Immunotherapy utilizes a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer. Specific immune cells, called t-cells, target cancer cells based on an interaction between the t-cell receptor and mutant peptides on the cancer cell surface. But identifying the t-cell receptors, and the peptides they target, remains a major challenge that has been stymied by exorbitant costs and lengthy timelines. In an effort to solve this problem, bioengineering concentrator Shelby Yuan, S.B. '19, developed a platform that uses high-throughput microfluidics, single-cell droplet encapsulation and indexing, and genetic analysis to identify pairs of t-cell receptors and their unique target epitopes. High-throughput microfluidics enables the identification and analysis of hundreds of thousands of cells in a fraction of the time used by traditional methods. The specificity offered by the combination of these methods could enable a clinician to target specific responses that vary cell-by-cell within a patient’s immune system. “This method will help accelerate the field of personalized, targeted immunotherapy toward personalized anti-cancer vaccines. This type of treatment would also be medically safer, faster, and more cost-effective compared to current methods of adoptive cell therapy,” she said. “The high-throughput transcript analysis of only activated t-cells does not require administration of a large number of genetically modified, cultured cells, saving significant time and cost. Therefore, the biological and engineering innovation presented in this platform will help improve both the efficiency and efficacy of current t-cell immunotherapy.”⠀ #Harvard #HarvardSEAS #LifeatSEAS #student #project #cancer #immunotherapy #bioengineering (at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) https://www.instagram.com/p/By7r-RYnFww/?igshid=rehscjswlm7f

While working for his family’s dental supply business, Benjamin Cohen would often travel with company reps on sales calls. He was impressed watching reps build strong customer relationships, but as he learned more about the world of business-to-business (B2B) sales, he saw a problem. While sales reps were taking customer orders, they weren’t making orders happen. “In distribution businesses, there are more customer product combinations than stars in the sky, by quite a bit. What that means for reps is that it’s hard to find the right products for every single customer exactly when they need it.” said Cohen, A.B. ’19, an applied math concentrator at #HarvardSEAS. “It turns out delivering this type of personalization is something A.I. is excellent at.” He launched a startup, proton.ai, to apply some of the personalization tools pioneered by e-commerce giants like Amazon to the business-to-business wholesaling market. The algorithm-driven software suggests products a customer has never bought, but is likely to buy based on past purchases. The software also identifies substitute and complementary items that help an online customer ‘complete the shopping cart;’ predicts when a customer is likely to stop buying; identifies when items are ready for re-order; and tracks all customer interactions on- and offline.⠀ #Harvard #HarvardAlumni #startup #entrepreneur #AI #artificialintelligence #wholesale #businesstobusiness #B2B @harvardinnovationlabs https://www.instagram.com/p/By5FvdEHOAf/?igshid=lj9fe20gdys8

Inspired by the suicide of a 12-year-old who had been cyberbullied, @trishaprabhu created @rethinkwords, an AI-driven app that gives teens a chance to reconsider sending offensive messages. The iPhone and Android app installs a digital keyboard that replaces the standard smart phone keyboard. It appears identical and integrates seamlessly with other apps, like email clients and social media platforms. The only difference—it uses artificial intelligence to identify offensive words, and then deploys pop-up alerts to give the user a chance to reconsider sending those words in an email, text, or social media post. Since Prabhu launched the startup three years ago, ReThink has reached more than 2.5 million users around the world. “There are so many people who really suffer from cyberbullying,” she said. “It really torments them, and they often feel helpless. Knowing that I can help them feel empowered, that I can fight for their ability to be safe and respected online, that is the most rewarding part of the work. That is what pushes me to keep going.”⠀ #Harvard #HarvardSEAS #LifeatSEAS #student #entrepreneur #startup #AI #artificialintelligence #bullying #cyberbullying @harvardinnovationlabs https://www.instagram.com/p/By2fwywnqrn/?igshid=1pdnen3gqe3p5

