Alum Receives National Defense Science and Engineering Fellowship

BME alum Trinny Tat recently won a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, which is sponsored by several branches of military research and is considered "one of the country’s most prestigious honors for graduate students beginning their studies."

Now a graduate student at UCLA's Samueli School of Engineering, Tat is one of approximately 160 graduate students across the country who received the fellowship for 2020.

Tat researches "triboelectric nanogenerators" — an energy-harvesting solution that converts various simple motions, such as finger tapping, breathing, walking, eye movements and pulses, into electricity. These generators work by harnessing the triboelectric effect, which causes materials to become electrically charged after coming into frictional contact with each other before separating. Specifically, she aims to develop wearable biosensors, powered by these nanoscale generators, which could be used in technologies for personalized medicine.

The fellowship is sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Army Research Office and the Office of Naval Research, under the direction of the Under Secretary for Defense Research and Engineering.