Dr. Ajit P. Yoganathan, Director for the Center for Innovative Cardiovascular Technologies (CICT) and Principal Investigator for the Cardiovascular Fluid Mechanics Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology, will award $1,000 scholarships to three undergraduate women in coordination with the College of Engineering’s Women in Engineering organization.

For the first time, CICT will award the following undergraduate women with scholarships for their work and contribution to research in the Cardiovascular Fluid Mechanics Lab in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering: Anh-thi “Kathy” Dinh, Shabnam Gupta and Lauren Troxler.

Kathy Dinh joined the Cardiovascular Fluid Mechanics Lab as an undergraduate researcher in the spring of 2011 and participates in research for the aortic valve mechanobiology projects. Under the mentorship of Dr. Shiva Arjunon, a post-doctoral fellow, Ms. Dinh has been studying the effects of pressure-induced stretch on aortic valve inflammation and calcification.

Shabnam Gupta is a senior undergraduate researcher and joined the Cardiovascular Fluid Mechanics Laboratory in the spring of 2009. During that time, she has spent over six semesters doing independent research. Under the mentorship of Dr. Neelakantan Saikrishnan, a post-doctoral fellow, Ms. Gupta has conducted experiments to understand and elucidate disease mechanisms in aortic valve disease and studies flow characteristics through transcatheter aortic valves.

Lauren Troxler began working in the Cardiovascular Fluid Mechanics Laboratory in the spring of 2009. In 2010, she was awarded a Petit Undergraduate Research Scholarship. Under the mentorship of former graduate student, Dr. Erin Spinner, Ms. Troxler investigated the forces that the tricuspid valve chordate experiences both in normal and diseased conditions.

“Over the years, the CFM lab has been very fortunate to recruit highly talented undergraduate researchers. These women have shown a tremendous amount of dedication to the lab and to their own growth and development as researchers. I have no doubt that they will each become leaders in their careers. They are each very deserving of this award,” Dr. Yoganathan said of the three winners.

Each of these undergraduate women will be honored for these scholarships at the annual Women in Engineering Excellence Awards Banquet. At the end of each academic year, Women in Engineering hosts an awards banquet to recognize all students who have achieved a “high honors” standing, earning a cumulative grade point average of 3.35 and higher.