Howdy! My name is Raniyah Nathani, and I recently graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering and am currently pursuing my Master’s Degree in Bioengineering at Rice University as part of the Global Medical Innovation (GMI) Program. This past summer, I spent two months in San Jose, Costa Rica pursuing an internship at Hospital Clinica Biblica where I conducted clinical observations and low-fidelity prototyping. I am really excited to be back in Houston to start my coursework this Fall! Aside from my studies, I will be serving as a Design Mentor for the senior capstone course as well as pursuing a part-time internship at MD Anderson. Outside of class, I love spending time with family, bike-riding, trying new recipes, and playing Badminton.

Prototyping at Hospital Clinica Biblica

In my undergrad, I once worked with a team to create an endograft retraction device. Having little 3-D printing skills at the time, I was fascinated at how this technique produced a physical replica of our design inexpensively and allowed us to easily test it. Projects like these furthered my interest in gaining as much practical experience in bioengineering to one day create enhanced accessible assistive technologies for patients in remote areas.

Endograft Retraction Device

Being able to translate an idea into a prototype is so critical to be able to communicate your perspective and understanding about a potential solution to a problem. I am really excited and looking forward to learning and applying different prototyping and fabrication skills, especially 3-D printing and CNC machining, in BIOE 677!