Mentoring

Graduate Students

Qi Tian (03.2021 – Present)
PhD in Bioengineering
Department of Bioengineering
University of Pittsburgh
3D visualization of blood flow in the optic nerve head

Po-Yi Lee (01.2021 – Present)
PhD in Bioengineering
Department of Bioengineering
University of Pittsburgh
Optic nerve head vasculature and its associations with blood flow

Fengting Ji (08.2018 – Present)
PhD in Bioengineering
Department of Bioengineering
University of Pittsburgh
Role of collagen fiber interweaving on scleral biomechanics

Yicheng Zhang (09.2019 – 12.2019)
PhD in Bioengineering
Department of Bioengineering
University of Pittsburgh
Developing an algorithm for splitting one single fiber into multiple small fibrils

Bingrui Wang (10.2017 – 03.2019)
Visiting Scholar
PhD in Mechanical Engineering
School of Mechanical Engineering
Southwest Jiaotong University, China
Role of collagen fiber interweaving on connective tissue biomechanics

Ziyi Zhu (01.2020 – 04.2020)
MS in Bioengineering
Department of Bioengineering
University of Pittsburgh
Measuring 3D optic nerve head deformations using digital volume correlation
of in vivo optical coherence tomography data

Tian Yong Foong (08.2017 – 02.2019)
MS in Bioengineering
Department of Bioengineering
University of Pittsburgh
Micromechanical properties of ocular tissues

Undergraduate Students in Mentored Research

Andrew Theophanous (01.2022 – Present)
Department of Bioengineering
University of Pittsburgh
3D reconstruction of blood vessel network in the monkey optic nerve head

Shaharoz Tahir (03.2022 – Present)
Department of Bioengineering
University of Pittsburgh
3D reconstruction of blood vessel network in the monkey optic nerve head

Urjeet Deshmukh (05.2021 – 08.2021)
Department of Computer Science
University of Pittsburgh
Visualization and analysis of the architecture of collagen fibers and blood vessels
in the optic nerve head using virtual reality

Jason Walker (06.2019 – 05.2021)
Department of Biomedical Informatics
University of Pittsburgh
1) Controlling virtual fiber interweaving
2) Numerical modeling of microcapillary hemodynamics

Anish Puligilla (08.2019 – 03.2020)
Department of Bioengineering
University of Pittsburgh
Experimental testing of woven fiber mechanics

Pedro Pallares (06.2019 – 01.2020)
Department of Biomedical Informatics
University of Pittsburgh
1) Tools to analyze fiber vs fibril virtual architectures
2) Specimen-specific microcapillary networks

Haiden McDonald (05.2019 – 03.2020)
Department of Biomedical Informatics
University of Pittsburgh
1) Tools for analysis of fiber-based tissue mechanics
2) Coupled mechanics-hemodynamics soft tissue analysis

John Levickas (01.2019 – 04.2019)
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Pittsburgh
Relationship between the laminar beam width and strain under elevated intraocular pressure

Senior Design Projects

Frieda G. Jones, Isabella Mailer, Katherine O’Malley, Emma M. Skuban (01.2020 – 04.2020)
Undergraduate students
Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
University of Pittsburgh
A uniaxial tensile device for soft tissue mechanical testing at the microscale

Liqi Chen, Jiachen Wang, Yangshan Deng, and Jiaming Li (01.2020 – 04.2020)
Undergraduate students
Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
University of Pittsburgh
Multi-axial system for soft tissue mechanical testing

Michael Kinney and Ryan Ronczka (01.2020 – 04.2020)
Undergraduate students
Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
University of Pittsburgh
Third generation biaxial fiber testing system

Greg Rice, Annie Shi, and Jamie Barishman (09.2019 – 12.2019)
Undergraduate students
Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
University of Pittsburgh
Second generation biaxial fiber testing system

Nicolas Cerilli and Michael Long (09.2019 – 12.2019)
Undergraduate students
Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
University of Pittsburgh
A micro-biaxial system for soft tissue mechanical testing

Willian Boyer, Rahul Doraiswamy, and Yuankang Wang (01.2019 – 04.2019)
Undergraduate students
Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
University of Pittsburgh
Role of interweaving in material properties

Note: The students listed below were supervised by Dr. Linxia Gu while I was completing my PhD at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I worked closely with them, directing their day-to-day activities.

Junfei Tong (2015 – 2016)
PhD in Mechanical Engineering
Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The influence of primary blast wave on the posterior part of the eyeball

Praveen K. Akula (2012 – 2013)
MS in Mechanical Engineering
Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Blast-induced traumatic brain injury: Role of ear openings

Tian Yong Foong (2015 – 2016)
Undergraduate student
Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Development of a universal clamp for atomic force microscopy

Michael Trogdon (Fall 2012)
Undergraduate student
Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
3D modeling of carbon/epoxy to titanium single-lap joints with variable adhesive recess length