CoE, National Honors for ME Alumna
Alaa Ahmed in front of King's College, University of Cambridge
It has been a year of recognition for post-doctoral fellow Alaa Ahmed, who was one of only four individuals in the country to receive a Whitaker International Scholar grant from the Whitaker Foundation and the Institute of International Education. The scholarship program was created to enable students and researchers to travel aboard and "to assist the development of professional leaders who are not only superb engineers and scientists, but who will lead and serve the profession with an international outlook." The scholarships are for biomedical engineers who have already received a PhD within two years of application. In addition to receiving the Whitaker honor, Ahmed was also named as a recipient of a 2006 CoE Outstanding Mentor Award (see sidebar).
"I was surprised and elated to win the Whitaker scholarship," Ahmed said. "Since it was the inaugural year for the scholarship, I had had no idea what to expect.
Ahmed, a native of Egypt and the United States, recently moved to the U.K. to begin her work in the fall at the University of Cambridge. She was naturally eager at the prospect.
"The scholarship will allow me the opportunity to conduct one year of postdoctoral research," she said. "I am very excited to be working with a research group that is at the forefront of studies investigating the engineering processes involved in human sensorimotor control. This field investigates how we plan and control our movements and how sensory information, whether about our own body or about the outside environment, affects these processes.
"The experience will allow me to expand the scope of my research pursuits from postural control and musculoskeletal biomechanics to include the sensorimotor control of movement. I hope that by gaining this broader perspective I may better research interdisciplinary problems that encompass biomechanics, balance, and motor control."
Ahmed noted that her exposure to the U.K. higher education system, coupled with her experiences in Egypt and the United States, will introduce her to a variety of approaches to the development of biomedical engineering programs. She is optimistic that this experience will help her develop long-lasting collaborations and global understanding of the biomedical engineering discipline.
"My long-term goal is to further the understanding of human movement and control," she said. "In the short-term, I hope to find an academic position where I may continue research and teaching in the field of neuromuscular mechanics and human sensorimotor control."
Ahmed was initially attracted to the CoE because of the opportunity to blend her two major fields of interest.
"The University of Michigan provides incredible opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration, something crucial to my field," she said. "It is rare to find a top-rated engineering school and top-rated medical school in such close proximity to one another. The professors here take advantage of this, and the result is evident in the innovative research projects which seamlessly bridge the medical and engineering disciplines.
"A degree in mechanical engineering provides you with a strong foundation in basic engineering principles. Once these are mastered, the possibilities for their application are endless. In my case, I have always been fascinated by the workings of the human body, and a mechanical engineering degree afforded me the skills and techniques needed to further a quantitative understanding of human biological processes."
The Whitaker recognition and Mentor Award are just the latest examples of Ahmed's excellence. She has previously received NIH Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships, in addition to the 2003 American Society of Biomechanics Clinical Biomechanics Award.
Prior to receiving her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2005, Ahmed earned Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering from U-M and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from The American University in Cairo.