On the campaign trail, candidates often engage in a war of words. But Numinar co-founder Will Long, A.B. '19, believes numbers could make all the difference. Startup Numinar seeks to bring cutting-edge file management and data analysis to political campaigns. Long drew on his experience in Silicon Valley, looking to bring the same sleek software tools that are commonplace at tech companies into the political realm. Numinar draws on registered voter data, consumer data, and demographic information to predict which candidate a voter is likely to vote for, whether they will turn out to vote, the political issue they are most concerned about, and which way they lean on it. “There is a lot of cool technical stuff going on in the background, but we abstract all of that away from the end user to present concrete, actionable insights,” said Long. “One of our primary theses as a company is that leveraging the data and the models out there to the best of your ability will translate into actual electoral differences.”⠀ #Harvard #HarvardSEAS #LifeatSEAS #startup #entrepreneurship #data #algorithms #AI #tech #politics #politicalcampaigns https://www.instagram.com/p/ByileJmneLL/?igshid=1gsgqelgk5rxk

The millions of patients who suffer from chronic venous insufficiency receive little relief from treatment. For these patients, malfunctioning vein valves can cause blood to pool at the bottom of their leg, often leading to painful ulcers. Available therapies are only stopgap measures, involving either wound-healing treatment of the ulcers or the use of pumps that squeeze the leg and temporarily relieve the pressure. New technology developed by InterVene could get these patients back on their feet. The startup has developed an endovascular device that uses patients’ own venous wall tissue to create new vein valves in their legs. The device essentially performs precise microsurgery on the end of a catheter, allowing for multiple new vein valves to be formed with a single procedure, explained Michi Garrison, A.B. ’83, InterVene’s vice president of research and development. She oversees the technical group, ensuring the design functions as intended and is properly tested for use in humans, while also directing the company’s intellectual property, operational, and quality functions. “This project is exciting because there is an immediate impact. Even within 30 days, we are seeing patients who have less pain, and are able to walk around more easily,” she said. “It is so rewarding to be able to bring a therapy to patients who previously had no alternatives.”⠀ #Harvard #HarvardSEAS #Alumni #HarvardAlumni #medicaldevice #biomedicalengineering #tech #research #startup (at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByXo14unQ3d/?igshid=13fe5frat14sr

The student startup @flyloro uses technology to help people with limited mobility gain more independence and connect with the world around then. The startup produces a smart, personalized device, mountable on a wheelchair or bedside, with features including: a 360-degree rotating camera, laser pointer, flashlight, and object detection system; and a user-friendly app. The system is controlled by eye-tracking technology. The Loro app incorporates fast and seamless text-to-speech and speech-to-text capabilities to help users communicate, as well as integration with the Amazon Alexa smart home device, allowing users to turn lights on and off, control room temperature, and open and close window shades. The startup, which was founded in 2017, is preparing to launch its product later this year. “For me, it is exciting to tell the story of Loro through the numbers, to pitch in front of judges and explain our mission and how we are going to get there,” said company CFO and co-founder Lin Zhu, A.B. ’21, a computer science and economics concentrator. “But what I’m most excited about is showing our product to users, having them test it and getting their feedback. Being there when they see that this could be a life-changing product is the most rewarding. That’s what really drives me, to be able to deliver a solution that will improve the lives of so many.” ⠀ #Harvard #HarvardSEAS #LifeatSEAS #students #startup #entrepreneurship #technology #robotics #assistivetechnology @harvardinnovationlabs https://www.instagram.com/p/BySc4Sand8b/?igshid=lu50kzf3db6l

Cheers to all our new graduates! Sarah Griesse-Nascimento, who received a Ph.D. in applied physics, will begin working at Intel on the quality and reliability engineering team. She’s excited to make an impact using the tools she learned at #HarvardSEAS. “SEAS was the right fit for me because the school challenged me and surrounded me with people of different backgrounds who have many unique perspectives to share.”⠀ #Harvard #Harvard19 #GSAS19 #phd #phdlife @harvardgsas (at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByQN-eVn5P8/?igshid=jqcnq07ml8cn

