Ghiska Ramahdita, a McDonnell Scholar at the School of Engineering won the Audience Choice Award during the STC Reach Out Challenge final rounds, hosted by the Museum of Science, Boston. Using captivating imagery, videos, and props, Ghiska succinctly described her research about the effects of stiffening in heart tissues to a panel of science communication experts and a broad virtual audience.
Ghiska is a 2nd year PhD student in Mechanical Engineering in the labs of Nathaniel Huebsch (Biomedical Engineering) and Guy Genin (Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science) and her research interests lie in mechanobiology in iPSC-engineered heart muscle. She is particularly interested to investigate how the mechanical factors (e.g. stiffness, isotropism) affects physiology of tissue, including in heart muscle with predispositions to arrhythmia. She is the James V. & Mary E. Wertsch Fellow of the McDonnell International Scholars Academy. She graduated from B.Eng in Universitas Indonesia, and obtained her double master’s degree(s) from INSA de Lyon-France and Universitas Indonesia.
Her winning presentation can be viewed below beginning in the timeline at 25:50. The announcement of the winners begins at 1:03:40. The complete competition is also available for viewing below.
The Reach Out Science Slam is a nationwide effort to boost the communication skills of students and early-career researchers affiliated with the National Science Foundation’s 12 flagship Science and Technology Centers (STCs). These Centers tackle the frontiers of science and technology, foster discovery and innovation, and train next-generation scientists and engineers. CEMB is an STC that is a collaboration between Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Pennsylvania.
Competitors of the Reach Out Science Slam are required to make their science stories suitable for family audiences and include a live presentation component. Entrants are encouraged to make presentations engaging by incorporating demonstrations, animation, props, music, and more.