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Read about the Mustangs making a difference in their fields.

Improving Artificial Tissue Engineering

Matthew O’Donohue, a Ph.D. candidate in the Applied Science program at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Lyle, is eager to explore what possibilities artificial tissue may unlock next. He was recently awarded a grant from The Kosciuszko Foundation to research microfluidic approaches to tissue engineering, resulting in more accurate tissue models that precisely mimic where and how blood vessels are formed in the body.

“I’m really drawn to research that can have a real-world, immediate impact,” O’Donohue said. “By engineering more accurate tissues, we can drastically improve healthcare and rapidly increase the rate at which drugs are developed to treat various disease states, and that really motivates me.”

Accelerating drug discovery with AI and quantum mechanics

Chemistry postdoctoral research fellow Ayesh Madushanka and computer science graduate student Eli Laird developed SmartCADD, an open-source virtual tool that combines artificial intelligence, quantum mechanics, and Computer-Assisted Drug Design (CADD) techniques to speed up the screening of chemical compounds, significantly reducing drug discovery timelines.

“Fields like drug discovery require a combined effort to be truly successful,” said Madushanka. “I’m certain that if only the chemistry department had worked on this, the final product wouldn’t have turned out the same. Interdisciplinary collaboration brings fresh perspectives, helping to refine and improve the idea.”

Documenting hidden history of Dallas

To amplify and bring awareness to Dallas’ Tenth Street history, Ph.D. student Katie Cross harnessed geographic information systems (GIS) alongside historical maps, aerial images, U.S. Census, and city directory data to show the neighborhood’s transformation over time.

“Tenth Street tells a story of not only resistance but everyday persistence and survival,” Cross said. “The maps, digital museum, and tour will help support the residents’ and descendants’ efforts to define their community and imagine their future on their own terms.”

Finding new ways to prevent food waste

Enabled by a graduate assistantship, Khengdauliu Chawang ’24 has developed a small, disposable pH detector to monitor food spoilage in real time. Creating the device was personal for Chawang, a Lyle School of Engineering Ph.D. candidate from Nagaland, a remote region in India that relies heavily on agricultural crops. “Food waste in Nagaland means undernourished children and extra fieldwork for the elderly to compensate for the loss,” Chawang said. “The need to prevent food waste motivated me to think of a device that is not expensive or labor-intensive to develop, is disposable and can detect freshness levels.”

Students like Mary Cabanas Cardenas ’23 can relieve the impact of widespread teacher resignations. Cabanas, who has planned to teach since eighth grade, will enter the tough profession with her eyes wide open, thanks to ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development. , which commits her to teach math at a high-need school after graduation. The Noyce Scholarship has also opened doors through mentorship by faculty sponsors. On Saturday mornings, Cabanas can be found on campus assisting in an education research project comparing the effectiveness of using iPads vs. virtual reality to teach geometry. She also spent a summer researching best practices in math education by watching videos of math teachers and coding their teaching practices. In addition, Cabanas helped analyze the effectiveness of demonstrating to students how workers use math in their careers. “I’ll take what I’ve learned from research into my classroom,” Cabanas said.