NJIT applauds students for studies on brain injury, glaucom...(ll the birds on that island may simply c...)

Third-place honors went to two biomedical engineering majors Bin Lin, Harrison, and Vivian Ozoka, Jersey City. The pair, who will both graduate this May 17, 2008 from NJIT, examined the role of axons, also known as nerve fibers, in human development. It has been postulated that axons increase in length during human development, implying that mechanical forces play a crucial role. However, once human development is complete, axons cease growing. Therefore a severed nerve neither regenerates nor elongates. This project featured a miniature device that can stretch damaged axons in vitro to a length that can be implanted into an injured site.

Another upcoming graduate, Stephanie Milczarski, Montclair, who majored in applied physics, also took third-place honors with a remarkable instrument that will someday enable glaucoma patients to monitor their eye pressure at home. The best current method involves touching the cornea with a sterile probe that applies a very small force. The measurement is challenging and requires the supervision of an ophthalmologist. Milczarski, however, is part of an NJIT research team conducting a clinical trial to test a new method that measures compressibility through the eyelid with a device applied that the patient can easily and painlessly apply to the eyelid.

First-place graduate student honors went to Seon Woo Lee, Palisades Park, a doctoral candidate in electrical and computer engineering, for Single Electron Devices Based on As-Grown Individual Carbon Nanotube Bridges and Conductive Polymers.

Laila Jai Jallo, Newark, a doctoral candidate in chemical engineering, received second-place recognition for Particle Surface Modification and Characterization.

Sreeya Sreevatsa, Newark, a doctoral candidate in physics, took third place honors for Control of Surface Chemistry by Electronic Structures.

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