Maria Zhdankina
Mechanichal Engineer
Maria
Zhdankina ’21 is from Lower Merion, Pennsylvania and graduated from Lower
Merion High School as an AP Scholar with Distinction. At LMHS she participated
in National Honor Society, Amnesty International, the Track and the Cross
Country teams. Maria is currently a BS/MS in Mechanical Engineering at Drexel,
and is an active member of Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and the Drexel
Rowing Team.
Alaa Alam
Biomechanist
Alaa Alam ’21 is an international transfer student coming from Saudi
Arabia. She used to be a Computer Science student at King Abdulaziz University
in Jeddah, SA. In King Abdulaziz University, she was a member of the robotics
club as well as a member of the gifted students research and innovation center.
She worked there as a teaching assistant for the gifted students summer
program. Alaa moved to the United States after getting a full scholarship to
pursue a Bachelor’s degree to study Biomedical Engineering. She plans
to concentrate in Bioinformatics and pursue a minor in Neuroscience. She is
currently an officer in the WeServe student organization and a peer mentor for
international students. After graduation, Alaa wants to pursue a career in STEM education while starting her own innovation
institute.
Douglas Gerichten
Computer Engineer
Douglas is originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania. He is an undecided major considering either computer
science or computer engineering. His past projects include a robotic snare drum controlled with an Arduino microcontroller. Both an Eagle Scout and a member of the Pennoni Honors College, Douglas hopes to connect his interests in music, technology, and innovation to make a positive impact on the world.
Antonios Kontsos, PhD
Project advisor
Email: akontsos@coe.drexel.edu
Antonios Kontsos received his diploma in Mechanical Engineering from
University of Patras (Greece) in 2002. Then he spent 5 years at Rice University
where he received his Master of Science in 2005 and PhD in 2007 both from the
department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. Antonios received a
number of awards and scholarships in his undergraduate and graduate education
from the Technical Chamber, the National Scholarship Foundation and the Onassis
Foundation of Greece, as well as Rice University and the Hellenic Professional
Society of Texas. He is an author of numerous scientific publications
in journals and conference proceedings, has co-edited one book, and holds one
patent. He also serves as a reviewer in a number of international
journals in his research areas of interests.
Daniel Christe
Project assistant advisor
Email: daniel.christe@gmail.com
Daniel Christe is a designer & engineer at the nexus of
materials science, mechanical engineering, and digital manufacturing, focusing
on functional fabrics in Drexel's trandisciplinary Center for Functional
Fabrics, located in the heart of Philly's emerging tech scence. Functional
fabrics can sense, adapt, communicate, and respond to stimuli, and are poised
become a novel generation of soft, flexible engineering materials. Fabrics are highly
anisotropic and nonlinear composite structures. His specialty is in
performance-driven generative design methods, which are a foundational
capability for this nascent industry to rapidly explore performance space for
the best performing designs, thereby accelerate time-to-market.
Daniel has a track record of designing
student-centered STEAM learning experiences in classroom and digital
environments. As a current Innovation Advisor to Elsevier, he provides
first-hand insights on trends that are reshaping the world of research and STEM
learning to shape future product direction. He led the design of the
Engineering Academic Challenge, a global online game for students to learn core
research skills while engaging with real world grand challenges. The game has
impacted thousands of learners in over five-hundred universities worldwide.