Defne Görgün, An Undergrad Student of Biomedical Engineering Is Receiving her Cooperative Education at Stanford University

Defne Görgün

TOBB ETÜ, Biomedical Engineering, 4th Year

June - August 2017, Stanford University (California, US)

"I was admitted to the Department of Biomedical Engineering at TOBB Economics and Technology University, in 2014. During my undergraduate studies, with the help of my professors, I came to realize the richness and wide variety of the areas of study in the field of biomedical engineering. Among these, computational bionanotech started to gain more and more prominence for me. And our department gave me the opportunity to work at the Technology Center Bionanodesign Laboratory. During my first and second cooperative educations I gained experience by working on the modeling of vein development in tumor growth, and the protein structure analysis using computers, at the Bionanodesign Laboratory. The last cooperative education I am currently going through, on the other hand, made me a part of the Spakowitz Research Group at Stanford University. There, I continue to develop myself in the field of computer-based bionanotechnology. At Stanford’s Spakowitz Lab, we are trying to understand how the circular DNA found in bacteria behaves structurally in its super-helix form. To achieve that goal, I am learning to use and interpret the results of the molecular simulation programs being developed at the laboratory. The work carried out at the lab is expected to break the ground for further developments in a number of fields including the understanding the biophysics of DNA, the treatment of cancer, gene therapy, conductive polymers, and fuel cells. Working with one of the leading groups in the academia, as well as spending time with people from different cultural backgrounds provide me with an expanded technological, scientific, and cultural perspective. The cooperative education system TOBB ETÜ offers gave me experience on many aspects. These experiences allowed me to see, during my undergraduate education, how efforts progress on the academic and industrial front. With the experience and knowledge I gathered at TOBB ETÜ and Stanford University, I want to contribute to science and medicine in the future.”