Who are you and what activities are you engaged in at Rice?

Hi! My name is Vanessa Salinas and I recently graduated from Rice with a B.S. in Bioengineering. I am very interested in device development and enjoy digital design and prototyping, so I am very excited to be completing the Master of Bioengineering in Global Medical Innovation and to be taking this class. Some things about me personally are that my family is from Nicaragua, but I was born and raised in Arkansas, and in my free time I enjoy playing tennis, cooking, and spending time with family and friends.

During the last four years I have been at Rice, I have been part of a few groups, including club tennis and BMES, and I was a Public Health Ambassador my junior year. This year, I am excited to be a design mentor for students taking BIOE 451 and helping them through the same experience I went through just a year ago.

What is one thing that you have made that you are proud of?

One thing that I have made that I am proud of is my team’s senior design project. We worked on developing a device that can clearly inform BVM users on the volume and rate of oxygen delivery to the patient to lower the incidence of common adverse effects. I specifically focused on the design of the device’s housing, and worked extensively on our CAD drawings and 3D printed parts.

Side view and cross section of the BVAD.

What is one thing that you want to make (this semester or in the future)?

One thing I am looking forward to making this semester is the machine based on mechanical movements. In the future, I hope to use my prototyping skills to work on creating novel medical devices.

What is one thing that you hope to learn in ENGI 210?

One thing that I hope to learn in this class is how to use the laser cutter because I was able to see how useful it was during our senior design project (for light tubes), and I would like to be able to use it myself too!