Congratulations Class of 2019! #Harvard #Harvard19 #GSAS19 @harvardgsas (at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByF68qunova/?igshid=zxye71rrprge

Electrical engineering concentrator Anne Raheem, S.B. '19, wants to use technology to digitally empower others. During her time at Harvard, she's worked on a research project to create battery supplies for soft robotics and taught a course on teamwork and engineering design principles to high school students in Beijing. Raheem was also a founder of MakeHarvard, the University’s first 24-hour make-a-thon, which was designed to create a space for engineering students and non-engineering students alike to develop some fundamental engineering skills in order to begin prototyping their own projects. Beyond engineering, Raheem has also been involved in several campus dance troupes, including Ghungroo, the South Asian dance festival, and Expressions, a hip-hop dance troupe. She says dance has helped her connect with different parts of her Indo-Caribbean culture, while connecting to and learning about others. Among her most rewarding experiences has been her involvement in Currier House life, where she worked to get better representation at our house events and on our House Committee (HOCO), spearheaded a Currier House mentorship program, and gave students a greater say in what happens within the house through creating student-initiated events. “When I enter any environment, I automatically begin thinking about it critically and constructively—how can we break this apart into its components and see what and where we can improve? I think that’s a very “engineering” way to think about community and people, but it’s what I do—I’m an engineering student, after all,” she said. “I love working with people, and I want to make every environment that I am a part of better so all of us can achieve what we are working for, together.”⠀ #Harvard #HarvardSEAS #Harvard19 #LifeatSEAS #student #seniorprofile #engineering #dance #research (at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByFqAzpHbKT/?igshid=13hscxcjs8tdy

Rats on campus, disruptive noise pollution, and costly deep-sea research seem to have nothing in common—except that they could all be solved using an engineering design approach. Students in the #HarvardSEAS course Engineering Problem Solving and Design Project (ES 96) did just that, applying their engineering know-how, in collaboration with real-world clients, to come up with actionable solutions. One ES 96 section worked with @hudsinfo to identify ways to reduce noise at the loading dock without negatively affecting operations; another section joined forces with Harvard's Office of Environmental Health and Safety to improve the effectiveness of pest control measures and decrease pest access to food sources at Harvard; and the third section collaborated with @girguislab to reduce the cost of equipment used in deep-sea research. “The most important lesson I learned from this project was how important one’s team is. Working with people with such a variety of skills and perspectives, but with the same drive and desire to come together and create something worthwhile made all the difference for me, and determined the success of our project,” said Rainy Michelsen, S.B. ’20, a mechanical engineering concentrator who worked on the deep-sea research project. “The fulfillment that comes from working within such a great team, and the challenge and opportunity that came in connecting seemingly separate fields of thought, and the innovation born from it, were the most rewarding aspects of the project.”⠀ #Harvard #LifeatSEAS #students #project #engineering #design #solutions (at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByDBTcTntAX/?igshid=1eb72qjlvgcfz

When Sayo Eweje arrived an campus as a freshman, he was already set on studying biomedical engineering so he could create products and platforms that could have a significant impact on people’s lives by intervening in all sorts of diseases. For the past four years, he’s been working in the lab of lab of Kit Parker, Tarr Family Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics at #HarvardSEAS, where Eweje has worked on cardiac tissue engineering and vascular endothelial modeling projects. The work he’s done as an undergraduate could someday help scientists better understand how drugs affect the heart, and the potential negative effects that engineered nanomaterials could have on the cells lining the walls of blood vessels. He has also worked to create a tool that could be implemented as a drug-screening platform to aid in the development of therapies for cardiac fibrosis. After graduation, he’ll be enrolling in an M.D./Ph.D. program with the hope of pursuing a research career at the intersection of medicine and engineering. “For me, it all goes back to my passion for problem solving. As an engineer, you acquire skills that ultimately aid you in the development of devices and platforms that can be used to intervene in some problem,” he said. “Working in a lab and conducting research is a good way of getting to the leading edge of whatever problem you’re attempting to solve. Being involved in that process and being able to create something tangible is very exciting to me.”⠀ #Harvard #Harvard19 #student #seniorprofile #research #bioengineering #heart (at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByAaOJfnRoo/?igshid=1icnrviw1mouk

