Rossin Connection: Lehigh University Engineering

Her focus is on fundamental science, but everything Whitney Blocher McTigue does in the lab is aimed towards applications in the real world. As an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, Blocher McTigue is working toward a future where innovative wound care and shelf-stable medicine lead to healthier lives. And for her, the drive to make that happen is personal. 

Making the internet a safer place

Like a lot of kids, Dominic DiFranzo spent loads of time on the internet when he was growing up. It was where he could connect with other people who shared his passion for “nerdy things” like science fiction and Japanese anime. Pretty soon, the web itself captivated him–how it worked technologically, and eventually, how people built online communities. Today, he researches how to make the internet more “pro-social,” and a safer space for kids, older adults, and really, for all of us.

Rossin Connection is hosted and produced by Christine Fennessy, with support from the Dean's office at the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Talk with us @RossinPodcast.

Towards a More Resilient Energy Future

Javad Khazaei came to the U.S from Iran. He was the first member of his family to leave the country, and at first, the transition was a tough one. But he pushed through what he calls, “the challenge that every international student has to overcome.” Today, he’s an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering. In this episode, he talks about an influential trip he took as a kid with his dad, how the encouraging words of his advisor changed the course of his career, and how his research will help make our power system more robust–and will contribute to the global effort to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Rossin Connection is hosted and produced by Christine Fennessy, with support from the Dean's office at the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Talk with us @RossinPodcast.

The "Holy Grail" of Materials

Growing up, Siddha Pimputkar spent summers at his grandparents’ house, which meant spending lots of time figuring out how to maintain an old house and a large garden. That love of problem solving stayed with him, and he eventually turned it into a career in materials science, a discipline that, he says, connects to all the others in some shape or form. Today, he’s researching a novel method of growing cubic boron nitride, a material that has the potential to–among other things–solve the very big problem of energy efficiency in electronics, and in the grid itself. It’s so promising, he often calls it the “holy grail” of materials.

Rossin Connection is hosted and produced by Christine Fennessy, with support from the Dean's office at the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Talk with us @RossinPodcast.

"You can do this."

When Farrah Moazeni started out as a chemical engineering student in Iran, she figured she’d end up working for her country’s petrochemical industry. But the environmental impacts of the business made her change course. She came to the U.S. to study renewable energy and got her PhD in civil engineering. After an invaluable (and memorable!) experience working in industry, she came to Lehigh where she’s now an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering researching ways to make smart water systems safer and more efficient. In this episode, she talks about working toward equitable access to resources like water, what it was like leaving everything she knew behind in Iran, how she pushed through when things got tough–and how she’s helping her own international students do the same.

Rossin Connection is hosted and produced by Christine Fennessy, with support from the Dean's office at the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Talk with us @RossinPodcast

Combating Antibiotic Resistance

According to the Centers for Disease Control, antibiotic resistance is a global public health threat that was associated with nearly 5 million deaths worldwide in 2019. In this episode, associate professor Angela Brown explains why these powerful, important drugs can also do harm, how her research has influenced how and when she takes them, and the work her lab is doing to develop new strategies to fight bacterial infections. We also learn why she never intended to become an engineer in the first place, why she calls bacteria “amazing,” and the surprising part of her job that she loves (ok, and sometimes hates) the most.

Inspired by Animals

It's really, really hard to make something swim like a fish. But understanding just how these animals move can help in a range of applications–from the design of renewable energy devices, to underwater vehicles, and forecasting the impact of climate change on fish populations. In this episode, associate professor of mechanical engineering Keith Moored talks about how his childhood love of the ocean led him to diving with manta rays as a grad student, and eventually to a career researching bio-inspired locomotion, specifically, the fluid mechanics of fish swimming.

Rossin Connection is hosted and produced by Christine Fennessy, with support from the Dean's office at the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Talk with us @RossinPodcast.

The "Magic" of Materials Engineering

Chances are, you’ve never given much (if any!) thought to the films that coat things like your phone charger. But without them–and without their exact dimensions of thickness and hardness–the technology we rely on every day would be useless. In this episode, associate professor Nick Strandwitz explains what he calls the “magic” of atomic layer deposition, a thin film growth technique that, among many other things, helps our computers and smartphones do what they do–and do it fast. He also talks about what makes the discipline of materials science particularly satisfying.

Rossin Connection is hosted and produced by Christine Fennessy, with support from the Dean's office at the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Talk with us @RossinPodcast.

Following Your Dreams

As a kid growing up in Amman, Jordan, Karmel Shehadeh knew she wanted to one day be a professor and a researcher. Today, she is an assistant professor in the department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. And at the end of her faculty profile, she includes an unusual line. It’s not a sentiment you typically come across in such write-ups, but it’s targeted toward a special group of students. In this episode, you’ll find out why she makes a point of including that sentence not only in her profile, but in the acknowledgement section of her research papers.

Rossin Connection is hosted and produced by Christine Fennessy, with support from the Dean's office at the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Talk with us @RossinPodcast.

"They nailed it."

The James Webb Space Telescope launched into orbit on Christmas Day 2021. It’s the largest, most powerful space science telescope that has ever been built. It will enable us to look more than 13 billion years back in time, helping us answer questions like, Where do we come from? and Are we alone?  It took 20 years, thousands of technicians, scientists, and engineers, and 40 million hours to build. One of those engineers is Lehigh alum Scott Willoughby. He graduated with a degree in electrical engineering in 1989, and today he’s the vice president and program manager for the James Webb Space Telescope program at Northrop Grumman. In this episode, he explains why this mission an Apollo moment for science, what makes this telescope a singular marvel of engineering, and how we’re already benefiting from Webb’s development here on earth.