INSIDE OUT
A REAL YET RANDOM, PLAYFUL YET SERIOUS SPIN AROUND CAMPUS—AND JUST BEYOND
THINKING FAST MAKES CHANGING SLOW “IN FEBRUARY, the School of Engineering
TUFTS TWEET @TUFTSUNIVERSITY @TUFTSENGINEER professor Sameer
Sonkusale and his team are working to make “smart” bandages, which would actively monitor and deliver precisely targeted treatments to chronic wounds, while also keeping the caregiver informed of the patient’s progress.
welcomed biologist Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff to educate the Tufts community on implicit bias and its effects on women and underrepresented groups in STEM. After her distinguished career as a researcher and academic, Villa-Komaroff has dedicated her time to promoting diversity within the sciences. Her illuminating presentation came with a clear message: understanding the current lack of diversity within STEM is key to building a more inclusive future. Inclusion and opportunity have always been integral to the Tufts experience, and we are proudly raising the bar every year. Far above the national average, at Tufts, 49 percent of the Engineering Class of 2024 are women.” —John Mattson ’22
BRIDGE TO ENGINEERING SUCCESS AT TUFTS (BEST) THE BEST PROGRAM is designed to help prepare first-generation and historically underrepresented students for the Tufts engineering curriculum by building a strong cohort of peers who will support and encourage each other through graduation and beyond. Students who are invited to join the program take two summer courses together before beginning their first year, while participating in academic and college life workshops. “BEST is more than a six-week summer program,” says Program Administrator Campbell Halligan. “It’s a family.”
CLEAN WATER FOR ALL IN THE LANTAGNE GROUP, led by Professor Daniele Lantagne, engineers seek to reduce the
burden of infectious diseases—such as Ebola, cholera, and diarrhea—by investigating and evaluating the effectiveness of water and sanitation interventions in developing countries and emergencies. To do this, students and professors complete laboratory research, field work, and policy work. In the lab, they determine which disinfection options can best be used to clean surfaces, hands, and human waste in Ebola treatment units, while policy work is centered on developing recommendations for implementing water and sanitation programs to reduce cholera transmission. 6
