The de Florez Prize in Human Engineering Winner: Akshita Rao

With a passion for science and a flourish for research, Akshita Rao (E21) is a double major in Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. As a Tufts Summer Scholar, she developed a heart-on-a-chip: a bioelectronic platform that measured the effects of hypoxia on cardiac electrophysiology. While she’s a twice-published author, she’s not content to confine her achievements to the lab, having served as project lead with the Tufts Make Club and as a volunteer at the Museum of Science.

The de Florez Prize in Human Engineering rewards theoretical sophistication and practical application of knowledge to the problems of human engineering.