Special series: the path untrodden part three⠀ ⠀ Follow along as Lyra Wanzer, S.B. ‘19, concentrating in mechanical engineering, builds an electroadhesive treaded robot for her senior capstone project⠀ ⠀ After many iterations on the tread design throughout the semester, Wanzer ultimately used a design with multiple layers. In our most recent update with Wanzer, she was working through different prototypes of the drive system alignment that connected the treads of her robot. In her final product, she has added end caps to prevent the wheels from sliding sideways and optimized the length of couplings between the wheels to secure the drive system. She made carbon fiber bushings, bearings to reduce friction between different parts of the car. She constructed the wheels of the robot from two layers of compliant foam. Wanzer tried both a concave and a convex tread and found that a convex tread worked best for her robot.⠀ ⠀ In the final stages of building her robot, Wanzer evaluated the total mass of the robot, the wheel torque, the voltages, and safety. She added a top plate to make the chassis, the base frame, rigid to protect the robot during testing. Then she studied the speed of the robot while it pulled a load of varying mass behind it to optimize her system. As the angle of the inclined surface increased, the speed of her robot decreased. Moving on a 30 degree incline, her robot was much faster than other existing electroadhesive robots.⠀ ⠀ In the future, she would like to see further work done in making the robot lighter and better able to hold a greater load. Wanzer intends to publish her work to share her design with the robotics community. Grateful for the mentorship she received from her lab, the course staff, and the @seasallabs , Wanzer speaks highly of the learning experience of the capstone project. Like her robot, she looks forward to exploring new ground and embarking on the next steps of her journey in robotics.⠀ #HarvardSEAS #LifeatSEAS #Harvard19 #student #robot #project (at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx2HOL4H9tQ/?igshid=2x5thrsy6i95

During the eighth annual Design and Project Fair at #HarvardSEAS, student engineers shared the culmination of a year’s worth of creativity, collaboration, and commitment. Students, spectators, and even swiveling robots roamed the fair, enjoying a showcase of their peers’ innovations. They showcased a wide variety of projects, including a high-speed recumbent bicycle, synthetic meshes to improve the treatment of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, and a BB-battle-ready robot.⠀ #Harvard #LifeatSEAS #students #project #showcase #engineering #design #creativity Article by Selena Zhang, A.B. ‘20 Photos by @annieschugartphoto (at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxw_KR7nPOe/?igshid=1sqi23l1jn5ig

Humans of SEAS⠀ "Not a lot of people know that three-quarters of infant deaths occur in the first week of life. So, I am currently working with a group on a project—in Conor Walsh’s Biodesign Lab — to create a device that is aimed at reducing the infant mortality rate in the developing world. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the goal of the Infant Sensing Project is to build a soft sensor that can be worn like a garment. I call it the Fitbit for babies. The idea is that infants would wear the device for the first week after birth to monitor their respiration and temperature, which are two vital telltale signs for some of the most common causes of infant deaths. As a matter of fact, apnea, or the lack of respiration, is so common among newborns that on our visit to NICU at the Umass Memorial Medical Center, we noticed that the infant breathing monitors would very frequently pause. Preemies, especially, would stop breathing for a good five to 10 seconds and then start again. This is because they're not used to breathing. In fact, they are not supposed to be breathing at this point in their development and so it's very common for them to have long lapses. If, however, these lapses last longer than 20 seconds, it can be fatal. With this device we intend to monitor infant respiration and alert the user or caretaker to jostle the baby, if there’s been more than a 20-second lapse. The current industry standard sensors are tied to expensive machinery, which can be hard for people in developing countries to purchase. So, we're trying to make something that not only costs less but can also be used outside the hospital. This way, infants can go home with their parents and the device will continue monitoring. While, it wouldn't give as much diagnostic information as the systems at hospitals, it would be the bare minimum of what we think will help improve chances of survival." — Charlie Colt-Simonds, S.B. '19, electrical engineering concentrator and co-president of the Harvard Undergraduate Robotics Club⠀ #Harvard #HarvardSEAS #LifeatSEAS #Harvard19 #student #engineering (at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxuZ7Fynb2S/?igshid=1ne1una9n1ukm

