Shreya Santhanam, a senior in Bioengineering and 2016-2017 ISUR scholar, was named a Knight of St. Patrick, an annual award given by the College of Engineering to students who represent leadership, excellence in character, and exceptional contribution to the College and its students. The award is one of the highest honors received by a College of Engineering student.

As an ISUR scholar, Shreya was an undergraduate researcher at Prof. Sengupta’s Opto Neuro Technology Laboratory. Her project focused on using optogenetics to understand signaling and learning patterns in disassociated neurons to help clarify the effect of neurodegenerative disorders on signal transfer. This year Shreya served as an assistant for undergraduate research in the College of Engineering. In this role she helped increase student awareness and involvement in undergraduate research. She assisted, Dr. Mamaril, ISUR program director and coordinator for undergraduate research, in various undergraduate research-related events and activities.

When asked how she benefited from being part of undergraduate research, she said, “Much of my success has been related to research. Being part of the ISUR program has allowed me to develop my analytical skills and network with other undergraduate researchers. I think I benefited the most from being able to present my work at the Poster EXPO at the end of the year. Additionally, I will be attending law school in the fall and having strong research skills is fundamental to being successful in any field.  I feel grateful for the opportunities I have had in the lab and to help Dr. Mamaril coordinate undergraduate research programs for students in the college.”

Learn more about Shreya’s accomplishments here.