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Graduation spotlight: Science as an act of care

Martha Bushong — Wed, 13 May 2026 11:40:35 +0000

Graduation spotlight: Science as an act of care Martha Bushong Wed, 05/13/2026 - 07:40

Zarin Musarrat Niladree remembers her pediatrician the way we remember someone who made us feel safe when we were scared. She was young, she was sick often, and he was kind.

“I want to be like him when I grow up,” she thought then. Four years at 91��’s College of Engineering and Computing gave her the scientific training to move toward that path.

Zarin Musarrat Niladree works in a lab at 91��. Photo provided.

Niladree graduates in May with a degree in bioengineering, pre-health concentration, and is on her way to medical school. The path ran through three research labs and one clarifying question she kept returning to: Who actually needs this, and does it work for them?

The answer felt most urgent in Professor Remi Veneziano’s lab, where she served as co-construction lead on a smart microneedle patch designed for patients with chronic wounds—elderly patients, people with disabilities, people managing wound care alone without reliable help. The patch used UV light to trigger targeted drug release at the wound site, sparing patients repeated invasive treatments. Niladree built the electrical system from the ground up: UV LED strips, an Arduino Nano, circuit boards she soldered and resoldered through months of setbacks, components that behaved differently assembled than they did on paper.

“It was not just building a device for the sake of building one,” she said. “We were trying to create something that could help people feel less overwhelmed by their own care.”

What the lab taught her was the distance between a working prototype and a patient who actually benefits from it—and how much stands between the two. That gap is what drew her toward the Dartmouth Water Filtration Project, where the engineering problem was inseparable from the community it was meant to serve.

She joined expecting to redesign a filter for communities in Guatemala. What the project actually taught her was harder to systematize: that engineering solutions deployed to real communities require humility before they require hardware. Safety concerns, sustainability questions, and guidance from faculty pushed the team away from a point-of-use filter toward broader water-system treatment. That pivot frustrated her at first, but then clarified something she carried forward.

“Just because we can design something does not automatically mean it is the best or safest solution,” she said. “Sometimes that means pausing, rethinking, and choosing the option that is safer and more useful for the people who will actually use it.”

Her role as a teaching assistant for BENG 360 Biomedical Imaging, a course she had struggled through, confirmed what her research had been building toward. She realized that helping a frustrated student finally understand a problem wasn’t so different from what she imagined doing in an examination room—meeting someone in their confusion, explaining clearly, making them feel less alone.

This orientation—science as a form of care, not just capability—is what she’s taking to medical school. The kind of physician she wants to become is already recognizable: the one who makes the patient feel safe.

What George Mason gave her was scientific fluency. What it kept showing her, through every lab and every student she taught, was that fluency alone was not enough.

Note: This story was written by Tiffany Boggs, Student Media, and edited by Chelsea Xu, UL Marketing and Communications. It was originally published on 91��'s University Life website.

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Arctic Resilience: NSF, 91��, and collaborators seek solutions for the future

Martha Bushong — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 11:07:26 +0000

Arctic Resilience: NSF, 91��, and collaborators seek solutions for the future Martha Bushong Wed, 10/08/2025 - 07:07

In 1967, Alaska adopted the slogan "North to the Future" for its centennial. Now, as researchers at 91�� collaborate on an National Science Foundation planning grant, they look north to Alaska and the future. The planning grant lays the groundwork for the development of an Alaska Innovation Incubator (AI²) for Resilient and Smart Infrastructure in Extreme and Changing Environments.

“The Arctic presents both challenges and opportunities, demanding strategic planning and robust infrastructure support," said Professor Elise Miller-Hooks, who is spearheading the team for George Mason. "With AI², we're not only responding to environmental changes; we're proactively shaping a resilient future for the region. We’re hoping to create forward-thinking solutions for maritime development, performance of civil infrastructure, climate hazards, and workforce development.”

Professors Elise Miller-Hooks and Celso Ferreira on the Alaska's North Slope. They will return later this year to meet with planning grant collaborators. Photo provided.

Though still in its early stages, the planning grant outlines five interrelated thrusts. These thrusts will develop smart sensing technologies for the changing Arctic environments; new technologies that lead to innovative, economical, and resilient infrastructure; adaptive and economical solutions and system-level decision-making tools for securing Arctic coasts; a prototype for an automated digital twin of community-scale coastal infrastructure and permafrost systems; and a pipeline for workforce development of future scientists, engineers, and skilled workers with expertise in U.S. Arctic environments.

The George Mason researchers are part of a larger effort to develop resilience solutions and technologies through close collaboration with Indigenous communities, industry partners, government agencies, and six academic institutions. The societal impacts of this initiative could be far-reaching, promising enhanced well-being and resilience for U.S. Arctic communities, increased economic competitiveness, improved national security, and greater public engagement with science and technology.

To achieve this, through AI², the team aims to deliver a suite of transformative solutions. One example is the development of Arctic coastal hazard early warning tools, designed to provide timely alerts to communities facing environmental threats. The project will also pioneer innovative foundation insulation technologies and thermosyphon systems, specifically tailored for permafrost regions, alongside economical pre-thawing techniques for construction in warmer permafrost areas.

The researchers hope to create adaptive solutions and system-level decision-making tools to ensure the security of Arctic coasts for the future. With the potential of new shipping lanes opening, Alaskans see opportunities for new ports, and the team will explore both the opportunities and challenges. A prototype for an automated digital twin of community-scale coastal infrastructure and permafrost systems will be developed, offering a cutting-edge approach to monitoring and managing the environments.

Finally, the initiative led by Penn State University, a long-time research partner, will focus on workforce development, nurturing future scientists, engineers, and skilled workers with expertise in the unique challenges of U.S. Arctic environments. “Through the envisioned AI², it will be possible to generate new insights into the interactions between the natural and the built environment—including regional weather dynamics, permafrost, and coast-land interfaces—and the built and sociocultural systems, laying the groundwork for effective solutions,” said Miller-Hooks.

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