Researchers have developed a way to fabricate nanometer-sized drug delivery vehicles that can simultaneously deliver multiple drugs more efficiently that current methods. These drug delivery vehicles are essentially nanoparticles within nanoparticles. The primary vehicle, known as a polymersome, has a protective, oil shell which prevents it from dissolving until it reaches its target. Inside each polymersome are porous nanoparticles loaded with drugs. These nanoparticles are capable of holding and releasing multiple types of drugs at the same time. In mice, the system suppressed breast tumors by 87 and 94 percent, using very low dosages of drugs that previously were only deliverable orally. ⠀ #Harvard #HarvardSEAS #research #cancer #nanoparticles #drugdelivery #medicine #health #cancer #tumor @nsfgov @nihgov (at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxr2jUWHSy8/?igshid=m4d6oiv5mry0

Senior Robert Anderson applies his curiosity and problem solving skills to every challenge he immerses himself in, from mechanical engineering, to sailing, to printmaking, to swordsmithing. The Longmeadow, Mass., native is the son of two mechanical engineers, and his grandfather was a metallurgist by trade, so his family inspired him to pursue engineering. At #HarvardSEAS, he enjoyed the opportunity to travel to Tanzania with Engineers Without Borders to oversee the construction of teacher housing in a rural village. Also, he’s been an active member of the Harvard Undergraduate Robotics Club, where he helped to design a six-legged walking robot for a Mars Rover competition. Beyond engineering, Anderson has enjoyed making cards using the Bow and Arrow Press in Adams House, sailing for the Crimson, and sharpening his skills on the club fencing team. After graduation, the Michael C. Rockefeller Fellowship recipient will spend the next year studying swordsmithing in Toledo, Spain, before moving on to his next adventure. “My long-term plan is to eventually start an engineering company. I want to have a team of engineers, designers, and manufacturers who have the resources to identify a problem and then solve that problem to make the world a better place, but do that on a larger scale than I could ever do alone.”⠀ #Harvard #LifeatSEAS #Harvard19 #senior #student #seniorprofile #mechanicalengineer #engineering (at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxkFHJFH8Gt/?igshid=1442d0s677eb9

A computer and a human brain are, in many ways, more alike than they are different. A computer’s central processing unit contains billions of integrated transistors; the brain is comprised of billions of integrated neurons. Seamlessly integrating electronic components into biological systems could help scientists unlock the secrets of brain function, as well as develop tools to treat a variety of neurological diseases. But effectively combining rigid electronics with soft biological systems is an intricate puzzle that has stymied researchers. This quandary forms the core of Introduction to Bioelectronics (BE 129), a new course at #HarvardSEAS that prepares students for careers in the burgeoning field of bioelectronics. “We are talking about how these devices integrate with a human being, from a molecular level through the cells to the tissue. That kind of integration and design will fundamentally change who we are as humans, and that makes it critical for places like Harvard to start to cultivate these ideas, deliver them to students, and embrace this future,” said course instructor Jia Liu, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering. “This kind of a course requires a place like Harvard, which has strong engineering but also very strong basic sciences and liberal arts, so we can merge these disciplines together.”⠀ #Harvard #LifeatSEAS #bioelectronics #course #students #bioengineering #electronics #biology #wearable #brain #interdisciplinary (at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxhkIcyHHNl/?igshid=11mbbn3efj15s