to the Bedside by Harish Srinimukesh— Srinimukesh— Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department DR. AJIT YOGANATHAN, Associate Chair for Research in The Wallace H. Coulter School of Biomedical Engineering, a Regents' Professor & the Wallace H. Coulter Distinguished Faculty Chair in Biomedical Engineering, and the Director for the Center of Innovative Cardiovascular Technologies, heads the Cardiovascular Fluid Mechanics (CFM) lab located in the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB). Dr. Yoganathan has both B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University College of London and the California Institute of Technology, respectively. He was recently selected to be the Biomedical Engineering Society’s (BMES) 2012 Pritzker Lecturer, one of the highest
honors given to a BMES member. As Associate Chair for Research, he facilitates faculty involvement in multiinvestigative and multi-institutional grants that tie together faculty of various disciplines and institutions such as Mechanical Engineering and Emory University. A major component of the role deals with helping to expedite training grant applications for graduate training through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), and the American Heart Association (AHA). Continued on page 11 Dr. Ajit Yoganathan is the Associate Chair for Research and a Regents’ Professor of the Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering (Photo: Nicole Cappello)
Innovation in the Biomedical Field An Introduction to its Current State by Neil Viswanathan —Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department
With his extensive experience in the biomedical industry, Professor Rains uncovers the factors needed for the development of new technologies. (Photo: Sheridan Carroll)
FOR YEARS, the biomedical industry has been a hotbed of innovation, where engineers of all disciplines worked with medical professionals to create new medical devices. But now, innovation has slowed. The biomedical industry still shows promise, but the future of medicine is not approaching as quickly as everyone once believed. So then, what happened to all of that innovation? What even affects it in the first place? For a company to innovate, it needs financial incentives, enough human and physical resources, and a favorable regulatory climate. That is, it needs a reason to innovate, the ability to innovate, and the ability to sell its innovations. This series will address the recent changes that have drastically constricted innovation in the biomedical field. First of all, the financial crisis and the resulting stagnant economy severely constricted many companies’ ability to innovate. Before the financial crisis of 2008, business was booming and budgets were bursting. Almost any idea with a glimmer of potential drew attention, attracted funding, and... Continued on page 8