ME PhD student, Anan Ghrayeb has received a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Defense. This competitive award aims to encourage students early in their courses of study to pursue graduate studies in research areas of interest to the DoD.
Ghrayeb’s research focuses on developing origami-inspired micro-robots that can achieve complex dexterous motion for stimulation, manipulation, and sensing of biological matter. More specifically, Ghrayeb will use micro-robots in cellular mechanics interrogation and cellular manipulation to investigate cancer-associated fibroblast response to mechanical stimulation.
“We can leverage integrated sensors to extract information from the samples we interact with,” Ghrayeb said, “which can be incredibly useful for developing therapeutics and further understanding the mechanical behaviors of cells.”
Ghrayeb is a member of the Deployable and Reconfigurable Structures Laboratory and advised by Evgueni Filipov, associate professor of mechanical engineering and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.
In response to receiving this fellowship, Ghrayeb said, “I am truly honored and humbled to be selected as a recipient of the NDSEG fellowship. This prestigious award not only recognizes the hard work and dedication I have put into my research, but also provides me with the incredible opportunity to further explore and innovate in my field. I am immensely grateful for the support of my advisor and mentors, without whom this would not be possible.”