Katie Portale - Masters Candidate
Katie is currently designing a collagen nanoloom device which will have the ability to print organized arrays of collagen fibrils. The nanoloom’s initial design and construction was carried out by a group of students under the format of a Capstone design project. Katies role is to further develop their design into a fully functional and versatile device.
The nanoloom is constructed around a nanoporous biomimetic membrane and has the potential to allow for printing of highly-organized 3-dimensional arrays of collagen fibers, which can be used as tissue engineering scaffolds. The nanoloom design entails micro-scale thermal and mechanical control of nano-scale tissue organization. The development of the collagen nanoloom is a multidisciplinary endeavor, requiring significant efforts in the areas of mechanical and chemical engineering effort, in particular at the nanotechnology scale.
Katie was an IGERT Associate for her first semester in the EMERL lab. For more information about IGERT, please go to www.igert.neu.edu.
Undergraduate Education
BS, Mechanical Engineering, Northeastern University 2005
Katie graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Northeastern University in May 2006. Her capstone project included the design and fabrication of a biological microsatellite sponsored by NASA Ames Research Center. This microsatellite has the capability to monitor the effect of a gravity-free environment on biological organisms, in order to understand the impact on astronauts traveling in space.
Work Experience
Through her cooperative education program, she had the opportunity to test non-invasive brain sensors for Aspect Medical Systems, analyze semi-invasive heart implants for NMT Medical and design biliary stents for Boston Scientific. These experiences allowed her to develop skills in the biomedical field and bridge the gap to mechanical engineering.