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Grad Student Research
A newsletter spotlighting the research of IIT Graduate Students
August 2009
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Graduate student researchers at IIT make an important contribution to the scientific world. To bring attention to some of the outstanding graduate students within all IIT departments, the Graduate College is publishing a monthly newsletter spotlighting individual students and their research.
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Copyright
2009 Illinois Institute of Technology. Contact chasej@iit.edu with comments or questions. |
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Robert Dawe, a Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering is working in the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Laboratory, headed by Dr. Konstantinos Arfanakis, using an MRI technique called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to study Alzheimer’s disease. This technique allows researchers to non-invasively measure the movement of water molecules within the brain. By observing the direction and speed at which the molecules move, it is possible to visualize the many nerve bundles that make up the white matter of the human brain.
Hyun A. "Anna" Song, a Ph.D. student in organic chemistry and the 2007-8 and 2008-9 Kilpatrick Fellowship recipient, has made significant contributions to the research programs in Dr. Joy Chong’s lab and has contributed to 9 research papers published in internationally renowned journals. In addition to gaining experience in organic synthesis, Anna has been involved in the characterization and chemical and biological evaluation of novel organic compounds using magnetic resonance (MR) relaxometer, Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and fluorescence microscopes, and cell culture techniques. 
Xufei Mao, a doctoral candidate in the Computer Science Department has research interests that include the design and analysis of algorithms concerning wireless networks and network security. A current research topic of Mao’s is “top K” related (“K” stands for a particular value). In a typical wireless sensor network a number of wireless sensor nodes are deployed in a certain area. These sensor nodes can monitor the environment, collect interesting data, and send data to the sink node (or base station) by wireless communication. 
The current global enthusiasm for nanotechnology is an offshoot of several late 20th century advances. Particles in the nano-scale (10-9 meter) display unique and interesting properties due to their large surface-volume ratio compared to the bulk material. Nanoparticle research has potential applications in biomedical, optical, and electronic fields. Nanoparticles themselves can come in a variety of shapes; spheres and rods are the most frequently observed ones.