Magazine

Dartmouth Engineer Magazine: Fall 2024

Fall 2024 cover art

In this Issue

Innovating for Women: Professor Britt Goods Th'11 applies engineering principles and systems biology to crucial issues in women's health. Plus, students' deep dive into the history of the coal industry and its impacts on the region; and more.

Leading Thoughts

Geoffroy Hautier: Leading Thoughts

"At the Center of Technology"

Dean Alexis Abramson speaks to Professor Geoffroy Hautier about how better theories and stronger computers are transforming science, and about his multidisciplinary approach to discovery and the future of materials science.

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Features

Professor Britt Goods Th'11

Innovating for Women

BY MICHAEL BLANDING | Professor Britt Goods Th'11, who studies systems biology, has long been fascinated by women's health issues, which historically have been woefully underexamined.

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Energy Immersion

During Spring Break in Appalachia, students did a deep dive into the history of the coal industry and its impacts on the region. READ MORE»

Students at Morris Creek

Amping Up the Skies

Satish Prabhakaran Th'05 and his GE Aerospace Research team are designing high-tech components for electric air travel. READ MORE»

Satish Prabhakaran

Great Hall

Engineering Better Outcomes

Moses Matanda '25

Moses Matanda '25 is finding new ways to bridge the gap between technology and medicine. READ MORE»

Defining Equitable Approaches

Post-Katrina Flooding

A study to define and measure equity in flood-risk management could help decision-makers achieve more equitable outcomes from environmental public policy. READ MORE»

Imagining the Future

Mira Murati Th'12

OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati Th'12 predicts computers may soon exhibit PhD-level intelligence for specific tasks. READ MORE»

Tackling Climate and Energy Solutions

Yan Li with students

Two engineering research projects were awarded faculty seed grants from the Irving Institute for Energy and Society. READ MORE»

Retiring Faculty Reflect

Ulf Osterberg

Nine tenured faculty across Dartmouth entered a new chapter in their lives, including Professor of Engineering Ulf Österberg. READ MORE»

Breaking Down Complex Challenges

Rafe Steinhauer

Professor Rafe Steinhauer combines his expertise in education and engineering to teach design thinking. READ MORE»

Connecting Needs with Solutions

Becca Thomson Tissue Engineering Lab

PhD Innovation Fellow and founder and CEO of NovaGyn, Becca Thomson '20 Th'21, works in the Hixon Lab for her pioneering research on tissue engineering solutions for stress urinary incontinence. LINK TBD»

Grants Bridging Disciplines

A shrine in Southwest Nigeria

The Design Initiative at Dartmouth is funding three projects to enable interdisciplinary approaches to scholarship and social impact. READ MORE»

"A Beautiful Journey"

Mung Chiang Delivers Keynote

This year's Investiture celebrated awarding a record 351 degrees and graduating majority female BE and MEM classes, and featured Purdue President Mung Chiang. READ MORE»

Collaborations

Iroda and Prof Chin

Hands-on Experience

Professor Peter Chin, lead investigator of the Learning, Intelligence + Signal Processing (LISP) Lab, welcomes first-year students as paid interns researching the neuroscientific basis of intelligence. Iroda Abdulazizova '26 connected through the Women in Science Project (WISP), which matches students and STEM opportunities. Kimberly Girola-Guzman '26 learned about the lab via the First-Year Research in Engineering Experience (FYREE), which provides early hands-on experience and mentoring. It's a win-win: "Kim and Iroda have been writing programs in various coding languages and helping me run machine learning experiments," says Chin.

Abdulazizova studied hyperbolic space and differential geometry—"I never realized that there’s so much math in daily life," she says—while Girola-Guzman sharpened her communication skills: "Professor Chin has shown me the value of being able to distill our research into accessible and concise presentations." Says Chin: "It's my job to help my students become independent thinkers, researchers, and scientists in their own right."

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First Look

A group of eight students in "Surveying Mechanics" are gathered in front of a brick building with their equipment.

A Civil Approach

"Surveying Mechanics" was one of 12 courses that formed the civil engineering curriculum until it was replaced in 1941 with a focus on electrical and mechanical engineering. Here, a survey party (circa 1883) takes a break. (Photo courtesy Dartmouth College Library)

Back Cover

Approximately 15 students look down from a wooden treehouse surrounded by forest.

User-Friendly Fortress

In addition to leading 16 students in his two-term capstone ENGS 15: "Senior Design Challenge," Professor Eugene Korsunskiy put his engineering skills to use building this treehouse. The graduating students—who spent the two-term course using human-centered design methods to work on projects with local community organizations—assessed his work during their end-of-term celebration in June.