Meet the bioengineers who may be coming to your school or a school near you.
Louise Gray
After graduation from an undergraduate degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering I studied for a postgraduate masters in Bioengineering. I loved being able to put my technical skills to use trying to solve problems within the medical field so I decided to study towards a PhD. I am currently in the third year of my PhD studies. I am developing a medical device for use during cardiac surgery that detects different protein levels in the blood. The work is challenging but fun and it is great to think that hopefully my work will make a difference to people's lives in the future.
Leona Morton
Coming from a design engineering background, I chose to study for the EngD in Medical Devices at the University of Strathclyde because it is a challenging and rewarding postgraduate course that provides me with the opportunity to apply my knowledge of design to improve lives. I am currently working on the design of an innovative modular prosthetic system for use in the developing world.
Helen Robertson
I graduated with a Masters in Engineering in 2004, and I was unsure what I wanted to do. I had always been interested in medicine and before my first degree I considered becoming a Radiographer (working in a hospital taking X-Rays and MRI scans). I saw a PhD in Bioengineering as an opportunity to link my love of Engineering with a strong interest in medicine, and to designing new ways of helping people.
I am currently researching new methods for the treatment of Sleep Apnoea. Sleep Apnoea is a disease where people repeatedly stop breathing in their sleep. This can lead to excessive daytime sleepiness, increased risk of heart disease and decreased quality of life. Sleep apnoea is quite a common disease, with approximately 1.8million people (3% of the population) in the UK suffering from the disease.
Rutger Zietsma
I am from the Netherlands and came to Glasgow in 2002 to study bioengineering at Strathclyde. I chose bioengineering because I wanted to learn more about physiology while using my engineering skills. Postgraduate study in the UK often gives more freedom in choosing modules than in the Netherlands. I had heard positive stories about Strathclyde and really liked Scotland and Glasgow in particular, as I discovered during a visit. While studying business administration, I got a scholarship that helped to make my decision to come to Strathclyde.
I am currently undertaking a PhD in the Bioengineering Unit, which aims to develop new pen, instrumentation and data analysis techniques for the assessment of handwriting. It is expected that once the instrumentation design and knowledge have been further developed, it will find applications in biometrics (by example signature verification) and diagnosis of neurological impairments (such as Parkinson's disease).
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The Artist
Graham P Manley
“I always drew as a kid: inspired by the comics I read, I would create my own strips, but it never occurred to me then, that drawing comics could ever lead to a 'career'.”
Meet Graham P Manley who will be helping the pupils bring their super powers to life.
On leaving school, knowing that I wanted to do 'art', I went to art college, where I discovered that my interest in caricature and comics was discouraged, as they were largely regarded as 'bad art'.
After leaving college, I worked in various jobs, all the while doing various artwork projects in my spare time. Inspired by the then burgeoning under-ground comics scene, I came to realise that the comic-strip form was capable, not only of entertaining, but could be as valid as, say, cinema, as a medium for the communication of ideas.
In 1976 I submitted a strip to a small independent publication called 'Ally Sloper' (published by the late comics historian, Denis Gifford) and to my amazement, it was accepted, and, even better, I was paid! Seeing your work in print is a terrific boost, but it can also make you realise how much you have to learn!
After meeting Rob King of Edinburgh's Science Fiction Bookshop, (the only one in Scotland at the time) I became involved in starting 'near myths', Scotland's 1st sci-fi/fantasy comic, aimed at an older readership. However, due to market conditions at the time, it didn't last very long!
Over the next few years I attempted to hone my skills, and improve the quality of my work, and subsequently contributed strips to various U/G publications such as Knockabout Comix (UK), and 'Slow Death' (US).
Eventually, in the late 80's I felt ready to attempt to earn my living as a full-time, freelance comic-strip artist. Over the years, my artwork has been published by many mainstream companies such as D.C. Thomson (Dandy, Beano), Judge Dredd (Rebellion), Manga International, Dark Horse UK, Paradox Press (US), D.C. Comics (US), and I have produced poster designs, record sleeves, general illustrations and design work, as well as running a great number of comics workshops with young people.
I am currently working on my own material, collaborating with Dr Simpo ('Things & Stuff', etc.), and have several potentially interesting projects lined up.
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